Fellowship Bible Church - Easter - 04/15 - 04/16/2017

It's late! But here is our recap of our Easter services together last weekend, anyway!

It was our first Easter weekend together in our new worship center building, which makes it much easier for our congregation to hear one another singing. It made for a powerful time of singing, celebration, and worship together!

Here's what we sang together to celebrate the Faith, Hope, and Love that we have because of the risen Christ:

Pre-service - "Forever (We Sing Hallelujah)" [Bethel Music]
"Rejoice" [The Modern Post/Dustin Kensrue]
"Jesus!" [Citizens & Saints/The Northwest Collective]
"O Praise The Name (Anástasis)" [Hillsong Worship]
"No Longer Slaves" [Jonathan David Helser & Melissa Helser]

Fellowship Bible Church - 02/04 - 02/05/2017

This weekend for our Way of Life series, Pastor Joe shared Jesus' words from the Sermon on the Mount about adultery and lust. It was a challenging message for all, and reminded us just how much we need the grace of God and the righteousness of Christ.

Here's what we sang together this weekend:

Pre-Service - "All The Poor And Powerless" [All Sons & Daughters]
"Jesus!" [Citizens & Saints/The Northwest Collective]
"I Stand Amazed (How Marvelous)" [Charles Hutchison Gabriel]
"No Longer Slaves" [Bethel Music]
"O Come To The Altar" [Elevation Worship]

For our singing, we focused on themes of our own helplessness apart from Christ's work for us and in us, the salvation that only comes through Christ, the freedom that we have from sin and fear because of Christ, and the forgiveness that is available to us because of Christ.

It was a great weekend together, and the team did a fantastic job preparing and leading. It was great to be back after my trip to the Philippines, albeit a little jet-lagged! I hope to post a little about my trip at some point, but it may be a week or so before I can get to that.

in the Son,

Bill

Fellowship Bible Church - 01/07 - 01/08/16

This weekend we began our spring series through Jesus' Sermon on the Mount in the book of Matthew–The Way of Life. The message this weekend was an introduction about why and how to listen to God. I'm really excited about this series because the Sermon on the Mount is so powerful and shows us the righteousness of God in such a striking and challenging way. 

Here's what we sang together this weekend:

Pre-service - "Lead Me to the Cross" [Hillsong United]
"Jesus!" [Citizens & Saints / The Northwest Collective]
"Before the Throne" [The Modern Post]
"No Longer Slaves" [Bethel Music]
"Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone)" [Chris Tomlin]

I hope you had a great weekend and that you are resting in the finished work of Jesus as your hope!

in the Son,
Bill

Fellowship Service Recap - 10/29-10/30/16

This weekend was our second in our Together series, and we looked at why it's important for us to be "Together in Worship." Our adult discipleship pastor, David Hinkle, called us as a congregation to move from watching to participating in worship together.

It was a great weekend. The team did a great job leading, and we sang some of our favorites in our rehearsal of what we'll be doing together for eternity: exalting the name of our Savior, Jesus Christ, with the song of those who have been redeemed!

Here's what we sang together:

Pre-service - "Rock of Ages" [The Modern Post/The Northwest Collective]
"Rejoice" [Dustin Kensrue/The Modern Post]
"Jesus!" [Citizens & Saints]
"My Victory" [Crowder]
"Revelation Song" [Kari Jobe]
"O Praise The Name (Anástasis)" [Hillsong Worship]

Fellowship Service Recap - 09/24 - 09/25/16

This weekend, we celebrated our church's 20th anniversary. It was a special weekend as we reflected on how the Lord has moved in and through our church family here in Topeka. It's pretty wild to think that I have been around for a quarter of the life of the church, too!

For the message this weekend, Joe continued in our Awakening series with a talk about why we still need the gospel, looking at the "rodents of the gospel," that gnaw away at our peace and rest: self-condemnation, self-righteousness, and selfishness. It was a great reminder of the subtle power these things can have in our lives, and to continually go back to the gospel for the truth about who we are in Christ.

