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Set List, 02/18 – 02/19/12 Fellowship Bible Church

February 19, 2012

This weekend, we continued our Romans series, and focused on Romans 8:31-39. In his message, Joe talked through the five rhetorical questions in this passage, and reminded us all of God’s amazing and unfailing love.  I was really challenged to let go of my past and my old slavery to sin, and to move toward Christ and trust in Him will every area of my life. We have a new life because Christ has loved us, and we don’t need to look back. We need to look to Christ. You can listen to the entire message here.

Here’s our service plan from this weekend:

Time of Preparation/Prayer
“Healing Is In Your Hands” (C) [Daniel Carson, Christy Nockels, Nathan Nockels, Matt Redman, Chris Tomlin]
Welcome/Greeting Time
(Child Dedications – at 5 PM and 10:45 AM services only)
“Desert Song” (D) [Brooke Fraser]
“Unchanging” (G) [Chris Tomlin]
“Our God” (G) [Jonas Myrin, Matt Redman, Jesse Reeves, Chris Tomlin]
“10,000 Reasons (Bless The Lord)” (G) [Jonas Myrin, Matt Redman]
Message – “Romans 8:31-39″ [Joe Hishmeh]
“It Is Well” (Bb) [Philip Paul Bliss, Todd Fields, Horatio G. Spafford]
Offering/Announcements
Dismissal


“Healing Is In Your Hands” – We sang this song as our preparation song this weekend, as we focused on how we are held by the promise of Jesus’ powerful and unconquerable love. He is faithful, and nothing will ever separate us from His love (Rom. 8:35). This is such a beautiful song (originally sung by Christy Nockels on the album, Passion: Here For You.), and it does a wonderful job of calling out our trust, faith, and confidence in Christ’s unending love for us. Becky Tindell did a great job of leading us on this song.

“Desert Song” – We opened the second music set with this song, and Becky led us here as well. This song declares our faith and trust in the Lord no matter what we are facing in this life. In good times and bad, He is with us, and He is worthy of our praise. This song continues to be a staple of our congregation’s worship vocabulary, and our church sings it well together.

“Unchanging” – We sang this song this weekend because it also stands firm on the fact that “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Heb. 13:8 ESV). In we declare the unchanging character and love of God. We can trust and depend on who He is, and that flows out into how He cares for us and interacts with us. Because He never changes and never fails, we can trust the word which He has spoken, saying that He will love us “with an everlasting love” (Jer. 31:3).

“Our God” – This song tied directly to our passage from this weekend, particularly in the bridge where we sing, “And if our God is for us/ Then who could ever stop us?/ And if our God is with us/ What could stand against?” We abbreviated this song for the services with the child dedications, but we wanted to keep this declaration in our services, as we sing out the truth of the scripture passage from this week.

“10,000 Reasons (Bless The Lord)” - This is a song that we began teaching our congregation last weekend as Erik and Sarah Oldberg led our congregation. I LOVE this song. When you hear it for the first time, it feels like you’ve heard it before. It has a sort of timeless melody to it, and it makes me want to sing it out. The chorus is simple and strong: “Bless the Lord, O my soul, O my soul/ Worship His holy name/ Sing like never before, O my soul/ I’ll worship Your holy name.” Our congregation is singing it well, and I think this will remain a part of our worship vocabulary here at Fellowship.

“It Is Well” – This was our response song this weekend. I have written a lot about this song previously, so I’ll keep this short. I love how this song ties a timeless hymn with a new declaration of trust and praise in an added chorus. I think it helps to connect a new generation with a beautiful expression of trust in God’s faithfulness – no matter the circumstances.

This weekend was a good weekend overall. We celebrated child dedications with many young families in our church, which was a beautiful thing of which to be a part. We also celebrated baptisms after each service. In one of these baptisms on Saturday evening, a young man baptized his dad after leading him to Christ. What a powerful moment! I love being a part of this congregation and seeing how the Lord is moving.

We had a few technical gremlins show up on Saturday evening with our in-ears and some other things. During most of the service at 7 PM, I was getting shocked every time my lips touched the microphone. Not fun. I have no idea what was happening there. Everything was worked out on Sunday morning, so it’s all good.

The bottom line is that Jesus was glorified and exalted because of His great love with which He loved us. He is faithful and unchanging, and we can trust in Him and in His love. He is so good to us!

