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Set List, 01/28 – 01/29/12 Fellowship Bible Church

January 29, 2012

This weekend, we returned to continue our series on the book of Romans.  Joe preached from what is possibly my favorite passage of Scripture – Romans 3:21-31. The gospel of grace, and the doctrine of justification by faith alone apart from the law, are both very clearly laid out here, and I am reminded of the amazing gift that we have been given in Christ. We all need to be constantly reminded of what the work of Christ has accomplished for us, because it changes everything. You can listen to the entire message here.

Here’s our service plan from this weekend:

Time of Preparation/Prayer
“I Need You” (G) [Kristian Stanfill]
Call To Worship
Welcome/Greeting Time
“Marvelous Light” (Bb) [Charlie Hall]
“You Alone Can Rescue” (Bb) [Matt Redman]
“Nothing But The Blood” (Bb) [Matt Redman]
“Lamb Of God” (Ab) [original]
Message – “Romans 3:21-31 – Justification” [Joe Hishmeh]
“Jesus Messiah” (G) [Daniel Carson, Chris Tomlin, Ed Cash, Jesse Reeves]
Offering/Announcements
Dismissal


“I Need You” – We sang this song in our preparation time this weekend. I love the clarity of this song, and how it lays out our desperation for Christ’s work for us. We are lost without Him. We are hopeless and helpless without Him. It is such a powerful song. We bring it down from the key of Bb to G, and it is much more singable for our congregation. I want to incorporate this song more into our regular worship sets, as I think our congregation is getting a better grasp of it.

“Marvelous Light” – This was our opener this week. We haven’t sung this song in a while, but I think it was very fitting for us to sing this week as we focused on the cross. While we were a people without any hope and without spiritual life, Jesus stepped in and died for us, conquering sin and death. He has adopted us as sons and daughters, and has made us alive together with Him. Praise God that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life for us.

“You Alone Can Rescue” – This song continues to be one of my favorites. The chorus really draws the line in the sand regarding the gospel: “You alone can rescue/ You alone can save/ You alone can lift us from the grave/ You came down to find us/ And led us out of death/ To You alone belongs the highest praise.” Because Jesus is the one who rescued us, He is the only one who deserves the credit, the praise, and the glory. He is the only one!

“Nothing But The Blood” – We haven’t done this song much at Fellowship, but it was a perfect fit to our talk on justification this weekend. Nothing but the blood of Jesus reconciles us to God and makes it possible for us to be declared righteous before a holy God. His blood is the payment for our sin, satisfying the wrath of God against sin, and making peace with God for us. I was moved to tears several times this weekend as we sang this song. Jesus is our peace.

“Lamb of God” – This is a song that I wrote a few years ago as I was studying Isaiah 53. I wanted to write a song that really described the nature of the payment that Jesus paid for us as our substitute. I wanted to challenge us as a congregation to not sing these kinds of songs lightly, but to try and envision the suffering that Jesus bore in our place. I think that is how we sing of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross with meaning. It is, and should be, overwhelming to think of how much Christ suffered for us, and how much He has given us that we did not deserve. He is far too good to us.

“Jesus Messiah” – We sang this song as our response this week. This about summed it all up from this weekend. As 2 Corinthians says, “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.” Jesus took our place, and He gives us His.

This weekend was really powerful, and I really experienced the presence of Christ as we worshiped in our services. When we focus so clearly and heavily on what Jesus accomplished for us, it is hard to avoid being overwhelmed with thanksgiving. I had to hold it together a few times when it was really hitting home. Our team did a great job. We also played Warren Barfield’s “Saved” a few times this weekend between services, just to have fun and celebrate our salvation in Christ. God is good!

I hope you had a great weekend of worship wherever you were!

In the Son,
Bill

p.s. don’t forget to check out The Worship Community!

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Set List, 01/21 – 01/22/12 Fellowship Bible Church

January 22, 2012

This weekend, we returned to finish our heaven series, “Heaven Revealed.”  Joe shared about the purpose of heaven and how we can be prepared for heaven. I really loved spending the time this weekend trying to get our hearts and minds around a clearer vision of heaven. You can listen to the entire message here.