Here's what we sang together:

Pre-service - "Rock of Ages" [The Northwest Collective]
"Made Alive" [Citizens & Saints]
"I Stand Amazed" [Northpoint Live version]
"Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone)" [Chris Tomlin]
"Jesus Paid it All" [Kristian Stanfill]

It was a beautiful weekend together as we reminded one another of the truth of the gospel: that Jesus did it all, and we were undeserving of the grace, love, and mercy He has shown us. He is so good to us!

I hope you had a great weekend, as well.

in the Son,

Bill

Fellowship Service Recap - 09/10 - 09/11/16

This week was the first of our new series, Awakening, where we are looking at the gospel for all of life as we receive it, live it, and give it away. In this first message, Joe shared about the declarations of the gospel–what it says about God, and what it says about us. It was a beautiful reminder of how the gospel changes our relationship with God, and brings us into fellowship with Him and with each other.

Here's what we sang together:

Pre-service - "Grace Alone" [Dustin Kensrue/The Modern Post]
"It is Finished" [Dustin Kensrue/The Modern Post]
"Jesus!" [Citizens & Saints]
"Jesus Messiah" [Chris Tomlin]
"O Praise The Name (Anástasis)" [Hillsong]

It was a great start to the series. The team did a great job, and it was a very celebratory weekend with the words we were singing, as we celebrated the gospel and how Jesus came to our rescue through His death, burial, and resurrection.

I hope you have a great week!

in the Son,

Bill

Fellowship Service Recap - 08/06 - 08/07/16

This was our fourth and final week going through Paul's letters to Timothy in our Keep The Faith series and this weekend, Joe's message was about how to "Keep the Faith in Preaching" out of 2 Timothy 4:1-8.

Here's what we sang together this weekend:

Pre-service - "A Mighty Fortress" [Christy Nockels]
"Jesus!" [Citizens & Saints]
"Lord of Lords" [Hillsong]
"O Praise the Name (Anástasis)" [Hillsong]
Communion - "Beloved" [Derek Webb]

It was a great weekend together, as it always is when we celebrate the Lord's Supper and specifically remember and focus on the sacrifice that Christ made for our redemption. In particular, I really enjoyed singing "Beloved" by Derek Webb, which is a moving call back to the Gospel, reminding us that Jesus is all that we need. There are many voices in our world and in our own hearts telling us that we need to add to the beautiful simplicity of the Gospel message, but we need to constantly remind ourselves of the simple truth that Jesus is enough. He has fully accomplished the work of redemption for us, and there is nothing that we can add to what He has done. We cannot "sweeten the deal" for Him. He has done it all, and He has given the gift of salvation to us free of charge. The chorus captures this thought:

Beloved, listen to Me
Don't believe all that you see
Don't you ever let anyone tell you
That there's anything that you need
But Me

I love this song, and it was very fitting for both communion and Joe's message this weekend. 

May you find peace and rest in the fact that Jesus is all that you need, and that He has completely accomplished the work of redemption for you. That is the rest that is found only in the Gospel of Jesus.

- Bill

Fellowship Service Recap - 07/16 - 07/17/16

This weekend we began our series through Paul's letters to Timothy, Keep The Faith. For his message this weekend, Pastor Joe shared about how the Gospel changes the way we interact with others–primarily leading us to love others as Christ has first loved us. It was a great reminder of both the Gospel message for us, and the Gospel impact on our daily lives and leadership.

Here's what we sang together:

"Leaning On The Everlasting Arms" [Elisha Albright Hoffman, Anthony J. Showalter]
"Before The Throne" [The Modern Post]
"Jesus!" [Citizens & Saints]
"Hosanna" [Hillsong United]
"Jesus Take All Of Me (Just As I Am)" [Brenton Brown]

It was a great weekend together. The team worked hard and served well, and Jesus was lifted up. I really enjoyed singing "Jesus Take All of Me"–it had been a while!

