Fellowship Bible Church - 05/06 - 05/07/2017

This weekend, we wrapped up our generosity series, The Flow of Everything, and we looked at what could be possible if all the church joined together to bless our community and our world with what we have. We also had our annual event, Sharefest, where we partnered with more than 30 churches in the city to bless area schools, the Boys & Girls Club, and the Topeka Rescue Mission by doing much-needed landscaping work and projects. It is always a beautiful picture of the church in action.

For our singing, we focused on how abundantly and graciously God has provided for our redemption through the cross. We concluded our services by celebrating communion together, remembering the sacrifice of Christ on our behalf. He has done great things for us!

Here's what we sang together this weekend:

Pre-Service - "Worthy of Your Name" [Passion Worship Band]
"It Is Finished" [The Modern Post/Dustin Kensrue]
"I Stand Amazed" [Charles Hutchison Gabriel]
"Lord I Need You" [Passion Worship Band]
"Jesus Paid It All" [Traditional, Alex Nifong, Passion Worship Band]

It was a great weekend together! I am excited about what the Lord is doing in the Church in Topeka, and it is awesome to be a part of it through Fellowship.

I hope you had a great weekend!

in the Son,

Bill

Fellowship Bible Church - 03/26 - 03/27/17

It has been a while! It's been a busy month, but it's time to get back on the wagon with the blog posts recapping our weekends. This weekend was our next to last in our series through the Sermon on the Mount,  The Way of Life. In his message, Joe talked about the narrow way and the wide way, and the influences that will lead us down one path or the other. This is one of the more difficult teachings of Jesus, but it was a powerful challenge to follow after Jesus because His way leads to life.

Here's what we sang together:

Pre-Service - "I Am Set Free" [All Sons & Daughters]
"The Solid Rock" [Edward Mote, The Dispatch]
"Before The Throne" [Charitie Lees Bancroft, The Modern Post]
"The Lion And The Lamb" [Leeland Mooring, Bethel]
"Lord, I Need You" [Chris Tomlin, Passion Worship Band]

It was a unique weekend for me, in that I was leading from the bass guitar. I have never led a weekend here from the bass, so it was exciting and challenging. It requires a bit of a different mentality and rhythm of playing, so it took some extra focus to do along with singing, but I really enjoyed the stretch. The team did a solid job leading, and it was a great weekend of worship together.

For the songs we sang, we focused on Jesus as the foundation and forerunner of our faith, as expressed in Hebrews 12:1-2. He is everything we need for faith, for life, and for our eternity. He supplies us with the wisdom, strength, and guidance to follow Him. As He says in John 15, we cannot bear any good fruit apart from Him. Those truths directed our singing time together throughout the weekend.

I hope you had a great weekend!

in the Son,

Bill

Fellowship Bible Church - 02/25 - 02/26/17

We had a great weekend together as we continued our series through the Sermon on the Mount, The Way of Life. This weekend, the focus was on our secret practices, and how God is more concerned with our relationship to Him and who we are in private than with how we seek to impress other people. It was a great weekend, and I think we were all challenged to focus more on our internal lives and private practices than performing for others.

Here's what we sang together:

Pre-service - "Your Love is Strong" [Jon Foreman]
"Rejoice" [Dustin Kensrue, The Modern Post]
"Your Great Name" [Michael Neale]
"Hosanna" [Hillsong United]
"Lord, I Need You" [Chris Tomlin]

Fellowship Bible Church - 02/11 - 02/12/2017

This weekend we looked at Jesus' challenge to us to keep our word, both in marriage and in the promises we make. In his message, Pastor Joe shared how marriage and keeping our word is a picture of the gospel and the promises that God gives us through Christ. When promises–especially marriage vows–are kept, they remind us of God's faithfulness in His relationship with us as His people.

