Posts Tagged ‘Joe Hishmeh’
May 27, 2012
This weekend, we focused on a Memorial Day-related theme, “On the Other Side of Sacrifice: Freedom in Christ.” Joe shared from Galatians 5 about true freedom from sin, and freedom to love and serve Christ and others. It was a great reminder of the peace that we have because of God’s grace through the gospel. You can listen to the entire message here. For the music this week, we continued to sing songs that remind us of God’s power and love for us, demonstrated by His sacrifice for us. We are free because He has set us free!
Here’s our service plan from this weekend:
“Faithful One” (G) [Original]
Welcome/Greeting Time
“Blessed Be Your Name” (Bb) [Matt Redman, Beth Redman]
“Let Me Sing” (Bb) [Todd Fields]
“Lord of All” (Bb) [Kristian Stanfill]
“How Great Is Our God” (Chorus Only) (Bb) [Chris Tomlin, Jesse Reeves, Ed Cash]
Message – “Freedom In Christ” [Joe Hishmeh]
Video – “God’s Pie”
Offering/Announcements
“‘Tis So Sweet To Trust In Jesus” (F#) [William James Kirkpatrick, Louisa M. R. Stead]
Dismissal
“Faithful One” – This is an original song that we introduced to our congregation this weekend. My wife has been telling me to teach it here for months, and I finally put it in a service. It is a simple song that speaks of the Lord as “The Faithful One.” It is pretty uptempo at 175 bpm… Our congregation sang it well and participated in it together, so we’ll probably continue to use this song in worship.
“Blessed Be Your Name” – We sang this song after reading Psalm 72:18-19 together. This song is a powerful declaration of trust and worship, no matter what circumstances we may face in this life. Jesus is with us, He is faithful, and He is worthy of our worship.
“Let Me Sing” – We sang this song to connect the ideas of Christ’s sacrifice with the proper response to that sacrifice, which is offering our lives as living sacrifices to Him. He is worthy of all we have to give, because of who He is and what He has done for us. My constant prayer for our congregation is that we would all catch this truth, and lay our lives down for Him and His kingdom.
“Lord of All”/”How Great Is Our God” – This is one of my favorites, and one of our congregation’s favorites, as well. We tagged “How Great Is Our God” at the end, since they have nearly identical chord progressions in their choruses, and they have very connected themes. We sang these songs to remember the power, the uniqueness, and the worth of our great God, and to worship Him for those things. I always say that when we see God as He is – high and lifted up – we cannot remain the same.
“‘Tis So Sweet To Trust In Jesus” – In response to the message, we sang this great hymn of dependence and trust in Jesus. This was my personal arrangement of it for guitar, and it has more of a country/gospel feel to it. We ended it all by singing the chorus together a cappella with four-part harmony. It was a great moment.
This weekend was an incredible weekend. I am so blessed and encouraged from our time spent worshiping together. We did some new things this weekend, and I think they had a big impact. First, we installed acoustic “clouds” in our ceiling area. These are basically reflective acoustic panels (ours are made of high-grade plywood) suspended at different heights to help give the room more of a live sound, which ultimately helps make the congregation’s voices louder in the room. In the past it was frustrating to not be able to hear one another when we are singing because the room was so dampened. There was a big difference this weekend, and it was very moving to hear the congregation so well! It is a beautiful thing!
Also, we gave mics to two of our band members to add a few voices during some of the stronger parts of songs during the set. I also think this added a lot to certain parts of our service. I love being a part of this growing church as we pursue our Savior together!
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!
Posted in Worship Set Lists | Tagged 'Tis So Sweet To Trust In Jesus, Beth Redman, Bill Horn, Blessed Be Your Name, Chris Tomlin, Christ, Ed Cash, Faithful One, Fellowship Bible Church, Freedom In Christ, Galatians, How Great is Our God, Jesse Reeves, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Joe Hishmeh, Kristian Stanfill, Let Me Sing, Lord of All, Louisa M. R. Stead, Matt Redman, On the Other Side of Sacrifice, The Worship Community, Todd Fields, William James Kirkpatrick, worship | Leave a Comment »
May 24, 2012
This weekend, we concluded our series called “Everything!” Joe shared this week from 2 Corinthians 9:6-15, where Paul relates the law of the harvest in terms of generosity and life at large. You can listen to the entire message here. In follow-up to last weekend, our church brought in 15,300 lbs. (more than 7 tons) of clothing for the Topeka Rescue Mission! It’s a beautiful thing to see the church come together for a cause like this. I continue to be surprised and impressed by how God is moving in our congregation.
For the music this week, we continued to sing songs that remind us of God’s faithfulness and sacrifice for us, as well as His great love for us. The last two songs we sang this week focused on responding to the surpassing worth of our great God. He is worthy of all that we have to give!