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, 02/04 – 02/05/12 Fellowship Bible Church

February 5, 2012

This weekend, we continued our Romans series, and focused on Romans 5:1-10. In his message, Joe shared about what the life of a believer looks like because of what Christ has done. He talked about how we are now reconciled to God, and as a result we have peace and rest with Him. You can listen to the entire message here. Because of the focus of Joe’s message, we emphasized our new standing with God because of His great love for us. We have hope and life because of Him.

Here’s our service plan from this weekend:

Time of Preparation/Prayer
“Jesus You” (E) [Bill Horn]
Welcome/Greeting Time
Call To Worship – Psalm 33:1ff
“Your Grace Is Enough” (G) [Matt Maher]
“I Stand Amazed” (G) [Charles H. Gabriel]
“Because Of Your Love” (G) [Phil Wickham]
Message – “Romans 5:1-10″ [Joe Hishmeh]
Communion Song – “In My Place” (Eb) [Michael Bleecker, Matt Boswell]
“Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone)” (Eb) [Edwin O. Excell, John Newton, Louie Giglio, John P. Rees, Chris Tomlin]
Offering/Announcements
Dismissal


“Jesus You” – We sang this song as our preparation song this weekend, because it was written partially from chapter 5 of Romans. The certain hope that we have because of what Jesus has accomplished on our behalf is the focus of this section of Romans and is also the ultimate focus of this song.

“Your Grace Is Enough” – This song remains a staple for us at Fellowship. We don’t sing it as often as maybe we once did, but it is a great song of celebration as we express our confidence in the finished work of Christ on our behalf. His grace is sufficient for us, and we look nowhere else for our salvation. Jesus is the one who has saved us; we did not save ourselves.

“I Stand Amazed” – This song was fitting for this weekend, because it points to our previous status of condemnation before God, our redemption through the work of Christ, and the future hope we have when Christ returns. Our church sings this song well. We may have set the click a little fast early in the weekend, but it was still a great song with which to celebrate our Savior’s great and marvelous love for us.

“Because Of Your Love” – I love how this song declares that living our lives for God’s glory is the fitting response to what He has done for us through the cross. We only have true life because of what Christ has accomplished for us. He endured our pain and our penalty in our place as our substitute, giving His life up selflessly, and now we can give our own lives selflessly for Him and for others.

“In My Place” – This was a new song that wanted to introduce for our communion time this weekend. I have been listening to this song for the past year or two, and I finally found my opportunity to introduce it here at Fellowship. I love the lyrical focus and the beauty of this song about the cross. We brought it down from G to Eb, and I think it was much more singable for our congregation in that range. I’m still not sold on whether this song could work in our setting for a congregational song, because there are lot of implied notes that the melody pulls out, such as starting on a major 7 (G)of the chord that the rest of the band is playing (Ab). I think it will still be at least a fantastic communion and preparation song in the future. We’ll see how else we can use it. Here’s the lyric:

“In My Place”
Michael Bleecker, Matt Boswell

In my place He stood condemned
He who knew no sin
Became sin for us
That we might become His righteousness

Bearing all my sin and shame
The punishment and blame
He conquered the grave
That we might become the heirs of grace

In my place, Jesus died
The spotless Lamb laid down His life
The wrath of God was satisfied
In my place, Jesus died

Nail-pierced hands, bleeding side,
His body bruised, my God crucified
Crown of thorns, dying cries,
His flesh was torn, my God crucified

Hallelujah, what a Savior!
Hallelujah, what a Savior!
Hallelujah, what a Savior!
Hallelujah, what a Savior!

CCLI # 5181287 

“Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone)” – This was our response song this weekend. This is another great song that we haven’t done very often, and it was a great fit for this weekend. I love singing of our chains being gone and of our newfound freedom in Christ.

On a side note, my wife and I were talking about 2 Chronicles 20 this weekend, and how God called Jehoshaphat and the people of Judah to merely stand before their enemies, who were on their doorstep and about to attack. The people of God went out to face their attackers, and they worshiped the Lord. As they did, God won the victory for them, and their enemies destroyed themselves without the people of Judah lifting a finger against them. They merely trusted in the Lord, and He fought for them. In this passage, there is an interesting correlation between worship and prayer and trusting in the Lord. Really, when we are doing the first two things sincerely and with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength, it is because we are also trusting God. When we depend and trust in Him, we get the opportunity to see Him move in powerful ways, and He gets all the glory. I pray that we, as the people of God through Christ Jesus, would trust in the Lord so completely that our worship and prayer together would reflect that. He is worthy of our trust, and He is worthy of our worship–ALL of it.