Here’s our service plan from this weekend:

Time of Preparation/Prayer
“Jesus You” (E) [Bill Horn]
Call To Worship
“Sing To The King” (E) [Billy Foote, Charles Silvester Horne]
Welcome/Greeting Time
“Happy Day” (B) [Ben Cantelon, Tim Hughes]
“Glorious Day” (B) [Michael Bleecker, J. Wilbur Chapman]
“Jesus Paid It All” (B) [Elvina M. Hall, John Thomas Grape, Alex Nifong]
Message – “Heaven Revealed, Pt. 2″ [Joe Hishmeh]
“Revelation Song” (C) [Jennie Lee Riddle]
Offering/Announcements
Dismissal


“Jesus You” – We sang this song as our preparation song this weekend. This is an original song that came from a study of the book of Romans, especially chapters three through five. We sang it for the preparation time this week because the song ends by pointing to eternity: “Now Death, where is your sting?/ You send me home, where forever I will sing/ You, Jesus, You.” We have no need to fear death if we are in Christ. Death only sends us to our true home – the presence of Jesus.

“Sing To The King” – This was our opener this week. This song was used because it points to Christ’s ultimate victory, which gives us the promise of a future together with Him in heaven. The focus of this song certainly gives reason for celebration!

“Happy Day” – We sang this song primarily because of the second verse: “When I stand in that place/ Free at last, meeting face to face/ I am Yours, Jesus, You are mine/ Endless joy and perfect peace/ Earthly pain finally will cease/ Celebrate, Jesus is alive/ He’s alive!” Once again, it is because of the salvation we have in Christ that we can look forward in anticipation of the day when we see Jesus face to face. All tears and sorrow will be gone, and we will experience a joy that defies description!

“Glorious Day” – This song is still fairly new to our congregation, being that we only started singing it a few weeks ago. You can read more of my thoughts on the song here. This week, we decided to bring it down another half-step to B to see if it would be even easier for our congregation to sing.

“Jesus Paid It All” – This song is a staple for our church, and we sang it because it celebrates the one who resurrected us from spiritual death – Jesus Christ. He is the reason we have life. He is the one who has saved us. We did not (and could not) save ourselves. We owe all thanks, praise, and honor to Him. He is the one who paid our debt and raised these lives up from the dead!

“Revelation Song” – This was our response song this weekend. It was one that I had planned on doing for this series when we first started talking about it, and when we sang it for the “Heaven Is For Real” event this past Sunday night, it became a natural tie to this weekend as we concluded our formal discussion on heaven in our services this weekend.

This weekend was really powerful, and we experienced the presence of Christ as we worshiped in our services. Our team did a great job, and our congregation sang like crazy, which was exciting to witness. I am overwhelmed by the goodness of Christ in His promise of heaven for us. I can’t wait to see Him face to face.

I hope you had a great weekend of worship wherever you were!

In the Son,
Bill

p.s. don’t forget to check out The Worship Community!

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Set List, 01/07 – 01/08/12 Fellowship Bible Church

January 9, 2012

This weekend, we began our Romans series, “Grow In Christ.” Our family pastor, Brian Tryhus, taught about the background information surrounding Paul’s letter to the Romans, as well as calling us as a church to committing ourselves to a diligent study of the book, both individually and in community. I think it was a great challenge to all of us for the new year. I am excited about what the Lord is going to do in our church as we delve into Romans together. I pray that the gospel becomes ever more clear and sure for each of us. You can listen to the entire message here.

This was an interesting and unexpected weekend. I was not originally scheduled to lead, but another leader’s sickness necessitated it. About 3 hours before we started rehearsal, I adjusted our song set, communicated the change with the team, and we went for it. I was once again impressed by the flexibility and ability of our team. They all did a fantastic job, and it was a great weekend of worship, as we focused heavily on the gospel. Each song reflects that focus in some way.