Here’s our service plan from this weekend:
“Unchanging” (G) [Chris Tomlin]
Welcome/Greeting Time
“Hallelujah To My King” (E) [Paul Baloche, Brenton Brown]
“Hosanna” (E) [Brooke Fraser]
“I Stand Amazed” (E) [Charles H. Gabriel]
“Here I Am To Worship” (Chorus Only) (E) [Tim Hughes]
Message – “Everything: Excel In The Grace Of Giving” [Joe Hishmeh]
Offering Intro
“10,000 Reasons (Bless The Lord)” (G) [Matt Redman, Jonas Myrin]
Announcements
Dismissal
Baptisms (post-service)
This weekend was a great weekend. I love being a part of this growing church as we pursue our Savior together!
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! (Congrats on 200 “Sunday Setlists”, guys!)
Posted in Worship Set Lists | Tagged 10000 Reasons (Bless The Lord), Brenton Brown, Brooke Fraser, Charles H. Gabriel, Chris Tomlin, Christ, Everything, Fellowship Bible Church, Hallelujah To My King, Here I Am To Worship, Hosanna, I Stand Amazed, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Joe Hishmeh, Jonas Myrin, Matt Redman, Paul Baloche, The Worship Community, Tim Hughes, Unchanging, worship | Leave a Comment »
May 13, 2012
This weekend, we continued our series called “Everything!” Joe shared this week from 2 Corinthians 8:7, which talks about excelling in the grace of giving. You can listen to the entire message here. Also this weekend, our church brought 10% of all of our clothing to donate to the Topeka Rescue Mission. Last weekend, our church brought in 8,345 lbs. (more than 4 tons!!!) of non-perishable goods for the Rescue Mission! It’s a beautiful thing to see the church come together for a cause like this. It’s amazing what we can do together.
For the music this week, I chose songs that helped us focus on how God’s grace for us was demonstrated at the cross, where Christ laid down His life for us, even when we were His enemies.
Here’s our service plan from this weekend:
“Happy Day” (Bb) [Tim Hughes, Ben Cantelon]
Mother’s Day Video – “I’ll Need You, Mom”
Welcome/Greeting Time
“Glory To God Forever” (A) [Vicky Beeching, Steve Fee]
“You Have Overcome” (A) [Bill Horn, Erik Oldberg]
“God Is Able” (A) [Ben Fielding, Reuben Morgan]
Message – “Everything: Excel In The Grace Of Giving” [Joe Hishmeh]
Offering Intro
“Jesus Paid It All” (Bb) [Elvina M. Hall, John T. Grape, Alex Nifong]
Announcements
Dismissal
“Happy Day”- We sang this song simply for the fact that it recognizes and celebrates the gift of salvation and redemption that Christ has given us through His sacrifice.
“Glory To God Forever” - This song, as I have written about previously, gives expression to what is true worship – offering our lives as living sacrifices of worship to God: “Take my life and let it be/ All for You and for Your glory/ Take my life and let it be Yours.” May this be our prayer as we meet together each weekend and as we go out into our world. May our lives be lived for His glory alone.
“You Have Overcome”- We wrote and taught this song to our congregation a few weeks ago, and this weekend be brought it back for a refresher because it is so new to us. It focuses on what Jesus has accomplished for us and provided for us in His life, death, and resurrection. He has rescued us from sin and death!
“God Is Able”- This song reminds us of God’s faithful presence with us through everything we face and experience in this life. We can trust Him and depend on Him, because He will never change and He will never fail. He will always be with us, as He promised in Hebrews 13:5 (quoting Deuteronomy 31:6): “Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’ So we say with confidence, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?’ (Heb. 13:5 ESV).”
“Jesus Paid It All”- This was our response song this weekend, and we sang it to focus again on how Jesus gave first because of His grace toward us. Our response to Him and to others ought to imitate that grace and generosity. He has done great things for us, and He has been so merciful and gracious toward us; let us also have grace and mercy for those around us, and let us lay down our lives for Christ and for our neighbors.
This weekend was a good weekend spent worshiping together. The songs worked well with the message and with each other for a cohesive idea, and I felt that our congregation connected well in worship this weekend. I am so grateful for what the Lord is doing in our church. He is so faithful! May we continue to grow into a generous church!
Happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers out there. I am so thankful for my Mom and for my bride, Diane. They are the two greatest mothers I know!
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!