Here's what we sang together this weekend:

Pre-service - "Nothing But The Blood" [Andy Cherry, Robert Lowry]
"Grace Alone" [Dustin Kensrue, The Modern Post]
"Before the Throne" [The Modern Post]
"Good Good Father" [Housefires]
"Lord, I Need You" [Chris Tomlin]

In our singing, we focused on themes of God's grace for us, Christ being our Atonement and Advocate and Mediator, God's faithful love for us, and our desperate need for the Lord to be our Righteousness. It was a moving weekend together, as we have all been touched in some way by the brokenness and pain of divorce in our culture, and know the deep need we have for restoration, reconciliation, forgiveness, and repentance in our lives and marriages. May God gives us grace and strength to be people who keep our word and reflect His faithful love to the world around us.

in the Son,

Bill

Fellowship Bible Church - 01/21 - 01/22/2016

This weekend was our second in our Way of Life series, and Pastor Joe dug into Matthew 5:17-20 to highlight the difference that Christ has called us to be in our identity and impact in this world. 

Here's what we sang together:

Pre-Service - "A Mighty Fortress" [Christy Nockels]
"This is Amazing Grace" [Phil Wickham]
"Hosanna" [Hillsong]
"God With Us" [All Sons & Daughters]
"Forever Reign" [Hillsong]

It was a great weekend. Our leaders and team did a great job giving their best and helping the congregation sing together in worship. Our songs focused on the character of God, which is what He calls us into by extension. He wants our lives to reflect His glory and character to the world around us, and He is the one who makes that transformation happen as we open our lives to His influence and walk in step with the Spirit. We closed with "Forever Reign" because it highlighted the contrast between God's character and our own apart from His work in our lives. It gave us an opportunity to confess our hearts to God and call each other to run to Him and to make Him the sole recipient of our lives' devotion. I think it was a fitting response song for Joe's message this weekend.

I hope you had a great weekend of worship!

in the Son,

Bill

Fellowship Bible Church - 01/14 - 01/15/2016

We had an interesting week, to be sure. There were many weather-related questions concerning the weekend, with a looming ice storm that threatened to hit right in the middle of our Saturday evening services and run through the night into Sunday morning. Because of the potential storm, we pre-recorded the service on Thursday afternoon so we could share it with the congregation just in case. However, we were able to get our Saturday 5 PM service in, but we canceled the remaining services to be safe and to keep our people off the roads as much as possible to prevent accidents due to icy conditions. As it turned out, the temperature danced around the freezing point, and the ice was minimal, but when we had to make the call, there was no way to know that for sure. Hindsight...

All that considered it was a great weekend. David Hinkle's message from Matthew 5:3-12 and the Beatitudes pointed us to the truth that our blessing comes to us externally because of what Jesus has done for us. His life, His righteousness, His character–they are shared with us as we depend on Him and look to Him for our satisfaction and our identity. It was a powerful message of the grace of God and being clothed in Christ.

For our singing, we focused on dependence, on the truth that we are children of God and He is our faithful Father, and on how we desperately need Him to lead us and guide us.

Here's what we sang together this weekend:

"All The Poor & Powerless" [All Sons & Daughters]
"Rejoice" [Dustin Kensrue/The Modern Post]
"Your Great Name" [Michael Neale, Krissy Nordhoff]
"Good, Good Father" [Housefires II]
"Lord, I Need You" [Chris Tomlin]

I hope you had a great weekend, whatever weather you were experiencing!

in the Son,

Bill

Fellowship Service Recap - 11/12 - 11/13/16

This weekend, we continued our Together series as Pastor Joe looked at the value of being in "Fellowship Together." He focused on Daniel 1:1-21 and how Daniel and his group of friends supported and encouraged one another in remaining faithful to the Lord, even in the face of trials and difficulty during the exile in Babylon.

For our singing together, we focused on God's faithfulness and unfailing love, and the fact that He is with us. We can be encouraged to be together in fellowship with one another because God does the same for us.

Our team did a great job, and I really enjoyed including "Grace Alone" in our actual worship set after singing it a few times in the pre-service section. I love the lyric of that song, and how it points to the Trinity in the work of saving us, from beginning to end. I hope to continue singing it together as we go. We also sang a song that we haven't sung together in quite a while: "One Thing Remains." I love that song–especially the bridge. It's a powerful declaration of God's faithfulness and the security of our salvation because of Him.