Here’s our service plan from this weekend:

Time of Preparation/Prayer
“The Love Of God” (D) [Frederick M. Lehman, Meir Ben Isaac Nehorai]
Welcome/Greeting Time
“All Because Of Jesus” (Bb) [Steve Fee]
“Glorious One” (C) [Steve Fee]
“Glorious Day” (C) [Michael Bleecker, J. Wilbur Chapman]
Message – “Romans: Grow In Christ – Introduction” [Brian Tryhus]
Communion
Communion Song – “Sing To Jesus” (Eb) [Richard Nibbe, Fernando Ortega]
Offering/Announcements
“In Christ Alone” (D) [Keith Getty, Stuart Townend]
Dismissal


“The Love Of God” – We sang this song as our preparation song this weekend. I especially love the third verse, which makes a beautiful analogy to speak of the greatness of God’s love:

Could we with ink the oceans fill
And were the skies of parchment made
Were every stalk on earth a quill
And every man a scribe by trade
To write the love of God above
Would drain the ocean dry
Nor could the scroll contain the whole
Though stretched from sky to sky

“All Because Of Jesus” – This was our opener this week. We sang it because Jesus’s sacrifice for us is the reason we have life and hope. As we focus on Romans, this was a fitting song.

“Glorious One” – This song is a favorite of mine, but I have not sung it with Fellowship before this weekend. Fortunately, it was one that they had sung previously, and it was good to bring it back and sing it together.

“Glorious Day” – This song is new to our congregation, and it is one that I have wanted to introduce ever since I heard it. It is from Michael Bleecker and the Village Church, and it first appears on their album, “God Of Victory.”  (Yes, Casting Crowns did a cover of it, taking some liberties of their own, but I definitely prefer the first rendition by the Village). I love the lyric (written in 1909 by J. Wilbur Chapman), and how it communicates Christ’s incarnation, death, resurrection, and return. It moves me every time I hear it or sing it, because the truth of it resonates deeply in me. Here’s the lyric of the song:

Verse 1
One day when heaven was filled with His praises
One day when sin was as black as could be
Jesus came forth to be born of a virgin
Dwelt among men, my Example is He

Chorus
Living He loved me, dying He saved me
Buried He carried my sins far away
Rising He justified freely forever
One day He’s coming
O glorious day

Verse 2
One day they led Him up Calvary’s mountain
One day they nailed Him to die on the tree
Suffering anguish, despised and rejected
Bearing our sins, my Redeemer is He

Verse 3
One day the grave could conceal Him no longer
One day the stone rolled away from the door
Then He arose, o’er death He had conquered
Now is ascended, my Lord evermore

Verse 4
One day the trumpet will sound for His coming
One day the skies with His glories will shine
Wonderful day, my beloved ones bringing
Glorious Savior, this Jesus is mine

“Glorious Day”
J. Wilbur Chapman | Michael BleeckerCCLI Song No. 5181287
© 2008 Word Music, LLC (a div. of Word Music Group, Inc.)

“Sing To Jesus” – This song was brand new to me this week. Sarah Oldberg had picked it out as a communion song this week, so I wanted to leave it in if I could learn it. It is such a beautiful lyric and melody. We did the song with just piano (Cory Zipperle did a great job making it happen!) and vocal. This song was also my introduction to Fernando Ortega. I had heard the name, but never heard any of his music before this week. I am now a fan. I am looking forward to discovering more of his music as a result of this song!

“In Christ Alone” – This was our response song this weekend. I love this modern hymn. It’s interesting to play on guitar, because the traditional arrangement probably wasn’t written with guitar in mind… But it works, and the power of the song takes care of it. It declares the gospel clearly and beautifully, and it is a song that just sounds like I knew it, even when it was the first hearing. It is truly in Christ alone that we have salvation, life, and hope.

I hope you had a great weekend of worship wherever you were!

In the Son,
Bill

p.s. don’t forget to check out The Worship Community!