Posted in Worship Set Lists | Tagged Alex Nifong, Ben Cantelon, Ben Fielding, Bill Horn, Christ, Elvina M. Hall, Erik Oldberg, Everything, Excel In The Grace Of Giving, Fellowship Bible Church, Glory to God Forever, God Is Able, Happy Day, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Jesus Paid It All, Joe Hishmeh, John T. Grape, Reuben Morgan, Steve Fee, The Worship Community, Tim Hughes, Vicky Beeching, worship, You Have Overcome | Leave a Comment »
May 6, 2012
This weekend, we continued our series called “Everything!” Joe shared this week from Acts 20:32-35 about how “it is better to give than to receive.”. You can listen to the entire message here. Also this weekend, our church brought 10% of all of our non-perishable food to donate to the Topeka Rescue Mission. Next weekend, we’ll be doing the same thing with our clothing – all to demonstrate and practice the idea of giving from what the Lord has already provided for us. That is what He calls us to. I’m excited about what the Lord is doing in our church, and our potential to have a dramatic impact in both our community and our world!
For the music this week, I chose songs that helped establish that every gift and blessing we have comes from God, and greatest gift of all is the one of His Son who went to the cross for us. Jesus was given up, betrayed, beaten, and nailed to the cross for our redemption. His generosity is what prompts our generosity and our giving to the cause of Christ in this world.
Here’s our service plan from this weekend:
“All We Need” (G) [Charlie Hall]
Welcome/Greeting Time
“Desert Song” (D) [Brooke Fraser]
“Son of God” (G) [Tim Neufeld, Jon Neufeld]
“Lamb of God” (G) [Original]
“The Stand” (chorus only) (G) [Joel Houston]
Message – “Everything: It Is Better To Give Than To Receive” [Joe Hishmeh]
Communion Intro
Communion Song – “Because of Your Love” (G) [Phil Wickham]
Offering/Announcements
Dismissal
“All We Need”- We brought this song back for our congregation two weeks ago, and we sang it as a refresher again this week. This song is a simple chorus which puts words to the truth that Jesus is all we need. Everything we needed, Jesus is.
“Desert Song” - We sang this song primarily for the last verse, which says, “This is my prayer in the harvest/ When favor and providence flow/ I know I’m filled to be emptied again/ The seed I’ve received I will sow.” The truth is, there are seasons of abundance and seasons of need for all of us. In every season we face in this life, we need to be generous people with what we have – generous with our praise to God, generous with the gospel to the lost, and generous with the resources and talents we have in this life.
“Son of God”- This song is one of our congregation’s favorites. We sang it this week because it states the point directly in the first verse: “Son of God, the Father’s gift of us/ You alone were broken on the altar of love/ Precious Lamb, our freedom’s in Your blood/ It’s in Your blood.” God gave first, and our response needs to be one of true worship, which means that every area of our lives is submitted and given to God for His purposes.
“Lamb of God” - We sang this song because it really pulls from Isaiah 53, where the meaning and heart behind Christ’s sacrifice at the cross is prophesied (and also echoed in 1 Peter chapters 1-3). Jesus laid down His life for us to justify us and redeem us, even though we had strayed and stored up wrath for ourselves before God. He bore the punishment for our sin. The chorus of this song describes the willing sacrifice of Christ for us: “The Lamb of God gave His life/ For our sins, the ransom price/ We were dead, but we are alive/ Bought with the precious blood of Christ.”
“The Stand” (Chorus Only) - We tagged this great chorus at the end of “Lamb of God” because it helped to bracket the message, clearly expressing our response to the grace and love of God for us. He has redeemed us, and the appropriate response is thanksgiving, worship, and sacrifice – not as a means of gaining favor with God (that has already been done for us through Jesus), but as a means of expressing our love to Him for all He is and all He has done. This chorus says it wonderfully: “I’ll stand with arms high and heart abandoned/ In awe of the One who gave it all/ I stand, my soul Lord to You surrender/ All I am is Yours.”
“Because of Your Love”- This song served as our communion song and as our response song to the Word of God. I thought it fit both purposes really well. The verses describe the sacrifice of Christ for us, and the chorus expresses our thanksgiving and response to that sacrifice: “Because of Your cross, my debt is paid/ Because of Your blood, my sins are washed away/ Now all of my life, I freely give/ Because of Your love, because of Your love, I live.” This, in my mind, is the bottom line for our lives in Christ. He has given us love, life, and freedom through His cross, and we ought to live in that love, life, and freedom for Him and His glory. He was selfless for us; let us be selfless for Him!
This weekend was a solid one. Aside from the Sunday morning service where the temperature changed as people entered the room and my guitar went way out of tune, everything went well. It was a little bit more of a mellow weekend for me, but that is where the set was directed during planning, and all of the songs really established a good foundation for how we ought to respond to the generosity of God. We also had a little bit of fun with the announcements with a little skit from “The General” (David Hinkle) to make people more aware of our Super Kids Super Kamp this summer. He was hilarious, and it was a welcome change to the normal routine of announcements.
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!
