Songs We Sing, 04/06 - 04/07/13 - Fellowship Bible Church

For our final week of our 2 Corinthians series - "Purpose In Christ," our pastor, Joe Hishmeh, preached through 2 Corinthians 13, and taught about how believers can pursue peace with one another through "rejoicing, restoring, reaffirming, reuniting, and reconciling." It was a great challenge to each of us to pursue health in our relationships. You can listen to or watch the entire message and service here. Here's our service plan from this weekend:

Welcome/Call to Worship - Ephesians 2:4ff "In Tenderness" (G) [Adoniram J. Gordan, W. Spencer Walton, arr. by Citizens] Greeting Time/Announcements Message - "Purpose In Christ, pt. 11" [Joe Hishmeh] Communion "In My Place" (G) [Michael Bleecker, Matt Boswell] "Son of God" (G) [Jon Neufeld, Tim Neufeld, Ed Cash, and Gordon Cochran] "Our God" (G) [Jonas Myrin, Jesse Reeves, Matt Redman, Chris Tomlin] Dismissal

Thoughts: This was a good weekend. Our team did a great job, and the church engaged well in each of our worship experiences. Lindsay Kraisinger and Heidi Carlson did a great job leading "In My Place" during communion, which was a beautiful moment. Kip Kraisinger did a great job co-leading on several of the songs, as well. It was great to have a few people to share the leading load this weekend, especially since I was fending off strep throat (which my wife had) the whole weekend. My immune system finally gave in Sunday afternoon, but I'm glad to have gotten through the weekend without too much trouble. Now, it's time for some rest.

- Bill

What were your thoughts or experiences from your worship gathering this weekend?

Songs We Sing, 03/23 - 03/24/13 - Fellowship Bible Church

For our tenth week of our 2 Corinthians series - "Purpose In Christ," our family pastor, Brian Tryhus, preached through 2 Corinthians 11-12, and taught about how we as believers need to handle trials and difficulties in our lives. He challenged us to recognize our own weakness, and to find our strength in Christ alone. It was a powerful reminder to all of us. You can listen to or watch the entire message and service here. Here's our service plan from this weekend:

Pre-Service - "Beautiful" (C) [Phil Wickham] Welcome/Call to Worship "Hosanna (Praise Is Rising)" (G) [Paul Baloche, Brenton Brown] Greeting Time Child Dedications Announcements/Trash Mountain Documentary Trailer Message - "Purpose In Christ, pt. 10" [Brian Tryhus] "It Is Well" (B) [Horatio G. Spafford, Todd Fields] "Always" (B) [Kristian Stanfill, Jason Ingram] "One Thing Remains" (B) [Christa Black, Brian Johnson, Jeremy Riddle] Dismissal

Thoughts: This was a great Palm Weekend celebration. Our team did a great job! We also had two brand new team members: Matthew Gonzales on drums and Dawn Phoenix helping with background vocals. It was great to see them connecting with the team and finding their fit in ministry. I loved how everything connected in our services, and the songs we sang this weekend were some of my favorites. It had been a while for all of the final three songs, so it was refreshing to sing them together with our congregation once again. I am so grateful for what the Lord continues to do in our church. I'm am really pumped about Good Friday and Easter this week! It will be our best one yet!

- Bill

What were your thoughts or experiences from your worship gathering this weekend?

Songs We Sing, 03/09 - 03/10/13 - Fellowship Bible Church

For our eighth week of our 2 Corinthians series - "Purpose In Christ," pastor Joe preached through 2 Corinthians 9, and taught about what believers receive when we give to God and to others. You can listen to or watch the entire message and service here. Here's our service plan from this weekend:

Welcome/Call to Worship - 1 Chronicles 29:11-13 "Your Grace Is Enough" (G) [Matt Maher] "Joyful (The One Who Saves)" (C) [Ludwig van Beethoven, Brenton Brown, Jason Ingram] Greeting Time/Announcements Message - "Purpose In Christ, pt. 8" [Joe Hishmeh] "10,000 Reason (Bless The Lord)" (G) [Matt Redman, Jonas Myrin] "Because of Your Love" (G) [Phil Wickham] "Beautiful" (C) [Phil Wickham] Dismissal