I hope you had a great weekend of worship, too.

in the Son,

Bill

Fellowship Service Recap - 06/25 - 06/26/16

This weekend, we celebrated and dedicated our building expansion together. We spent our time emphasizing what we come together to do in this space on a weekly basis: declare the greatness of God, thank God for His goodness, respond to the grace of God, seek guidance from God, and reach the next generation for God. It is a special weekend in the life of our church, as we have seen God do great things over the course of our short history, and we also look forward to what He will continue to do in and through us.

Here's what we sang together this weekend:

Pre-service: "Lord Have Mercy" [Brady Toops]
"It Is Finished" [Dustin Kensrue / The Modern Post]
"Jesus!" [Citizens & Saints]
"Good, Good Father" [Pat Barrett, Anthony Brown / Housefires]
"O Praise The Name (Anástasis)" [Hillsong]

It was a great weekend together. The songs we sang carried the themes of God's unique worthiness of our worship, His name being above all others, His goodness to us, and His faithfulness. 

Fellowship Service Recap - 05/21 - 05/22/16

This weekend in our Decided series, Pastor Joe looked at the decision of a follower of Jesus to serve others or be served. For our singing this weekend, we focused on songs that speak of how Jesus came to serve us and seek us out to save us, and on songs that call us to follow and serve Him and serve others in response to what He has done for us.

Here are our songs from this weekend:

Pre-Service: "I Will Go" [Starfield]
"Made Alive" [Citizens & Saints]
"Hail The King" [Citizens & Saints]
"O Come To The Altar" [Elevation Worship]
"Because of Your Love" [Phil Wickham]
"Before The Throne" [The Modern Post]

We sang some favorites, both old and new. I am really loving "O Come To The Altar," and it seems like the church is connecting with it, as well. This was the third consecutive week we have sung the song in order to teach it to our congregation, so now we'll give it a break and bring it back in week or two as a refresher, and then include it in our list of familiar songs.

While we're on that subject, don't forget to check out our church's favorites over at Spotify–-search for "Fellowship Favorites."

Our team did a great job this weekend, as we continue to make the adjustment to the new worship center and the new challenges that come with it. I love the new environment because we can see everyone's faces and it feels much more like a family room than our previous gymnasium worship center. It feels more like we're there together, and that's my favorite part about it.

Have a great week!

in the Son,

Bill

Fellowship Service Recap - 04/30 - 05/01/16

As we continued our Decided series this weekend and Joe focused on the decision to worry or worship in the midst of difficulty, Pastor Joe looked to the awesome account of King Jehoshaphat's response to a major threat in 2 Chronicles 20. The key line from that passage is in verse 12: "We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you."

Here's what we sang together this weekend:

Pre-service - "A Mighty Fortress" [Christy Nockels]
"Before the Throne" [as sung by The Modern Post]
"Your Great Name" [Michael Neale, Krissy Nordhoff]
"O Praise The Name (Anástasis)" [Hillsong]
"Jesus!" [Citizens & Saints]

This weekend, which happened to be the last weekend in our current worship center, was a great one. I could not think of a better way to finish our time singing together in this room than to sing out the words of "Jesus!": "Highly exalted is the name/ Of Jesus Christ/ Heaven and earth declare all praise/ To Jesus Christ" and "Jesus/ every heart and tongue confess/ Your name above all names/ All things/ Of this earth belong to You/ Forever, You will reign!"

Our team did a great job leading, and many of them had an extra long weekend as they helped with a special Sharefest celebration downtown earlier on Saturday. I'm so grateful for our volunteers who put in so much work to make our weekends happen. They serve with excellence and great attitudes each and every week. They are a blessing to me and to our church!

