Tehilla : Blog

"Being With God For Others" by Mal Green, Dec. 8, 2013.

"What's there to be thankful for" (Psalm 98) by Pastor Lai Sin WONG, Aug 25, 2013.

Hello there Tehilla!

I've been meaning to write this email for a long, long time, but I could never gather the words or the time to get it done.  As today is my last day at FCC (and it's nearing 10pm), I am out of excuses :)

First of all, let me say thank you for your service, care, love, support, and many, many hours put into leading our congregation in worship over the last few years.  

I am proud of each one of you, and have felt especially blessed over the last few months to see people stepping out into new waters, taking initiative, and serving wholeheartedly.

I am so excited for you all in this upcoming season.  Will there be some hiccups here and there?  Absolutely.  But God is making space for growth.  God is challenging a new generation of leaders to rise up and lead this congregation in truthful, authentic worship that comes from the heart - whether there is a guitarist, a pianist, or none of the above :)

I don't believe for a minute that serving on the worship team is the be-all and end-all of Christian maturity.  But I do believe that it is a springboard for stepping out and saying yes to God in many other areas of your life.  You might agree to do the PowerPoints today.  And maybe that will inspire you to say yes to God tomorrow, in a totally different area of your life - maybe, even, in something that is critical to your calling.

I say this because my life was utterly, radically, irreversibly changed by a small decision that I made to say yes and play bass on my youth group's worship team when I was 14.  We sounded terrible - heavy metal mixed with cheesy jazz piano riffs and all the angst, passion, and oblivious-ness of 4 teenage boys.  I was so disconnected from experiencing God personally, but somehow that "yes" became an anchoring point for many more "yes"-es to God over the years.  Somehow, in that yes, I experienced God.  I prayed.  I wept.  He became real to me.  I am forever thankful for that bass and all that it represented.  In a very real way, it introduced me to Jesus :)

Who knows what your "yes" will lead to?

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My prayer for you all is that you would continue to step out and say yes; to serve with all your heart - not so that things run smoothly, but so that you and the team and the congregation would grow up in God in this next season at FCC.  And not so that FCC would be great, but so that God's presence would be felt, touched, and tasted by real people who are lost, broken, and in dire need of him in Hong Kong.

May you be an oasis for others, as you have been an oasis for me.

From the bottom of my heart, thank you.  Let's stay in touch :)

Hey there Tehilla!  Below is a list of resources for you all as you lead worship at FCC in the future.  Most are very practical and have to do with the day-to-day issues of preparing worship each week.

Planning Center Tutorials by Richie

I made a bunch of tutorial videos which show you how to do specific tasks on the Planning Center.  These are longer than PCO's tutorials, but they are also tailored uniquely to FCC's needs.  I would still recommend that you watch PCO's tutorials to get a better idea of how things work on PCO and why they work that way.  But these are just to get you through specific tasks when you really need to know just that one, elusive thing :)

How to Plan a Service and Schedule People (Worship Leaders, Administrators)

How to Upload PowerPoints, Videos, and Chord Files (PowerPointers, Worship Leaders, Administrators)

How to Add New Songs and Chords (Worship Leaders, Administrators, Lead Musicians)

Planning Center Tutorials by Planning Center Online

These are the tutorials that I recommend everyone watch, just because they will help you understand why things work the way they do on PCO.  My videos just tackle single issues; but if you want understanding, then you should check these out.  Note: Pastors should watch the same videos as Administrators :)

Planning Center Online - A Guided Tour (Everyone)

Volunteer Tutorial (Everyone)

Setting Up Planning Center Online (Administrators)

How To Schedule & Email Your People (Worship Leaders, Administrators)

How To Use Songs and Arrangements (Worship Leaders, Musicians, PowerPointers)

*IMPORTANT* Matrix: Planning & Scheduling Multiple Weeks (Administrators, Worship Leaders)

How to Setup People for Positions (Administrators, Worship Leaders)

How To Auto-Schedule Your People (Administrators)

Sermon Recording Tutorials by Richie

There's a little more to recording sermons and uploading them than you might think.  Below are some basic essentials.

How to add artwork and tags to sermon recordings on Tumblr (Sound Team)

How to Convert large WMA files into smaller MP3s (Sound Team)

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Almost any question you could possibly have will be answered in one of these videos.  If you have any other queries, ask Lily, as is one of Tehilla's incredible Administrators and has offered to oversee the site.

Sermon Audio Tutorial: How to add artwork and tags to sermon recordings on Tumblr

After uploading a sermon, it's important to add artwork, tags, and metadata.  This is essential for keeping our sermons easily searchable and accessible for those who visit our blog.

Sermon Audio Tutorial: How To Convert Large WMA Files into Small MP3s

Every sermon that we upload to Tumblr has to be in the MP3 format and under 10MBs (megabytes).  However, we record most of our sermons in WMA format, and most are about 50MBs.  Here's how to convert those files on a Mac using Media Converter - a free audio converter app.

You can download Media Converter here: http://media-converter.sourceforge.net/

You can download the presets mentioned in the video here: http://www.cl.ly/2i2b30030q0f3y2I1o1q

Planning Center Tutorial:  How to Add New Songs and Chords

Want to lead a song that isn't yet on the Planning Center?  Here's how to add one, and then add chords to it.  This video shows two methods, which is why it is a little longer than the others.

Planning Center Tutorial:  How to Upload PowerPoints, Videos, and Chord Files

Need to upload a PowerPoint presentation to the database?  Or a video, so that your team can learn the song?  Or chords, so that your musicians can practice at home? Here's how :)

Planning Center Tutorial: How to Plan a Service and Schedule People