This weekend was a great time of celebrating the life, hope, and peace that we have because of Christ, and then celebrating through communion together as well. Praise God for the love that led Jesus to the cross in our place to save us!

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, 01/28 – 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, 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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Set List, 11/12 – 11/13/11 Fellowship Bible Church

November 13, 2011

This weekend, we focused on John 19:6-37, examining the cross. Joe shared about its meaning from several perspectives, and closed with a time to respond to what Jesus accomplished for us. We moved our on-stage cross to down stage center to help emphasize our focus for the weekend, and nearly every aspect of our services pointed to it. I am happy with how well everything tied together this weekend. Together, it served as a great reminder of what Jesus did on our behalf. He is so good to us!

Here’s our service plan from this weekend:

Time of Preparation/Prayer
“Lamb of God” (Ab) [original]
 Welcome/Greeting Time
Call to Worship - 
“Let Me Sing” (Bb) [Todd Fields]
“You Alone Can Rescue” (Bb) [Matt Redman, Jonas Myrin]
Scripture Reading – 2 Corinthians 5:17-21
“Jesus Messiah” (G) [Daniel Carson, Chris Tomlin, Ed Cash, Jesse Reeves]
“Nothing But The Blood” (G) [Robert Lowry]
Prayer
Message – John 19:6-37 – “The Cross” [Joe Hishmeh]
Response Time
“‘The Wonderful Cross” (E) [Isaac Watts, w/ add. chorus by Chris Tomlin, Jesse Reeves]
 Offering/Video/Announcements
Dismissal

“Lamb Of God” – We opened our preparation time with this song, since we were focusing on the cross this weekend. When I wrote this song, I was trying to encapsulate some of Isaiah 53, along with the crucifixion accounts of the Gospels. I think it was a fitting way to begin our services this weekend, because it set the tone for everything that would follow.

“Let Me Sing” – This song is a staple for us, and this song really fit with the theme of this weekend. It communicates the reason for our worship and obedience: the fact that God loved us first and sent His Son to die on the cross on our behalf. I love how this song relays this thought, when we sing, “Let me sing/ Louder than creation to You/ For the pain You bore in Your body/ To bring my soul to You.” It really brings the two ideas together well.

“You Alone Can Rescue” – We haven’t sung this song together in a while, and I think this week was a good week to bring it back. This song emphasizes our inability to rescue and redeem ourselves. We are dead in our sins (Eph. 2:1), and we were enemies of God (Rom. 5:10), but still God loved us and made a way for us where there was no way, reconciling us to Himself through the cross of Christ. Praise God for His grace!

“Jesus Messiah” – We prefaced this song by reading from 2 Corinthians 5:17-21. The last verse of that passage is where the first line of this song comes from: “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” That passage in 2 Corinthians is one of my favorites, as it helps clarify what Christ accomplished for us at the cross. He is our reconciliation.

“Nothing But The Blood” – This hymn is one of my favorites, because it makes no bones about declaring that the sole source of our redemption is the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ. He is the only way of salvation. He is the only one who could rescue us and give us life and hope. We need to rest in His finished work on the cross. He died in our place. He has dealt with our sin and the righteous wrath of God against sin. It is finished, all because Jesus shed His precious blood for us.

“The Wonderful Cross” – This song was our response song this week. As Joe finished proclaiming the significance of the cross and the encouraging our people to respond to this truth, we wanted to sing a song that examined the cross and reflected on its great meaning for our lives. The hymn (“When I Survey The Wondrous Cross”) by Isaac Watts, along with the additional chorus by Tomlin and Reeves, was a great fit for the moment, and helped us in thanking Jesus for the cross and in offering our lives in response to His great sacrifice for us. I have loved this song since I first heard it in college, and I was thankful for a good opportunity to sing it again.

All around, this was a great weekend of worshiping our Savior. Our team did a great job, and I’m so thankful for what the Lord is doing in us, and especially grateful for the cross. I would have no hope without it.