Here's what we sang together this weekend:

Pre-service - "A Mighty Fortress" [Christy Nockels]
"Grace Alone" [Dustin Kensrue/The Modern Post]
"I Stand Amazed" [Charles Hutchison Gabriel, North Point Community Church]
"God With Us" [All Sons & Daughters]
"One Thing Remains" [Kristian Stanfill/Bethel]

Fellowship Service Recap - 08/20 - 08/21/16

This was our second weekend in our Storms series (I was on vacation last weekend) and the message this weekend was about Jonah, and how storms call us back to the Lord. Joe called those who have been running away to return to the Lord, and for those of us who knew people who had run away to pray for the Lord to bring them back.

Here are the songs we sang together:

Pre-Service - "Grace Alone" [Dustin Kensrue/The Modern Post]
"In Tenderness" [Citizens & Saints]
"Before the Throne" [The Modern Post, Charitie Lees Bancroft]
"I Stand Amazed (How Marvelous)" [Charles Hutchison Gabriel]
"Lamb of God" [Vertical Church Band]
"Lord, I Need You" [Daniel Carson, Matt Maher, Christy Nockels, Jesse Reeves, Kristian Stanfill]

We had a huge band this weekend (11 people!!!), and it was a great time serving together. We had three leaders, two acoustics, three electrics, bass, drums, keys, violin, and banjo, and it was a beautiful thing. The team did a great job serving and leading. For our singing, we focused on how the Lord sought us out to serve us and save us in His incredible grace and kindness toward us, and how we all desperately need His continued working in our lives.

I am so grateful to the Lord for what He is doing in our church and in our team!

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 - 07/09 - 07/10/16

This weekend we wrapped up our series on the life of David, Rise or Fall. The message this weekend from our family pastor, Brian Tryhus, was about the legacy of David as a man after God's own heart. Despite many moments of serious failure with heavy consequences, David always responded to his sin with confession and repentance and turned back to the Lord in faith and obedience. Brian challenged us to respond in the same way to our sin so that we might all be people after God's own heart like David.

A highlight of the message for me was a story Brian shared about G.K. Chesterton. He told us how a London newspaper had asked authors to answer the question, "What is wrong with the world today?" G.K. Chesterton's response was simply,

Dear Sirs,

I am.

Yours, 
G.K. Chesteron

In light of the tragic events in our country and around the world over these past few weeks, that answer is simple but profound. We all need to recognize that we, because of sin, are are each part of the problem with the world. The solution is to pursue a life of humility, confession, repentance, and love–like David.

Here's what we sang together this weekend:

Pre-service: "How Can It Be" [Lauren Daigle]
"In Tenderness" [Citizens & Saints]
"God With Us" [All Sons & Daughters]
"I Stand Amazed" [Charles Hutchison Gabriel]
"Grace Flows Down" [Christy Nockels, Passion Worship Band]
"O Come To The Altar" [Elevation Worship]

It felt like a heavy weekend as we gathered together, but one in which I felt a great deal of hope because of Jesus and His gospel. We had planned for a few weeks to emphasize how Christ had worked redemption and forgiveness for our sin through the cross, and I can see how God was at work in the planning because it felt very fitting to sing these songs together this weekend. Our team led well, and the church sang out together as we celebrated the light and hope of the gospel message, even in the face of great darkness, both within each of us and in our world.

in the Son,

Bill

Fellowship Service Recap - 06/18 - 06/19/16

This weekend, as we continued our series through the life of David this Father's Day weekend, Pastor Joe looked at lessons and encouragement for Dad from the life of David. Also, we held our second annual guitar choir, which was a ton of fun.

