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

February 19, 2012

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

Here’s our service plan from this weekend:

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


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

In the Son,
Bill

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

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

January 29, 2012

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

Here’s our service plan from this weekend:

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


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

In the Son,
Bill

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

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

December 18, 2011

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

Here’s our service plan from this weekend:

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


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

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

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

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

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

“Midnight, Christians” by Placide Cappeau

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

In the Son,
Bill

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

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

December 11, 2011

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

Here’s our service plan from this weekend:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

In the Son,

Bill

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

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

November 13, 2011

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

Here’s our service plan from this weekend:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

In the Son,

Bill

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

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Set List, 10/29 – 10/30/11 Fellowship Bible Church

October 30, 2011

This weekend, we focused on John 14, examining the Holy Spirit and how He changes the way we live and face reality in this life. You can listen to the entire message here. Because of the focus of the message this week, our call to worship came from selections from Psalm 107 (an awesome psalm!), which helps us to remember all the ways God has been with us and for us. It helps us to recall the faithfulness of our God. He is so good to us. I challenged our congregation to focus on things that the Lord has done in our lives, from redemption to walking with us through a difficult time, and to dwell on those moments as we sang out to our God. This was something that the Lord laid on my heart as we were rehearsing. As we were singing “You Never Let Go” and “Never Once,” I found myself recalling God’s faithfulness in bringing my family and I to this church. I remembered God’s faithfulness in our journey after Hurricane Katrina moved us out of New Orleans. As these things were at the front of my mind, I was overwhelmed with thanksgiving and praise because of what the Lord had done. He is faithful. This became the focus of our time of worshiping through singing together. Psalm 107 ends by saying, “Whoever is wise, let him attend to these things; let them consider the steadfast love of the Lord” (Psalm 107:43 ESV).

Here’s our service plan from this weekend:

Time of Preparation/Prayer
“Jesus, You” (E) [original]
 Welcome/Greeting Time
Call to Worship – Psalm 107
“Happy Day” (Bb) [Tim Hughes, Ben Cantelon]
“You Never Let Go” (Bb) [Matt Redman, Beth Redman]
“God Is Able” (Bb) [Reuben Morgan, Ben Fielding]
“Never Once” (Bb) [Matt Redman, Jason Ingram, Tim Wanstall]
Prayer
Message – John 14 [Joe Hishmeh]
Offering/Video/Announcements
Response/Closing Time
“‘Tis So Sweet To Trust In Jesus” (E) [Louisa M. R. Steed, William James Kirkpatrick]
 Dismissal

“Jesus, You” – We opened our preparation time with this song again this week. I want our congregation to know it, because at the very least, it is helpful for us to focus on the gospel and to remember clearly what the Lord has done for us. As the book of Romans lays out clearly, we were dead and without hope–enemies of God–yet Jesus came to rescue us by dying in our place and rising again victorious over sin and death. Because of what He has done for us, our song for eternity will be one that sings the name of Jesus, our redeemer.

“Happy Day” – This song is a great opening song that helps to put the focus immediately on the gospel of redemption. It is very familiar for our congregation, and I think it resonates with many of us.

“You Never Let Go” – This song remains one of my favorites. We haven’t sung this together in a while, so it was good to pick it back up this weekend. I love the reminder in this song of Jesus’ promise to believers, recounted in Hebrews 13:5, “I will never leave you or forsake you.” There is great comfort, peace, and assurance in that promise, and it is one that we really need to remember as we make the journey through our lives with Jesus. Because

“God Is Able” – We taught this song a couple of months ago, and I think it was a great fit for this weekend’s focus because of it’s repeated emphasis on God’s continual presence with us. I really enjoy this song, and I think our congregation has connected well with it, so we will continue to sing it together in the future.

“Never Once” – Similar to the previous two songs, this song emphasizes God’s presence with us and His faithfulness to us as His children. When we look back on our lives in Christ, we will be able to look back on our lives and see that God was always with us, and never, at any point, did we walk alone.

“‘Tis So Sweet To Trust In Jesus” – We responded to God’s Word with this song. This is a favorite hymn of mine, because it sings about the blessing of the relationship we have with Jesus when we are trusting Him fully. The benefits of knowing and trusting Jesus are the same that the Spirit provides in us, and that is why we sang this song as the response. We will only experience the blessing of truly knowing Jesus through His Spirit when we trust Him.

