When Chicago and Blood, Sweat, and Tears added horns to rock in the late 1960's, I never looked back. The groundwork had been laid by the horns in the Motown Sound, but horns added to rock? Chicago IX (1975) is still the album I would take to a desert island if I could only take one -- and "Make Me Smile" remains my favorite rock song of all time. (Mark Spitz, the pre-Phelps most-gold Olympic swimmer, used to train in the pool with "Make Me Smile" thumping in his underwater headphones. It's why he won gold!)
This morning at Elevation Church in Charlotte I thought I was back at the University of Alabama where I saw Chicago in concert for the first (the only) time -- there were horns in the house band. Admittedly, a small start -- two saxaphones -- and only for one song. But what a sound! I've said before in this blog that Elevation's music/worship band(s) is the best I've EVER seen. There are several house bands that rotate between the three church campuses on Sunday morning, and none is better than the others. They are all polished, practiced, and performance-oriented. Unlike a lot of church bands, there is NOTHING tentative about these bands. From the get-go, they know exactly what they're doing and they don't hold back. (Unfortunately, the weekly video of the services on the church's web site only includes the sermon, not the music, so you'll have to attend in person to get thumped -- and you will get thumped. The bass player's Ampeg stack was taller than he was.)
As good as the music was today, the sermon was the focal point. I first learned about Mephibosheth (2 Samuel 9) from a carpet cleaner with a sixth grade education from Cleveland, TN, named Milton Green (now in heaven). It's one of the most powerful stories of redemption and grace in the whole Bible. And Steven Furtick did it justice this morning. I would encourage all to watch the sermon when it's posted online by Monday or Tuesday of this week. (When you go the Elevation Church homepage, click on the "Launch Full Media Player" button. The list of three sermons in the current "Come Home" series will show to the right, and today's sermon (don't know the actual name) will be the first in the list of three. It's one of the best sermons I've heard Steven preach.)
This morning at Elevation Church in Charlotte I thought I was back at the University of Alabama where I saw Chicago in concert for the first (the only) time -- there were horns in the house band. Admittedly, a small start -- two saxaphones -- and only for one song. But what a sound! I've said before in this blog that Elevation's music/worship band(s) is the best I've EVER seen. There are several house bands that rotate between the three church campuses on Sunday morning, and none is better than the others. They are all polished, practiced, and performance-oriented. Unlike a lot of church bands, there is NOTHING tentative about these bands. From the get-go, they know exactly what they're doing and they don't hold back. (Unfortunately, the weekly video of the services on the church's web site only includes the sermon, not the music, so you'll have to attend in person to get thumped -- and you will get thumped. The bass player's Ampeg stack was taller than he was.)
As good as the music was today, the sermon was the focal point. I first learned about Mephibosheth (2 Samuel 9) from a carpet cleaner with a sixth grade education from Cleveland, TN, named Milton Green (now in heaven). It's one of the most powerful stories of redemption and grace in the whole Bible. And Steven Furtick did it justice this morning. I would encourage all to watch the sermon when it's posted online by Monday or Tuesday of this week. (When you go the Elevation Church homepage, click on the "Launch Full Media Player" button. The list of three sermons in the current "Come Home" series will show to the right, and today's sermon (don't know the actual name) will be the first in the list of three. It's one of the best sermons I've heard Steven preach.)
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