Posts Tagged ‘Kristian Stanfill’

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Set List, 08/27 – 08/28/11 Fellowship Bible Church

August 28, 2011

This weekend, we focused on the subject of transformational worship. Joe’s point was that we become like whatever we worship. We are transformed by the object of our worship. When we are worshiping the things of this world, we become more like them, and take on their characteristics. He called us to preparation for worship, presentation of our lives as living sacrifices, and participation in God’s calling on us.

Here’s our set from this weekend:

Pre-Service – “Only a Word” (E) [original]
Time of Preparation (a time of confession and focus in prayer)
Welcome/Greeting Time
Call To Worship – Rom. 12:1-2
“Glory to God Forever” (Bb) [Steve Fee, Vicky Beeching]
“The Lost Are Found” (Bb) [Ben Fielding, Sam Knock]
“Lord of All” (Bb) [Kristian Stanfill]
“Jesus Paid It All” (Bb) [Elvina M. Hall, John Thomas Grape, Alex Nifong]
Message – “Upgrade – Worship” [Joe Hishmeh]
Offering/Announcements
Response – “Let Me Sing” [Todd Fields]
Dismissal 

“Only a Word” – I’ve wanted to sing this song here for a while. We used it because it sets a good tone for worship by recognizing God’s power to change us and to change the world, and helps us develop an expectation for Him to move in our midst, because “nothing impossible with God” (Luke 1:37). The thought of this song that it only takes one word from God to change everything. Scripture shares the phrase that God said in creation, “Let there be…” That was all it took. I don’t think He needed to say anything, but it simply communicates how easy it is for God to transform our reality. He is able and powerful. I have been reading through Tozer’s The Knowledge Of The Holy, and he repeatedly states the fact that nothing is difficult for God. He never needs to rest after working. He has everything He needs to do anything He wants whenever He wants to do it. Through that book, I have been reminded that God is truly able.

Here’s the lyric from the song:

“Only a Word”
Words and Music by Bill Horn

VERSE 1
With a word You throw the spheres and space is formed
With Your voice You fill the void with light and worlds
With Your arm You carve the ocean from the shore
With a breath You move the dust and life is born

CHORUS
With only a word, stars come blazing forth
Only one verb, and darkness is no more
Only Your voice, can pierce us through, O Lord
This world can be transformed, with only a word

VERSE 2
With a thought You ease the waves and still the sea
With Your hand You touch the blind and let him see
With a song You make the prison doors break free
Everything can change when You say, “Let it be”

BRIDGE
The sun aligns with You
For You are the truth
You are reality
Before everything

“Glory to God Forever” – We prefaced this song with Romans 12:1-2 as our call to worship. I felt it was a good way to start a week that focused on worship, because we need to fight hard to correct the misperception that worship through music is all there is to worship. The proper posture of the worshiping heart is summed up in the bridge: “Take my life and let it be/ All for You and for Your glory/ Take my life and let it be Yours.”

“The Lost Are Found” – This was a new song for our congregation this week. Joe asked if we could teach it, because it really ties into the subjects of worship (the song of the redeemed/Lordship of Christ/making all things new) and outreach (which we’ll be focusing on next week. This is a good song with a simple a strong lyric. I really like what is technically the bridge of the song, which sings, “The lost are found, the blind will see/ The lame will walk, the dead will live/ And You our God, forever You will reign.” In teaching the song, I called our people to remember and look forward to the day of Christ’s return, when He makes all things new and rights all the wrongs in this world. We look forward to this day with hope, and it should change our perspective on daily life.

“Lord of All” – We sang this song because it helps is get a proper perspective on who the Lord is  - the Lord of all and King of kings. I love singing this song together. We had one hiccup in the 3rd service on this one, where our drummer Jordan’s kick pedal broke toward the end of “The Lost Are Found” and was broken throughout this song. Our tech director, Wyatt, was able to grab a replacement from one of our other venues and get it installed for the end of the song. It was a good reminder of what is truly important in our worship services, and it was fitting in the week about worship. The band and technology are nice, but they are extras that can possibly make it easier for us to worship God by connecting our head and our hearts. However, they are by no means essential, and we all ought to be able to worship the Lord just as well without an instrument as with the full band.

“Jesus Paid It All” – We sang this song because there is no greater reason for us to worship than the gospel of Christ. We were dead, and now we are alive in Him. We were enemies, and now we are heirs together with Christ. Could there be a greater reason to be thankful and worship our great God?

“Let Me Sing” – I think this was a fitting response to our pastor’s message this weekend, because it expresses a desire to live a life that worships God greater than anything else in creation. The chorus sings, “Let me sing louder than creation to You/ For the pain You bore in Your body/ To bring my soul to You/ Let me shine brighter than the stars in the sky/ An offering of praise all my life/ To You my holy King.” I think this sums up my thinking about the entire service. Our greatest reason for worship is the gospel, and the kind of worship God deserves is that which comes from an entire life lived for Him.

We had a good weekend of corporate worship, focusing on the subject of lifestyle worship. I enjoyed how the different elements connected and interplayed. It seems like God made it all fit together to communicate a single message: worship is life.

I hope you had a great weekend of worship!

In the Son,

Bill

p.s. Don’t forget to check out The Worship Community to see what other leaders did this weekend!

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Set List, 08/06 – 08/07/11 Fellowship Bible Church

August 7, 2011

This weekend David Hinkle preached from the book of Ruth to talk about God’s mission and how it has involved His people throughout history. The message was title “Legacy,” and he talked about how we can become a part of God’s overarching purpose in this world. One of his main points was that we were born at this time to be involved in this specific part of God’s plan – sending us out to tell the world about His Son, Jesus. It was a challenging reminder of the calling on our lives as rescued believers in Jesus Christ. We have a mission.

For this week’s message, we focused on the gospel, mission, pursuing God, redemption, and the new covenant. Each of these songs carries at least one of these elements in it.

Here’s our set from this weekend:

Pre-Service – “Kingdom” (A) [Kristian Stanfill]
Call To Worship/Prayer
“Happy Day” (Bb) [Tim Hughes, Ben Cantelon]
Welcome/Offering/Announcements/Greeting Time
“Let Me Sing” (Bb) [Todd Fields]
“Forever Reign” (Bb) [Jason Ingram, Reuben Morgan]
 Message – “Legacy” [David Hinkle]
Communion Song – “Rock of Ages” (Bb) [Augustus M. Toplady, Thomas Hastings]
Response – “Son of God” [Jon Neufeld, Tim Neufeld] 

This weekend was another good weekend of worship. One highlight for me was seeing one of our young guys, Anthony Dake, jump in on drums and do a fantastic job. He played like a champ, and served our congregation well. I look forward to having him in there again soon. Part of our vision for our worship ministry is to build into our younger guys and gals and teach them early on what it’s all about and how to lead worship through music, with authenticity and excellence. Our NextGen Worship Leader, Erik Oldberg, does a fantastic job with these guys, and even in the six months I have been here, I have seen huge growth in each of them. I am thankful for his leadership and passion for worship.

“Kingdom” – This song was a great fit for the theme of the weekend, but it is a little tricky for most of our congregation to sing with, which is why it was in the pre-service slot. It really communicates that it is our responsibility and calling to carry the truth of the gospel to the world, and to invade the darkness with the light of Jesus Christ. I love the message of this song.

“Happy Day” – This is now a standard for our congregation, and it has been a while since we sang it together. I love what it communicates about Jesus’ victory over sin and death, and how our eternal destiny has been permanently affected by His work on the cross and His resurrection.