I hope you have a great week!

in the Son,

Bill

FBC Service Recap - 04/23 - 04/24/16

For our fourth weekend of our Decided series, we looked at the choice to "confide or hide." Scripture calls us to confide in trustworthy brothers and sisters. With this, there are benefits in community with others – forgiveness, humility, authenticity, and vulnerability. For our singing, we focused mainly on themes of confession and the faithfulness of God to forgive us.

Here's what we sang together this weekend:

• "Made Alive" [Citizens & Saints, The Northwest Collective]
• "There Is A Fountain" [Citizens & Saints]
• "Lord I Need You" [Chris Tomlin]
• "Forever Reign" [Jason Ingram, Hillsong]
• "One Thing Remains" [Kristian Stanfill, Passion]

It was a great weekend. The team did a great job, as always, and it was great to be back celebrating the grace of God in Jesus with my church family! 

I just returned from Church conference at Watermark Community Church in Dallas, TX, and it was a refreshing time of learning and growing with some of the pastoral team. 

FBC Service Recap - 04/16 - 04/17/16

This weekend was the third week of our Decided series, where Pastor Joe looked at the choice in the life of the believer when it comes to reading the Bible. We have to decide daily toseek God through His Word, and not merely scan the Bible for information about God. For the singing this weekend, we wanted to focus on an attitude of humble submission to God's Lordship and leadership in our lives, on what the Bible says about the character of God, and on trusting God's care for us.

Here's what we sang together this weekend:

• "Hosanna (Praise Is Rising)" [Paul Baloche, Brenton Brown]
• "Hail The King" [Citizens & Saints]
• "Cornerstone" [Hillsong]
• "Lord of All" [Kristian Stanfill]
• "Nothing But The Blood (Your Blood)" [Matt Redman]

Harper Compton and Jack Hishmeh led for me while I was off this weekend, and they did a great job serving and leading, as did the entire team. I'm so thankful for such an excellent and trustworthy team!

Have a great week!

In the Son,

Bill

FBC Service Recap - 04/02 - 04/03/16

This weekend, we began a new series concerning the decisions that a follower of Jesus must make, Decided. For this first week, Pastor Joe led us as we looked at the decision between grace and works. It was a beautiful reminder that our salvation and our standing with God does not rely on our works, but on the grace of God and the finished work of Jesus for our redemption. We are made alive together with Him.

Here's what we sang together this weekend:

Pre-Service - "Grace Alone" [Dustin Kensrue]
"Made Alive" [Zach Bolen, Brian Eichelberger]
Communion - "Man of Sorrows (In My Place)" [Philip Paul Bliss, arr. w/ add. chorus by Bill Horn]
"You Alone Can Rescue" [Matt Redman, Jonas Myrin]
"Rejoice" [Dustin Kensrue, Stuart Townend]

It was a great weekend of celebration and remembering what Christ has done for us because of grace. We were dead, slaves, enemies, lost, hopeless and helpless; yet He made us alive, redeemed us, reconciled us, found us, gave us hope, and did it all for us when we could not. He is so good! 

The team did a great job in serving the church this weekend, as always, and it's a blessing to serve beside them. The services this weekend were simple, clear, and beautiful reminders of the grace of God toward us. It was just what the doctor ordered.

Have a great week, and remember: He has done it all!

in the Son,

Bill

FBC Service Recap - Easter 2016

Jesus is Risen!

Here's what we sang together to celebrate the resurrection of Christ:

"He is Jesus" [Heath Balltzglier, Matthew Melton, Steve Fee]
"Christ the Lord is Risen" [Charles Wesley, Bill Horn]
"It is Finished" [Dustin Kensrue]
"Give Me Jesus" [African American Spiritual, arr. by Fernando Ortega]
"You Have Overcome" [Bill Horn, Erik Oldberg]
"O Praise the Name (Anástasis)" [Marty Sampson, Benjamin Hastings, Dean Ussher]
"Jesus!" [Zach Bolen, Brian Eichelberger]

This weekend, we had seven services, and our team stepped up and did an awesome job serving the church. It was a powerful celebration of the life that we have because of the resurrection of Jesus. As the Bible says in Ephesians 2, "We are made alive together with Him." Specifically, we focused on the fully accomplished work of redemption through the cross of Christ, and the power and victory and life that we have because of Him. He has done it all, and He alone is worthy of all glory and honor and praise! He is risen!

