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 - 04/29 - 04/30/2017

This weekend, we continued our Flow of Everything series about living a generous life. This continues to be a challenging series as we examine how God has blessed us and how we respond to that blessing with what God has entrusted to us.

Here's what we sang together this weekend:

Pre-service - "Worthy of Your Name" [Brett Younker, Sean Curran, Passion Worship Band]
"The Solid Rock" [The Dispatch]
"Grace Alone" [The Modern Post, Dustin Kensrue]
"10,000 Reasons" [Matt Redman]
"Because of Your Love" [Phil Wickham]

We introduced a newer song this weekend, "Worthy of Your Name" which came out of Passion 2017. Several of our college students attended the event and came back talking about the song, so I have been looking forward to introducing it to our church family. There was some thought about incorporating it into our Easter services, but we didn't have enough lead time to do so effectively. It's a tricky song to find the right key for congregational singing because the original vocalist has such a high range. But, we'll keep toying with it to try to find the best key for our church. For the rest of our singing this weekend, we focused on the grace and goodness of God, and called each other (and ourselves) to respond with a life of worship to who He is and what He has done for us. It was a great weekend together!

I hope you had a great weekend of worship!

in the Son,

Bill

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 - 04/01 - 04/02/2017

This week, we concluded our Way of Life series through the Sermon on the Mount. It was a great study, and I think we all were impacted in some way by the life-changing contained in these powerful three chapters of the Gospel of Matthew.

This week, we were looking at the conclusion of the Sermon on the Mount, in Matthew 7:24-29, where Jesus describes the wise man who builds his house on the rock (Jesus), and the foolish man who builds his life on the sand. The first two songs that came to mind when we were looking ahead to this weekend were the great hymn "The Solid Rock" and "Two Sets of Jones'" by Big Tent Revival. I hadn't played the latter in probably close to two decades, so it was fun to break it out and share it with our congregation, many of whom were very young when it was originally released. It was a last-minute addition to the set after we had some late illness and injuries take out one of our leaders for the weekend, but I'm glad it made it in. I heard quite a few nostalgic comments, where people shared the impact that the song or the band had on their formative years in their walk with Jesus.

Here's what we sang together:

Pre-service - "Two Sets of Jones'" [Big Tent Revival]
"Grace Alone" [The Modern Post, Dustin Kensrue]
"The Solid Rock" [Edward Mote, arr. by The Dispatch]
"Jesus Take All Of Me (Just As I Am)" [Charlotte Elliott, Brenton Brown]
"Because Of Your Love" [Phil Wickham]

It was a great weekend, and a great way to conclude this series. I'm looking forward to Easter in two weeks!

Have a great week!

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 - 01/14 - 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 Bible Church - New Year's Weekend

For New Years Eve Weekend this year, we went mainly with a simple, four-piece rock band set up, and it was a ton of fun. It felt like going back to my garage band roots from college. I loved the simplicity and the rawness of it all, and I had the opportunity to play a little electric guitar again this weekend, which I don't do enough. It was a really enjoyable time of remembering and celebrating our adoption as sons and daughters of God through the finished work of Christ for us!

"Words in the Water" [Thrice]
"Made Alive" [Citizens & Saints]
"Grace Alone" [The Modern Post/Dustin Kensrue]
"No Longer Slaves" [Bethel Music]
"O Come to the Altar" [Elevation Worship]

 

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 - 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 - 10/08 - 10/09/16

[It seems I had an entire post written up, but it mysteriously disappeared when I saved it, so I'll try to remember all the profound things I had to say. ;) ]

We had a great weekend together as we continued our Awakening, looking at how the gospel is our celebration, and how it brings joy to the Father, to us, and to others who receive it. Joe focused in on Luke 15 and the "lost" parables of Jesus there, where He taught about the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost son. It was a beautiful reminder of how much the Father loves us and how He and all of Heaven celebrate it when we come back to Him!

Here's what we sang together:

Pre-service - "I Am Set Free" [All Sons & Daughters]
"Rejoice" - [Dustin Kensrue/The Modern Post]
"This is Amazing Grace" [Phil Wickham]
"Blessed Assurance" [Fanny Crosby]
"My Victory" [Crowder]

The team did a great job leading together to serve the church, and all of the songs connected well with Joe's message–especially the new song, "My Victory," which I have been looking to introduce to our congregation for about two months. We hosted Crowder in concert last week, and it was awesome to hear the song sung altogether with many from our congregation and others around the city. The lyric was a great fit for this weekend, as Joe discussed the attitudes of the scribes and the Pharisees toward Jesus and toward the tax collectors and sinners, along with the dangers of us taking the same self-righteous attitude, which stifles joy. The first verse of "My Victory" sings, "You came for criminals, and ev'ry Pharisee/ You came for hypocrites, even one like me." It then turns to look at the amazing gift of salvation that was given to us through the victory of Christ's cross. My favorite part of the song is the bridge, which comes from John 1:29, where John the Baptist declares about Jesus: "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!"