Thoughts: This was a great weekend. From the call to worship to the end of the last song, it was a beautiful time of worship in each of our services. We continued teaching Phil Wickham's "Beautiful" to our congregation. It is a simple and powerful song that helps us declare the glory and power of Christ as demonstrated through creation, redemption, and the final consummation of our salvation. I love it and hope our church continues to take a greater hold of it. It was also great to sing "Joyful" again. It had been a while since we had sung that one. "Because of Your Love" and "10,000 Reasons" were great fits for where Joe went with the message this weekend. They helped us reiterate and sing the truth about giving and generosity in their proper place--as a response to what God has already done for us and given us.

On a side note, I had an issue with a burr on my guitar's saddle, which resulted in several broken strings--a little frustrating, but not a big deal in the grand scheme of things. My main guitar is getting the frets planed and dressed, so I'll have to get the issue figured out on this guitar in the meantime... I hope you had a great weekend of worship! Thanks for reading and being a part of this with me.

- Bill

What were your thoughts or experiences from your worship gathering this weekend?

Songs We Sing, 03/02 - 03/03/13 - Fellowship Bible Church

For our seventh week of our 2 Corinthians series - "Purpose In Christ," pastor Joe preached through 2 Corinthians 8:1-15, and taught that every believer needs to grow in giving, because of the grace, joy, and sacrifice that we receive from God.  You can listen to or watch the entire message and service here. Here's our service plan from this weekend:

Pre-Service - "Beautiful" (D) [Phil Wickham] Welcome "I Stand Amazed (How Marvelous)" (G) [Charles Hutchison] Greeting Time/Announcements Message - "Purpose In Christ, pt.7" [Joe Hishmeh] Communion "Son of God" (G) [Jon Neufeld, Tim Neufeld] "Jesus Paid It All" (B) [John T. Grape, Elvina M. Hall, Alex Nifong] "Beautiful the Blood" (B) [Louie Giglio, Steve Fee] Dismissal

Thoughts: It was a fantastic weekend. I love celebrating the Lord's Supper together with our church, and the songs we sang together were great anthems to sing together. Communion weekends are always powerful moments, as we are even more intentional about focusing on the cross and what Jesus accomplished for us in rescuing us from our sins. It was really moving. "Beautiful The Blood" is becoming more familiar to our congregation, so I look forward to continuing to sing it together in the future. It's a great anthem about the precious blood of Christ that was shed for us! All in all, it was a beautiful weekend. God is so good to us.

Thanks for reading and being a part of this with me! Sorry it was so late!

- Bill

What were your thoughts or experiences from your worship gathering this weekend?

Songs We Sing, 02/16 - 02/17/13 - Fellowship Bible Church

This was the fifth week of our 2 Corinthians series - "Purpose In Christ." Our pastor Joe Hishmeh preached through a second video message he recorded--this week time India. As I type this, he is somewhere over the northern U.S. headed to Kansas City International Airport, after visiting our mission partners around the world for the last 19 days. I can't wait to hear more about what the Lord has done in and through him on his journey. This week, he shared about being controlled by the love of God. It was a great reminder that we should not allow any other factor to control our interactions with the people in our lives--only the love of God, demonstrated through the cross of Christ. You can listen to or watch the entire message and service here. Here's our service plan from this weekend:

Pre-Service - "Beautiful the Blood" (Bb) [Louie Giglio, Steve Fee] Welcome "Those Who Trust" (Em) [Don Chaffer] "Our God's Alive" (Em) [Andy Cherry, Jason Ingram, Dan Muckala] Greeting Time/Announcements Message - "Purpose In Christ - Controlled by the Love of God (from Chennai, India)" [Joe Hishmeh] "From The Inside Out" (Bb) [Joel Houston] "Your Great Name" (Bb) [Michael Neale, Krissy Nordhoff] "Beautiful the Blood" (Bb) [Louie Giglio, Steve Fee] Dismissal

Thoughts: It was another great weekend at Fellowship. We introduced (or reintroduced) "Beautiful The Blood," which is a great song about the gospel. During the service, we incorporated a video background that was created for the song with the lyrics of the song in motion. I loved how that incorporated with the song and enhanced our focus on what we were singing together. That was probably the highlight of the weekend for me. Beginning our service with "Those Who Trust" and "Our God's Alive" back to back was a great way to start, setting the tone for the service and developing a great energy in the room. (Plus, they're both a lot of fun to play with the band - I did not account for how little breath I would have as a result of doing the two together, however...)

