Saturday's @6 on the 23rd of the 8th in 08

Before I start the point of this post, I'd like to describe my position at my church- Horizon Ministries. Currently I am the 'master sound technician' (lol my own made-up title) which means I control all the sound during the service. I use a soundboard which has all the microphones and instruments plugged into it. When you see a video, I unmute the computer audio button; when you hear the band rock out, I unmute all the instruments and mics; and when you hear Pastor Jim speak, unfortunately, I unmute his mic. (Haha! totally joking around on that last part... sorry Jim)

But it's not just the unmute button that's in play, I also have to keep a close listen to the volume and other aspects of sound. This is especially the case when I mix sound for the band. Is the electric guitar too loud? Turn it down. Why can't I hear Brittany singing? Turn her up. Does Trent's guitar sound too tinny? Turn down the treble. Does the violinist have a solo coming up? Turn it up. I also have to keep a close listen when Jim speaks. Why is Jim yelling?! Turn him down! (LOL man I am so sorry Jim)

Now you may be thinking, "How in the world can she listen to the message when she is constantly worrying about the sound of everything?" Well, the truth is, I can't. Most nights I go home and I don't have a clue about what was said. And it's not the fact that it wasn't a good message, it's just that I was too concerned about "was that too loud or too quiet??" THEREFORE, I have devised a plan to solve this problem. I WILL pay attention to the message and (hopefully) every Sunday I will post about what was said. This is my way to reflect on the previous night's message as well as give my readers a little taste of what we believe at Horizon. Don't worry, they will be short and to the point :) So here it goes!

The most significant thing that I took away from last night's message (Aug 23) was the difference between religion and Christianity. Basically, religion is about the DO and Christianity is about the DONE. Religion is all about doing good things and not doing bad things in order to get into heaven- I have to be good or God will punish me. But Christianity is all about not having to earn my way into heaven by doing good things because Jesus already took care of it when he died on the cross. I don't have to DO anything, just accept that it's already been done through Jesus.

A few more points that I found particularly comforting were: there is nothing I can do to make God love me more (doing good deeds)- it's not in my hands. And also: there is nothing I can do to make God love me less(even if I totally reject him).

And lastly, Christianity is not about getting my ticket punched and going to Heaven. It's about my relationship with Jesus and bringing him to others.

-Abby