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Thoughts on Twitter for a New Year

January 2, 2012

I have been thinking a lot about my use of social media. In examining my status updates and tweets, or at least the motives behind them, some questions have arisen about where it could be headed. Am I posting for selfish reasons? Am I posting for the sake of image management (trying to get other people to think of me the way I want them to)? Am I wasting valuable time with some of these posts? Am I trying to give and be generous more than I am seeking to gain from it? Am I building the body of Christ with my posts? Am I making much of Jesus?

I think these are valuable questions- ones that give me some clarity about what to do going forward.

From here on, I resolve to use social media for the benefit of others and the kingdom of God. I will make much of Jesus rather than myself. I will build the body of Christ. I will share humor to make people smile. I will share wisdom and experiences so others can learn from my mistakes. I will no longer use it for the sake of myself or my own image. Jesus and His kingdom are infinitely more important, and there is no time to waste.

Hold me to it.

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Set List, 12/31/11 – 01/01/12 Fellowship Bible Church

January 1, 2012

This weekend, we began a two-part series on heaven called “Heaven Revealed.” Joe shared about the biblical picture of heaven. Joe shared details about the perfection, key person, and people of  heaven. It reminded us all of the place that is prepared for us, and the hope that we have because of it. You can listen to the entire message here.

Here’s our service plan from this weekend:

Time of Preparation/Prayer
“Beautiful” (D) [Phil Wickham]
Welcome/Greeting Time
“Happy Day” (Bb) [Tim Hughes, Ben Cantelon]
“Everlasting God” (Bb) [Brenton Brown]
“Forever Reign” (Bb) [Jason Ingram, Reuben Morgan]
“Lord of All” (Bb) [Kristian Stanfill]
Message – “Heaven Revealed, Pt. 1″ [Joe Hishmeh]
Offering/Announcements
“Beautiful” (D) [Phil Wickham]
Dismissal


“Beautiful” – We sang this song both as our preparation song and as our response song this weekend. We did it differently in the respective positions in the service. I love this song. I love how it communicates what the Lord has done and is going to do in the story of redemption. It begins by describing how God’s creation displays His glory, then describes what Jesus accomplished on the cross, and finishes by describing the day when we enter into heaven and see the Lord face-to-face. This song moves me as I imagine that day. I’ve posted about this song before here.

“Happy Day” – We opened our services this weekend with this song. We sang this song because it clearly connected the ideas of redemption and heaven. The second verse points specifically to the day when we see Jesus in heaven. Another reason we sang this song was because of the occasion. Since Sunday was New Year’s Day, we anticipated some tired people for our morning services, and this song brought some crucial energy to our gathering and helped us get going.

“Everlasting God” – This song is a staple for us at Fellowship, and it was a great way for us to focus on the fact that our God is eternal. If we have been born again, we will be together with Him for eternity. We find our hope and our life in who He is – the everlasting God.

“Forever Reign” – For eternity, the substance of our song will be the name of Jesus. As those He has redeemed, He is everything to us. He is the one who rescued us. He is the one who made a way for us. He is our source of life and hope. He is the reason we have eternal life. It is all because of Him. Forever, we will sing His praise, because He is the one who is worthy of it all.

“Lord of All” – We connected this song with “Forever Reign” as the ideas are really tied together. Scripture says (in Philippians 2:8-11) that because Jesus humbled Himself to death on a cross, the Father has given Him “the name that is above every other name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow… and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.” He is worthy of all worship, because there is no one who compares with Him. He is matchless in glory, honor, and power.

Our team did a great job. We had a lot of fun and tried We had two new team members this weekend, and one who came back from some maternity leave, and it was great to have them all contributing. This weekend was a first for me, in that we had to lead on both New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. Doing services on both Saturdays and Sundays has some unique challenges on weekends like this (just like last weekend’s Christmas Eve/Day combination), but it was special to end one year and begin the next together with our church.

I hop you had a great weekend of worship wherever you were! Happy New Year!