All around, this was a great weekend of worshiping our Savior. Our team did a fantastic job, and I’m thankful for what the Lord is doing in us.

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

In the Son,

Bill

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

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Set List, 10/15 – 10/16/11 Fellowship Bible Church

October 17, 2011

This weekend, we focused on John 11, looking specifically at Jesus’ raising Lazarus from the dead. Joe preached on the death of death, and how we can only find life, hope, and promise in Jesus Christ. he also talked about how we can look to Jesus’ response to Lazarus’ death to see how He feels about the consequences of sin in our lives. The hurt that we experience because of sin also hurts Jesus. He cares deeply for us, and hates what sin has done to us. You can listen to the entire message here.

Here’s our service plan from this weekend:

Time of Preparation/Prayer
“Hungry” (C) [Kathryn Scott]
Welcome/Greeting Time
Call to Worship (Psalm 117)
 “All Because of Jesus” (A) [Steve Fee]
 “I Stand Amazed (How Marvelous)” (D) [Charles Hutchison Gabriel]
“Never Once” (A) [Matt Redman, Jason Ingram, Tim Wanstall]
“Always” (Bb) [Kristian Stanfill, Jason Ingram]
Prayer
Message – John 11:17-44 [Joe Hishmeh]
 Response Time
“Christ Is Risen” (Gb) [Matt Maher, Mia Fieldes]
Offering/Announcements
Reprise of “Christ Is Risen”
Dismissal

“Hungry” – We opened our preparation time with this song. Becky Tindell led us as we sang of our hunger for the Lord and our dedication to Him. Jesus is the only one who can meet our needs and take care of us. He is the only one who has the words of eternal life, as Peter said in John 6:68. I felt that this was a great song for our preparation time, and helped to focus our hearts along the lines of Matthew 6:33, seeking first His kingdom and His righteousness.

“All Because of Jesus” – We sang this song because it celebrates the life that we have been given in Christ. It is only because of Him–His life, death, and resurrection–that we have life. Scripture says in Romans and Ephesians that we were “dead in our transgressions” and that we needed Christ to give us life. We were helpless to save ourselves, and were desperate for His salvation. Praise God for His provision, making a way for us where there was no way.

“I Stand Amazed (How Marvelous)” – Becky led us on this song as well. We sang this song because it praises God for His great love for us, demonstrated through the cross, and experienced in us through the life that we have been given because of His great work on our behalf. This new life is both now and forever. In the Bible, the word that is often translated as “eternal” or “everlasting” means more than just length of time; it conveys a sense of quality as well. The life that we have in Christ continues to grow deeper and fuller from here to eternity as we know and experience our Savior and His love.

“Never Once” – We began teaching this song last week, and we continued with it this week. I love this song, and I can’t stop singing it. The chorus states an ageless truth in a fresh way when we sing, “Never once did we ever walk alone/ Never once did You leave us on our own/ You are faithful/ God, You are faithful.” Our congregation has really taken a hold of this song and is singing it well. For me, probably because of my experience in my journey with Christ thus far, songs that sing of God’s faithfulness really resonate with me. That is definitely the case with this song. I cannot get it out of my head, and I don’t mind at all! The only difficulty with this song (as with many of Matt Redman’s songs) is that the verses are pretty low and the chorus is pretty high. You have to “pick your poison,” so to speak, for your congregation to be able to sing together on the chorus.

“Always” – This remains one of my favorite new worship songs. We flowed directly into this song from “Never Once,” and the two together were a powerful declaration of God’s faithfulness and constancy in all situations. My pastor Joe’s comment about it was that it redeems the expression “Oh my God” as it sings it in the chorus as a declaration of confidence. I agree. This song is similar to “Never Once” in that the verses are low and the chorus is pretty high. We did it in Bb, and if we did it in A, the lowest note in the verse reaches down to F#! There’s no way most people are singing that… Despite that, our congregation really connects with this song. I have probably heard more comments about being affected by this song than any other since I have been here.

“Christ Is Risen” – We responded to the Word with this song. We have never sung this song before at Fellowship, so I was unsure about how well our congregation would catch on and participate in it. This song was not in the original service plan, but as we met together and Joe shared more about his message, the Lord brought this song to the forefront of my thinking, so we made some changes and inserted it. The risk of our congregation not knowing it was worth the impact it could have in combination with Joe’s message. We also tried something different in our service plan, incorporating this song into the end of Joe’s message, and tying it with his call for people to believe the gospel message and to “come awake” as the song says. We kept it dynamically quiet before Joe came back up to call people to the gospel, and then we came back to the CH, BR, CH, CH and ramped it up until we were full volume and singing it with all our might. I was moved every time we sang it together, and I think our people connected with it as we declared the powerful truth of the chorus: “Christ is risen from the dead/ Trampling over death by death/ Come awake, come awake/ Come and rise up from the grave/ Christ is risen from the dead/ We are one with Him again/ Come awake, come awake/ Come and rise up from the grave.” Amen.