Here's what we sang together:

Pre-Service - "Love Come Down" [North Point Community Church]
"I'll Fly Away" [Albert E. Brumley, Traditional]
"I Stand Amazed" [Charles Hutchison Gabriel, Traditional]
"Leaning On The Everlasting Arms" [Elisha Albright Hoffman, Anthony J. Showalter, Traditional]
"Lord, I Need You" [Kristian Stanfill, Passion]

I hope you had a great Father's Day!

In the Son,

Bill

Fellowship Service Recap - 05/07 - 05/08/16

We had a great celebration together on this Mother's Day weekend, as Pastor Joe shared a message about Mary of Bethany, and what we can learn from her example about sitting at the feet of Jesus. From the Gospel texts, he reminded us to sit at the feet of Jesus to listen and learn from Him, to express our hearts to Him, and to offer our lives to Him. It was a beautiful picture of the relationship we can have with Jesus when we focus on the main things.

Here's what we sang together this weekend:

Pre-Service - "Captivate Us" [Watermark]
"Rejoice" [Dustin Kensrue/The Modern Post]
"This Is Amazing Grace" [Phil Wickham]
"O Come To The Altar" [Elevation Worship]
"Good Good Father" [Pat Barrett, Housefires II]
"Sing to the King" [Billy Foote, Passion Worship Band]

It was a beautiful weekend of worship together. We had the chance to honor mothers and to reflect on our own relationship with Jesus. For our singing, we focused on themes of God as our Father who knows us, who loves us, and who has adopted us as His own sons and daughters. For our response time, we introduced a new song, "O Come To The Altar," which I have come to appreciate lately, and I was excited to sing it together this weekend. It has a similar theme to the gospel song "Just As I Am," in that Jesus calls us to leave behind our old lives and simply come to Him to find life. I think it will be one that we continue to sing together for a while. We'll continue teaching it over the next few weeks and reevaluate at that point. "Good Good Father" is a very emotional song that reminds us how God is a perfect Father to us, and how we are His beloved children. It's a song that I feel we can sing only so often because it is so emotionally heavy, but is is powerful when we do sing it together. This weekend, it was very fitting.

Overall, it was a beautiful weekend of worship together. Many people–both staff members and volunteers–worked long hours to get things ready in our new facility for the weekend. The hours of sacrifice by them is more beautiful to me than any building will ever be, though. They worked hard to make room for guests who need to hear the gospel and experience the saving power of Jesus! I'm so grateful for our church, and the opportunity to serve Jesus together with them.

For all of the mothers reading, I hope you had a great Mother's Day!

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 - 03/05 - 03/06/16

This weekend, we continued in our Acts series, Mission Possible, where Pastor Joe shared some lessons from Paul's final address to the Ephesian elders in Acts 20. I find this passage to be very powerful, as Paul had shared life with these men, and was giving his parting words to them as he understood that he was heading to his own death. That context makes one perk up and pay attention to what he shared with them.

Here's what we sang together:

"A Mighty Fortress" [Christy Nockels, Nathan Nockels]
"Hosanna (Praise is Rising)" [Paul Baloche, Brenton Brown]
"Lamb of God" [Jason Ingram, Andi Rozier, Meredith Andrews]
"Your Name" [Paul Baloche, Glenn Packiam]
"O Praise The Name (Anástasis)" [Marty Sampson, Benjamin Hastings, Dean Ussher]

As I mentioned above, I really love this passage. For our songs, this weekend, we wanted to emphasize the transformation that happens in us when Christ is our all, and we put all of our hope in Him alone. This leads to our faith growing and our priorities being realigned. "A Mighty Fortress" comes from Hebrews 12 where the writer speaks of God as a consuming fire whose kingdom will never fail, and who is worthy of our worship and our lives. "Hosanna (Praise is Rising)" is an invitation for the Lord to have His way in us and to remake us in His image. "Lamb of God" was our communion song this weekend, and focuses on the atoning sacrifice of Jesus for us. "Your Name" is a recognition of the unique saving power of the name of Jesus, and the fact that He is our only hope and refuge. Finally, "O Praise The Name (Anástasis)" is a song we have taught for three weeks now, and it takes us through the story of the cross, and echoes the message of Philippians 2–because of His sacrificial death on the cross for us, Jesus is exalted above every name, and is worthy of all the praise and the glory!