Posted in Worship Set Lists | Tagged Acts 20:32-35, All We Need, Because of Your Love, Bill Horn, Brooke Fraser, Charlie Hall, Christ, Desert Song, Everything, Fellowship Bible Church, It Is Better To Give Than To Receive, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Joe Hishmeh, Joel Houston, Jon Neufeld, Lamb of God, Phil Wickham, Son of God, The Stand, The Worship Community, Tim Neufeld, worship | Leave a Comment »
April 24, 2012
This weekend, we began a series called “Everything!” Joe is talking through the concepts of a generous life and stewardship with all that we have. It was a really fresh and challenging perspective on generosity, beginning this weekend with a focus on the true owner of the things in this world – God owns everything, and we are stewards of what He owns. You can listen to the entire message here. For our singing, I wanted our songs to remind us that we have nothing to fear when we are in Christ. Many times, the thing that keeps us from obedience and generosity is that fear. He is always with us, and we can trust Him with everything we have and everything we are. He is so good and faithful!
Here’s our service plan from this weekend:
“All We Need” (G) [Charlie Hall]
Welcome/Greeting Time
“Everlasting God” (Bb) [Brenton Brown, Ken Riley]
“You Never Let Go” (Bb) [Matt Redman, Beth Redman]
“Always” (Bb) [Kristian Stanfill, Jason Ingram]
Message – “Everything: Where Your Treasure Is, Your Heart Will Be Also ” [Joe Hishmeh]
“I Surrender All” (D) [Judson Wheeler Van DeVenter, Winfield Scott Weeden]
Offering/Announcements
Dismissal
“All We Need” - We reintroduced this song to our congregation this weekend. It has been about three years since they had sung it, and it was a great fit for this message series, as it declares that our sufficiency is in Christ and nothing else.
“Everlasting God” - This song remains a staple for us. We sang this song because I wanted us as a congregation to remember that God is from everlasting to everlasting, and that He is our all-sufficient source of strength and hope.
“You Never Let Go” - We haven’t sung this song for a few months, and I felt that this series was a good time to bring it back. I feel it helps us to remember and declare that God will never leave us or forsake us, because He is faithful and unchanging. Matt Redman has a great gift in writing songs in this vein that really resonate with the Church, and which express great faith and trust in the faithfulness of our great God [e.g. "Blessed Be Your Name," "Never Once," "10,000 Reasons (Bless The Lord)," etc.].
“Always” - This is another song that we haven’t sung recently, which was also a good fit for the message this weekend. This song really focuses on how we need not fear because of God’s faithfulness and perfect timing. No matter what we face in this life, we will endure and God will see us through. He will be there with us through it all.
“I Surrender All” - We responded to our time in the Word with this song. I felt it was a great statement of faith for us to sing after being challenged to trust God and obey Him completely, even when we feel it is difficult. It is in those times that it truly feels like “surrender,” when we have to let go of things that we hold dear or things on which we feel dependent. That is exactly the type of thing that Joe pointed out in the Word this weekend. I tried playing it differently than I had before, in my favorite open tuning, DADGAD. I thought it turned out rather pretty (everything sounds good in DADGAD if one can find good chord voicings…). I will definitely use that again. I was inspired to take a look at some other hymns to try in this tuning, too. I’ll keep you posted.
This weekend was another solid and very enjoyable weekend of worship. We also had OVERFLOW on Sunday night, which is our night of worship. I may post the set list from that worship gathering as well, in case people are looking for the info.
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!
Posted in Worship Set Lists | Tagged All We Need, Always, Beth Redman, Brenton Brown, Charlie Hall, Christ, Everlasting God, Everything, Fellowship Bible Church, I Surrender All, Jason Ingram, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Joe Hishmeh, Judson Wheeler Van DeVenter, Ken RIley, Kristian Stanfill, Matt Redman, The Worship Community, Winfield Scott Weeden, worship, You Never Let Go | Leave a Comment »
April 15, 2012
This weekend, we began a series called “Everything!” Joe is talking through the concepts of a generous life and stewardship with all that we have. It was a really fresh and challenging perspective on generosity, beginning this weekend with a focus on the true owner of the things in this world – God owns everything, and we are stewards of what He owns. You can listen to the entire message here.
Here’s our service plan from this weekend:
“All Because Of Jesus” (Bb) [Steve Fee]
Welcome/Greeting Time
Call To Worship
“Unchanging” (G) [Chris Tomlin]
“You Have Overcome” (A) [Bill Horn, Erik Oldberg]
“God Is Able” (A) [Reuben Morgan, Ben Fielding]
Message – “Everything: Everything Comes From God” [Joe Hishmeh]
“10,000 Reasons (Bless The Lord)” (G) [Matt Redman, Jonas Myrin, Jason Ingram]
Offering/Announcements
Dismissal
“All Because Of Jesus” – We opened our services with this song, as it tied last week and this week together. We celebrate the life that we have because of Jesus Christ – because He died in our place and was raised from the grave for us – and we also thank Him because He is the giver of all that we have, even our very breath. As James 1:17 says, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change” (ESV).
