Posts Tagged ‘Matt Redman’

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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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Set List, 07/23 – 07/24/11 Fellowship Bible Church

July 24, 2011

This weekend, we focused on the topic of contentment from Philippians 4:10-13. In this passage, Paul writes that in every circumstance, he has learned to be content. He is able to do this through the strength that Christ gives. Joe emphasized from this passage that our expectations for increase and improved life status (in the west, anyway) makes it easy for us to be discontent with our lives. Our idea of “normal” is faulty. Our idea of normal needs to change, and we need to trust Christ in any and every circumstance in our lives. This subject is something we all need to hear on a regular basis, because it is easy to be drawn away into discontentment and distrust. Our songs for the weekend focused on trust, peace, and contentment, as well as the power and sufficiency of Christ. He is worthy of our lives and our worship, no matter the circumstances.

Here’s our set from this weekend:

Pre-Service – “Those Who Trust” (Em) [Don Chaffer]
Call to Continue Worship – Psalm 95:1-3
“Let Me Sing” (Bb) [Todd Fields]
Welcome/Offering/Announcements/Greeting Time
“It Is Well” (Bb) [Horatio G. Spafford, Todd Fields]
“You Never Let Go” (Bb) [Matt Redman]
“A Mighty Fortress” (C) [Christy Nockels]
Prayer
Message – “An Appraisal of Contentment” [Joe Hishmeh]
Response – “Desert Song” (D) [Brooke Fraser]
Dismissal

“Those Who Trust” – Taken from Psalm 125, This is a favorite of our congregation, because it celebrates the firm foundation we have in Christ in a very distinct way. It’s a lot of fun for our team and our congregation. Our discipleship, David Hinkle, played his trumpet on this one, and he is always a great addition to the team!

“Let Me Sing” – This was our third consecutive week teaching this song, and I loved using it at the top of the service, after the call to worship this week. It was fitting, coming after reading Psalm 95:1-3 together, which repeats the phrase, “Let us…” followed by several commands of worship. I love the message of this song, as it communicates the “why” of worship – we respond in worship and thanksgiving because God is who He is, and because He has done what He has – He has redeemed us!

“It Is Well” – This song, which we have used a few times over this series, was too good a fit for this weekend’s message for us not to include it. I think it really echoes the truth of Philippians 4:10-13 in a strong way, and helps us to connect the truth to our hearts and minds. It gives us an simple way to respond to these truths through singing our commitment and trust to God.

“You Never Let Go” – This was another song that we have been teaching during this series, and it was another great fit for the message this week. These two songs have made me see more clearly how certain songs are great fits for a series of messages, and not just a single message. On both of these, it is apparent that much of our congregation knows them, and hardly needs to look to the screens for guidance. It’s a beautiful thing.

“A Mighty Fortress” – We haven’t done this song in a while at Fellowship (I think the last time was during the interview process), but it is one of my favorites. It is probably my favorite song off of Christy Nockels’ solo album. Sarah Oldberg led this song, and she did an awesome job pointing to Christ through it. I had really enjoyed singing harmony with her. I love how they arranged the song because it has some great builds and accents that help focus us on the lyric, which powerfully points to the Lord as God and King, along with many other attributes of His. This is a song that the church needs to sing, much like “Lord of All” and a few others.

“Desert Song” – We responded to the message with this song, because it really sums up and describes what it is to praise God through any and all circumstances. Sarah led this song as well. This song has a very unique feel to it, especially for Hillsong – it almost feels Celtic in a way. At any rate, it was a very appropriate response to the Word, and I think we all walked away from this week challenged by the truth.

It was a good weekend. The team did a great job leading, and participation from the congregation was solid. I believe the focus of the weekend remained constantly on Christ, His gospel, who He is, and what He has done.

I hope you had a great weekend of worship, and that Christ was lifted high! Check out The Worship Community to see what other leaders and worshipers experienced in their congregations this weekend.

In the Son,

Bill

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Set List, 07/09 – 07/10/11 Fellowship Bible Church

July 10, 2011

This weekend, we focused on the subject of maturity from Philippians 4:2-7. Joe dealt with disagreements, rejoicing, and communicating our needs to God through prayer. His emphasis was that we should seek spiritual maturity and should turn to prayer first, to truly rely on God in everything. I was challenged by the call to pray first rather than worry or turn anywhere else. It is easy for us to turn elsewhere to seek help, but God should be the one we seek first. Our first thought should be toward God, to pour out our hearts to Him.

