The CD is Finished

Posted on June 24, 2008 by Steve LaMotte

I am proud to finally say that our worship team’s CD is finally finished. It took a lot longer than I expected, mostly because of scheduling issues. Last week, we met on Monday for a final day of recording, then we mixed the CD on Wednesday. We’re listening over the latest mix to see if we want to make any changes before sending it off for duplication and packaging. I may be speaking too soon, but I don’t think we’ll be changing much.

The title of the CD is Come To The Well. The imagery is of Jesus and the Woman at the Well (John 4:1-26). Jesus tells the woman “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would haev given you living water.” Our prayer has always been that those who are thirsty for God might come to Avenue and experience God’s living water.

The Song list for the CD is….

  1. Friend of God
  2. Love the Lord
  3. God of Wonders
  4. No One Like You
  5. Surrender
  6. Love Song
  7. You Are Holy
  8. I Am Free
  9. Your Love is Extravagant
  10. Amazed
  11. How Great is Our God

We are hoping that the CD will be available in August or September. We plan on having a CD release party of sorts here at the church centered around a time of worship. You can pre-order the CD by contacting me. We are asking for $10 for all pre-orders and $12 after August 3rd.

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Back From Annual Conference

Posted on June 15, 2008 by Steve LaMotte

I attended the Peninsula-Delaware Annual Conference this weekend in Princess Anne, Maryland. As an appointed student pastor, I am required to go. This was technically my second annual conference, but I did not attend because Andrea’s due date was during conference. So on Friday, I made the 80 minute trip to University of Maryland Eastern Shore.

Conference was…..about what I expected. This year, there was very little business to take care of. Aside from Friday, there were little resolution and/or debate. This may be a good thing because as recently as two years ago, there was much debate and tension on some hot topic issues. So, rather than business, we listened to report after report from various committees and teams.

Bishop Marcus Matthews preached during the opening sessions and told the conference that we must continue to move ahead as a church to reach new people. He said that we cannot put new wine into old wineskins and must be innovative in our approach to evangelism and discipleship. Then we sang a 200 year old hymn accompanied by the pipe organ. I think this is my biggest concern about conference. You have all these pastors and church leaders together and we listen to reports, rather than dialogue/model ways to reach those who do not know Christ. There was nothing modern about the worship services. It was business as usual, as if it were 195-something.

There were some good things about conference. As a young pastor, and a student, I am still learning other pastor’s names, faces, and places. This weekend, I was encouraged to have several good discussions with pastors I knew, and some I didn’t. That was probably the most helpful thing of the weekend.

Another great thing was one of the students from my church went forward during ordination about believing that God was calling him into some sort of ministry. It was exciting to pray with him, especially as he is a student that I have a lot of time and prayer invested in.

Finally, it was nice to do conference with Andrea and Abbie. While they did not attend conference, we stayed together in a hotel. I would come home in the afternoon and swim with them in the pool and had dinner together one evening. It was nice to be together as a family.

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Trip to Yankee Stadium

Posted on June 8, 2008 by Steve LaMotte

This past thursday, I had the opportunity to go to Yankee Stadium for the first time. I was pretty excited about the opportunity. While I don’t think I’ll ever make it to every city where there is a Major League team, I certainly would mind trying. (My friend Shane has two more to go, and it looks like he’ll get them this year.) So I jumped on the opportunity to go visit the headquarters of the Evil Empire.

For all it’s lore, legend, and history, I really didn’t think Yankee Stadium was that much to look at. The concourses are small, and so are the space between the rows of seats. Evidently, we’re bigger now than in the 20’s (Thanks Krispy Kreme). I had the chance to go to Monument Park. The first part was very underwhelming (re: disappointing). There were just the players numbers with a plaque of some sort with highlights. When you turn the corner, you see the full bronze plaques, which is more of what I was expecting.

The game was everything you could ask for in a game. The Blue Jays had control for most of the game. The held a 2-run lead heading into the 9th inning when they brought closer BJ Ryan to the mound. Ryan let one run in (I think it was A-Rod when Matsui hit him in). So with Matsui on base, Jason Giambi walked up to the plate to pinch hit. He quickly was in an 0-2 hole with 2 outs. It looked like the game was over. Then Ryan grooved a pitch which Giambi destroyed to his a 2-out pinch hit, walk-off home run. (It’s hard to believe that was the first one in Yankee history.) The place was electric.

All in all, it was a great day and a great game. So far on my slate, I will be at the Orioles v. Astros in a week. Then I get to see my Pirates take on the Phillies in Philly. There is talk of heading to Shea Stadium to see the Mets later this summer.
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The May Catch Up…

Posted on May 24, 2008 by Steve LaMotte

I haven’t posted since May 5th. Mainly because life has been insanely busy. School has ended and Avenue Church is in a sprint to finish up some business before many of our committees and teams slow down for the summer. I will be glad to see May go. I will welcome June with open arms, or at least that is what I say now! Here is a breakdown of what’s been going on.

