Photo Credit: Air1.com
I know my favorite part of Sunday service should be the message, but I find myself most excited to hear the worship part. There is nothing like feeling the presence of 100+ believers worshipping together. It is such a surreal feeling and the worship itself is (pun intended)… elevated! Worship sets the tone for the entire service. It helps us to be present in the moment with an open mind and yearning heart for the message that is going to be heard.
I am working up the courage to try out for our church worship team, because let’s be honest… worshipping on your own in a car with an audience of one (or even with kids) is a lot different than being on stage leading a congregation. However, worship is my favorite part of Sunday service so I’ve added this as Goal #5 in my 101 in 1,001 Adventure. I am believing that it will happen, but we’ll see how quickly God believes I should lead others in worship. I’ll update my 101 in 1,001 Adventure journey once that happens!
Have you heard of Elevation Church?
Elevation Worship is a contemporary worship music collective from Elevation Church, led by Pastor Steven Furtick, in Charlotte, North Carolina. If you haven’t heard of them, I’m sure you’ve at least heard some of their songs.. The Blessing, Jireh and O Come to the Altar are three of my personal favorites! My husband & I had a chance to hear both Elevation Worship and an incredible message by Pastor Furtick during their tour in 2021.
I’m excited because Elevation Church is hosting a Pop-Up event in the Tampa Bay area in 2 weeks & tickets are FREE! During an Elevation Church Pop-Up you will experience live worship, hear a powerful message and celebrate baptisms!
Here is the current line-up of cities & dates:
- Tampa Bay, FL – July 21, 2024
- Washington D.C. – August 11, 2024
- New York, NY – September 8, 2024
- Philadelphia, PA – October 27, 2024
- San Antonio, TX – November 17, 2024
- Los Angeles, CA – December 8, 2024
During sign-up you can select the option “Go Public with Your Faith” and RSVP to get Baptized! I encourage you to speak with your local church leaders and/or check out Elevation Church’s “All About Baptism” Guide to walk you through the steps of preparing to be Baptized. The guide is geared towards kids, but I found it to be very helpful in breaking down all the information regardless of your age!
Baptism is an experience you will never forget. On May 1, 2019, our church had a Baptism Blowout event. They set up 3 pools outdoors and one person after another was baptized. I believe there were over 300 lives dedicated that night! I absolutely love this photo that my husband unexpectedly captured because there were so many emotions felt as I came up out of the water!
During our Baptism Blowout event, myself, my husband, our two older children (11 & 13 at the time), my sister-in-law, nephew and niece were all baptized! It is an incredible experience to be Baptized, but to watch as your entire family makes a public profession of faith is a once-in-a-lifetime experience! After supporting our decisions and watching the rest of the family, my Mom decided to become baptized on-site, without any extra clothes! Our youngest daughter was dedicated to the church as a baby and now we are waiting for her to understand the meaning of Baptism, answer any questions and for her to decide to profess her faith.
When you sign up to attend your Elevation Church Pop-Up, you’ll also have an opportunity to sign up to serve with Elevation Outreach the day prior to the event! For the Tampa Bay area Pop-Up, there were three service opportunities:
- Food Distribution with Feeding Tampa Bay (Participants must be 16 or older)
- Sorting Clothing Donations with Clothes to Kids (Participants must be 14 or older)
- Mobile Food Delivery to Seniors with Meals on Wheels (Family-friendly service opportunity, but drivers must be 18 or older & some walking required)
Ready to grab your tickets & experience Elevation Worship in person? Head over to the Elevation Church Pop-Up website and grab your tickets! Comment below if you plan on attending the Tampa Bay Pop-Up!