There's Hope On The Horizon.
August is here, but what will it look like?
Live from Sydney. Weather update…
It’s winter. Clouds grey and ominous. Rain bucketing down like a storm on the Sea of Galilee. But as the calendar tips into August, there’s hope on the horizon!
That’s a statement we’ve loved lately.
“There’s hope on the horizon.”
Take another look at the painting above.
Look at the storm.
Now count the people.
There’s 14 in the boat. Jesus, his 12 disciples… and one more.
Rembrandt. The artist who painted the scene.
He painted himself into the story.
Rembrandt wanted us to know that he would either be lost in a sea of chaos, or preserved by the Son of God. And that we’re all in the same boat.
Friends, no matter what season you find yourself in this August, remember, with Jesus in your “boat”, you will get to the other side. There is always hope for even better days ahead. There’s a better season coming, and a better future in Him.
And so there is always hope on the horizon and always something to look forward to!
👀 Looking Ahead: Stirring up the gift of worship!
This month, our focus is: Worship. Especially on Sundays.
It seems “worship” has gotten a bad wrap lately. By that we mean singing and songs, especially for Church. There’s so much negative talk about “the industry”… and countless opinions about people’s motives for being a worship leader, or worship song-writer.
That’s not okay. Why? Because it’s dulled people’s desire to honor and deeply seek the Lord through singing.
We serve a singing God. We’re meant to be singing people.
So this month, we’ll be inspiring you to lift or reclaim your view of worship, especially through songs sung on a Sunday at Church.
Get ready!!
If you’ve got questions about all this (like, “Should my church be writing songs?” or “What do we do with the songs we write?”) let us know in the comments or DM. If you’re not part of the The Collective join now and ask your questions too.
💡 Catch Up on July Highlights…
1. A Letter to Creatives From Kory Miller (Red Rocks Worship).
Kory wrote “Hannah wasn’t writing with the motive of a legacy.” Two things struck me. 1. Hannah was a song writer! 2. She did it simply for God! Why do you do what you do?
2. Tired of Feeling Misunderstood in Church? Here’s a Better Way Forward.
Maybe this should have been called “6 Ways to Pastor Creatives Well” because that’s what it teaches. It’s an area we’re passionate about, one that’s often neglected.
3. When Presence Isn’t Actually On The Setlist.
Jesus turned up for humanity. So as creatives, especially leaders and pastors, what does turning up for your team really look like? That’s what you’ll discover in this article.
🔥 July Resources to Bookmark.
We launched three premium tools this month to help you care and be cared for as a church creative. Make sure you’ve bookmarked them for later. Otherwise, upgrade now to get access.
🧾 The 3-Minute Pastoral Pause
This cheatsheet will help you remember the basics of turning every moment into an opportunity to do more than assign tasks and expect outcomes from those around you.
📌 Burnout Reflection and Recovery Plan Generator
A.I can’t replace the word of God, or the Holy Spirit, but it can help you distill your thoughts, embrace your feelings and describe your current situation. This prompt will have you do the thinking and reflection, then suggest a plan to take to trusted friends, leaders, and the Lord.
🗣️ Creative Culture Conversation Guide
Some conversations are hard. Where do you start? How do you not offend? How do you describe how you’re feeling? This guide will offer some suggestions, especially for those tricky conversations with leadership you’ve probably been avoiding.
📝 A personal note…
Lately, we’ve realized afresh, the need to refocus on sharing what we’ve learn’t from our years of leading and pastoring church creatives. It’s what we do best and it’s where we see a lot of need.
We know you don’t all lead worship and creative teams, but our hope is that you’re all contributing to the life of a church. And churches need creativity, and in that way, you’re probably more of a leader than you may think.
With this in mind - we’re almost ready to share a secret project we’ve spent the last 2 years working on. It’s been a long time coming, but it’s finally almost here. We pray you find it a game changer when it’s launched. Stay tuned!!
Also this month, (after a bunch of you let us know you’ve missed it), we’re planning to relaunch The Rapid 5. It will be a new version, packed with fresh insights, inspiration, and tools to help your creative life, leadership and spiritual formation. Look out for it in the days the come!
One last thing… would you help us by giving this post a “heart” so we know you’ve seen it? Thanks.
Grace and peace,
Rich & Cass