In the Son,
Bill

p.s. don’t forget to check out The Worship Community!

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2011 in review

December 31, 2011

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

A New York City subway train holds 1,200 people. This blog was viewed about 5,300 times in 2011. If it were a NYC subway train, it would take about 4 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.

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Set List, 12/24 – 12/25/11 Christmas Eve and Christmas Day at Fellowship Bible Church

December 25, 2011

This weekend, we finished our Advent series with a message entitled, “God In Us.” In it, Joe shared about how God is closer to us than anyone because He is in us. He is “God with us” in a way that would have never imagined before Christ came. Christ’s finished work on the cross for us has made this possible. We have inestimable blessings that come from God’s immanence within us. You can listen to the entire message here.

Here’s our service plan from this weekend:

Carol Singing Pre-Service
“Away In A Manger” (E) [Unknown, Charles H. Gabriel, James R. Murray]
“Hark The Herald Angels Sing” (E) [Charles Wesley, George Whitefield, Felix Mendelssohn]
“Angels We Have Heard On High” (F) [Unknown French Poet, translated by James Chadwick]
“Angels From The Realms Of Glory” (Bb) [James Montgomery, Henry Smart]
Welcome/Announcements/Greeting Time
“Joy To The World” (C) [Isaac Watts]
 “O Come Let Us Adore Him” (D) [John Francis Wade, C. Frederick Oakeley, Matt Crocker, Autumn Hardman, Ryan Taubert]
“What Child Is This” (Em) [William Chatterton Dix]
“Emmanuel (Hallowed Manger Ground)” (G) [Ed Cash and Chris Tomlin]
Message – “God In Us” [Joe Hishmeh]
“Silent Night” (A) [Joseph Mohr, Franz Zaver Gruber, translated by John Freeman Young]
Dismissal

(Because this weekend is Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, I will not be doing an elaborate recap, but I wanted to point out one song in particular, because it was a fresh element to our Christmas services this year, and I really enjoy it.)

“O Come Let Us Adore Him” – This song comes from Hillsong’s new Christmas album, Born Is The King. It builds on the classic Christmas hymn, “O Come All Ye Faithful,” adding a powerful chorus that sings, “O come all ye faithful/ Come let us adore Him.” The entire album has a very unique feel for Hillsong, being more folky and organic sounding. This song is no exception, and has a really cool energy about it, which makes it really fun to sing together. I really encourage you to check it out if you haven’t heard it yet.

I am so grateful that my family is back for this weekend of worshiping our God together. They were in southern Illinois for the past 2 1/2 weeks helping my mother-in-law for some post-surgery recovery. I missed them like crazy!

I am also very grateful for the opportunity to worship and work with my friends here at Fellowship Bible Church. My life is enriched by our worship team, and especially our worship staff. Erik Oldberg, Wyatt Johnston, Sarah Oldberg, Jack Hishmeh, and Dennis Brinkman did an awesome job with the weekend, serving in the band or on the tech.arts team, and sacrificing some time and rest with family in order to serve the Church.

Advent has been a truly special time for me this year, despite some unique challenges. God is so faithful, and I am a blessed man. I hope you had a great weekend of worship wherever you were.

In the Son,
Bill

p.s. don’t forget to check out The Worship Community!

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Set List, 12/17 – 12/18/11 Fellowship Bible Church

December 18, 2011

This weekend, we continued our Advent series with a message entitled, “God For Us.” Joe shared about the different meaningful ways we can understand this expression, and all the ways that God is truly “for us.” Joe shared that Jesus is for us in His life, in His death, in His resurrection, and His return. We need to live life in light of who God is and what He has done for us, in hope, worship, and anticipation of His second Advent. You can listen to the entire message here.