“Let Me Sing” – We began teaching this song a few weeks ago, and this was our refresher week, to solidify it in our congregation’s memory. This song supported the theme of the weekend with the idea of us shining as lights in the darkness as an act of worship, in response to the amazing sacrifice that Christ made for us. In my mind, this is the most significant reason we have to worship, to obey, and to give of ourselves – Christ gave first, and did so in a marvelous way.

“Forever Reign” – We bracketed the message with this song, or parts of it anyway. The bridge and chorus really helped to communicate the drive of the message, for us to pursue Jesus Christ and His purposes with everything we have.

“Rock of Ages” – This hymn arrangement is from a band called Ascend The Hill, on their album of reworked hymns, Take The World But Give Me Jesus. The first time I heard it, I was immediately struck by the powerful lyric, and the simple arrangement, which added great power and emotion to the truth of the lyric. The lyric conveys the desperation we should all have for the saving work of Christ. We are completely hopeless without His help and His rescuing us. We sang this song during communion, and it was very appropriate in that slot. Here’s the lyric:

Rock of Ages
Augustus M. Toplady, Thomas Hastings

VERSE 1
Rock of Ages, cleft for me,
Let me hide myself in Thee;
Let the water and the blood,
From Thy wounded side which flowed,
Be of sin the double cure;
Save from wrath and make me pure.

VERSE 2
Not the labor of my hands
Can fulfill Thy law’s demands;
Could my zeal no respite know,
Could my tears forever flow,
These for sin could not atone
Thou must save, and Thou alone.

VERSE 3
Nothing in my hand I bring,
Simply to Thy cross I cling;
Naked, come to Thee for dress;
Helpless look to Thee for grace;
Foul, I to Thy fountain fly
Wash me, Savior, or I die.

VERSE 4
While I draw this fleeting breath,
When mine eyes shall close in death,
When I rise to worlds unknown
And behold Thee on Thy throne
Rock of Ages, cleft for me,
Let me hide myself in Thee.

“Son of God” – We finished the service by singing this great song to our Savior. It actually ended up being more fitting than I thought it would be, because of the way that David emphasized the covenant and Christ’s sacrifice on the cross for us. The ends of each verse spoke to these elements, singing directly about the cross and then in the second verse about how Christ fulfilled prophecy and how He is coming again for His church. I think it was a solid way to end our times together this weekend.

I am so thankful to be a part of this great church, and for the opportunity to grow together in worshiping our King. I hope you had a great weekend of worship as well. Check out The Worship Community to see what other worshipers experienced and why.

Let me know your thoughts! I love reading your opinions and feedback.

In the Son,

Bill

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Set List, 07/16 – 07/17/11 Fellowship Bible Church

July 17, 2011

This week, our focus was Philippians 4:8-9, and Joe preached on “An Appraisal of Thoughts.” This passage calls us out on the way we think about things: “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me–practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.” We can either think on the things of God or the things of this world. The question is: where are our thoughts directed most of the time? I think we were all challenged about our thought lives as a result. For the songs this weekend, we focused on the glory of God, His sovereign might and power, and His unique worth–all pointing to the fact that Jesus is the one most worthy of our thoughts.

Here’s our service order from this weekend:

Pre-Service – “Say Say” (A) [Christy Nockels, Kristian Stanfill, Chris Tomlin]
Call to Worship – Psalm 40:5-8
Prayer
“Glory to God Forever” (Bb) [Steve Fee, Vicky Beeching]
Camp Barnabas Student Testimonies/Offering
Welcome/Announcements/Greeting Time
“Let Me Sing” (Bb) [Todd Fields]
“Always” (Bb) [Kristian Stanfill, Jason Ingram]
Scripture Reflection – Psalm 97:1-5
“Lord of All” (Bb) [Kristian Stanfill]
Prayer
Message – Philippians 4:8-9 – “An Appraisal of Thoughts” [Joe Hishmeh]
Response – “Psalm 19″ (D) [Terry Butler]
Dismissal
(You may notice a little more detail in the set list/service order this week. I decided to begin including every element of our service, to give a better picture of our flow and what we incorporate week-to-week.) 

“Say Say” – This is a song that we began teaching a few months ago, and the focus of believing and thinking about the truth that Jesus Christ is God and King made it a solid fit for this week’s services.

“Glory to God Forever” – We used this song because it points to God as our Creator and the One who has given us breath, and also provides an opportunity for us to respond with faith and commitment. I have written a lot about this song in the past, so suffice to say that I really love and latch onto the bridge of this song, and the prayer for God to take our lives and use them for His glory.

“Let Me Sing” – This is the second consecutive week that we have taught this song to our congregation. It is a song that was used a while back, long before I arrived here, but it needed some “dusting off,” as many in our congregation has recently started attending over the past year. In this instance, the same process of teaching applies, because a song isn’t familiar or part of our worship vocabulary anymore. So, we will teach it one more week, and then bring it back a few weeks after that to solidify it in our vocabulary and collective memory.

“Always” – This is another song that we taught a few weeks ago, and it was time to bring it back as a reminder. In Joe’s message, he focused partially on worry and thinking on things that are not trusting or depending on God. This song speaks to that kind of thinking, in a powerful declaration of faith and confidence in God’s ability to affect our situation, no matter how impossible it may seem. I love the truth of this song, and the way in which it is presented. It’s a strong way to affirm our confidence in Christ.

“Lord of All” – We led into this song by reflecting on a passage from Psalm 97, from which a large portion of this song derives. The passage, in the NLT, reads

The Lord is king! Let the earth rejoice!
Let the farthest islands be glad.
Clouds and darkness surround Him.
Righteousness and justice
Are the foundation of His throne.
Fire goes forth before Him
And burns up all His foes.
His lightning flashes out across the world.
The earth sees and trembles.
The mountains melt like wax before the Lord,
Before the Lord of all the earth.

I love the imagery of this Psalm, as it gives both a sense of mystery and of omnipotence. Rather than fear, the Psalmist calls everyone to “rejoice” because “The Lord is king.” God’s just and righteous reign is indeed cause for celebration and for worship. He is the almighty ruler of everything, and He will always do what is right and good. I believe there is great hope for us when we consider these things. We don’t have to worry about injustice being left unresolved. God will make everything right. He will fix everything. As my daughter’s Bible says (my paraphrase), “God will undo everything that is wrong.”

This song has become a favorite of our congregation, and rightfully so. This song lifts the Lord up like He deserves to be. It speaks the truth about His almighty power, His glory, His uniqueness, His sovereignty, His wisdom, and His worth. I don’t think there’s ever a bad time to sing these things.

“Psalm 19″ – I first heard this song done by Shane & Shane in 2003 (although it was written in 1995). The prayer of this song, coming directly from Psalm 19:14 – “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer (ESV)” – was a great fit for the focus of Joe’s message. While it was a little unfamiliar for our congregation, it has enough repetition that it is easy to pick up, and our congregation was participating by the end. I encouraged us to make this our prayer in response to the message.

It was a solid weekend of gathering together to worship our King. Despite the fact that early into the first service on Saturday night, I began going hoarse. My throat didn’t hurt, yet my voice was disappearing randomly. After I walked off the platform, I went straight to the water and brewed some tea, and that got me through the rest of the night without a problem. I think I might have been a little dehydrated, because I didn’t drink much water on Saturday until the evening. I think I’ve learned my lesson.

