Radiate: Tristan’s blog

This is a video Eric and I put together for the first week of advent. Every year for advent, we’ve had different families or individuals come up on stage during the services, read a short explanatory paragraph and scripture passage, and light the candle for that week. It worked well, but we felt like it would cease to be special if we did it the same way every year. This year we decided to do the “reading” via video and simply have the family light the candle while the video plays. Below is the video for this week, discussing the topic of peace. (By the way, we don’t always use the traditional candle names and order. We change them to better fit with that year’s Christmas message series. That’s reflected in these videos.)

My friend Eric (our youth pastor) and I worked together on our church’s Thanksgiving Eve service. We divided it into three sections: thanksgiving in happiness, thanksgiving in the ordinary, and thanksgiving in suffering. I put together this video, which illustrates the first half of David Crowder Band’s version of “All Creatures of Our God and King,” to be used at the end of the “ordinary” section.  I think it turned out fine, although if I had more time I would have done some things differently and crafted it more.  Enjoy… 
Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Here’s to seeing the extraordinary in everyday life and responding in gratitude.

-T

It sure has been a while since I’ve written. I’m planning to come back from blogging hiatus. We’ll see how that goes.
Since I posted a section of a hymn last time I wrote (almost eight months ago), here’s another one to (book)end the silence:

Eternal Power, whose high abode
Becomes the grandeur of a God,
Infinite lengths beyond the bounds
Where stars resolve their little rounds!

There while the first archangel sings,
He hides his face behind his wings,
And ranks of shining thrones around
Fall worshiping, and spread the ground.

Lord, what shall earth and ashes do?
We would adore our Maker, too;
From sin and dust to Thee we cry,
The Great, the Holy, and the High.

Earth from afar has heard Thy fame,
And worms have learned to lisp Thy Name;
But, O! the glories of Thy mind
Leave all our soaring thoughts behind.

God is in Heaven, and men below;
Be short our tunes, our words be few;
A solemn reverence checks our songs,
And praise sits silent on our tongues.

Hymns for the use of the Methodist Episcopal Church:
Revised Edition, 1849
Number 27, L. M., Solemn reverence.

Sometimes we overflow with many words praising the nearness and love of God. At other times we are left speechless in wonder—or just wondering. And praise sits silent on our tongues.