It was a great weekend together, lifting high the name of Jesus like He deserves. He has done great things for us, and He is our only hope!

Have a great week!

In the Son,

Bill

Songs We Sing - 10/17 - 10/18 - Fellowship Bible Church

This week we concluded our Unstuck series as we looked at the often uncomfortable subject of "Fun." Joe shared how we can celebrate and have fun because of our joy and delight in the Lord. He pointed out how the entire Jewish calendar revolved around the concept of celebrating the work of the Lord for them. We can have fun in a way that both celebrates the work of the Lord and deepens our relationships with our family and our brothers & sisters in Christ.

Here are our songs from this weekend:

"Hosanna (Praise is Rising)" [Paul Baloche, Brenton Brown]
"In Tenderness" [W. Spencer Walton, Adoniram J. Gordon, Nate Garvey]
"Lord, I Need You" [Jesse Reeves, Kristian Stanfill, Matt Maher, Christy Nockels, Daniel Carson]
"Great Are You Lord" [Jason Ingram, Leslie Jordan, David Leonard]
"It Is Finished" [Dustin Kensrue]

We had a great weekend of worship together. Our team did a great job, and all of our songs celebrated and reflected on God as our strength and our song, as our Father, and as our redemption and life. "It Is Finished" is fixed as one of my favorite anthems. It confidently declares the finished work of God for our salvation, and almost brings me to shouting for joy for what He has done for us. I don't think I will ever grow tired of the truth in that song (although I might grow tired from singing it–I have a hard time holding back when I sing those words!). 

It was great to be back after a weekend off. I absolutely love worshiping with my church family here, and I love experiencing how God is at work in His Church.

This week, I pray that God reminds you of His saving work on your behalf! It is Finished!

In the Son,

Bill

Songs We Sing - 09/12 - 09/13/15 - Fellowship Bible Church

This week we began our new series, "Unstuck," where we'll examine the areas of life where we all frequently get stuck. For this message about "The Intentional Life," Joe focused on the value of wisdom from the book of Proverbs, as well as addressing common reasons we resist wisdom in our lives. It was a powerful challenge to live intentionally and to seek out wisdom with all that we are.

Here's what we sang together this weekend:

"Rejoice" [Dustin Kensrue, Stuart Townend]
"This is Amazing Grace" [Phil Wickham, Josh Farro, Jeremy Riddle]
"Lord, I Need You" [Jesse Reeves, Kristian Stanfill, Matt Maher, Christy Nockels, Daniel Carson]
"Man of Sorrows (In My Place)" [Philip Paul Bliss, Bill Horn]
"Lord of All" [Kristian Stanfill]

We had another great weekend of worship together. Our team did a great job overall and led well. We sang some of our church's favorites in "Rejoice," "This is Amazing Grace," and "Lord of All." "Lord, I Need You" was a great moment in response to Joe's message, and we continued to teach our new rendition of a great hymn, "Man of Sorrows (In My Place)." It's always fun and interesting to sharpen a song as you continue to use it and share it with the church, as you see what parts work well and what parts don't connect with people. We'll continue to sharpen it in coming weeks, and I hope it's something we can continue to sing together, because Philip Paul Bliss' hymn lyric is definitely worth repeating.

I hope you had a great weekend of worship!

in the Son,

Bill

Songs We Sing - 08/01 - 08/02/15 - Fellowship Bible Church

Below is a recap of both our services and our worship night from this past weekend. It was a fantastic weekend of worship together! - bh

Weekend Worship Services

"It is Finished" [Dustin Kensrue]
"There is a Fountain" [William Cowper, Zach Bolen]
"Before the Throne" [Charitie Lees Bancroft, The Modern Post]
"Son of God" [Tim Neufeld, Jon Neufeld, Ed Cash, Gordon Cochran]
"Rock of Ages" [Augustus M. Toplady, Thomas Hastings]
"Lord, I Need You" [Jesse Reeves, Kristian Stanfill, Matt Maher, Christy Nockels, Daniel Carson]
 