FBC Service Recap - 02/27 - 02/28/16

As we continued in the book of Acts this weekend, Joe shared about Paul's message in the Areopagus in Athens, where he shared the news about the resurrection of Jesus with a group of Greeks who recognized that there was an "unknown god." Paul endeavored to point out to them that the God of the Bible is the Creator, Sustainer, Lord, Father, and Judge of all.

Here's what we sang together this weekend:

"Nothing But The Blood (Your Blood)" [Matt Redman]
"Made Alive" [Zach Bolen, Brian Eichelberger]
"There Is A Fountain" [William Cowper, arr. by Zach Bolen]
"God With Us" [Jason Ingram, Leslie Jordan]
"O Praise The Name (Anástasis)" [Marty Sampson, Benjamin Hastings, Dean Ussher]
"Rejoice" [Dustin Kensrue, Stuart Townend]

For our singing this weekend, we primarily focused on how Christ's sacrifice for us is the only means for our salvation. This ties in with the ideas of our new creation in Christ, God as our Father, and judgement, as Jesus was condemned in our place for our sins. From there, we focused on how He is our Emmanuel, God With Us, and how He sustains and upholds us in every moment and every circumstance. Because of all of this, He is Lord of all and worthy of all the praise and the glory. 

It was a great weekend. Our team led well and worked hard to serve the church, and we really enjoyed our time together. It felt like a simple weekend, overall. Nothing to complicated or clever, just leading with our all because Jesus is worthy. There was something refreshing and rejuvenating about that. 

I hope you have a great week!

- Bill

FBC Service Recap - 02/20 - 02/21/16

This weekend, Joe continued teaching from the book of Acts and focused on Chapter 16, where Luke records three specific lives that were transformed by the power of the gospel: a God-fearing woman named Lydia, a slave girl who was being exploited by her owners, and a Philippian jailer. It was a beautiful reminder of how God has rescued and transformed people from every kind of background and made us all part of His body together. 

Here are the songs that we sang together:

"Hail The King" [Zach Bolen, Brian Eichelberger]
"Blessed Be Your Name" [Matt Redman, Beth Redman]
"Your Great Name" [Michael Neale, Krissy Nordhoff]
"How Great Is Our God (chorus only)" [Chris Tomlin, Jesse Reeves, Ed Cash]
"O Praise The Name (Anástasis) [Marty Sampson, Benjamin Hastings, Dean Ussher]
"God Is Able" [Ben Fielding, Reuben Morgan]

We had a great weekend together. We sang some songs we hadn't sung in a while, along with introducing a new song in "O Praise The Name (Anástasis)" from the team at Hillsong. I really enjoyed singing this together. I wasn't sure how I felt about the song going in, but singing it with the church helped me to connect with the lyric more than the recorded version. We'll continue teaching it over the next few weeks, and we're planning on singing it at Easter together, which should be very fitting, as it recounts the story of the gospel–what Jesus has done and is going to do for our redemption. 

The themes in our songs this weekend were our justification by faith because of the work of Jesus, our hope being in Him alone, His worthiness of praise no matter the circumstances because He is with us always, celebrating the power of the gospel and the name of Jesus, and the sacrifice of Jesus for us. 

The team did an excellent job this weekend, and helped facilitate a great time of worshiping together with the church. I'm so thankful for our volunteers and all that they put in to make our times together rich and meaningful. Above all, I'm grateful the that the Lord uses us and moves in and through us in our times together (often in spite of ourselves!). 

All of our hope is in Jesus! 

Have a great week! 