“Unchanging” - Because of the focus of the message series, and the fact that this week was foundational for the whole thing, I wanted us to sing songs that help us to trust God more in all areas of our lives. This song comes from Hebrews 13:8 – “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” and Revelation 1:8, “‘I am the Alpha and Omega,’ says the Lord God, ‘who is and who was and is to come, the Almighty.’” Jesus is unchanging, and that is the reason we can stake our lives on who He is and what He says. He will never change, and we can trust Him.
“You Have Overcome” - This is the third week that we have taught this new song to our congregation. They are singing it well, and I believe this will be a song that we will sing for many years together. This song did not have a specific tie-in to this weekend’s message, other than being a simple, gospel-centered song that helps us exalt Jesus for what He has accomplished on our behalf. He has rescued us. Therefore, He is worthy of everything we have to give in response to His goodness and mercy.
“God Is Able” - This song furthered the idea of “Unchanging,” in that it spoke to God’s faithfulness and trustworthiness. He will never leave us or forsake us. He will never fail. We have nothing to fear in Him.
“10,000 Reasons (Bless The Lord)” - I felt that this song was a fitting response to Joe’s message this week. God has blessed us so much, and the proper response is that we would worship God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength for all of our days. He is worthy!
This weekend was a solid and very enjoyable weekend of worship. We had our 12-year-old drummer, Anthony, on the team (he always does a fantastic job), and a first-time singer who filled in at the last minute. The team did a great job, and I believe the Lord was glorified by our times of worship. I am really excited about how it all came together. I pray that the content of what we sang together and studied together will take root in our lives outside these walls, because it will be a game-changer in our church, our community, and our world!
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!
Posted in Worship Set Lists | Tagged 10000 Reasons (Bless The Lord), All Because of Jesus, Ben Fielding, Bill Horn, Chris Tomlin, Christ, Erik Oldberg, Everything, Fellowship Bible Church, God Is Able, Jason Ingram, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Joe Hishmeh, Jonas Myrin, Matt Redman, Reuben Morgan, Steve Fee, The Worship Community, Unchanging, worship, You Have Overcome | Leave a Comment »
April 10, 2012
This Easter, our church relocated temporarily to the Topeka Performing Arts Center to accommodate as many guests as possible (we ended up hosting around 3800 people this weekend!). Last year, we had to do six services, but the attendance was not evenly distributed – more than half of our people wanted to attend at two of the six service times, and we were cramped for space (our building holds around 690). At Christmas Eve last year, we ended up turning people away, which is something we never want to do again if we can help it. We always want an open door and an open seat for people to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ!
It was amazing to see the team come together to make this happen for the weekend. It was a ton of work, and my tech director, Wyatt Johnston, did a fantastic job of navigating the difficulties of relocation. Each of the people who regularly lead for our services led together for both services. That was something that was a priority to me, and I am thankful that it worked out that everyone could participate. There’s nothing like leading worship together with friends! I am so grateful for our church and for our team. Jesus was exalted this weekend! You can listen to the entire message here.
Here’s our service plan from this weekend:
Video – “An Easter Story”
Pre-Service Song – “Our God’s Alive” (Em) [Andy Cherry, Jason Ingram, Dan Muckala]
“Sing to the King” (E) [Billy Foote, Charles Sylvester Horne]
Welcome/Greeting Time – David Hinkle
Call To Worship – from Philippians 2
“Happy Day” (B) [Tim Hughes, Ben Cantelon]
Video – “The White Board Gospel”
“You Have Overcome” (A) [Bill Horn, Erik Oldberg]
“You Alone Can Rescue” (B) [Matt Redman, Jonas Myrin]
“Jesus Paid It All” (B) [John T. Grape, Elvina M. Hall, Alex Nifong]
Video – “Alive”
Message – “Everyone” [Joe Hishmeh]
“Christ Is Risen” (Gb) [Matt Maher, Mia Fieldes]
Offering/Announcements
Dismissal
“Our God’s Alive” - This song served as our countdown song this week. It was an awesome song to open our Easter services with. It is an anthem that really set the tone for how we wanted to celebrate the resurrection.
“Sing to the King” – Led by Becky Tindell and Sarah Oldberg, this was our opening song. It is one of our church’s favorites, and it really communicates the hope we have in Jesus. Also, this is a song that the children are singing in The Mountain (our children’s ministry, led by Erik Oldberg). Our children from ages 3 and up were in our services this weekend, so it was important to us to do some songs that they would know as well. This is a great song that served the purpose of reaching everyone in the room.
“Happy Day” - Erik Oldberg led us on this song. This is another staple for our congregation and for our children, so it was another song that reached our whole congregation. As we sang this song, there was a tremendous amount of energy in the room. It was exciting to be a part of it!