This was a great weekend of worshiping our Savior. Our teams did a fantastic job. I was completely exhausted after this weekend was done, because I also led our children’s worship services in the middle of our main services, sang for a wedding Friday night, and for a banquet Sunday night, totaling 11 events for which I sang. I could barely speak this morning. :) God is faithful, and He helped preserve my voice for when I needed it, for which I am very grateful. I am thankful for the opportunity to serve our church in so many different ways this weekend. It seemed like the Lord was calling me to a greater level of servanthood all the way through, and I felt that He was reminding me of His call for me to pour myself out for our people. I was challenged and blessed at the same time. It was a fantastic weekend.

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

In the Son,

Bill

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

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Set List, 09/17 – 09/18/11 Fellowship Bible Church

September 18, 2011

This weekend, we focused on John 2:1 – 4:44, and looked at several people and their responses to Jesus. Ultimately, we all need to have the mindset of John the Baptist, that Christ must increase, and we must decrease. Jesus should be the one to receive all the glory in our lives, and not us. From salvation to the day-to-day, Jesus is the one who deserves the credit and thanksgiving for all that is good in our lives. We also focused on the gospel, and how our lives should interact with it on a daily basis. In the songs for this weekend, we emphasized the miraculous and God’s ability to do the impossible, with the ultimate point being that the gospel is a fantastic miracle, where Jesus accomplished the impossible on our behalf, and rescued us from our sin.

Here’s our service plan from this weekend:

Time of Preparation
Welcome/Greeting Time
Call to Worship/Prayer
“Unchanging” (G) [Chris Tomlin]
“Our God” (G) [Jonas Myrin, Matt Redman, Chris Tomlin, Jesse Reeves]
“The Lost Are Found” (A) [Ben Fielding, Sam Knock]
“God Is Able” (A) [Reuben Morgan, Ben Fielding]
Prayer
Message – John 3:22-36 [Joe Hishmeh]
Offering/Announcements
Response – “God Is Able” [Reuben Morgan, Ben Fielding]
Dismissal
Baptism Service

“Unchanging” – We sang this song this weekend because it speaks about the eternal, unchanging existence of Jesus. He has always been God. As the Gospel of John begins, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” This song is a strong part of our church’s worship vocabulary, and we are able to sing it from our hearts and not merely from the page. I have loved this song since it was first released back in 2002 on Tomlin’s Not To Us album, partly because it says something that isn’t quite common in worship music: Jesus was, and is, and is to come. As Hebrews 13:8 says, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”

“Our God” – As we have been reading through the Gospel of John as a church, we have begun reading the accounts of Jesus’ miracles as His public ministry began. This song speaks of some of those miracles, and turns those to point to Christ’s supremacy – He is higher than any other, and there is no one like Him. This is another staple in our vocabulary, and it is a great reminder of the glory of God.

“The Lost Are Found” – We began teaching this song a few weeks ago, and brought it back this week as a refresher, as it fit very well with where we have been reading in John. One thing I value about this song is how it not only looks back to the miracles that Christ worked on this earth, but also forward to the future when Chris returns and makes everything new. He will restore all that is broken, heal hurts, right the wrongs of injustice, and wipe away every tear. We can look forward with confidence and hope to that day, that hope should change the way we live (as 1 John 3:3 says). This not my favorite song, because there is not a whole lot to it. However, it communicates a great truth in a new way, and some of our people really connect with it.