Our team did a great job throughout the weekend, and the church was singing beautifully all weekend. Praise God for what he's doing in our church!

Thanks for reading and being a part of this with me!

- Bill

What were your thoughts or experiences from your worship gathering this weekend?

Songs We Sing, 02/09 - 02/10/13 - Fellowship Bible Church

This weekend marked the fourth week of our series through 2 Corinthians-- "Purpose In Christ." Our pastor Joe Hishmeh preached via a video he recorded in Ethiopia. He is currently on a journey around the world, visiting many of our mission partners around the world. It was really beautiful to hear him preach from 2 Corinthians  You can listen to or watch the entire message and service here. Here's our service plan from this weekend:

Welcome "10,000 Reasons (Bless The Lord)" (G) [Matt Redman, Jonas Myrin] "Before The Throne" (A) [Charitie Lees Bancroft, arr. by The Modern Post] Greeting Time/Announcements Video - "Josiah" from Project Amazon Message - "Purpose In Christ - Suffering in Christ" [Joe Hishmeh] "Jesus Take All Of Me (Just As I Am)" (C) [Charlotte Elliot, Brenton Brown] "Glorious" (C) [Paul Baloche, Brenton Brown] "Glorious One" (C) [Steve Fee] Dismissal

Thoughts: This weekend was another beautiful weekend with our church. Our team did a great job! Our GO team (missions team) decorated also our lobby to make our people think of Ethiopia, having Ethiopian coffee and African music playing for our background music before and after services. It created a great atmosphere for the entire weekend, helping us to turn our eyes outward to our brothers and sisters around the globe. We started our services with "10,000 Reasons (Bless The Lord)," which was a refreshing way to begin. I think it helped ease us into a time of worship together by setting our eyes on blessing the Lord throughout our lives because of His faithful, covenant love for us. We moved from there to "Before The Throne," which is one of my favorite gospel declarations right now. After that, we went into a video of my friend Josiah from the Amazon basin. I love the video- it's so well done! Then, we shared Joe's message from Ethiopia. It was a great challenge to turn suffering and trials into an opportunity for the gospel to move through our lives. We responded with "Jesus Take All Of Me (Just As I Am)," which is quickly becoming another favorite of mine. It's a beautiful reworking of one of my favorite hymns. We continued then to teach "Glorious" and finished with "Glorious One," which is a staple for our congregation, and one of our favorites. It was a great way to end the weekend. I am really encouraged from our time worshiping together!

Thanks for reading and being a part of this with me!

- Bill

What were your thoughts or experiences from your worship gathering this weekend?

Songs We Sing, 02/02 - 02/03/13 - Fellowship Bible Church

This weekend marked the third week of our series through 2 Corinthians-- "Purpose In Christ." Our adult discipleship pastor David Hinkle shared about how our sufficiency and adequacy is from God through the work of Jesus Christ on our behalf. It was such a powerful and encouraging reminder! You can listen to or watch the entire message and service here. Here's our service plan from this weekend:

Pre-service - "Glorious" (C) [Paul Baloche, Brenton Brown] Welcome "Hosanna (Praise Is Rising)" (G) [Paul Baloche, Brenton Brown] Greeting Time/Announcements Message - "Purpose In Christ - Our Sufficiency in Christ" [David Hinkle] Communion - "Because of Your Love" (G) [Phil Wickham] "Glorious" (C) [Paul Baloche, Brenton Brown] "Happy Day" (C) [Tim Hughes, Ben Cantelon] Dismissal