“You Have Overcome” - This is the new original song that we introduced to our congregation last weekend in preparation for this weekend. Our congregation is connecting with it, and singing it well together. The link in the title takes you to the post where I discussed the song in further detail and where you can also download the charts for the song. It is a straightforward song about how Jesus has overcome sin and death, and has therefore redeemed us, giving us life and hope.
“You Alone Can Rescue” – Sarah Oldberg and I led on this song. This remains one of my favorite worship songs. I love how it declares our prior condition and where we stand now because of Christ’s death and resurrection for us. He “came down to find us, and led us out of death!”
“Jesus Paid It All” - Each of us led a portion of this song, which is another one of our congregation’s favorites. The ending was powerful and beautiful as we sang out the bridge, “O praise the One who paid my debt/ And raised this life up from the dead” a cappella. This moment in each of our services was one of the highlights of the weekend for me.
“Christ Is Risen” - We responded to Joe’s message with this song. This is one of my favorites for Easter. I love the chorus especially: “Christ is risen from the dead/ Trampling over death by death/ Come awake, come awake/ Come and rise up from the grave.” It’s a powerful thing for the church to sing this together. Jesus has conquered sin and death. And we will participate in that victory. All praise and honor and glory to Jesus!
The bottom line? This weekend was amazing. I am so overwhelmed what we experienced together. It was the Easter service that I had always dreamt of. I couldn’t have asked for a more special weekend. Easter is definitely my favorite time of the year in terms of leading the church in worship. We have no greater reason to sing than the fact that Jesus has overcome sin and death for us!
I hope you had a great weekend of worship wherever you were! Jesus is ALIVE!
In the Son,
Bill
p.s. don’t forget to check out The Worship Community!
Posted in Worship Set Lists | Tagged Alex Nifong, Alive, An Easter Story, Andy Cherry, Becky Tindell, Ben Cantelon, Bill Horn, Billy Foote, Charles Silvester Horne, Christ, Christ Is Risen, Easter, Elvina M. Hall, Erik Oldberg, Everyone, Fellowship Bible Church, Happy Day, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Jesus Paid It All, Joe Hishmeh, John T. Grape, Jonas Myrin, Matt Maher, Matt Redman, Mia Fieldes, Our God's Alive, Sarah Oldberg, Sing to the King, The White Board Gospel, The Worship Community, Tim Hughes, Topeka Performing Arts Center, TPAC, worship, You Alone Can Rescue, You Have Overcome | Leave a Comment »
March 11, 2012
This weekend, we continued our Romans series, focusing on Romans 11. In his message, Joe taught about God’s sovereignty and His faithful legacy for us, where He goes above and beyond anything we have experienced anywhere else. He is so good to us. You can listen to the entire message here.
Here’s our service plan from this weekend:
“Everlasting God” (Bb) [Brenton Brown, Ken Riley]
Welcome/Greeting Time
Call To Worship
“Forever Reign” (Ab) [Jason Ingram, Reuben Morgan]
“You Are God Alone (Not A god)” (Ab) [Billy Foote, Cindy Foote]
“Your Great Name” (Bb) [Michael Neale, Krissy Nordhoff]
Prayer
Message – “Romans 11″ [Joe Hishmeh]
“Lord Of All” (Bb) [Kristian Stanfill]
Offering/Announcements
Dismissal
“Everlasting God” – This one is another staple here at Fellowship. Our people connect well with it, and it speaks great truth from Isaiah chapter 40.
“Forever Reign” – This is one of our church’s favorite songs. Sarah Oldberg led us on this one, and our people sang well on it in each of the services.
“You Are God Alone (Not A god)” - This was a new song for our congregation (in worship anyways), and it is one of my favorite songs. Billy and Cindy Foote wrote it, and it was made fairly popular by CCM artists Philips, Craig, and Dean. I still prefer the original, as Cindy Foote has a very powerful voice that connects well with the message of the song. Sarah led us on this one as well, and she did a great job doing so.
“Your Great Name” – This song is still fairly new to our congregation, as we only introduced it last weekend during communion. I love how this song declares the power of the name of Jesus.
“Lord Of All” – This remains one of my favorites, and a favorite for our congregation. It was also a great fit for the message this weekend, as we spoke of the mystery and sovereignty of God. Jesus is the Lord of all!
This weekend was a good weekend of worship, albeit somewhat challenging. Both Sarah and I were sick this weekend, and it was a very good thing that we were sharing leadership this weekend, so we could get through it. I am so thankful for our great team who steps up and makes it happen week-in and week-out.
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!