“God Is Able” – This was a new song that we taught this week. I have not been able to get this song off of my heart and mind over the past few weeks since I first heard it. It is very easy to sing, and it is a very encouraging song that points to the power and ability of our God to change things. Nothing is impossible with God (Luke 1:37), and He will never fail. We can place our hope and confidence in Him as we look to the empty grave and see God’s power over sin and death. He is truly the Almighty. Here’s the lyric:

“God Is Able”
Reuben Morgan and Ben Fielding

VERSE 1
God is able, He will never fail
He is almighty God
Greater than all we seek
Greater than all we ask
He has done great things

CHORUS
Lifted up, He defeated the grave
Raised to life, our God is able
In His name, we overcome
For the Lord our God is able

VERSE 2
God is with us, God is on our side
He will make a way
Far above all we know
Far above all we hope
He has done great things 

BRIDGE
God is with us, He will go before
He will never leave us, He will never leave us
God is for us, He has open arms
He will never fail us, He will never fail us

This is one of my favorite songs of this year. It grabs my heart and points my hope and my glory to the risen Christ. We repeated this song after the message. I look forward to this song becoming a part of our church’s worship vocabulary over the next few weeks. Our congregation was already singing out and engaging with it this weekend, so I can’t imagine how that will develop with time.

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

In the Son,

Bill

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

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Set List, 08/20 – 08/21/11 Fellowship Bible Church

August 21, 2011

This weekend, Joe preached about increasing our ministry in and to our families. At the end of the day, this is our primary responsibility as believers in Jesus Christ. We need to be building our families around the gospel of Christ, and that truth ought to permeate all of our family relationships. The message was out of Deuteronomy 6, where Moses is telling the people of God to dwell on the truth of how God redeemed them, and to recount it to their children and their children’s children at every opportunity, from morning until night. I was really challenged to be a better husband and father, and a more faithful spiritual leader in my home. It was a little tricky to find solid songs that have a specifically “family” angle to them, but we focused on the holiness of God and how He redeemed us, and therefore our proper response is obedience and trust, spending our lives to further His kingdom and to give Him the glory He deserves.

Here’s our set from this weekend:

Pre-Service – “Everlasting God” (Bb) [Brenton Brown, Ken Riley]
Welcome/Greeting Time
Call To Worship – Rev. 15:3-4
“Holy Is The Lord” (G) [Chris Tomlin]
“Cannons” (G) [Phil Wickham]
“Our God” (G) [Jonas Myrin, Matt Redman, Chris Tomlin, Jesse Reeves]
“Because of Your Love” (G) [Phil Wickham]
Message – “Upgrade: Family” [Joe Hishmeh]
Response – “All To Us” (Bb) [Chris Tomlin, Jesse Reeves, Matt Redman, Matt Maher]

“Everlasting God” – We opened in our pre-service time with this song. Not much needs to be said about the song itself. It is one our staples here, and our people connect well with it. We used this song because it emphasizes God’s eternality, and sheds light on the fact that He is very different from us, and worthy of our worship. Also, He uses His great power to hold us up and strengthen us to accomplish His purposes on this earth.

“Holy Is The Lord” – This is a simple, straightforward song about the holiness and glory of God. We sang this song because the passage Joe preached from in Deuteronomy 6 speaks of God’s holiness as a motivator for our obedience and dedication to Him and His purposes. He is worth following.

“Cannons” – This is a song that I haven’t sang in over 8 months. I love this song and its message. Even transposed down a full step to the key of G, it is still on the high side, hitting an E in the melody on the bridge. Tuning it down more would really change the way we play it (especially on guitar), but I may consider doing that, because this song is worth singing. I prefaced this song by mentioning a quote from A.W. Tozer, who says in The Knowledge Of The Holy, “God is as far above an archangel as He is above a caterpillar.” The archangel and the caterpillar actually have more in common in that they are both created things and both distinctly “not-God.” It is from the chapter on God’s Transcendence, and it really opened my eyes more to how “other” God really is. He is much different from us, and there is really no comparison. This idea was really fitting for all that we sang this week, but this song in particular tied in: “You are holy/ Great and mighty/ The moon and the stars/ Declare who You are/ I’m so unworthy/ But still You love me/ Forever my heart/ Will sing of how great You are.” This chorus points out that we are unworthy to stand in His presence, much less be heirs together with Christ. However, God has loved us and made a way for us where there was no way.

“Our God” – We sang this song because it speaks of God’s “other-ness,” when it sings, “There’s no one like You/ None like You.” It speaks of God’s greatness and power, and again points us to His surpassing worth. Because of who He is, the only appropriate response is to follow Him completely, loving Him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength.