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, 10/01 – 10/02/11 Fellowship Bible Church

October 2, 2011

This weekend, we focused on John 6:60-71, examining the different responses to Jesus when He doesn’t do what we want Him to do, and when we don’t understand what He is doing. We can either walk away (which many did), we can war against Him (like the Pharisees), or we can cling to Him (like Peter and the disciples) as our only hope. Their response of trust was basically this: “Where else could we go? To whom could we turn?” Is this our response when we don’t understand what is happening in our lives? Do we respond with this kind of worship? You can listen to the entire message here.

Focusing on this passage, we sang songs that exalted the Lord as sovereign and powerful, and songs that called us as the church to trust Him more because He is faithful and true. He is constant, and His grace toward us is unchanging because it is not based on us at all. It is based on His character and goodness. He is good, and has purchased us as His own through His blood at the cross. He has adopted us as sons and daughters, and now regards us as co-heirs together with Christ. He sees us as He sees Christ, because of Christ–justified and righteous. Because of this we have nothing to fear, because we will be with Him forever, and this life will be a “blip” on the radar of our lives in the grand scheme of things. We read from 2 Timothy 2:13 during our time of singing: “If we are faithless, He remains faithful–for He cannot deny Himself.” We are a part of Him because of what Christ has done for us, and He will not, and cannot, forsake us.

Here’s our service plan from this weekend:

Time of Preparation/Prayer
“Captivate Us” (Ab) [Charlie Hall, Christy Nockels, Nathan Nockels]
Welcome/Greeting Time
 “You Are” (Ab) [Todd Fields]
“Forever Reign” (Ab) [Jason Ingram, Reuben Morgan]
 “Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone)” (Db) [Edwin O. Excel, Louie Giglio, John Newton, John P. Rees, Chris Tomlin]
Prayer
Message – John 6:60-71 [Joe Hishmeh]
Communion
Communion Song – “Rock of Ages” (Bb) [Thomas Hastings, Augustus Montague Toplady]
Offering/Announcements
Response Time
“A Mighty Fortress” (C) [Christy Nockels, Nathan Nockels]
Dismissal

“Captivate Us” – We sang this song for our time of preparation. We had sung it last week for Overflow, which is our quarterly night of worship, and it was the first time I had heard the song. I love it. It took a little bit to figure out the finger-style acoustic part, because it has some interesting chords in the arrangement, but it is beautiful. Sarah Oldberg led this song, and I think it was perfect for our time of preparation.

“You Are” – This song by Todd Fields appeared on the first North Point Live album. We began teaching this song last weekend, and we continued with it this week. In it, we are given words to declare that Jesus is God. As I wrote last week on the blog, there are not many songs that come right out and say that Jesus is God, yet this is an important part of our Christology (study of Christ) and our overall doctrine as Christians. Jesus is equal with God, and He is God, as the beginning of the Gospel of John tells us. We need more songs that declare this truth plainly. I think our congregation connected more with it this week.

“Forever Reign” – This is one of the staples of our worship song vocabulary, and rightfully so. It is a firm declaration of the character of God, and points to many of His attributes, all contrasted with our weaknesses. It exalts God in a powerful way, along with our desperate need for Him. This song aligned really well to Joe’s message, declaring, “My heart will sing/ No other name/ Jesus, Jesus.” He is the one with the words of eternal life. He is the only one to whom we can turn.

“Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone)” – Part of what I enjoy about this song is that Tomlin used the original third and fourth verses of the hymn that Newton wrote. There is a common theme throughout the original verses of security and trust in God, because of His grace, and that is why we sang this song this weekend. We need to remind one another of this truth. His grace was unearned and undeserved from the beginning. It is only because of God’s character that He has grace for us, and He continues to have grace for us because of who He is and what He has done. He redeemed us through the cross, where Jesus died in our place. He was our substitute, and He continues to be that for us. He is the reason for our security and promise of an eternity with God. We have nothing to ultimately fear because our eternity has been secured by God Himself.

“Rock of Ages” – We sang this song for our time of communion/Lord’s Supper. I love this hymn, especially the arrangement by Ascend the Hill. The lyric communicates a powerful desperation for the saving work of Christ, and recognizes our own powerlessness to save ourselves. We need Him, and we are hopeless apart from Christ. “Rock of Ages” says this beautifully.

