Monday, March 15, 2010

He Knows My Name (Song Story)

We sing a lot of music at Saint Matthew but we don’t often get to hear from the folks who write the songs that we sing. Tommy Walker has written many of the songs we sing on Sunday mornings and I wanted to share an excerpt from an interview with Tommy about how the song “He Knows My Name” came to be written.


- Jason


"He Knows My Name" by Tommy Walker


The first time we went to the Philippines we stayed in an orphanage and there was this little boy who came running up to me and he introduced himself as Jerry. About an hour later he ran up to me again and he said, “What’s my name?”


I said, “You’re name is Jerry."


He said, “We’re friends, right?”

An hour later, he comes up to me again and says, “What’s my name?”


“Jerry.”


“We’re friends, right?”


“That’s right buddy, you got it.”


The next morning he runs up to me and says, “What’s my name.”


I said, “Jerry, Jerry, Jerry. You know I know you’re name.” Then I said to him, “We’re friends, right?”


I realized that Jerry, one of the forgotten people, one of the poorest of the poor, was literally abandoned by his parents on the streets as an infant. I don’t think he even knows his last name. He just wanted somebody to know him, to know his name. And it was so important to him that I knew his name. And then I was able to tell him, “Jerry, it’s great that I know your name, but your Heavenly Father, though you have no earthly father, knows your name and He’ll never forget you.”


I get to share that story all over the world because there are so many people who feel so alone. Alone in their marriage and their family and their job…in their life! God just lets me remind people that in this moment He knows your name. He’ll never forget you, He’s seen every tear and every time you call, He hears you.


Visit this URL to hear Tommy tell this story

http://www.theheartofworship.org/stories/Story-301-HeKnowsMyName-Walker.mp3

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Spiritual Life Survey | Begins March 13

In the movie “The Grinch That Stole Christmas”, there was an X-ray machine that could measure the size of the Grinch’s heart. The machine showed us his heart growing bigger. What if we had a way of seeing the size of our own hearts – a way of measuring how much we love God and love people? What if we had a way to understand which things we do together have the most positive impact on our spiritual growth?


Willow Creek has developed a survey that will help us understand Saint Matthew better. The REVEAL Spiritual Life Survey provides a vivid picture of the “unseen” hearts of our congregation an
d their spiritual growth. It utilizes state-of-the-art research to capture not just spiritual behaviors, but also attitudes, beliefs and felt-needs of churchgoers. The Spiritual Life Survey is a proven way to benchmark and track spiritual growth in a congregation. It moves beyond measures like attendance and financial giving to determine if a church is really making a difference in helping people become more like Christ.

The Spiritual Life Survey is an anonymous, congregational online survey that is easy to understand, simple to administer and repeatable over time to monitor change. We will take the survey at Saint Matthew from March 13 to 27. Late in April, we’ll receive a customized, comprehensive report in presentation form that benchmarks and analyzes Saint Matthew’s spiritual profile. No individual responses are revealed. We’ll see what’s going on as well as how our spiritual attitudes, practices and beliefs compare to the REVEAL survey database of over 500 churches and 150,000 congregants.

We will share the results of our survey and reflect and discuss together what we learn and how God is calling us to move forward. We look forward to this adventure together.

Watch the website and the online Good News for directions to do the survey. We will send emails out with directions, so make sure we have your current email address.
(You can update your contact info online at http://saintmatthew.org/About/directory.htm)

Monday, February 8, 2010

Kairos Moments in Music

In mid-December I purchased Sara Groves' new CD, Fireflies and Songs. It's a great disc. I remember when I heard her first album, Conversations I felt that her songwriting style was a little to meandering for my taste, but I listened to that whole album several times in a row. Something about it was compelling to me and drawing me into her stories.

The new CD demonstrates a maturity in her songwriting and and even more raw honesty as she sings about hope, love, disappointment and struggle. I find myself transported to a place of inspired reflective peace as the music and words swim around in my mind as I try to imagine the settings and details of these three-to-four minute song-stories.


Then, something happens. I've just realized the what Sara Groves is writing about, apart from the specific details of her experiences, are all kairos moments. Defining moments! Moments of significance that have an impact on the way she journeys through life.

That gets me thinking. I believe that most, if not all music (and art) are rooted in experiencing a kairos moment and then working through this circle (the learning circle - more on that later) that we've been talking about at Saint Matthew since the beginning of January.

Life > Kairos Moment > Observe > Reflect > Discuss > Plan > Account > Act = Aamazing Music by Sara Groves (or any other artist for that matter).

One of the things artists do is take the "moments" in life and stretch them out (over canvas or over time) and create a meditation on that moment. The result is an act of creativity that becomes a part of their journey.

Wow. Maybe this is a simple thing, but for me it has become a defining moment.

- Jason

Thursday, February 4, 2010

Ash Wednesday & Mid-Week Worship

Join us for Ash Wednesday Worship on February 17 at noon and 7:30 p.m. in the Worship Center. Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the season of Lent, the forty days preceding Easter. Our observance of Ash Wednesday includes receiving communion and the imposition of ashes on the forehead. Genesis 3:19 invites us into a penitential season with the words, “For you are dust and to dust you will return.”

Our sermon series on “The Lord’s Prayer” will begin at this service, and a Lenten Devotional written by people of Saint Matthew with a focus on the Lord’s Prayer will be available.

During Lent, we will have mid-week worship on Thursdays at 7:00 p.m. in the Worship Center. Join us for a reflective and meditative worship incorporating the Taizé style which uses simple songs, scripture and prayer. Our first service will be February 25.

Monday, January 25, 2010

Songs From The Valley

Join us at 7:00pm on Sunday, January 31st at Saint Matthew Lutheran Church in Walnut Creek for Songs From The Valley.

Featuring Jordan Reed, Art Heckman and Jason Bendickson.
Saint Matthew
399 Wiget Lane
Walnut Creek, CA 94598

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Mike Breen & Michael Frost | Feb 12 & 13, 2010

Missional Theology
Friday, February 12, 2010 - Saturday, February 13, 2010
Saint Matthew Lutheran, Walnut Creek
Registration Form


4.20.21 is code for John 20:21 ... Again Jesus said, "Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you." This preview of our mandate sets the theme for an unprecedented missional learning experience --- co-sponsored by The Renewal Project and Church Without Shoes in 2010. These three gatherings will provide practical insights and stimulate in-depth conversation for the church/ministry leadership teams that will be participating.