On a sad note, this weekend was the last weekend serving with one of our core worship team members, Hannah Anderson. She is moving to Colorado Springs next weekend to begin teaching kindergarten for a school there. Her joyful and encouraging presence for our church and our worship and arts ministry, along with her talent as both a vocalist and keyboardist, will be sorely missed. She will be a tremendous blessing to a congregation in Colorado and to her new students. I am thankful for the opportunity to have served with her for these past six months, and the team and I are praying for her on her new adventure.

I hope you had a great weekend of worship wherever you were. Be sure to check out The Worship Community’s Sunday Set Lists to see what other leaders and worshipers experienced this weekend.

In the Son,

Bill

Question time: what is your favorite song for worship? Join the conversation below!

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Set List, 06/25 – 06/26/11 Fellowship Bible Church

June 26, 2011

This weekend, we focused on the idea of eternal reward, coming from Philippians 3:12-16. It builds off of last weekend’s message, where Joe talked about finding no confidence or comparison in the flesh, but only finding confidence and the standard for comparison in Jesus Christ. Everything in this world will fade and pass away, except for God, His Word, and people, and those areas are where we need to prioritize our efforts and our energy. We need to “press on” toward knowing Christ more completely, and loving Him wholeheartedly.

Here’s our song list from this weekend:

Pre-Service – “Unleashed” (F#m) [Warren Barfield]
Call To Worship – Jeremiah 9:23-24
“Your Grace Is Enough” (G) [Matt Maher]
Welcome/ Offering/ Announcements/ Greeting time
“Forever Reign” (Bb) [Jason Ingram, Reuben Morgan]
“Lord of All” (Bb) [Kristian Stanfill]
“How Great Is Our God” [Chris Tomlin, Jesse Reeves, Ed Cash]
Message – “An Appraisal of Rewards” [David Hinkle]
Response – “I Will Boast” (D) [Paul Baloche]
Dismissal
Post-Service – “You’re The Only One” (Em) [Bill Horn]

This was a fun week in terms of the music. Over the past few months, I have gathered that much of our congregation responds to and enjoys songs that have a groove to them, like “Those Who Trust,” so I decided to experiment a little bit, take a chance this weekend, and see what happened.

“Unleashed” – A few weeks back we did this as a post-service song on a Sunday, and it went over pretty well, so we decided to try it in the pre-service this week. I love the feel of this song. It has some really fun parts for our musicians, and it communicates a simple truth that God’s love is overwhelming and completely fills us. I love the image of God “unleashing” His love on us, like He was holding back a massive wave, and eventually let it loose on us. I’m not sure the congregation quite knew what to do with this one in the first two services. I was more specific before the Sunday services that this song was for us to prepare our hearts and ready our minds for worship. It was fun to play, but I’m not sure if we’ll do it again. I will be looking to the rest of our pastoral and leadership team for feedback on that one.

“Your Grace Is Enough” – I don’t think much needs to be said about this song. It is simple and clear, and celebrates the grace of God in a great way. Our congregation connects with it and knows it well, and it is a great way to start the service. We prefaced this song with the passage from Jeremiah 9:23-24 where God speaks of boasting and the only proper object of boasting: “let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth” (ESV). I think the word translated as “steadfast love” is referring to God’s grace and faithful love toward us, and it was a great way to focus our hearts in preparation for this first song.

“Forever Reign” – This was the first time we did this song in Bb together since I arrived here (last time I tried to sing it in Ab, and it was incredibly low in the verses!). This song is a staple for our church, and I have become a big fan of it over the last few months. The verses and chorus were a great connection (more than I realized initially) between the way we began, with “Unleashed” and “Your Grace Is Enough,” to where we were going, focusing on the unique worth and glory of Jesus as the Lord of lords and King of kings. He is all we need, and He is the only one we should be exalting with our lives, first because of who He is, and furthermore because of what He has done in redeeming us through His cross and resurrection. I particularly love the bridge as it sings, “My heart will sing/ No other name/ Jesus, Jesus.” Because of the gospel of Jesus, this should be the truth of our hearts. May that be the case!

“Lord of All” – It’s been a few weeks since we’ve sung this song, but it remains a favorite of mine. Our congregation connects with it well. I have maintained that this is a song that the Church needs to sing, because it not only emphasizes the glory, power, and worth of Jesus, but it also draws attention to His judgment and wrath, which is not a frequent occurrence in worship music throughout the Church’s history. I believe that this is a major emphasis in Scripture, and therefore part of God’s glory that ought to be praised. I understand the fact that God’s judgment is infrequently mentioned because it’s not always a pleasant thought, to think that God will judge. However, this attribute of God also points to His greatness and His perfect power. As Scripture frequently points out, who will question God? Who will tell Him what to do? Who made the heavens? Who created man? Will the created one try and tell the Creator what to do? No. God is almighty, and none can match His power and His glory.

“How Great is Our God” – We haven’t done this song in a while, but it’s a song that we can all get our hearts around and that we can sing well. We tried something a little different at the end of the song, and the ladies on the team sang the chorus of “Lord of All” while I sang the chorus of “How Great is Our God” (they have the same progression). It was pretty cool to hear them both together, because they communicate very similar ideas about God’s greatness, power, and unique worth.

“I Will Boast” – Because David was focusing partly on Jeremiah 9:23-24, he asked if we could do this song as a response. I think it was very fitting, because we are tempted to think that many things in our lives are worth boasting about, but Jesus is the only thing worth boasting about. My youth pastor, James, used to say something to the effect of, “Let’s brag on Jesus.” Word.

“You’re The Only One” – This is the most recent song that I have written, and it is the first time we’ve done it together here at Fellowship. We did it in the post-service time, partly to introduce it into our church. It had particular meaning to sing on Sunday, because one of our people here, a man named David Decker, was killed in a motorcycle accident last night due to another driver’s error at an intersection. David is the father of two boys. The lyric of this song comes primarily from Psalm 139, which talks about the Lord’s presence everywhere. We cannot escape His sight or His presence. No matter what we are experiencing, He is there, and He is with us.

You’re The Only One
Bill Horn

VERSE 1
In the shadows, in the empty, in the darkness,
You are near, You are here
In the trial, in the fire, in the pain,
You are with me, You are with me

PRE-CHORUS 1
I won’t be afraid
I won’t be afraid

CHORUS
You’re the only one who hears me when I call
You’re the only one to catch me when I fall

VERSE 2
In the quiet, in the silence, in the whispers
You are listening, Lord, You hear me
In the hopeless, in the helpless, in the hurting,
You are life, You are the light

PRE-CHORUS 2
Your love never fails
Your love never fails

BRIDGE
The dark is like the light to You
And night as bright as day
Wherever I go, You remain

May we all be keenly aware of His presence with us in all circumstances. May God’s presence be known in suffering, in the suffering of two boys who lost their father, and in the suffering of two parents who lost their son last night. Jesus is a High Priest who understands and sympathizes with us, and can minister better than anyone to our needs. “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:15-16 ESV).

I hope you had a great day of worship wherever you were, and that Jesus was lifted high like He deserves to be! I’m a part of The Worship Community, and you should check it out.

