Breathing life into your preaching and worship

May 2004       


OUR LATEST EDITION


This Month's Articles:

They Shall be Comforted:
A Memorial Day Reflection

by Renée Harms

Today my heart is heavy after a sobering reminder that "life is only a breath"-and carries no guarantees. Today I learned of deaths in the families of three of my co-workers. This follows two from just last week, and another from six months ago.

This news has left me bewildered and stunned. I didn't even know the individuals, but to see death affecting so many friends all at once is both overwhelming and frightening.
I am reminded of the fragility of life—the tenuous ground on which we stand that is the difference between life and death. The simple fact is, tomorrow I could lose someone I love, or perhaps my own life could end. This is the nature of the sinful world in which we exist. As is the reality of war.

I think of the hundreds-even thousands-of people, both civilians and soldiers, who have died as a result of the recent months of fighting in Iraq. And I think of all the families and friends they have left behind to mourn their loss, and wonder, "Why?"

I can only imagine the grief those people are experiencing.

I am reminded of the pain that exists all around me. The people who hurt and cry, and can't yet see past their tears to better days. The people who feel alone in their suffering. The men, like the one in this picture, who carry bitter memories of war, where they faced death every day, where innocent victims got caught in the crossfire, and where ! death claimed the lives of countless friends. As the years pass by, their pain still lingers.

And yet Jesus said, "Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted." (Matthew 5:4) The Christian message offers hope to the hurting. In the midst of pain and remembering, God longs to send His angels-and sometimes you and I-to offer comfort and support in countless ways, to countless people.

As we approach Memorial Day weekend, a time of remembrance, of honoring heroes, of mourning loss and celebrating lives, may we be reminded that God is the source of all hope, and there is a day coming when "they that mourn" will indeed know complete happiness.


Now Presenting:
The Power of PowerPoint

PowerPoint is a very robust piece of software designed to allow the end user to create wonderful presentations. Unfortunately, PowerPoint is a business tool. It can be very easy for pastors or multimedia volunteers to get intimidated by the numerous features inside PowerPoint. This lesson lab is designed to focus on the features a church can use to maximize the power of PowerPoint—for sermons, praise time and announcements.

A PowerPoint overview:

PowerPoint is a Microsoft® product, this means that any of the general techniques and shortcuts you know about other Microsoft products will probably apply to PowerPoint. Like most Microsoft products, PowerPoi! nt uses a basic category system for organizing its features. The categories located at the top of the screen are: File, Edit, View, Insert, Format, Tools, Slide Show, Window, and Help. Every feature you need for your sermon can be found in those categories. We will be covering the features that make up general sermon design. See This Article.



On the Road: On-Site at the CMA Conference


Last month we attended the CMA (Christian Management Association) conference held at the brand-new Gaylord Resort in Grapevine, Texas. Most people wonder what can be found in Grapevine, but let me tell you, they know how to treat their guests. The conference was an excellent opportunity to meet with over 1,700 pastors, non-profit leaders and national ministries. Although we did not get a chance to attend the workshops, we did have the pleasure of meeting with other great ministries.

We were excited to form relationships that will enable us to inform our customers about other multimedia ministry resources. While at the event, we met with Rob from Igniter Video who has been putting together some great videos for church services. We also met with a few audio/video suppliers. We are going to do research in the hopes of recommending the best A/V company from whi! ch you will be able to purchase your projectors and other hardware.

While down there, we also met some of our customers. It was a great opportunity to put faces with names and hear stories about how our product is helping on the front lines. Next month we will let you know where we are going next. We look forward to being at many more shows over the next couple of months, and we hope to see you there!


SURVEY RESULTS

We want to thank the many churches that helped us with last month's survey. We were very excited with the results we received. Our mission is to help equip churches and ministries with the multimedia tools that can be so powerful in our visual society. The results from this survey will help us allocate our resources toward the products that you feel will be the most helpful. After tallying the votes and looking through the individual comments, we believe that churches have a strong desire for additional worship resources, and would appreciate the ability to utilize our graphics for other forms of communication outside of our standard licensing agreement. With that in mind, we have rallied the troops and started the development of a new worship-only product, in addition to a communication companion for each of our Oxygen volumes. Our new worship product will be designed similar to our current CD-! ROMs, and will include a large number of pre-built templates and slides, as well as the ability to create your own slides using a variety of components that we give you. The communication companion will allow churches to utilize their Oxygen graphics for Web and print applications, resulting in complete, themed programs for their services. We hope these two new products will benefit all your efforts. Feel free to continue giving us your feedback on our current products and upcoming projects.



Thank you for joining us in this issue of Breathe. Next month, look for another e-mail loaded with church media tips and tools designed to help increase the visual impact of your service.

Here is a preview of what you will see next month:

  • Another feature article from Renée Harms
  • Now Presenting: A new multimedia lesson lab
  • Tour schedule: Information about our next road trip.



    Until then, go with God and be powerful for His Kingdom,

    The Oxygen Team




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