“Because of Your Love” – This song brings the rest of the songs into greater focus, as we sing about how this same God who is above any other is the one who laid down His life to redeem us. It makes the reality of the gospel even more astonishing, in my mind, to think that the one who gave Himself up for us is the one who shaped the universe and the galaxies. This song is a song of dedication, and points us to obedience as we sing together, “Lord, You gave Your life for me/ So I will live my life for You/ All because of Your love.” His giving prompts us to give our lives to Him in obedience. We used this song to tie the message and the rest of the songs together, in that the reason we obey and sacrifice and make disciples is that God gave first.

“All To Us” – This song speaks of Jesus as our “precious cornerstone” and “sure foundation,” and we felt that this was a fitting way to respond to Joe’s message this weekend. We need to build our homes and our lives on the only sure foundation, Jesus Christ.

It was a good weekend of worship. I am so thankful for our community and what God is calling us to do here. The team did a fantastic job in each of the services, and I felt that God’s people were engaging Him in worship the entire weekend. I was happy (and surprised) that I was able to finish all the services without any major vocal issues, despite being sick as a dog the whole weekend. I’m beat now, though, and I’m going to go take a nap or something!

I hope you had a good weekend of worship. Check out The Worship Community’s Sunday Setlists to see what other leaders and worshipers experienced this week in their communities. Have a great week!

In the Son,

Bill

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Set List, 07/30 – 07/31/11 Fellowship Bible Church

July 31, 2011

This weekend our pastor, Joe Hishmeh, preached from Philippians 4:14-23 to talk about “An Appraisal of Giving.” It was a challenging message regarding stewardship and generosity in our lives, with the proper perspective on our resources being that God is the giver and owner of those things anyway. Also, we can give in such a way as to give God the glory He deserves, in an act of worship through giving. I believe we were all called through the word to live simply so we could all be more generous, for the purpose of advancing the kingdom of God, and investing in the things that last: God, His Word, and people.

For our song selection process, we emphasized how God gave first. He demonstrated His great love for us by giving Jesus to die in our place for our sins (John 3:16-17). Our giving is merely a response to His goodness and love for us.

Here’s our set from this weekend:

Pre-Service – “All Because of Jesus” (Bb) [Steve Fee]
Call To Worship/Prayer
“Blessed Be Your Name” (Bb) [Matt Redman, Beth Redman]
Welcome/Offering/Announcements/Greeting Time
“I Stand Amazed” (D) [Charles Hutchinson Gabriel]
“Lord of Lords” (D) [Brooke Fraser]
“Jesus Paid It All” (B) [Elvina Mabel Hall, John Thomas Grape, Alex Nifong]
Message – “An Appraisal of Giving (Philippians 4:14-23)” [Joe Hishmeh]
Response – “Take My Life And Let It Be” [Frances Ridley Havergal, Henri Abraham Cesar Malan] 

This weekend was a good weekend of worship. We tried a few new things and stretched a little, and I think it was healthy for the church and for the team. For one, I played electric guitar for the majority of our worship set. I definitely felt stretched. Becky Tindell did a great job on rhythm acoustic guitar and leading.

“All Because of Jesus” – This song is a solid part of our worship vocabulary, and our congregation always engages with it and participates. This song served the purpose of reminding us that everything we have is because of God’s grace and goodness. This idea is foundational for us to understand what generosity really means.

“Blessed Be Your Name” – This song was used primarily for the bridge: “You give and take away/ You give and take away/ My heart will choose to say/ Lord, blessed be Your name.” We

“I Stand Amazed” – Becky Tindell led this song, and she did a great job. She is one of our newest leaders, and she has been faithfully serving and leading with our Children’s ministry called the Mountain. This was the first time I have had this song in a “girl” key, and I really enjoyed it. I also enjoyed being able to play lead on this one, in particular. I love the chord progressions of both the verse and the chorus, and it makes room for some interesting melodic lines.

“Lord of Lords” – Becky also led this song. I love how this song helps us to picture the throne room of heaven, and to see Jesus as the Lamb of God seated on that throne.

“Jesus Paid It All” – This song is a staple here, and one that our congregation still connects with well. This song reminded us again that Jesus gave first, and our giving of our lives in obedience and worship is right response to who He is and what He has done.

“Take My Life And Let It Be” – This hymn was chosen mainly for the final verse, which speaks to our money and our mind being given as an act of worship to our King. I love how the congregation sings out on this song, and I think it something we need to reflect on frequently – that all aspects of our lives would be dedicated to worshiping Jesus.

I was encouraged by this weekend, and really enjoyed our times of worship together. May we be generous with our lives for the King and for His kingdom.

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 your opinions and feedback.

In the Son,

Bill

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