Here’s our service plan from this weekend:

Time of Preparation/Prayer
“I Stand Amazed (How Marvelous)” (E) [Charles Hutchinson Gabriel]
Welcome/Greeting Time “Joyful (The One Who Saves)” (C) [Brenton Brown, Jason Ingram, Henry van Dyke, Ludwig van Beethoven]
“Our God” (G) [Chris Tomlin, Jonas Myrin, Matt Redman]
“O Holy Night” (C) [Placide Cappeau, John Sullivan Dwight, Adolphe Charles Adam]
“What Child Is This” (Em) [William Chatterton Dix]
Message – “God For Us” [Joe Hishmeh] Offering/Announcements
“Lead Me To The Cross” (Bm) [Brooke Fraser]
Dismissal


“I Stand Amazed (How Marvelous)” – We sang this song in our preparation time. Kelsey Thomsen led us on this song, as we focused on the love of Christ as it was demonstrated at the cross, where He redeemed us from our sins, and rescued us from death. What amazing love He has for us!

“Joyful (The One Who Saves)” – We continued teaching this song to our congregation for the third and final week. I have really enjoyed singing this song with our congregation, and I look forward to bringing it back again in the future, because it is a great combination of old and new in a song that is true and memorable.

“Our God” – This song was the one that connected with the message the best this week. It is powerful to exalt God and His sovereignty and then recognize that if this all-powerful God is for us, nothing can stand against us.

“O Holy Night” – This is one of my favorite Advent songs. It is a beautiful piece of music and a solid lyric that declares some of the changes that Jesus’ arrival on this earth effected. Everything is different because He came. We can have in Him an object of hope, upon which we can found our faith and trust. Because of who He is and what He has done, He is worthy of our humble worship. He is King!

This carol came from a poem written in the mid-1800′s by a French poet, Placide Cappeau. You can read more of the song’s story in the wiki.

“Midnight, Christians” by Placide Cappeau

Midnight, Christians, it is the solemn hour,
When God-man descended to us
To erase the stain of original sin
And to end the wrath of His Father.
The entire world thrills with hope
On this night that gives it a Savior.

People kneel down, wait for your deliverance.
Christmas, Christmas, here is the Redeemer,
Christmas, Christmas, here is the Redeemer!

May the ardent light of our Faith
Guide us all to the cradle of the infant,
As in ancient times a brilliant star
Guided the Oriental kings there.
The King of Kings was born in a humble manger;
O mighty ones of today, proud of your greatness,

It is to your pride that God preaches.
Bow your heads before the Redeemer!
Bow your heads before the Redeemer!

The Redeemer has overcome every obstacle:
The Earth is free, and Heaven is open.
He sees a brother where there was only a slave,
Love unites those that iron had chained.
Who will tell Him of our gratitude,
For all of us He is born, He suffers and dies.

People stand up! Sing of your deliverance,
Christmas, Christmas, sing of the Redeemer,
Christmas, Christmas, sing of the Redeemer!

“What Child Is This” – This is probably my favorite Advent song of all. For most of my life (and this is probably the case for most of us), I only heard one chorus for this song. A few years ago, when I was reading a book that my friend Jerry gave me, I saw that there were originally three choruses for this song. The second of these was striking: “Nails, spear shall pierce Him through/ The cross be borne for me, for you/ Hail, hail the Word made flesh/ The babe, the Son of Mary.” I love how the gospel is present in this chorus.

“Lead Me To The Cross” – We closed out our services by responding with this song. Kelsey also did a great job leading on this song. This was another great match for Joe’s message this week, in which he emphasized that we need to preach the gospel to ourselves daily, in order to keep our focus in the right place, and to live a life that exemplifies the power of the gospel. The way I see it, everything in our walk with Christ is downstream from the gospel. When we have a proper view and appreciation of what Christ has accomplished for us, everything else falls into place. Let us keep our eyes on the cross.
Advent makes for some special worship times together. I love how it helps us focus on what Jesus gave for us, to rescue us and make a way for us where there was no way. It makes me think of Philippians 2: 5-11, which says,

“Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point fo death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

Our team did a great job as always. I love celebrating Advent with the Church. It’s a beautiful thing. I hope you had a great weekend of worship wherever you were.