Thoughts: This was a beautiful weekend. We changed our service times to 5 AM & 6:30 PM on Saturday, and 9:15 AM & 11 AM on Sunday, and it seemed like it helped level out the attendance between the four. We began our weekend singing "Glorious" by Paul Baloche and Brenton Brown. I loved this song the first time I heard it when Paul Baloche sang it at a worship event I attended. I love the lyric of the song, and the melody has a very unique, almost haunting, feeling to it. It is really just beautiful all around. I have had several people comment about how much they enjoy the song when I told them we would be singing it this weekend. It was a great fit for the weekend's message, as well. In order to teach it quickly this weekend, we sang it as the countdown song and then again later in the service. I think that helped out overall. "Because of Your Love" was a beautiful fit for this week, connecting the dots between David's message and communion. "Happy Day" was a high point and a great way to send one another out this week, as we celebrated together the finished work of Christ on our behalf. Communion weekends are always a highlight moment for me and our congregation. I really believe that the extra emphasis on the gospel through communion helps us to remember the why of worship, and we respond accordingly. I am so grateful for our church and the opportunities we have to worship together. I love it!

Thanks for reading and being a part of this with me!

- Bill

What were your thoughts or experiences from your worship gathering this weekend?

Songs We Sing, 01/26 - 01/27/13 - Fellowship Bible Church

This weekend, we continued in the second week of our series through 2 Corinthians-- "Purpose In Christ." Joe shared about growing in forgiveness, and how forgiveness can be the demonstration of the victory that Christ has over sin. You can listen to or watch the entire message and service here. Here's our service plan from this weekend:

Welcome "In Tenderness" (G) [W. Spencer Walton, Adoniram J. Gordon, Nate Garvey, arr. by Citizens] "Sing to the King" (D) [Charles Sylvester Horne, Billy James Foote] Greeting Time/Announcements Message - "Purpose In Christ - Forgiveness" [Joe Hishmeh] "Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone)" (E) [Louie Giglio, Chris Tomlin, John Newton, Edwin O. Excell, John P. Rees] "Forever Reign" (A) [Reuben Morgan, Jason Ingram] "You Have Overcome" (A) [Bill Horn, Erik Oldberg] Dismissal

Thoughts: This was a great weekend. Joe's message was very powerful and challenging, our team led well, and the church was very engaged. Becky Tindell returned to co-lead after her maternity leave, and it was great to have her back. The entire worship team locked in really well and it was a solid weekend musically. I love the songs that we sang this weekend, and I felt like there was a good balance of both energetic songs and reflective songs. Also, our tech team did a great job, with three volunteers running sound, video, and MediaShout for the first time solo. It is really amazing to see how our team is growing and developing. God continues to bring people who have a passion to accomplish the mission of our church together, for which I am extremely grateful. God is doing some great things here, and I truly believe our best days are ahead of us.

Thanks for reading and being a part of this with me!

- Bill

What were your thoughts or experiences from your worship gathering this weekend?

Songs We Sing, 01/19 - 01/20/13 - Fellowship Bible Church

This week we began our series through 2 Corinthians-- "Purpose In Christ." Pastor Joe shared about purpose in our suffering, and how we can remained focused on Christ in the midst of trials. He encouraged us to live with hope in the resurrection, simplicity around the character of Jesus, and sincerity in our faith and trust in Him. It was a powerful challenge to not be sidetracked by suffering, but rather to use it as a platform for the glory of Christ and His gospel. You can listen to or watch the entire message and service here. Here's our service plan from this weekend:

Welcome "Your Grace Is Enough" (G) [Matt Maher] "Unchanging" (G) [Chris Tomlin] Greeting Time/Announcements Message - "Purpose In Christ - Suffering" [Joe Hishmeh] "It Is Well" (Bb) [Horatio G. Spafford, Todd Fields] "Always" (Bb) [Kristian Stanfill, Jason Ingram] "You Never Let Go" (Bb) [Matt Redman, Beth Redman] Dismissal Baptisms

Thoughts: This was a great weekend. Saturday night's services were some of the most powerful I have experienced since coming here to Topeka. Sunday morning was a little more of a struggle, which I think was partly due to the much colder weather in the morning. It was beautiful to sing "It Is Well," "Always," and "You Never Let Go" - great songs of trust and hope - in response to the Word of God and how it speaks to suffering. I am so grateful for my team, who did a fantastic job, and our church. I love them! It has been an incredible two years so far. I'm looking forward to many more.

What were your thoughts or experiences from your worship gathering this weekend?