Behold the Lamb of God
Who takes away our sin
Who takes away our sin
The holy Lamb of God
Makes us alive again
Makes us alive again

I believe that for the Christian, something powerful happens when we speak or sing the truth of Scripture together. I believe that truth resonates within us and we cannot help but agree with it and be moved by it. That was the case for me this weekend, and for the first few services, I even had a hard time keeping my emotions reined in so I could finish singing it! It's a beautiful truth to sing together as we look to our wonderful Savior who has taken away our sin and who made us alive again when we were dead in our sin.

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

in the Son,

Bill

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 - 09/03 - 09/04/16

This weekend we concluded our Storms series looking at Paul's shipwreck in Acts 27-28. It was a special weekend for me, as it was the first time I have had the opportunity to teach. It was a little step out of my comfort zone in terms of what is familiar, but it was energizing to use one of my spiritual gifts that I don't get to exercise as much as some others. I shared about "How God uses storms for our good and His glory." I also shared about our experience with Hurricane Katrina after these 11 years. We looked at Romans 8:28-39 to see why Paul was so confident that the Lord would see Him through. If you want to watch the message, here's the link: http://fbctopeka.com/sermon/storms-week-4/

Harper Compton, my worship arts associate and right hand man, led us in worship, and he and the team did an excellent job.  

Here's what we sang together: 

 Pre-service - "Suffering Servant" [The Modern Post/Dustin Kensrue]

"Rejoice" [The Modern Post/Dustin Kensrue] 

"It Is Well"  [Horatio Spafford/Todd Fields]

"You Never Let Go" [Matt Redman] 

Communion - "Man Of Sorrow" [Hillsong] 

 

As we sang, I was overwhelmed at many moments as I thought of how faithful the Lord has been. His love has never failed, and He has been with us through it all.  

My prayer is that, as we face the inevitable storms of this life, we would know that the Lord is with us and is working all things together for good for us. 

In the Son, 

Bill

Fellowship Service Recap - 08/27 - 08/28/16

This weekend was our third in the Storms series, and this week Joe shared about Jesus as the Master of the storm, and how the best place for us to be is anywhere with Jesus.

Here's what we sang together this weekend:

Pre-service - "Unleashed" [Warren Barfield]
"Rejoice" [The Modern Post/Dustin Kensrue]
"This is Amazing Grace" [Phil Wickham]
"Lord of All" [Kristian Stanfill]
"Your Great Name" [Michael Neale, Krissy Nordhoff]
"God With Us" [All Sons & Daughters]

It was a great weekend together! Warren Barfield's "Unleashed" is a great song and ton of fun to play together. That was a "just because" kind of song. :)

For the rest of our singing together, we focused on themes of God being with us, Him being Lord of all and the name above all names, and the cross being the demonstration of God's unfailing love toward us. It felt like the songs really connected well with the themes of Joe's message from Mark 4, and everything came together well for a cohesive message and reminder for all of us to trust Jesus in all of life's trials and storms.

in the Son,

Bill

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 - 07/13 - 07/24/16

This weekend was our second in Paul's letters to Timothy, and missions pastor Kyle Brown focused on 1 Tim. 4:6-10 in a message titled, "How to Keep the Faith in Leadership." The greatest challenge for us, Kyle said, was for us to lead ourselves. He called us to trust in Jesus and to see Him as our greatest promise and our greatest prize.

Here's what we sang together this weekend:

Pre-service - "Lead Me To The Cross" [Hillsong United]
"Rejoice" [Dustin Kensrue/The Modern Post]
"This Is Amazing Grace" [Phil Wickham/Bethel]
"Because Of Your Love" [Phil Wickham]
"Your Great Name" [Michael Neale]
"Be Thou My Vision" [Traditional]

It was a great weekend together. We sang some congregational favorites, and from top to bottom of the service, it was clear that the Lord's hand was at work in the planning. The team did a great job leading, and I enjoyed playing rhythm electric for a change.

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.