Worship Night

"Lead Me to the Cross" [Brooke Ligertwood]
"10,000 Reasons (Bless the Lord)" [Jonas Myrin, Matt Redman]
"A Mighty Fortress" [Christy Nockels, Nathan Nockels]
"Great Are You Lord" [Jason Ingram, Leslie Jordan, David Leonard]
"Lamb of God" [Jason Ingram, Andi Rozier, Meredith Andrews]
"Jesus Paid It All" [John T. Grape, Elvina M. Hall, Alex Nifong]
"This is Amazing Grace" [Josh Farro, Phil Wickham, Jeremy Riddle]
"Rejoice" [Dustin Kensrue, Stuart Townend]
"Made Alive" [Zach Bolen, Brian Eichelberger]
"It is Finished" [Dustin Kensrue]
"Forever (We Sing Hallelujah)" [Brian Johnson, Kari Jobe, Jenn Johnson, Gabriel Wilson, Joel Taylor, Christa Black Gifford]
"He is Jesus" [Heath Balltzglier, Matthew Melton, Steve Fee]
"Your Great Name" [Michael Neale, Krissy Nordhoff]
"Rise and Sing" [Steve Fee]
"Jesus!" [Zach Bolen, Brian Eichelberger]

Songs We Sing - 04/18 - 04/19/15 - Fellowship Bible Church

This weekend we continued our series, Never, with a message called "Never Go Back," where Pastor Joe shared about biblical repentance. It was a powerful call to leave behind our old lives and to cling to Jesus.

Here are the songs we sang from this weekend:

"Jesus, You" [Bill Horn]
"Sing to the King" [Charles Silvester Horne, Billy Foote]
"Lord, I Need You" [Daniel Carson, Matt Maher, Christy Nockels, Jesse Reeves]
"Glory to God Forever" (Bridge Only) [Steve Fee, Vicky Beeching]
"Your Great Name" [Michael Neale, Krissy Nordhoff]
"Rejoice" [Dustin Kensrue, Stuart Townend]

It was a great weekend together. During "Jesus, You," we had a synced video that showed the first names of everyone who made a decision to either trust in Christ for the first time or to reconnect with Christ. It became an opportunity for prayer together, and to reflect on Christ's powerful work in all of us. Other highlights were "Lord, I Need You" and "Rejoice," as they provided opportunities for us to repent and to trust the Lord in the midst of our struggles, recognizing that He is faithful, He is with us, and He will remain with us, no matter what. "Rejoice" seems to be an anthem for our congregation right now, and I think there is good reason for that. it really encapsulates a lot in the lyric. It reminds us:

• of God's worthiness of all of our worship
• that His mercies are new every morning
• that He has reconciled us through the sacrifice of the cross
• that He is our faithful Father
• that He knows and understands our trials and sufferings, having walked the path before us
• that He hears us when we cry out to Him
• that one day, He will right all the wrongs of this life

"Rejoice/ Come and lift your hands and raise Your voice/ He is worthy of all praise/ Rejoice/ Sing the mercies of your King/ And with trembling, rejoice!"

Amen.

Worship Gatherings, 09/27 - 09/28/14 - Fellowship Bible Church

This weekend, we focused on having a hope that informed by the truth of the gospel, with Joe's message coming from 1 Thessalonians 4:1-12.

Here's our set from this weekend:

Pre-Service - "Beloved" (Eb) [Derek Webb]
"Made Alive" (C) [Zach Bolen, Brian Eichelberger]
"I Stand Amazed" (D) [Charles H. Gabriel]
"A Mighty Fortress" (C) [Christy Nockels, Nathan Nockels]
"Stronger" (C) [Ben Fielding, Reuben Morgan]
"Son of God" (G) [Tim Neufeld, Jon Neufeld, Gordon Cochran, Ed Cash]