Growing Pains

Remember the first time you sang in church?  It might be safe to say that it wasn't your best performance...it may have been a real "bomb"!  I can honestly say that after the first time I played in church I wanted to hide for a week, or two!
Any time you have a "first" attempt it is usually not your best.  The first time you make a new recipe you figure out a thing or two you might need to change for next time, or maybe there just won't be a next time...ha!  Sometimes we can get used to a level of "performance" in the church service that doesn't allow for anyone to experience a "first".  Anytime there is a "first", as music coordinator, I practice extra hard, go over every detail, and sweat it out with the new musicians, but there will always be some "pain".  Someone didn't hold the mic right, someone lost their "part", the pianist lost the rhythm, etc... you can go on and on.   But there is something GREAT accomplished - a FIRST!  Someone did something for the Lord for the first time, it is now behind them and they can look on to the next time, and the next time, and then a lifetime of serving the Lord, and hopefully improving as they go, with the Lord's help and blessings.
If you are a mature Christian, get in on the attitude of enjoying someone else's "first time"!  There are enough grouches that will criticize and find fault, let's be the cheerleaders and find the good to encourage.  Maybe it was the time spent, the spirit of the performance, or just the willingness to put themselves out there in front of the congregation.  Praise the Lord for willing servants who put forth the effort!
Encourage yourself and the new musicians with Philippians 3:13, 14 - "Brethren, I count not myself tohave apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, ¹⁴I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus."