Episode Transcript
[00:00:08] Welcome to the creative team talks podcast for Hillsong Creative.
[00:00:18] Hello, Hillsong Creative. My name is Evie Gallardo. I've got the honor and the privilege of pastoring our greater west creative community. WHOOP, WHOOP. Shout out to GWS. Love you guys. And today I actually have the honor of encouraging us as we prepare together as a collective to lead our church in worship this weekend. So I'm going to go straight into it. I hope you're ready. Let's do this. In the beginning of the year, as I prayed over our team, I actually had this beautiful picture of an anchor. It was this heavy, amazing anchor. And I just kept that image with me for a while. And then I sat into our first staff meeting of the year in January, and pastor Robert Ferguson gets up on the platform, and guess what? The first thing that comes out of his mouth, he goes, you know what, staff? I just really believe that this year we are called to stay anchored. And I had to control myself because everything inside of me just wanted to shout hallelujah and to say amen and to say let's go. And that I was ready. And I just feel like that is a word for us as a team this year.
[00:01:40] And you probably know where I'm going with this, but there is a verse in the word of God that says that we have this hope as an anchor for our souls, and we know that we need to stay anchored in Jesus.
[00:01:55] And I don't know a lot about boats and anchoring. I don't fish. If you are into fishing, good on you. Good job. I'm not that person.
[00:02:06] So I had to actually ask for my good friend and ask for some tips. And I've got a good friend from Greater west. His name is Rowell, and he served for two years in the navy in his country. And he gave me some practical tips on how to anchor a boat. Thank God for friends, right?
[00:02:26] And he said, you know what? To anchor a boat, you actually need to make sure that the soil is right, the soil condition is right, and it takes initiative and it takes intentionality. You can't just drop your anchor. You have to drop it, but you also have to set it. And I just believe that those two words really stood out to me. And I believe that there are words for us as a team that this year it will require initiative and it will require intentionality. So here are really practical things, but I hope that they help you for us to stay anchored this year as worshippers, you know, sometimes life gets challenging, things get tough, and Sundays can feel a little bit repetitive. And it can sometimes feel like it's just a checklist that we have to go through things.
[00:03:25] But I just pray that we will be able to stay anchored as we lead our churches into the presence of God. So, are you ready?
[00:03:36] First thing is, we will stay anchored by protecting the secret place.
[00:03:43] It's actually amazing that during mission Sunday, I'm not too sure if you noticed that, but Pastor Lucinda, at the end of our presentation, she came up on the platform, and the first thing that she said as she prayed for us as a church was, may we be a people that are found in the secret place. And those words just pierced through my heart, and they really convicted me. And I just started thinking, you know what? As a team, we always hear this. We can't take people where we haven't been ourselves.
[00:04:17] Absolutely. But I also believe that we are going somewhere as a church that we haven't been before.
[00:04:24] We are entering new territory, and therefore, we need to protect the secret place and we need to spend time with Jesus. It can be going for walks, it can be worshiping in your car, but I just pray that we would take initiative and intentionality to protect that place. Life gets so busy. I know myself and my husband, we have three boys, and I am part time on staff, full time soccer mom. Life is full and beautiful. But if I am not careful, other people will put things in my calendar. If I don't take initiative and I don't take intentionality and practicing the presence of God and protecting the secret place, it's not everyone else priority for my life, but it should be my priority. So I've been really challenged to block out some time on a Friday, on my day off, to literally sit in the piano and spend time in the presence of God and just worship him. So how can you protect the secret place this year? Psalm 25 says, God friendship is for God worshippers. They are the ones he confines in.
[00:05:45] Number two, are you ready? So we are protecting the secret place. And number two, we are cultivating a heart of humility. And, oh, my goodness, I have not arrived when it comes to this topic here. And I know that when we do Sunday after Sunday after Sunday, we can go into that mode of, like, we're here just to fix things and we need to fix the front house problem that we had last year, or we need to solve this issue here, or just go through your set list and tick, tick, tick and we just get along with life and it becomes a routine. But I just pray that we would understand that we are here to serve the body of Christ. We are here to serve our church. And out of a place of humility, we are here to bless them and to point people to Jesus in Jesus name. And my last point, hope you're still there. We will stay anchored as we understand that this is just a rehearsal.
[00:06:51] Last year, if I can be very honest with you, I got to this place that I felt like I was really close to burning out.
[00:06:58] I just felt that I was going through the motions and worship leading became a routine for me. But as I sat on my piano and spent time with Jesus during January and the break, I just felt the Holy Spirit reminding me. Evie, do you think that this is just a role that you play on a Sunday? You are wrong.
[00:07:19] This is not just a position or a rostered position, but this is a calling. And you will be worshipping me for the whole of eternity. You will be singing holy, holy, holy forever, forever.
[00:07:35] And I just want to encourage us, team, that as we prepare for this weekend, to not lose sight of eternity, that this is just a practice run. This is just a rehearsal. And as we come into this weekend, I just pray that you will encounter heaven touching earth. That as you lead our team, as our church. Sorry. If you are in our CT teams, if you are a musician, if you are a vocalist, that you would have this understanding that we are pointing people towards eternity. So I hope that you're encouraged by that. We're going to stay anchored this year as worshippers, by protecting the secret place, by cultivating a heart of humility, and by understanding that this is just a rehearsal. Have an incredible Sunday, team. Bless you. And may you have an incredible encounter with the presence of our living God this weekend. We are so grateful for you. Bless.