In the Son,

Bill

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Set Lists, 06/18 – 06/19/11 Fellowship Bible Church

June 19, 2011

(once again, WordPress logged me out midway through my draft, so this is mostly a second try, so I may miss a few things…)

This weekend, we focused on Philippians 3:1-11 for a message on “An Appraisal of Worth and Identity.” From this passage, Joe pointed out that we are to place no confidence in our flesh (the things of this world by which we might try to identify ourselves) and we are to compare our lives and the stuff of life against Jesus Christ and His “surpassing worth” (3:8 ESV). Nothing we have to offer—nothing we have done—even comes close to comparing with the worth of Jesus. Our salvation is completely dependent on who He is and what He has done.  Paul says it this way, “not having a righteousness of my own that comes through the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith” (Phil. 3:9 ESV). In the music this weekend, we focused completely on the gospel, recognizing our complete inability to save ourselves, and the unique ability and work of Christ to rescue us and to give us life. We are completely dependent on Him for salvation and eternal life, hence the repeating themes of “nothing but the blood of Jesus,” “You alone can rescue,” and “I lift my eyes up, my help comes from the Lord.” Jesus Christ is all we have!

Here’s our set from this weekend:

“All Because of Jesus” (Bb) [Steve Fee]
Call to Worship – Psalm 86:8-10
“I Stand Amazed” (G) [Charles Hutchison Gabriel]
Welcome/Greeting Time/Offering
“Nothing But The Blood (Your Blood)” (Bb) [Matt Redman] / Child Dedication (at Sunday 10:45 AM service only)
“Always” (Bb) [Kristian Stanfill, Jason Ingram]
“You Alone Can Rescue” (Bb) [Matt Redman, Jonas Myrin]
Message – “An Appraisal of Worth and Identity” [Joe Hishmeh]
Response – “Nothing But The Blood” (G) [Robert Lowry]

“All Because of Jesus” - This song is a strong declaration and reminder of where our real life comes from: Jesus Christ. It is only because of Him that we are alive. We have life in Him alone. As the verse says, even the breath that we breathe is a gift from God. We are completely dependent on Him, from beginning to end. As James 1:17 says, “Every good and perfect gift is from above.” Everything that is truly good is from God, and Him alone. Therefore, no one else is worthy of our devotion, our worship, or our glory.

“I Stand Amazed” - Like many hymns (think “It Is Well”), this one speaks to the past, the present reality, and future of our faith – our condemnation, our redemption, and our glorification in Christ. I believe that is what is so timeless about many hymns. It is a song that just revels in the amazing love of God for us. It is truly marvelous, and we should never get beyond a state of wonder when we think of it.

“Nothing But The Blood (Your Blood)”  – YouTube- I love how Matt Redman took the thought from Robert Lowry’s hymn and reworked it into this song. The concepts of placing no confidence in the things of this world and of the blood of Jesus “[speaking] a better word/ than all the empty claims/ I’ve heard upon this earth” and “[speaking] righteousness for me/ and [standing] in my defense” are beautiful and powerful.

I also love the Brazilian version of this song, done by Fernandinho (the Brazilian equivalent of Chris Tomlin), “Nada Além do Sangue.” I first heard this on my last trip to Brazil in 2009, when I joined my friends on the worship team of Igreja da Paz in Santarém, located in the Amazon River basin in the Brazilian state Pará. They let me join in leading with them for their Sunday services (all SEVEN), and it was an amazing experience, one of the highlights of my life. You can get a glimpse of what their services are like Igreja da Paz Central. They let me lead “Poder Pra Salvar” (“Mighty to Save,” one of the few that I can actually sing in Portuguese…), and we also did this song, which has a very cool bridge part in Portuguese, and it drives me crazy that it doesn’t really work in English. In Portuguese, it sings “Eu so livre,” which translates into English as “I am alive.” I love the melody of that part, and how it simply sums up the result of what Christ has done. The best I have come up with is to simply sing the melody with no words, and then to repeat, “Nothing but Your blood…” This song makes me miss my friends in Brazil.

“Always” - This was our third week teaching this song to our congregation. You can read more about my thoughts on the song here. The congregation is definitely learning the song, and we are singing it out more together. We will let the song rest a few weeks and then we’ll bring it back to see it with fresh eyes. This is now part of what I would call, “our worship vocabulary,” or basically the songs that we know together as Fellowship Bible Church (a little bit of strategy here…).  I think each worship leader needs to know what is the vocabulary of his context, and needs to be careful to teach the congregation he serves new songs intentionally and with a plan, so that they have a chance to know it and to own it, rather than just singing from the screen or wherever else they see the lyrics. In our church, we want the projection to be a backup plan rather than a crutch. We want our congregation to sing from their hearts, and to have the screen as a backup if they forget the words. We teach a new song at least three consecutive weeks to make this a possibility. I think many modern worship leaders, myself included, underestimate how many times our people need to hear a song before they know it. We wonder, “Why do they sing older song so well?” The answer: they have heard those songs hundreds of times, even if they didn’t attend church gatherings in their youth. It is likely that the newer songs we use are only heard in the context of our worship gatherings. So, they only hear it/sing it as often as we lead it in our worship gatherings. I think it is valuable to any worship leader to assess how many times our people have sung each song, and to be intentional about teaching our people the songs we sing, as I said earlier.

“You Alone Can Rescue” – This song was a great fit for the message this weekend, as it emphasizes that we are incapable of saving ourselves, and that only Jesus can rescue us. I also liked how this song tied together with “Always,” in referring to the passage from Psalm 121:1-2, “I lift my eyes up to the hills, from where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.” This song is a simple, powerful declaration of confidence in the work of Christ on our behalf. I love it!

We taught this song a few months ago, and it was time to bring it back, especially for this message. I love how the congregation responds when they really know a song, and it was obvious that they knew this one as we sang it together. This is the fruit of what I mentioned above. We spent the time to learn this song together, and now, whenever we bring it back into our services, our people know it, and can sing it wholeheartedly. This, I believe, is one of our goals as congregational worship leaders. We want our people to be able to sing with sincerity, and that only happens when they really know, from experience, what they are singing. They have heard it, they have seen it, and they have sung it, and they remember it. It’s a beautiful thing.

“Nothing But The Blood” - This is one of my favorite hymns. The simple truth that there is no other pardon for sin than in the blood of Jesus Christ, tied to the truth that there is no forgiveness for sins without the shedding of blood (Hebrews 9:22). During the fourth service, a thought occurred to me: how many times did I sing this song while still having confidence in my own good works as it relates to my standing before God? How many of us have done this? We cannot sing this song honestly if we are still clinging to our own good works before God—we could not sing, “Nothing can for sin atone/ Nothing but the blood of Jesus/ Naught of good that I have done/ Nothing but the blood of Jesus.” May each of our hearts be able to sing this with honesty. I stand on nothing but the righteousness of Jesus Christ, who died in my place for my sins, who reconciled me to God, who made a way where there was no way, who is my confidence.

I am thankful for our team and our church, and for the opportunities we have to worship together. This weekend was refreshing for me. I never get tired of hearing and proclaiming the gospel in word and song, and this weekend was a beautiful example of just that. Christ was lifted high this weekend.

I hope you had a great weekend of worship wherever you were. Be sure to hop on over to The Worship Community to check out what other leaders and worshipers experienced this weekend. Have a great week!

I’d love to hear your thoughts below. Join the discussion!

In the Son,

Bill

 

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Set List, 06/11 – 06/12/11 Fellowship Bible Church

June 12, 2011

This weekend, we focused on Philippians 2:19-30, where Paul commends Timothy and Epaphroditus, pointing out their sacrificial service for the gospel and for the Philippian believers. The call for us this week is to live a life of ministry, leveraging everything we are and have for the purposes of God and His kingdom. Because of His worth, we should put everything, even our lives, on the line for His sake.

