Yesterday was interesting. We had a business meeting as part of all of our services, so that made the turnaround between services pretty tricky. Pastor Jay began a series about Hell, and began to answer a list of 48 questions regarding the reality of Hell. It's some very cool stuff. We also tried a few different things, and it was fun to branch out a little bit. Here's the set:
"Faithful One" (original) - G "Cannons" (Phil Wickham) - G "You Never Let Go" (Matt and Beth Redman) - Bb "Beautiful the Blood" (Steve Fee) - B "Lord of Lords" (Brooke Fraser) - E INV - "Nothing But the Blood" (Matt Redman) - B
On "Beautiful the Blood," we tried some backgrounds which had the lyric as part of the motion, something that Northpoint and Passion and Co. do a lot. Obviously, it becomes very important to stay in tempo, or you'll get ahead of or behind your lyric. We were doing well with the click, but we dumped it at the beginning of the chorus. We stayed with the background well until we got to the bridge/ending ("How beautiful You are/ How merciful You are/ How glorious You are/ Christ our Savior"), which has an sixteenth note kick pattern that really speeds it along naturally if you aren't playing with the click, which is what happened yesterday. We ended up almost a bar ahead by the end. Oh well. We tried something new, and we learned a lot from it. We'll try it again soon.
Emily Dennis did a great job singing lead on "Lord of Lords," which is a fantastic song, and really dealt well with the subject matter for the morning. I love the lyric of that song! I had originally planned on "Lead Me to the Cross" (another tune by the talented Brooke Fraser), but changed it at rehearsal, because we all felt that "Lord of Lords" was the right choice. I love having a team that thinks in terms of worship and ministry to the Body of Christ, and not about which songs they enjoy playing the most.
"Nothing But the Blood" by Matt Redman continues to be one of my favorite songs, especially for an invitation. The lyric is so solid, and it communicates what Christ accomplished in some fresh terms that really make you think. I can't help but think of the Portuguese version of this song, by Fernandinho which adds a bridge, "Eu so livre/Eu so livre/Nada alem do sangue, nada alem do sangue, de Jesus" (I am alive/I am alive/Nothing but the blood, nothing but the blood of Jesus). Just thinking about the way the church (Igreja da Paz) in Brazil sings it gets me excited. I wish I could think of a way to make it work in English. It doesn't quite have the same feel.
All in all, it was a solid morning. The congregation was present, despite the cold morning. God is so gracious.
Check out some other leaders' Sunday set lists at Fred McKinnon's Worship Community.
Have a great week! May God bless you richly with the knowledge of Him and His presence.