“A Mighty Fortress” – We responded to the Word with this song. Again, we were emphasizing the eternal, unchanging character of God. Because of who He is–faithful and true, unchanging and constant, powerful and mighty, righteous and good–we can turn to Him as our mighty fortress and refuge. He is the only one who can hold this place in our lives, because there is no one else like Him. I love the way this song declares these truths about our Lord. It inspires confidence and hope in me. Sarah did a great job leading this song this weekend.

This was another great weekend of worshiping our Savior together. I felt like we were all called and encouraged to trust Him more, and to have more confidence in who He is, even when we have NO idea what He is doing (which may be often). I know I was built up this weekend, and challenged to entrust Jesus with more of my life, and more of my “stuff.”

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, 09/24 – 09/25/11 Fellowship Bible Church

September 26, 2011

This weekend, we focused on John 4:46 – 6:59, looking specifically at the feeding of the 5,000, and how Jesus used what the little boy and the disciples had to perform a miracle to provide for the needs of the people. Joe gave us an important reminder that all God asks of us is what we have, and He can do amazing things with that. You can listen to the entire message here.

Here’s our service plan from this weekend:

Time of Preparation
“Holy, Holy, Holy” (D) [Reginald Heber, John Bacchus Dykes]
Welcome/Greeting Time
Call to Worship (Colossians 1:15-20)/Prayer
“You Are” (A) [Todd Fields]
“Let Me Sing” (A) [Todd Fields]
 “God Is Able” (A) [Reuben Morgan, Ben Fielding]
“Lord of All” (A) [Kristian Stanfill]
Prayer
Message – John 6:16-21 [Joe Hishmeh]
Offering/Announcements
Response Time
“How Great Is Our God” (Bb) [Chris Tomlin, Jesse Reeves, Ed Cash]
“How Great Thou Art (chorus only)” (Bb) [Carl Gustav Boberg, Stuart K. Hine, Swedish Folk Melody]
Dismissal


“Holy, Holy, Holy” – We opened our preparation time with this great hymn. You can read some of the history of it here. It always fascinates me how the pieces of a hymn come together. The definition of a “hymn” is simply “a song of praise to God” (Merriam-Webster). People often make the mistake of thinking that hymns were written all at one time, or even all in the same century. Most of the time, however, the lyric was written by one or two persons, and then someone came much later and put the lyrics to a melody that was current at the time. This was the case with this song. The writer wrote the hymn (w

“You Are” – We introduced this song to our church this weekend. I first heard this song from North Point Community Church’s 722 services when Todd Fields wrote it, and I loved it immediately. What stood out to me about this song was the simple and clear declaration of the divinity of Jesus. While many songs describe that truth, there are not many that come right out and say it: Jesus, You are God! For the services this weekend, I thought it was a great way to start out after our call to worship. I prefaced this song by reading from Colossians 1:15-20, which describes in detail the divinity of Jesus, in whom “all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell.”

“You Are”
Todd Fields

VERSE
Every knee will bow to bless Your name
Every tongue confess that You are King
All for Your glory, all for Your glory
Every tear will soon be wiped away
Every longing heart will see Your face
All for Your glory, all for Your name

CHORUS
You are God, Jesus – Majesty
You are life, Jesus – saving me
You are King, Jesus
All will see that You are God 

BRIDGE
And death could not keep You
The grave could not hold You
You are alive, You are alive

This is a powerful and true declaration that we as the Church should make often. Jesus is God!

“Let Me Sing” – I really value this song because it points out many of the reasons we have to worship, such as God’s creating us and giving us breath, the price He paid for our redemption, and His mercy toward us. These are things that we should constantly remind one another of, because they are some of the major reasons we have to worship our King. This week, we tried singing it in A rather than the usual Bb. It required some pushing during the verses, because it gets pretty low, but I thought it was easier for our congregation to sing it out on the choruses.

“God Is Able” – We began teaching this song last week, and we continued with it this week. I love this song, and I think our congregation is latching onto it.

“Lord of All” – This remains one of my favorite all-time worship songs, because it paints such a powerful portrait of the greatness of God and it helps us to respond to that with our worship. I don’t think this song will ever get old for me. Our congregation connects with it as well, so it will remain a strong part of our vocabulary here at Fellowship.

“How Great Is Our God” – We responded to the Word with this song. After talking about God’s power to use what little we have to do amazing things, This was a more fitting response than I anticipated.

“How Great Thou Art” -

This was a great weekend of worshiping our Savior.

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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