Posted in Worship Set Lists | Tagged Billy Foote, Brenton Brown, Christ, Cindy Foote, Everlasting God, Fellowship Bible Church, Forever Reign, Grow In Christ, Jason Ingram, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Joe Hishmeh, Ken RIley, Krissy Nordhoff, Kristian Stanfill, Lord of All, Michael Neale, Natalie Grant, Reuben Morgan, Romans, Romans 11, The Worship Community, worship, You Are God Alone, Your Great Name | Leave a Comment »
March 4, 2012
This weekend, we continued our Romans series, focusing on Romans 10:8 – 17. In his message, Joe taught about God’s plan of salvation for the nations, and how we must be the ones to go and tell about what Jesus has done. We are participants in the gospel, and God calls us into spreading the message to the people we encounter. We are the only option – as Joe says, “There is no Plan B.” You can listen to the entire message here.
Here’s our service plan from this weekend:
“Say Say” (Bb) [Christy Nockels, Kristian Stanfill, Chris Tomlin]
Welcome/Greeting Time
Call To Worship
“Glorious Day” (B) [Michael Bleecker, J. Wilbur Chapman]
“Stronger” (B) [Ben Fielding, Reuben Morgan]
“Jesus Paid It All” (B) [John T. Grape, Elvina M. Hall, w/ additional chorus by Alex Nifong]
Time of Reflection/Prayer
Message – “Romans 10:8 – 17″ [Joe Hishmeh]
Communion Intro
Communion Song – “Your Great Name” (Bb) [Michael Neale, Krissy Nordhoff]
Taking of Elements
Song Reprise – “Your Great Name” (Bb)
Offering/Announcements
Dismissal
“Say Say” – Because of the focus passage for this weekend (which includes Romans 10:9 – “if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved”), we opened our services with this song. We taught this song to our congregation a few months ago, and haven’t sung it too frequently since that time. It was one of the first that I introduced here to Fellowship. I love the call of this song on our lives, for us to declare with boldness and sincerity that Jesus is King. This song inspires confidence in the truth of the gospel, and these are the kinds of words I think we need to be encouraging one another with when we sing together in worship.
“Glorious Day” – This is a song that we began teaching a few weeks ago, and I continue to love how this song ties the past, present, and future of the gospel message all together. I think it is a solid song of celebrating what Christ has accomplished at the cross and in His resurrection, and also what He will accomplish in His return. We have many amazing reasons to worship our King!
“Stronger” - This song, while written somewhat recently, has the feel (in the lyric, anyway) of being almost like a creed. I love the simple declarations throughout the song, and the bridge sings of exalting Jesus’ name because of what He has done. It is also one of the few new worship songs that is truly in 3/4, which gives it a unique feel throughout. I really enjoy singing this song, and singing out what Jesus has accomplished.
“Jesus Paid It All” -This song is one of our favorites here, and for good reason. It is a simple confession of our dependence on Jesus and His finished work on the cross, and a powerful declaration of praise for what He accomplished for us in His resurrection. We were dead, but now we are alive in Him, and that is the main motivation we have sing and exalt Him.
“Your Great Name” – This song is new to our congregation, so we introduced it during our communion time this weekend. I first heard this from the writer, Michael Neale, at a conference in Florida. It was made popular by Natalie Grant. What I found interesting is that Natalie Grant sings the harmony during the chorus and the bridge, but sings it as though it is the melody. Both the harmony and the melody of this song are very nice lines, so it works really well. I love this song because it clearly declares the name of Jesus and exalts Him for who He is and what He has done. There is salvation and power in no other name, and we should speak it out with confidence, hope, and faith. Our congregation really connected with this song (surprisingly so), and we will definitely be singing it together again. The video to which I linked in the title of the song also has the lyric on it. I’d love to hear your thoughts about this song, and if you have sung it in your congregations.
This weekend was a strong weekend of worship with a very clear focus on the gospel and on proclaiming it to the world around us. I love celebrating the Lord’s Supper with our congregation, and remembering what Jesus has done. He is so good and faithful to us, even when we are faithless. He is so worthy of all of our praise and glory!
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!
Posted in Worship Set Lists | Tagged Alex Nifong, Ben Fielding, Chris Tomlin, Christ, Christy Nockels, Elvina M. Hall, Fellowship Bible Church, Glorious Day, Grow In Christ, J. Wilbur Chapman, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Jesus Paid It All, Joe Hishmeh, John T. Grape, Krissy Nordhoff, Kristian Stanfill, Michael Bleecker, Michael Neale, Natalie Grant, Reuben Morgan, Romans, Romans 10:8-17, Say Say, Stronger, The Worship Community, worship, Your Great Name | Leave a Comment »
February 26, 2012
This weekend, we continued our Romans series, focusing on Romans 9:30 – 10:4. In his message, Joe preached about God’s sovereignty, and how we need to be zealous for the things that last and the things that matter. Ultimately, those things are God, His Word, and people. It is easy to lose sight of those things, and to get caught up in things that don’t last and don’t matter. One of those things is our own attempts at making ourselves righteous before God, which we really cannot do. We cannot justify ourselves on our own merit. We need the redemption that is only found in the finished work of Jesus Christ. You can listen to the entire message here.