In the Son,
Bill

p.s. don’t forget to check out The Worship Community!

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Set List, 12/10 – 12/11/11 Fellowship Bible Church

December 11, 2011

This weekend, we continued our Advent series with a message entitled, “God With Us.” He made comparisons between life with Christ and what life would be without Christ, and it was really powerful to see the two lists side-by-side. You can listen to the entire message here. We continued to try something different with our service order to change things up, and we moved the message up a few minutes earlier in the service to have two songs in response to the message, rather than our typical one song in that position. All of us on our worship planning team believes that these kinds of changes help us and our congregation to engage and to not be passive in worship.

Here’s our service plan from this weekend:

Time of Preparation/Prayer
“Lord I Need You” (B) [Jesse Reeves, Kristian Stanfill, Christy Nockels, Matt Maher, Daniel Carson]
 Welcome/Greeting Time
“Joy To The World” (C) [Isaac Watts]
“Joyful (The One Who Saves)” (C) [Brenton Brown, Jason Ingram, Henry van Dyke, Ludwig van Beethoven]
“A Mighty Fortress” [Christy Nockels, Nathan Nockels]
Message – “God With Us” [Joe Hishmeh]
Offering/Announcements
“Emmanuel (Hallowed Manger Ground)” (Bb) [Chris Tomlin, Ed Cash]
 “You Never Let Go” (Bb) [Matt Redman, Beth Redman]
Dismissal

“Lord I Need You” – We sang this song in our preparation time. This is the second time we have sung this song, and I think it will become a staple for our church. I think it resonates with each of us. It communicates a timeless truth in a fresh way, and helps us express our dependence on the Lord for everything. I’m a big fan of this song.

“Joy To The World” – We sang this oldie but goodie to kick off our services. My arrangement of it is kind pop/punk-ish, so it is fun to play and sing together. The melody is unchanged, so everyone can sing along easily. This song just makes people smile. The content of it is solid, and really declares some of what Christ’s first coming accomplished in this world. He changed everything with His coming.

“Joyful (The One Who Saves)” – We continued teaching this song to our congregation this week. I decided to drop this song a full step to the key of C this week, to make it a little easier for our congregation to sing, especially on Sunday morning at the early service. I think it was much easier for all of us to sing. Becky and I traded off verses on this one, and I think this is something we will continue to do, because I think it helps draw both the ladies and the men into what we are singing together. I really like this song, and I like how it fits into the Advent season.

“A Mighty Fortress” – Becky led us on this song, and it is one of my favorite declarations about the assurance and refuge we have in God. He is faithful, trustworthy, and true, and we can confidently place our lives in His hands. Our church sings this song well, even after only a few occurrences in our services. Part of the emphasis I was going for here was to point to the trustworthiness and love of God for us, and when He is called “God with us,” we can walk with Him in faith, because He will never fail, and His purposes are not thwarted.

“Emmanuel (Hallowed Manger Ground)” – We began our response song with this song, which was new to me this week. I really like the message of the verses, which speak to the time of waiting and anticipation before the Messiah arrived. I also enjoy the chorus as a whole, which simply and beautifully sings of the first coming of Jesus: “Emmanuel, Emmanuel/ God incarnate, here to dwell/ Emmanuel, Emmanuel/ Praise His name, Emmanuel.” There are a few parts of this song that are a little tricky for one reason or another, so I had to work pretty hard to try and get it right, but I’m glad we sang it together this weekend.

“You Never Let Go” – We closed out our services with this song, which remains one of my favorites. Part of the imagery Joe used in the message was the dominant scriptural image of the Good Shepherd. This song pulls ideas from one of the most prominent pictures of the Shepherd contained in Psalm 23, and I think it helped to tie everything together really well. I love this song’s statements of trust and faith in God, regardless of our circumstances. Jesus is worthy of our trust and faith. He will never fail, and He will never let us go.

This was a unique and refreshing weekend of worshiping our Savior together. Our team did a great job as always. I love celebrating Advent with the Church. It’s a beautiful thing.