In the Son, 

Bill

FBC Service Recap - 02/13 - 02/14/16

This weekend, we studied Acts 13-14, as Pastor Joe shared about why God has chosen to use the Church as the main vehicle for His mission on this earth. He taught about Paul and Barnabas' first missionary journey, and detailed how the gospel advanced through them despite resistance and suffering.

Here are the songs that we sang together:

Pre-service - "She Must and Shall Go Free" [Derek Webb, Sandra McCracken, William Gadsby]
"Sing to the King" [Charles Silvester Horne, Billy Foote]
"Jesus!" [Zach Bolen, Brian Eichelberger]
"Son of God" [Tim Neufeld, Jon Neufeld, Ed Cash, Gordon Cochran]
"God With Us" [Leslie Jordan, Jason Ingram]
"It Is Finished" [Dustin Kensrue]

 We had a great weekend together, singing songs about the Church and about the redemption that is in Christ alone. I've had Romans 3:23-24 on my heart and mind this week, and this weekend seemed to align in so many ways with what Paul wrote there:

 "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus..." (ESV) 

We have been bought with the precious blood of Jesus, and adopted as sons and daughters, and brought together as the body of Christ–the Church. We focused on the hope that is in Christ alone, Christ's unique worth as our sole source of salvation, the fact that God is with us, and His finished work on the cross for our redemption. I never get tired of signing those truths!

Have a great week!

In the Son, 

Bill

FBC Service Recap - 01/16 - 01/17/16

We continued in our second weekend of our Mission: Possible through the book of Acts, and Joe shared this weekend about "How to Live Boldly." He talked about how boldness enables many facets of ministry for the sake of Jesus.

Here are the songs we sang together:

Pre-Service - "Grace Alone" [Dustin Kensrue]
"Made Alive" [Zach Bolen, Brian Eichelberger]
"There is a Fountain" [William Cowper, arr. by Zach Bolen]
"He is Jesus" [Heath Balltzglier, Matthew Melton, Steve Fee]
"Great Are You Lord" [Jason Ingram, David Leonard, Leslie Jordan]
"Jesus!" [Zach Bolen, Brian Eichelberger]

We had a great weekend together. We sang "Grace Alone" in the opening, which powerfully worships the Triune God for the work of salvation for us. We haven't sung it in a long time, and it is definitely a song that I consider worthy of singing together, so it may be something we begin to sing in the normal part of our services in the future. We also introduced a different arrangement of "Made Alive" from the Northwest Collective (I highly recommend their live album).

In all, it was a fun weekend where we sang a variety of songs and our team did a great job. We had four different people involved in leading this weekend in some capacity, which is a first for a normal weekend service–all because we have so many leaders stepping up. It's a challenge to get everyone scheduled, but too much good leadership is a great problem to have. It's a beautiful thing.

Have a great week!

in the Son,

Bill

FBC Weekend Recap - 12/26 - 12/27/15

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas celebration with your families and friends!

This weekend, Brian Tryhus taught from Psalm 23 about how the Lord is our Great Shepherd. He shared how God's people recognize the Shepherd's voice and follow Him, and in doing so, they experience provision and rest.

Here are our songs from this weekend:

In Tenderness [W. Spencer Walton, Adoniram J. Gordon, Nate Garvey / Citizens & Saints]
Made Alive [Zach Bolen, Brian Eichelberger /Citizens & Saints]
You Never Let Go [Matt Redman, Beth Redman]
One Thing Remains [Brian Johnson, Jeremy Riddle, Christa Black ]
Rejoice [Dustin Kensrue, Stuart Townend]

We returned to my preferred service order this weekend, with two songs up front and then three songs in response to the Word. While there are several excellent orders for worship services, I prefer this one because it reflects the concept of "revelation and response" in worship. God has revealed Himself in His Word, and that is how we know Him. When we know Him, we can then respond in worship. We have been away from this order for a couple of months, so it was nice to return to it.

In all, it was a great weekend of celebration and worship, thanking God for being our faithful Good Shepherd!

in the Son,

Bill