1. School’s Out For Summer…sure I could’ve done summer school. Maybe I should’ve done summer school. But Andrea and Abbbie are home for the summer and I really don’t want to spend too much time in Philly (unless it’s at a Phillies game). I am pretty sure I got A’s in both of my classes. Worst case scenario is a B.

2. Senior Adventure Trip is a Success…A dream of mine was to take our seniors on a trip to celebrate all that they have done over the last 4-6 years @ Fusion. With Lee coming on board as youth pastor, we shared this trip. Now, there are some things I would do differently in hindsight, but it was a great trip. Here’s what we did…

  • Friday Night: Orioles vs. Nationals. We had the All You Can Eat Seats. Great game, Good food, great company and good fireworks afterwards!
  • Saturday: Kennywood Amusement Park. We ended up in Pittsburgh and went to Kennywood, one of the oldest parks in America. We road the Steel Phantom (or Phantom’s revenge). It’s one of the fastest coasters in the world.
  • It began to rain when we left the park. It didn’t stop.
  • Sunday: Whitewater rafting. This was intense. It rained so much the river was extremely fast. It took us 2 hours to do a four hour trip.
  • Monday: Mountain Biking. I really liked this, but it may have been a stretch for some.

3. Abbie is Walking…It’s crazy how fast she learned to walk. Now she rarely crawls. She is so much fun (except for double ear infections…or so I’ve heard)

That kinda catches you up. I hope to blog more often this summer. I will be working on some Delanco Camp stuff soon. Have a great Memorial Day Weekend.

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It’s Not Easy Being Green

Posted on May 5, 2008 by Steve LaMotte

I stopped by Dolce this morning on the way to the office. I was there to do some reading. There is a big comfy chair that faces out towards the sidewalk with a great view of Walnut St. here in Milford. It’s a great chair to read from, but also to people watch. Dolce @ 8 a.m. in the morning is a pretty busy time for people watching.

At about 8:20, a soccer mom in her early 30’s got out of her vehicle. She was wearing an Orioles ballcap and a T-shirt that said “Green is the new Black….Save the Trees.” Going Green is certainly all the rage and Andrea and I are doing our part by recycling, using energy effecient light bulbs, turning down our hot water tempurature, etc., etc., etc. What I found interesting (ironic?) is that the woman was driving a Nissan Xterra. According to my 30 seconds of research on the internet, a 2008 Nissan Xterra has a city/highway rating of 16/20 mpg. I have to admit, after seeing her t-shirt, I thought she would be driving a Saturn Vue Hybrid (25/32) or a Prius (48/45) or something in between.

Maybe I am being a little hard on green soccer mom. But it is important that what we communicate matches how we live. This is especially so as Christians. We may communicate one thing with our lives in regards to our faith and beliefs and communicate something else with how we live it out. I’m reading a book called unChristian by David Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons from the Barna Group. It speaks of the major perceptions of young people of Christianity. One of those perceptions is that Christians are hypocritical. “85 percent of young outsiders have had sufficient exposure to Christians and churches that they conclude present-day Christianity is hypocritical.” Here is a statement from the same book that is really hard to swallow. “Among young outsiders, 84% say they personally know at least one committed Christ. Yet just 15% thought the liefstyles of those Christ followers were significantly different from the norm. This gap speaks volumes.” (emphasis mine).

So what now? The authors of unChristian uncover a lot of useful information when it comes to reaching out to young adults who may be outsiders to the faith. In order to overcome some of these perceptions, we (Christians) have got to get back to follow Jesus. Love one another, feeding the hungry, caring for the sick, carrying our cross. An outsider should see that Christ has made a difference in our lives.

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Wednesday Morning Starbucks Run….

Posted on April 30, 2008 by Steve LaMotte

I stay at my in-laws on Tuesday nights since I have class on Wednesday morning. On the way into Palmer, we (Billy and I) usually stop at Wawa or Starbucks to get some morning fuel (i.e. coffee/caffeine). Since Billy was sick this week and I was traveling alone, I stopped at Starbucks and raised my coffee cup high in honor of my friend Billy.

When I came out of Starbucks to return to my car, this is what I saw on the way.

  • Audi
  • Mercedes
  • Lexus

  • Mercedes

  • Ford Escort

  • Lotus

Which one of these cars does not belong? Any idea which one was mine? And really, who drives a Lotus to work?