Here’s our set from this weekend:

Pre-Service – “Forever” (G) [Chris Tomlin]
Call to Worship -
“Unchanging” (G) [Chris Tomlin]
Welcome/ Offering/ Announcements/ Greeting
“Let Me Sing” (Bb) [Todd Fields]
“It Is Well” (Bb) [Horatio G. Spafford, Todd Fields]
“You Never Let Go” (Bb) [Matt Redman]
Message – “An Appraisal of Maturity” [Joe Hishmeh]
Response – “From The Inside Out” [Joel Houston]

Because of the focus of this weekend, we went in the direction of prayer and trusting in God, which results in confidence and hope, and enables us to rejoice and to live in peace. “Forever” and “Unchanging” point to the faithfulness and immutability of God. “Let Me Sing” expresses the desire to worship God and thank Him for all that He is and all that He has done, specifically through the cross. “It Is Well” and “You Never Let Go” remind us that no matter what comes in this life, God is with us, and we have nothing to fear. They cling to the promises of Romans 8:28-39 and declare that we will trust in God, no matter what our circumstances are. Finally, “From The Inside Out” reminds us that the only way we will be able to grow towards spiritual maturity is through the power of Christ working within us.

“Forever” – This is a song that our congregation hasn’t done in a while, and it was good to bring it to our attention again, because it communicates the essence of so many Psalms, where the psalmist calls the people of God to recall who God is and what He has done, and to respond with the statement, “His steadfast love endures forever” (e.g. Psalm 118 ESV).

“Unchanging” – This song focuses in on the truth of Hebrews 13:8, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (ESV), along with the concept of God’s “steadfast love.” He never changes, and His love for us never changes. He is faithful and true, and He is constant. His promises are true because He is true. Our status with Him is assured because He is unchanging. I love the declaration of this song, because it reminds us of the truth of this great attribute of God.

“Let Me Sing” – This song hadn’t been done with our congregation for a while, but it was one that I loved when I was serving in Florida. It does a good job of reminding us of the reason to worship Jesus – He bore our sins and died in our place to reconcile us to God. 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.”

“It Is Well” – Earlier this week, my wife and I were watching a documentary about disaster flooding, and much of the episode was spent focused on New Orleans and Hurricane Katrina. As we watched and saw images of the city and the flooding, my mind was overwhelmed with memories about that seemingly chaotic time in our lives together. I remember packing up on Saturday morning to head over to Baton Rouge for the “weekend” and ready to get back to school at the seminary on Monday. I remember loading up our cat, two of my guitars, some work clothes (for boarding up our friends’ windows), and the few photo albums that we had unpacked (we only moved there four weeks earlier). On Sunday night, as the storm grew, we knew this was not going to be a small matter in our lives. We headed further north to increase our distance from the storm for the peace of mind of our families. As we drove, we had a serious talk about our situation, and the fact that we may lose all of our earthly possessions, aside from what we had in our tiny Honda Civic. We were confident that we would be okay, with or without all that “stuff.” Our statement was, “It is just stuff. We are together and had each other. By the time we ended up at my mother-in-law’s house in southern Illinois, the flooding began. And the possibility of losing all our material possessions began looking more like reality. This song really communicates our hearts during that time, and the lyric of the chorus says it especially well: “It is well, it is well/ Through the storm I am held/ It is well, it is well with my soul.”

One confession about this one: in the third service this weekend (Sunday 9 AM), I mistakenly sang the second verse twice (once in place of the third verse). I’m not upset about singing that one twice, because it is probably the strongest one in the song, singing of our forgiveness through the cross. I didn’t even realize I had started singing it again until midway through the verse. Whoops. :) Our Media Shout man, Shane, was all over it, and had it on the right verse before I even noticed I started verse 2 again. I was humbled, which is never a bad thing…

“You Never Let Go” – This is another song that expresses our confidence in our God and the fact that He is truly with us. He never leaves us and never forsakes. Indeed, He never lets go of us as His children, who have been adopted through Christ’s sacrifice for us. This song really puts words to my trust, and encourages me to deepen that confidence in Christ.

“From The Inside Out” – We used this song for the angle of transformation, growth, and maturity, to support Joe’s message. He said that we should desire spiritual maturity, because “the Lord is at hand.” This song effectively communicates that desire to be transformed from within, and I feel that it was a good way to end our time together this weekend.

In all, it was a solid weekend. The team served really well in all of the services. I felt a little tired from a looming cold, but I was rejuvenated by our times together. Jesus was lifted high. He is faithful, and we have nothing to fear in Him. He is good, and His promises are true and unchanging. Let us each place our confidence in Him in every situation.

I hope you had a great weekend of worship! Join the discussion below: have you had a moment in leading when you messed up the words of a song? Check out The Worship Community to see what some other leaders experienced this weekend.

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, 06/04 – 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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