Here’s our set from this weekend:

Pre-Service – “I Will Go” (F#m) [Tim Neufeld, Jon Neufeld]
Call to Worship – Isaiah 40:28-29, 31
“Everlasting God” (Bb) [Brenton Brown, Ken Riley]
Welcome/Offering/Announcements/Greeting
“Glory to God Forever” (Bb) [Steve Fee, Vicky Beeching]
“Always” (Bb) [Kristian Stanfill, Jason Ingram]
“Jesus Paid It All” (Bb) [John Thomas Grape, Elvina M. Hall, and Alex Nifong]
Message – The Appraisal of All Things: A New Appraisal of Ministry [Joe Hishmeh]
Response – “Take My Life And Let It Be” (D) [Frances Ridley Havergal, Henri Abraham Cesar Malan] 

“I Will Go” – This song is a strong call for us to lay down privilege and blessing for the sake of Christ, reaching out to the hurting and the helpless in our world. We used this song because Joe’s message was focusing in on the life that is laid down for Christ and His purposes, and the conscious decision to sacrifice, which goes against our nature.  I think this song may still be a little surprising to our congregation, just because the sound is a little “edgy.” I think I may play with the arrangement and/or presentation of the song in the future. This song is definitely worth singing, because it is a challenging call on each of our lives. May the cry of our hearts be with that of Isaiah, as the song sings, “I will go, I will go/ I will go, Lord, send me/ To the world, to the lost/ To the poor and hungry/ Take everything I am/ I’m clay within Your hands/ I will go, I will go, send me.”

“Everlasting God” – Coming out of our call to worship from Isaiah 40, I wanted to make the challenge to our people that God calls us to imitate Him and His character, and what Scripture says of Him it also, in a way, challenges us to be the same. In the Isaiah passage it describes God as not fainting or growing weary. At the end of the chapter, it says that the ones who wait on the Lord and find their strength in Him will not faint or grow weary, either. In the midst of this, it describes God as helping the faint and the one without strength (us). We should of the same mind, helping those in need and those who are powerless. This song points out these characteristics of God, and as we sing them, I am challenged that the things He cares about are the things I should care about, too. His priorities are the only right priorities, because He is God. This is a song that our congregation engages easily with but I wanted to approach it from a different angle, to keep us thinking about what we’re singing, so that it doesn’t lose its impact.

“Glory to God Forever” – I have commented many times before, but the bridge of this song is a beautifully simple prayer for God to use our lives for what matters: Him and His glory! “Take my life and let it be/ All for You and for Your glory/ Take my life and let it be Yours.” I strive to make this my prayer each time I sing it.

“Always” – This was the second week of teaching this song. I decided to bring it down a half-step to Bb to see how the congregation sings with it there. This song is tricky in that regard, because the verse is pretty low while the chorus reaches fairly high. In Bb, the verse goes all the way down to a G. In the key of Bb, it still seemed that the chorus was hard to reach. Some of the quiet response to the song may be due to the newness of the song, so we’ll leave it where it is for another week to see if it changes. The lyric continues to resonate with me, and reminds me that my strength and my hope are only in Jesus, and not in my abilities, talent, knowledge, strength, or anything else on this earth. It is only in Him. He is the only one who is able to rescue me and change me. The battles of this life belong to Him.

“Jesus Paid It All” – This song points to the cross and the price Jesus paid, in our place for our sins. The only proper response will be something like, “All to Him I owe.” Our response to His grace, love, and sacrifice does not earn salvation for us, but it is a response of thanksgiving for the amazing free gift He gave us. He is so good to us, and loved us even when we were His enemies! This is what I shared with our congregation before we sang it together, because it is so easy for us to drift into the mentality that what we do can make God like us more. We cannot be any more acceptable to God than through the finished work of Jesus Christ in His atoning death and His resurrection. He has made the way for us to be right with God, and now we are free to love and to serve without another thought for ourselves. I have been reading Martin Luther’s On Christian Liberty (aka The Freedom of the Christian) this past week, and it sparked a thought: because of Christ’s selfless and sacrificial life and death for us, we can now be truly selfless. In the paradigms where we think our own works make us righteous before God, even the smallest good deed has a selfish twist to it, because we are trying to make ourselves acceptable to God. In Christ, we don’t have to think that way anymore. We can truly love and serve without thinking of ourselves, because Christ has thought of us and gave Himself for us. His selflessness made it possible for us to be truly selfless. It’s the only way that we could be truly selfless. We owe our lives to Jesus, expressed in our love for Him and for others.

“Take My Life And Let It Be” – I got the idea for this arrangement from Andrew Osenga’s former band, The Normals. On the 21st track (the bonus track), they had a really nice acoustic arrangement of this song, with a beautiful introduction. I tweaked the idea a bit for congregational use, and brought it down to the key of D to make it a little easier to sing. I love the focus of this song, and I felt it was a great fit for Joe’s message this week. This song is a simple prayer for God to use everything about us (our life, our hands, our feet, our lips) for Him and His purposes, sanctifying them in using them for His glory.

It was a good week of worship. We are still struggling to get everyone awake and aware at our 9 AM service on Sundays, but  by the end of the song set, I think we were focused on the gospel, and ready to obey the Word of God. Overall, the congregation’s response seemed a little quieter and weaker. I’m trying to figure out to what it can be attributed. Maybe the first song got us started on the wrong foot, even though the message was on point. Maybe the rainy/cloudy weather had everyone a little down compared to normal. It still surprises me how we can do things in very similar ways, yet have very different responses and engagement from a congregation. It just goes to show that it is not about us. We are just facilitators, trying to make it as easy as possible for people to see Jesus Christ and all His glory, and to see what the proper response is to who He is and what He has done.

I hope you had a great weekend of worship wherever you were, and that you were a part of lifting up the name of Jesus!

Join the discussion below! I would love to hear your thoughts. What are some things that have helped your congregation “wake up” in early morning services? What are some things you have tried that help your congregation engage in your context?

In the Son,

Bill

p.s. be sure to check out The Worship Community’s Sunday Set Lists to see what other leaders and worshipers experienced this weekend with their communities.

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Set List, 06/04 – 06/05/11 Fellowship Bible Church

June 5, 2011

This weekend we focused on Philippians 2:12-18 and discussed criticism, grumbling, and arguing. Joe really challenged the church to counteract the tendency to complain and criticize by getting involved. You cannot be truly engaged and active in the ministry of the gospel and of the church and still have a critical spirit. We can all take this message to heart, and search out those areas where we choose to sit on the sidelines and “throw stones” rather than get engaged in ministry. This topic was a little tricky to develop a worship set around, so where we couldn’t make a great connection, we focused on the goodness and faithfulness of God, and His unique worth. A few songs were great fits, and I think we ended with a strong connection in our response song.

