This weekend, we continued our Romans series, focusing on Romans 10:8 - 17. In his message, Joe taught about God's plan of salvation for the nations, and how we must be the ones to go and tell about what Jesus has done. We are participants in the gospel, and God calls us into spreading the message to the people we encounter. We are the only option - as Joe says, "There is no Plan B." You can listen to the entire message here. Here's our service plan from this weekend:
"Say Say" (Bb) [Christy Nockels, Kristian Stanfill, Chris Tomlin] Welcome/Greeting Time Call To Worship "Glorious Day" (B) [Michael Bleecker, J. Wilbur Chapman] "Stronger" (B) [Ben Fielding, Reuben Morgan] "Jesus Paid It All" (B) [John T. Grape, Elvina M. Hall, w/ additional chorus by Alex Nifong] Time of Reflection/Prayer Message - "Romans 10:8 - 17" [Joe Hishmeh] Communion Intro Communion Song - "Your Great Name" (Bb) [Michael Neale, Krissy Nordhoff] Taking of Elements Song Reprise - "Your Great Name" (Bb) Offering/Announcements Dismissal
"Say Say" - Because of the focus passage for this weekend (which includes Romans 10:9 - "if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved"), we opened our services with this song. We taught this song to our congregation a few months ago, and haven't sung it too frequently since that time. It was one of the first that I introduced here to Fellowship. I love the call of this song on our lives, for us to declare with boldness and sincerity that Jesus is King. This song inspires confidence in the truth of the gospel, and these are the kinds of words I think we need to be encouraging one another with when we sing together in worship.
"Glorious Day" - This is a song that we began teaching a few weeks ago, and I continue to love how this song ties the past, present, and future of the gospel message all together. I think it is a solid song of celebrating what Christ has accomplished at the cross and in His resurrection, and also what He will accomplish in His return. We have many amazing reasons to worship our King!
"Stronger" - This song, while written somewhat recently, has the feel (in the lyric, anyway) of being almost like a creed. I love the simple declarations throughout the song, and the bridge sings of exalting Jesus' name because of what He has done. It is also one of the few new worship songs that is truly in 3/4, which gives it a unique feel throughout. I really enjoy singing this song, and singing out what Jesus has accomplished.
"Jesus Paid It All" -This song is one of our favorites here, and for good reason. It is a simple confession of our dependence on Jesus and His finished work on the cross, and a powerful declaration of praise for what He accomplished for us in His resurrection. We were dead, but now we are alive in Him, and that is the main motivation we have sing and exalt Him.
"Your Great Name" - This song is new to our congregation, so we introduced it during our communion time this weekend. I first heard this from the writer, Michael Neale, at a conference in Florida. It was made popular by Natalie Grant. What I found interesting is that Natalie Grant sings the harmony during the chorus and the bridge, but sings it as though it is the melody. Both the harmony and the melody of this song are very nice lines, so it works really well. I love this song because it clearly declares the name of Jesus and exalts Him for who He is and what He has done. There is salvation and power in no other name, and we should speak it out with confidence, hope, and faith. Our congregation really connected with this song (surprisingly so), and we will definitely be singing it together again. The video to which I linked in the title of the song also has the lyric on it. I'd love to hear your thoughts about this song, and if you have sung it in your congregations.
This weekend was a strong weekend of worship with a very clear focus on the gospel and on proclaiming it to the world around us. I love celebrating the Lord's Supper with our congregation, and remembering what Jesus has done. He is so good and faithful to us, even when we are faithless. He is so worthy of all of our praise and glory!
I hope you had a great weekend of worship wherever you were!
In the Son, Bill
p.s. don't forget to check out The Worship Community!