Here’s our service plan from this weekend:
“The Solid Rock” (E) [Trent Austin, William B. Bradbury, Kendall Combs, Charlie Hall, Edward Mote]
Welcome/Greeting Time
Call To Worship
“Nothing But The Blood” (D) [Robert Lowry, with additional bridge by Andy Cherry]
“Happy Day” (Bb) [Tim Hughes, Ben Cantelon]
“You Alone Can Rescue” (Bb) [Matt Redman, Jonas Myrin]
“Rock Of Ages” (Bb) [Thomas Hastings, Augustus M. Toplady]
Time of Reflection/Prayer
Message – “Romans 9:30 – 10:4″ [Joe Hishmeh]
Offering/Announcements
Dismissal
“The Solid Rock” – We sang this modern arrangement of a timeless hymn as our opening song this weekend, to point to the only solid foundation we can have for our eternal life – Jesus Christ. It is only in His complete and finished work on the cross that we have salvation and hope for eternity. We can depend on nothing else. The gospel is Jesus plus nothing. We are completely incapable of saving ourselves. Jesus is the only way of salvation for us. As this great hymn says in the chorus, “all other ground is sinking sand.”
“Nothing But The Blood” – This is another modern hymn arrangement, done by a newer artist, Andy Cherry. He was one of the worship leaders at the Re:Create Conference I attended a few weeks ago in Nashville, and his label shared a pre-release album with all of us. This was one of the songs we sang with him while we were at the conference, and I loved how his treatment of the song really captured the power and confidence of the lyric, along with a great added chorus, which sings, “The blood of Jesus is enough for me/ Oh, the blood of Jesus is enough.” You can hear his rendition of this song streaming on his website. I really encourage you to pick up his whole album when it is released in March. It was produced by Jason Ingram, and many of the songs were co-written by Ingram. I’m really enjoying it!
“Happy Day” - This song is a staple for our church, and it was a great fit for the subject matter of this weekend, as we declare that it is Jesus alone who saves us and rescues us from sin and death. We had no hope apart from Him, so there is great cause for celebration because of what He has done for us. We have been made alive together with Christ!
“You Alone Can Rescue” – We sang this song this weekend because it states the major truth of this weekend simply and clearly: Jesus alone can rescue us. There is no other way for us to be saved, nor is there any other way to eternal life. He is our salvation and our hope, and we cannot save ourselves. There is great freedom in declaring this truth together, because it frees us from the delusion that we can do anything to affect our eternal destination; it is only because of Jesus that we have life.
“Rock of Ages” – When I first heard Ascend The Hill’s rendition of this song on their hymns album (Take The World, But Give Me Jesus), I was incredibly moved. It is such a desperate cry of dependence on the finished work of Christ for us. I think the lyric and the melody do a good job of communicating that desperation and hopelessness apart from Christ’s death on the cross in our place. What a beautiful song! Other than my guitar going really out of tune on this song during the last service, it went really well. We had a time of quiet reflection after this song, where we confessed areas of our life where we weren’t trusting God, and where we’ve tried to find our hope and joy in things other than Him. He is our only source of true hope, joy, and peace. We need to depend on Him and trust Him fully, because He will not disappoint our hope in Him.
This weekend was a good weekend overall. We tried some different things with our service order, in order to try and simplify the flow of our services: we set up a countdown at the beginning of the services that included some key memory verses from our study through the book of Romans; we took out the response song and moved that time earlier in our service; and we also moved a song to the start of the time as a definitive start to each of the services. We had been doing a “Time of Preparation” prior to our services, with the hopes that people would take advantage of that time to prepare their hearts for meeting with the Lord together and to have some quiet time after the hustle of getting themselves and their families to the service. What we found, however, was that it served to muddy the actual “start time” of our services, and people were actually showing up later, not earlier. Regardless, I am in favor of occasionally changing things around in order for us not to become too attached to any kind of order or flow of a service. We often tend to pay less attention to things when we think we know what is coming next.
I am thankful for the opportunities we had this weekend to glorify our Savior. I am so grateful for the sacrifice He made for us, and for how He has rescued us. He is worthy of all praise and honor and glory, with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength. He 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!
Posted in Worship Set Lists | Tagged Andy Cherry, Ascend The Hill, Augustus M. Toplady, Ben Cantelon, Charlie Hall, Christ, Edward Mote, Fellowship Bible Church, Grow In Christ, Happy Day, Jason Ingram, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Joe Hishmeh, Jonas Myrin, Kendall Combs, Matt Redman, Nothing But the Blood, Re:Create 2012, Re:Create Conference, Robert Lowry, Rock of Ages, Romans, Romans 9:30 - 10:4, The Solid Rock, The Worship Community, Thomas Hastings, Tim Hughes, Trent Austin, William B. Bradbury, worship, You Alone Can Rescue | 4 Comments »