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Where The Rubber Meets The Road

Posted on April 23, 2008 by Steve LaMotte

Several weeks ago, I preached at our church on what it means to really live as Gdo desires us to. Part of my sermon was a list of things that I hope to accomplish before I die. Some of those things included:

  • doing ministry on all the continents (except Antarctica)
  • Adopting a child
  • Visiting all the Major League Ballparks
  • Go skydiving for my 30th birthday

Sometimes, you have to be careful what you ask for. Yesterday in the mail, I received a note from one of our congregation members with an encouraging note regarding this sermon. Included in that note was a check to cover the cost of skydiving at a local organization that does that sort of things. Two things went through me head…

  • Sweet! I am going skydiving for my 30th birthday!
  • Crap! I am going skydiving for my 30th birthday!

I have to admit that I am really excited about doing this. I am also really nervous. I definately plan on having the video/pictures done because that would just be awesome to have. I am speaking at a camp this summer, and maybe I will strive to do it before camp to use the video there.

Finally, Andrea just finished and signed our wills and established a trust for Abbie…so at least I am ready! Geranimo!

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Sunday Morning Review

Posted on April 21, 2008 by Steve LaMotte

This past Sunday was a busy one. I preached at all three services as well as led worship at the 9:30 worship time. Here’s a breakdown.

Sermon: I thought the sermon went well. I messed with the message for two weeks, so I had a good grasp of the text. While I often try to keep a message to one main point, this one had two…but I don’t think they worked against the other or was too tough to follow.

Music: The music facet of our worship time went well. We didn’t do the ‘normal’ formula at the beginning. We started with “Wrap Me in Your Arms” moved right into “For These Reasons” and finished with “Forever”. Our closing song was “From the Inside Out”. There was a great atmosphere in the room as we worshipped.

Video Element: During our series, we’ve been showing video testimonies of members of our congregation. These testimonies have been great, and Sunday was no different.

Response: The response at the end was very good at 8:00 and 9:30. We had a time for healing and an opportunity to ask God to transform our lives. The 11:00 service is more resistant to response times. I was anticipating a response, but no one came forward at 11:00, which has happened several times before when the early services had a good response.

All in all, it was a good Sunday. An encouraging Sunday for me as I have really been frustrated lately. The only down side was that I got sick Sunday night (2:30 a.m.) and was chucking in the bathroom. Oh well, you can’t win them all.

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CD/Artist That Impacted My Life (pt. 3)

Posted on April 19, 2008 by Steve LaMotte
It’s been awhile since I’ve continued this series on CD’s and artist that have been influential in my life. This post- The O.C. Supertones.

I first heard the Supertones at The Mustard Seed Jam House in my hometown of PA. The Jam House was a Christian Coffee House for teens and featured some great music. The Adventures of The O.C. Supertones was like nothing I had heard before. Being from rural PA, I didn’t hear any Ska or reggae influenced music until the Supertones. I really liked what I heard.

The thing that was most influential about the Supertones was always their lyrics. They were always Christ-centered and challenged me not to compromise my faith as a teen. Later CD’s by the Supertones took on a worshipful feel on many of the songs. The Supertones were always in rotation on the CD player and continue to be on the iPod.

I cannot remember the first time I heard the Supertones live. I know I saw them at DC/LA 2000. In all, I probably saw them 6-7 times in concert. Their shows were pure feel good energy with lots of dancing. I had the priveledge of attending their farewell tour when it came to the Baltimore area with four good friends. It was a great evening! The picture below is one I took from the frontrow at DC/LA 2000 in Washington DC.

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Saturday Musings

Posted on April 19, 2008 by Steve LaMotte

It’s Saturday afternoon. Andrea is at a confirmation retreat and Abbie is taking a nap. I just finished a project for seminary and now am listening to the Pirates lose big time to the Cubbies. Sigh.

  • I am preaching tomorrow at Avenue. I am using Luke 17:11-19 as my text. It’s when Jesus heals the ten lepers and only one returns to thank Jesus and give God glory. It was interesting as I prepared for the sermon that in the verses surrounding this passage- the people you expect to repsond to Jesus do not do so, and the people one might think would be opposed to Jesus respond. The Rich Young Ruler vs. Zacchaeus is a great example of this dichotemy. You can check out the sermon at www.avenue-umc.org/listen later next week.
  • I’ve come to the conclusion that we (the United States) should boycott the Olympics in China because of human rights issues.
  • I am ready for seminary to be over for the semester. Bring on summer and laid back evenings.
  • Ugghh, the Pirates are frustrating.
  • My good friend from college, BJ Whitaker, came to Avenue on Wednesday night to share with us about his (and Rachel’s ) call to do ministry in Spain. I am really excited for them. He did a great job sharing his passion and call for the people of Spain. You can check out his blog here. Check out his blog and consider supporting his work!

Until next time, have a great Sabbath tomorrow.

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