I hope you had a great weekend of worship wherever you were.

In the Son,

Bill

p.s. don’t forget to check out The Worship Community!

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Set List, 12/03 – 12/04/11 Fellowship Bible Church

December 4, 2011

This weekend, we began our Advent series with a message entitled “God Before Us.” Joe focused on four ways that Jesus was “before” us: in creation, in the Passover, in the Prophets, and in experience. Jesus is the source of life, the sacrifice for our redemption, the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets, and our example. It was a powerful perspective for our first week of focusing on Advent. You can listen to the entire message here. For the first week of this series, we decided to try a drastically different format for our services, following each point of the message with a time of response through singing. I think it gave the services a more reflective emphasis, and I really enjoyed it as a change up to keep us engaged in responding to the Word of God.

Here’s our service plan from this weekend:

Time of Preparation/Prayer
“Joyous Light” (G) [Unknown/John H. Gower, w/ add. chorus by Chris Tomlin, David Crowder, Louie Giglio]
 Welcome/Greeting Time
“Joyful (The One Who Saves)” (D) [Brenton Brown, Jason Ingram, Henry van Dyke, Ludwig van Beethoven]
Message – “God Before Us In Creation” [Joe Hishmeh]
“Glory To God Forever” (Bb) [Vicky Beeching, Steve Fee]
Message – “God Before Us In The Passover” [Joe Hishmeh]
 “Jesus Messiah” (G) [Daniel Carson, Chris Tomlin, Ed Cash, Jesse Reeves]
Communion
Message – “God Before Us In The Prophets” [Joe Hishmeh]
 “O Come, O Come Emmanuel” (G) [John M. Neale]
Message – “God Before Us In Experience” – [Joe Hishmeh]
“God Is Able” (A) [Reuben Morgan, Ben Fielding]
 Offering/Announcements
Dismissal

“Joyous Light” – We sang this song in our preparation time. We have done a few times in the past, and I love using the translation of this ancient hymn with the modern chorus. It was a great fit for Advent as well, focusing on Jesus as the Light of the world.

“Joyful (The One Who Saves)” – We taught this song to our congregation this weekend, and it is a song that I have wanted to sing with our congregation for over a year. I love the new chorus added to the hymn, “Joyful, Joyful”: “You are the One who saves/ You are the One who saves/ You are the One whose hands lift us from the grave/ You are the Light of life/ The everlasting Day/ You are the One who takes all our sins away.”

“Glory To God Forever” – After Joe spoke about Jesus being before us in creation, this song was a fitting response. He is before all things, and He is the almighty God, who is worthy of all the glory, forever!

“Jesus Messiah” – We sang this song during communion after Joe spoke about Jesus being before us in the Passover. He used a doorframe to illustrate the brushing of the blood of the lamb on the doorposts and the lintel in the Passover, and explained how the blood of the Lamb not only protects us and spares us from the wrath of God, but it sets us free to life in the promise of God. Our hope is in Jesus alone, and this song echoes this and celebrates what our Messiah has done for us.

“O Come, O Come Emmanuel” – After talking about the Prophets and how God’s people were crying out for the Messiah to come, we sang this Christmas standard. A few years ago, I rearranged this song for an acoustic Christmas CD that I recorded with my wife for our friends and family, and that’s the arrangement that we used. This is one of my favorite Advent songs, and I think it made a great connection with the Prophets and the people of God in the Old Testament period, and God’s people today who await His triumphant return.

“God Is Able” – We closed with this song, looking to Jesus as our victorious Savior who can do all things and who will rescue and redeem us from sin and death. He is with us and He is for us as His people. He will never fail. He will never leave us. Amen!

This was a unique and refreshing weekend of worshiping our Savior together. Our team did a great job as always. I love celebrating Advent with the Church. It’s a beautiful thing.

I hope you had a great weekend of worship wherever you were.

In the Son,

Bill

p.s. don’t forget to check out The Worship Community!

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