Pre-Service – “Walk The World (Let My Life Shine)” (B) [Charlie Hall, Kendall Combes]
Call to Worship – Colossians 1:13-14
“Marvelous Light” (B) [Charlie Hall]
Welcome/Offering/Announcements/Greeting
“Blessed Be Your Name” (B) [Matt Redman, Beth Redman]
“Always” (B) [Kristian Stanfill, Jason Ingram]
Message – “The Appraisal of All Things: A New Appraisal of Criticism”
Communion Setup
Communion Song – “You Saw Me” (C) [Mia Fieldes, Ben Fielding, and Reuben Morgan]
Taking the Elements
Response Song – “Mighty To Save” (A) [Ben Fielding, Reuben Morgan]

“Walk The World (Let My Life Shine)” - I have enjoyed this song since I heard Charlie Hall do it first at Passion 2007 in Atlanta. I remember immediately thinking how interesting and fresh the chorus was: “Let my life shine/ Come and let my heart shine/ We’re gonna walk the world/ And lift the bread and wine/ Like the stars shine/ Come and let our hearts shine/ In a dark world/ We lift the bread and wine.” The connection between the Lord’s Supper and the spread of the gospel is really unique. Charlie Hall explained that he was simply making use of the symbolism of communion to communicate that believers lift up the body and blood of Jesus Christ as we go out into the world, and He is the hope that we hold out for them. The focus passage this week talks about how believers “shine as lights in the world” (Phil. 2:15 ESV) and that was the major connection for this song. Being that this weekend was also a communion weekend, the image of the elements was also a neat connection. The groove on this song is killer, and the band did a great job putting the pieces together for it. Our intention for this song in the pre-service slot was not necessarily for participation, but to set the tone for the service and to get us pointed to the focus of the weekend.

“Marvelous Light” – This is a s0lid song about the change that the cross has made for us. While, this is not a new song for our congregation, I don’t feel that it connects very well here. It may be due in part to the tricky melody of the verses, where it can really go anywhere, and people are not confident that they are singing the right thing (I have always thought that it was tricky for people to sing with). Even so, I love the pre-chorus and the chorus of the song, as they communicate the powerful truth of the gospel. The pre-chorus says it all, “Sin has lost its power/ Death has lost its sting/ From the grave You’ve risen/ Victoriously.” Word.

“Blessed Be Your Name” – This song is (and should be) a constant challenge to me as we sing it together. To give Jesus all glory and praise, even in the midst of trials and suffering, is contrary to our human nature. If anything, we want to do the exact opposite, and curse God and our circumstances for the way they make us feel. It is only by His Spirit and His grace that we can worship Him in the midst of our suffering. This is why we must call one another to this kind of worship, that knows no boundaries or situations where we cannot worship God. He is always worthy, and we need to see Him that way. No matter the situation, no matter the trial, He deserves our worship and our glory. He deserves our love and trust. When we set our eyes on Him in this way, our troubles seem smaller and we see Him as Lord over all. In fact, worshiping Him in the dark times is really a matter of trust. We worship Him in those times when we truly trust Him. May our hearts continue to be changed to worship Him with this kind of deep love and trust.

“Always” – This was our first time singing this song together at Fellowship. It has been on my radar since I lived in Lakeland, and I have been waiting for the right opportunity to introduce it here. I have had it playing on the house background music for about a month to get people somewhat familiar with the sound and feel of it, so it wouldn’t feel so foreign when we taught it. I love this song, and I am almost brought to tears every time I sing it, as it communicates trust in God in a unique way. The bridge of the song comes from Psalm 121, where the Psalmist looks to the hills, the high places surround the city of Jerusalem, and sees the idols and monuments there. He recognizes how powerless those idols are, being only wood and stone. Instead, he says, “my help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth” (ESV). He turned from the empty things of this world to the only one who has the power to save or change anything – the Lord. The Lord is the only one who can make any difference in our lives. He is the only one who can rescue us and save us. Let us look nowhere else for our help.

“You Saw Me” – We used this song for our communion time, and I think this song is perfect for that setting. It paints a very profound picture of Christ seeing us while suffering on the cross in our place. The chorus sings, “And You saw me when You took the crown of thorns/ Your blood washed over me/ And You loved me through the nails that You bore/ Your blood washes over me.” I love this lyric, and I think it resonates with the church as we sing it. For my wife, it took a few hearings to really connect, and I suspect it may be the same for many people. I think it requires us to come at the song from a certain angle, and focusing on the wrong part of the lyric can throw you off. Focusing on the chorus of the song puts everything else in its proper place.

“Mighty to Save” – We responded to the call of this weekend’s message with this song, mainly because of the bridge, which connected well with Philippians 2:15 (see above) when it sings, “Shine your light and let the whole world see/ We’re singing for the glory of the risen King, Jesus.” This song is very familiar to our congregation, and I think it was a great fit for the weekend. We are called to carry the message of the gospel to the world, and we cannot do that when we are busying ourselves with complaining and arguing. It’s just not possible. Jesus and His gospel are infinitely more worthy of our time and dedication than our own preferences or desires!

(“Unleashed” by Warren Barfield) – we only did this song after the Sunday services, as we began jamming with it as band members were showing up for our warm-up time this morning before the first service. This was the song, from the album Reach that introduced me to Warren Barfield.

It didn’t seem like the congregation was participating as much this weekend as the past few weeks. I was a little concerned that the keys of some the songs might be a little out of reach, so that may be partly to blame. It may have been the two new songs combined with one with difficult verses. At any rate, the weekend had a very strong and powerful feel to it, and I didn’t quite expect it to the extent that it was. “Blessed Be Your Name” and “Always” felt much more powerful than I anticipated. I was really blessed by our worship times this weekend and by our team. I was also very challenged by what Joe shared from the Word. God is so good and faithful. May my life be more committed to expanding the kingdom of God, no matter the personal cost!

I hope you had a great weekend of worship wherever you were. Be sure to check out The Worship Community to see what other leaders and worshipers experienced this weekend in their respective contexts.

Join in the discussion below. Talk about the songs from this weekend, the message, the flow, the environment of the services (if you were here), and how the different elements affected you. I love to hear your perspective on things.

In the Son,

Bill

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Set List, 04/16 – 04/17/11 Fellowship Bible Church

April 17, 2011

Palm Sunday weekend (we had to tag “weekend” onto it because of our weekend services–we landed there after a little bit of discussion…) is one that brings mixed feelings. On one hand, we celebrate Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem as Messiah and King. On the other hand, we see our fickleness as humans, where one day we are praising Him as King, and later that same week we are calling for His death. At the same moment we recognize Jesus’ supremacy and power and worth; along with our own weakness, foolishness, and wickedness. Planning for this weekend, we tried to emphasize the real focus of this moment: the Messiah has come to save us! Jesus came to seek and save the lost, and He is our only hope. Each of our songs this week pointed in some way to Christ as Messiah or King.

Here’s our set from this weekend:

Pre-Service – “God Is Alive” (A) [Steve Fee, Eddie Kirkland]
Call to Worship – Matthew 21:6-9
“Hosanna (Praise Is Rising)” (G) [Paul Baloche, Brenton Brown]
Welcome/Offering/Announcements/Greeting time
“Hosanna” (G) [Brooke Fraser, arr. by Starfield]
“Our God” (G) [Jonas Myrin, Matt Redman, Chris Tomlin, and Jesse Reeves]
“Son Of God” (G) [Jon Neufeld, Tim Neufeld, Ed Cash, and Gordon Cochran]
Message – “The Heroic Rescue of Humanity: The Messiah” [Joe Hishmeh]
Response – “Lord Of All” (Bb) [Kristian Stanfill]

This weekend we sang “God Is Alive” for the second time. It seemed like the song caught on a little better this time, and people were participating more, even though the song was still slated in the pre-service time slot. Much of the congregation was clapping and singing together. I was a little unsure of the song’s reception last week when we introduced it, but the response this weekend was encouraging. I’m looking forward to using this song on Easter, because the lyric is perfect for the occasion.

