This weekend, we began a new series, entitled Never. In this series, Pastor Joe is going to share about how life in Christ enables us to "Never Give In" (to temptation), "Never Go Back" (to our old lives), and "Never Give Up" (in the face of trials). This week, Joe shared some practical wisdom about temptation. For our singing this week, we focused on Jesus' faithfulness to us as our Great High Priest (Hebrews 4), and how He is all we need.
Here are our songs from this weekend:
"The Mighty Hand of God" [Citizens & Saints - Zach Bolen, Dustin Kensrue, Cam Huxford, Brian Eichelberger]
"Before the Throne" [The Modern Post - Charitie Lees Bancroft, arr. by Dustin Kensrue]
"One Thing Remains" [Bethel Worship - Brian Johnson, Jeremy Riddle, Christa Black]
"Always" [Kristian Stanfill, Jason Ingram]
"You Never Let Go" [Matt Redman, Beth Redman]
The week after Easter always feels a bit like recovery, especially when Easter services are done off-site. There is lingering fatigue and fogginess in the wake of such a significant gathering for the church body. Lots of hours are spent both setting up and tearing down the many pieces that go into such an event. Despite the overall tiredness of our team, we had a great weekend of worship together. Our team did a great job, and the congregation was engaged and worshiping together. I will never get over the joy of hearing the Church sing to Jesus for who He is and what He has done!
The first two songs this weekend really established the foundation for where we were going this weekend, in that our standing with God is dependent on the finished work of Jesus and not our own ability to "get it right." Instead, we seek to honor God and reflect Him with our lives because of who He is and what He has done for us. Our confidence is in Him—not ourselves.
The final three songs were practice for us, giving us the opportunity to trust the Lord in the midst of our struggles and difficulties. All three are powerful expressions of faith and trust in Jesus, who is faithful and constant no matter what we're facing. He is God with us, and we do not have to be afraid of reality any longer. We can move forward in confidence that He's got us, and that He will never let us go.