After the call to worship, we moved to Paul Baloche and Brenton Brown’s “Hosanna (Praise Is Rising),” which is a perfect fit for Palm Sunday weekend. The chorus echoes the statements made by the disciples and fans of Jesus as He entered into Jerusalem, but restates them while being informed by our Christian understanding of the person and the work of Christ: “Hosanna, Hosanna/ You are the God who saves us/ Worthy of all our praises/ Hosanna, Hosanna/ Come have Your way among us/ We welcome You here, Lord Jesus.” That word, Hosanna, literally means “come save us now,” and it was what the people of Israel were crying out to Jesus as He entered in as King. However, they didn’t really know what they were asking. They didn’t really know what they needed. They were asking for deliverance and salvation from Roman rule in their lives. They were asking for less than what God intended for the Messiah. What they really needed was deliverance from sin and death, and restoration to God. Joe shared this idea in a powerful way this weekend. We can either trust in Christ as our Messiah, or we can seek deliverance our own way by trusting in worthless idols–”substitute Saviors.”

Following the welcome time, we kicked off the second worship set with Brooke Fraser’s “Hosanna.” This week we did a variation of Starfield’s performance of the song, which is suited better for my vocal. I like their treatment of the song, and how they gave it a little more overall energy, which serves a little better toward the top of a worship set.

Next we moved to “Our God,” which has become a staple for us. The concept of this song fits very well with Luke’s account of the triumphal entry, as he wrote that “the whole crowd of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the miracles which they had seen” (Luke 19:37). The verses of “Our God” align perfectly with that, as they sing, “Water You turned into wine/ Opened the eyes of the blind/ There’s no one like You/ None like You/ Into the darkness You shine/ Out of the ashes we rise/ There’s no one like You/ None like You.” The rest of the song sings of the Lord’s great power and ability to rescue, and when He is for us, there is nothing that can stand against us. It was a great fit for Palm Sunday weekend.

We finished the second worship set with “Son of God,” which is new to our congregation. I sang this song once when I came the church to lead as a guest, but it was completely new here. This week was the first week in which we’ll be teaching this song, and we will pick up teaching it after Easter weekend. I love this song because it presents Jesus in many respects, such as Creator, Savior, Lord, and promised Messiah. It proclaims His surpassing worth and greatness, along with His love and forgiveness for us. While very simple, it covers a lot of ground, and shows how Jesus, from beginning to end, is King. It declares His worth and how He deserves our worship in everything. Here’s the lyric:

“Son of God”

Verse 1
Son of God, Shaper of the stars
You alone the dweller of my heart
Mighty King, how beautiful You are
How beautiful

Son of God, the Father’s gift to us
You alone were broken on the altar of love
Precious Lamb, our freedom’s in Your blood
It’s in Your blood

Chorus
Jesus, O Holy One
I sing to You, forgiven
Savior, I’m overcome
With Your great love for me

Verse 2
Song of God, strength beyond compare
You alone, the darkness cannot bear
Lord of love, Your kindness draws me near
It draws me near

Son of God, prophecy of old
You alone, Redeemer of my soul
Come again and lead Your people home
Come lead us home

Bridge
You are worthy
You are worthy
You are worthy of all my praise
You are beautiful
You are beautiful
I will lift up my hands and sing

We finished the service with one of my favorite songs, “Lord of All.” I have discussed this song at length in the past, but suffice it to say that I believe this song is one that the Church needs to sing. It declares the power, glory, and victory of Jesus, the King of kings. It proclaims the truth of Philippians 2:10-11: “at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” It does this with strength and truth, and I have never regretted singing this song in corporate worship. I don’t think we, as the body of Christ, can sing this truth enough.

On a technical note, we continued using the click track and the Aviom system, and it continues to be a great asset to our team. We are consistently tighter as a band, and it cuts lots of time from our rehearsals as an added benefit. Stephen, our drummer, had never played with a click before, and he did a fantastic job operating it and sticking with it. I have given more responsibility to our drummers, as they not only have to play their instrument, but now they also have to make the tempo adjustments to our click track (which every band member hears), and start and stop it at the appropriate times. I continue to be impressed with our team as we challenge ourselves to get better at what we do, so that we might serve our congregation better. I am grateful for the opportunity to serve with this awesome team.

I hope you had a great weekend of worship wherever you were. Be sure to check out The Worship Community to see what other leaders and team members planned and experienced this week in their worship services.

Hosanna! Glory to God in the highest.

In the Son,

Bill

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Set List, 04/09 – 04/10/11 Fellowship Bible Church

April 10, 2011

Here’s our set from this weekend:

“God Is Alive” (A) [Steve Fee and Eddie Kirkland]
Call to Worship – Psalm 96:1-4, 10a
“Say, Say” (A) [Kristian Stanfill, Chris Tomlin, and Christy Nockels]
Welcome/Offering/Announcements/Greeting
“Everlasting God” (Bb) [Brenton Brown and Ken Riley]
“It Is Well” (Bb) [Todd Fields, Philip Paul Bliss, and Horatio G. Spafford]
“Stronger” (Bb) [Ben Fielding and Reuben Morgan]
Message – “I Believe: Questions & Answers” [Joe Hishmeh]
Response – “All To Us” [Matt Maher, Matt Redman, Jesse Reeves, and Chris Tomlin]

This week we introduced Steve Fee and Eddie Kirkland’s “God Is Alive” to our congregation. We began teaching it today in preparation for Easter. I cannot think of a more fitting lyric for celebrating Christ’s victory over sin and death through His death and resurrection. I think it is one of the best modern songs that have been written for Easter. The solid lyric and high energy of the song  are a perfect fit for celebrating Jesus’ resurrection:

“God Is Alive”

Verse 1
Let the darkness flee
It’s got no power over me
I have been set free
God is alive

Verse 2
Death where is your sting?
Sin had got no hold on me
I am free indeed
God is alive

Pre-Chorus
We’ve been redeemed
So rise and sing

Chorus
Everyone, glorify the risen Son
The Holy One has overcome
Jesus is alive
The enemy is broken underneath His feet
Death is crushed in victory
Jesus is alive, Jesus is alive

Verse 3
Let us wake and rise
Lift your voices, lift your eyes
We’re gonna shout, we’re gonna shake the skies
God is alive

Bridge
The empty grave is singing now
It’s shouting out
He is alive, He is alive
And we are free

We also brought back “Say Say” for the closing message of our “I Believe” series. It is a fitting declaration for this series, as it sings in the chorus: “Say, say, say you believe it/ Sing for the whole world to hear it/ We know and we declare it/ Jesus is King/ Say, say, say you believe it/ Sing loud, sing like you mean it/ We know and we declare it/ Jesus is King.” After doing this series for ten weeks, this is where we must land. After all we have seen and heard about the greatness of God, the proper response is to go out a proclaim the truth and greatness of the name of Jesus and His gospel to the world. We need to know what we believe to be able to communicate that message clearly to others.

This week, we also introduced our new pastor of ministries, J.D. Holt. He just finished making the 2100-mile trip from Bellingham, WA to Topeka to begin working with us. I am excited about having him on our team, and about the leadership and experience he will bring to managing our staff team. He’s a great guy, and I really look forward to getting to know him and his wife, Christy. I was nervous as we were searching for the man to fill this role, as my experience has shown it to be crucial to the personality of the staff team. I believe our prayers have been answered in J.D., and we are very grateful!

After the welcome time, we started the second set of music with “Everlasting God.” From Isaiah 40, this song paints a powerful picture of God and His attributes. As we sing the chorus, “You are the everlasting God/ The everlasting God/ You do not faint, You won’t grow weary/ You’re the defender of the weak/ You comfort those in need/ You lift us up on wings like eagles,” I cannot help but see not only a description of God’s greatness, but a call to God’s people to be like their heavenly Father. As I sing, I feel challenged to defend the weak and comfort those in need as I am strengthened by the Lord. This song is a favorite of our congregation, and I don’t mind at all – this is a solid song from the Scriptures that speaks of the unchanging, everlasting greatness of our God.

We followed this song with Todd Field’s hymn rewrite, “It Is Well.” I have said it before, but I’ll say it again: this is one of my favorite hymn rewrites. It preserves the original verses intact, with a very cool acoustic arrangement underneath, has a very fitting new chorus, and it even includes the original hymn’s refrain at the end. I love how it ties the old and the new in a fresh way. It always brings us to worship as we celebrate God’s faithfulness.

We finished this set with “Stronger,” by Reuben Morgan and Ben Fielding. We’re dusting this one off for Easter, because it is a clear anthem about God’s great power to save and conquer sin and death. This was the first time I have led this song with a band. It was one that I began teaching in one venue where I was previously, but I never had the opportunity to bring it into our main services because I ran out of time. I love the chorus: “You are stronger/ You are stronger/ Sin is broken/ You have saved me/ It is written/ Christ is risen/ Jesus, You are Lord of all.” The use of the word “stronger” is refreshing, because it takes the common “mighty” or “powerful” ideas and uses our current language to express it. This song reminds me to write in such a way that captures the truth of the Scripture in vibrant, current language that our congregations can take hold of and sing from their hearts. It is easier for the “average Joe” to connect with words we normally use than it is to connect with erudite language. This song does that well.

We finished the services with “All To Us,” which also effectively connects with the sum of this “I Believe” message series. I struggled with using this song in the beginning, because when the phrase “all to us” is taken at face value, it could be easily misunderstood to mean something like, “God exists for our sakes.” However, its meaning is more along the lines of, “God is everything to us.” He is our sufficiency and our strength, our foundation and our confidence. May this truly be our declaration, that God is our everything. He is the only one that we need. He is the only one on whom our hope should be built.

It was a great weekend of worship. Zach Pruett stepped up and played bass for the first time in our weekend services, and he did a great job, after only playing bass for five months! Bob Fulmer did a great job adjusting to the click track for the first time ever. His attitude was admirable in saying, “It will make me a better player.” I hope for each of us that difficulties and challenges are seen as opportunities to better ourselves and to better serve our church and the kingdom of God with our abilities. The rest of the team did a great job, as usual, and it was a great joy to lead with them again. Our tech team is so faithful to do a great job each week, and they make it easy for each of us to do our part. I feel that each week we are strengthening and improving, and there are great things on the horizon for this worship and arts ministry. Also, the Aviom system continues to be an asset to give us more time to rehearse and prepare for the weekend, and that has been very apparent in the way we play.

I hope you had a great weekend of worship wherever you were. Please visit The Worship Community to check out their Sunday Set Lists to see what other leaders and team members did this weekend in their contexts. Leave your comments below and join the conversation about our worship ministry and the songs we sing together.

In the Son,

Bill

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Set List, 03/26 – 03/27/11 Fellowship Bible Church

March 27, 2011

This weekend was exciting! David preached about Christ’s return and judgment, and the service took shape nicely to connect our worship through music with the word that he shared. As I was planning this a month ago, it became apparent that many of the options to which I was being drawn were songs with female lead parts, so we decided to go for broke this weekend, and put two of our ladies (Sarah Oldberg and Kelsey Thomsen) up front on acoustic guitars, and I picked up my electric for rhythm work for the weekend. It felt like a very shared service, in terms of leadership, and it was a very enjoyable change to break from the routine and do something unique. I loved each song that made up this service, as we celebrated the return, reign, and rule of Jesus Christ.

Here’s our set list from this weekend:

“Everlasting God” (Bb) [Brenton Brown and Ken Riley]
Call to Worship – Psalm 98:4-9
“Forever Reign” (Ab) [Jason Ingram and Reuben Morgan]
Welcome/Offering/Announcements
“Hosanna” (E) [Brooke Fraser]
“Lord of Lords” (E) [Brooke Fraser]
“Lord of All” (Bb) [Kristian Stanfill]
Message – “I Believe: God Returns” [David Hinkle]
“Sing to the King” (E) [Billy Foote and Charles Silvester Horne]
Dismissal

We opened the pre-service time with “Everlasting God,” which is a favorite of our congregation and set up the service well. Because the message was about Christ’s return and judgment, I wanted to focus on God’s immutability, His timelessness, His power, His justice, His love, His return, and His reign. Each of the songs in our set this week focuses on one or more of the attributes from this list. The call to worship was also focused this way, from Psalm 98, where it calls all of creation to worship the Lord, “for He is coming.” I excited about how we were able to even tie this in with the focus this week.

After the call to worship, we moved into “Forever Reign.” This song is fairly new to me, but the congregation had done it many times before I moved here. I love the message and the build of this song. Originally we had this song at the end of the second set, but it was part of a massive reordering of the service to move a specific song at the end of the service. It was a little more mid-tempo than I would usually prefer toward the top of the service, but it got us started out right, and set the tone for the service. Because of the subject matter of the weekend, which included the eternal punishment of hell, I felt that we needed to be somewhat gentle with our worship set, not relishing in the suffering of the lost through overly exuberant songs, while still properly exalting Jesus as righteous Lord and King.

After the welcome time, we moved to Brooke Fraser’s “Hosanna,” which points to Christ’s second coming and the preparation of His people for that return. fromt here we segued straight into the chorus of “Lord of Lords,” which is a beautiful song out of the book of Revelation, portraying the throne room of Jesus, and how we, as the people of God, long for that day when we will see Him in His full glory, and will worship Him completely. We finished this set with Kristian Stanfill’s “Lord of All,” which is fairly new to our congregation, but is a song that I insist that churches everywhere ought to sing. It is in the vein of Tomlin’s “How Great is Our God,” but I think it is even more powerful, and is something the church needs to say to God.

After David’s challenging message, we responded with Billy Foote’s rewrite of Charles Silvester Horne’s hymn “Sing to the King.” This has always been a favorite of mine, and it was new to our congregation, despite being several years old (2003). As I mentioned above, we originally had this in the pre-service section, where the majority of our people are still entering the worship center, and may have missed the message of this song. After talking with David about the value of this song, and how it fit so well with his message, we decided to move it to the end, and move other things around to make that work. It was absolutely the right decision. Whereas many times the high point of the worship in music is somewhere just before the message, this weekend it was during the response time. When we sang the second verse (“For His returning we watch and we pray/ We will be ready the dawn of that day/ We’ll join in singing with all the redeemed/ ‘Cause Satan is vanquished and Jesus is King!”), we had vivid images in our minds from the message, and it it was a rich moment, and I think we will definitely be incorporating this song in the future, because it is powerful and solid, and points to Christ’s return, all the while avoiding the cheesy factor that usually accompanies that kind of song…

This week felt very different for a few reasons: the message was on a very difficult subject, I felt a little foggy from a sinus thing, and we had several people co-leading. My prayer this morning regarding the message was that we would love the truth. I think this is something that we need to pray for our churches and our leaders. The truth is not always easy or convenient, but it is something to be upheld and loved, because it is from God. Jesus is the personal embodiment of the truth. This was one of those weeks where hard truth was being shared, and we needed to pray for our hearts to love even the hard truths.

I hope you had a great week of worship wherever you were. Be sure to check out Sunday Set Lists, where others share about their experiences this weekend.

May the church love the truth.

Bill

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