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, 03/08 - 03/09/14 - Fellowship Bible Church

This weekend, Pastor Joe continued our series on worship with a message about Refuge. He called us all to turn to the Lord for refuge instead the things most of us often turn to. Only the Lord can deliver and restore us. You can listen to or watch the message and service here.

Here's the order from this weekend:

Call to Worship - Corporate Reading - Psalm 27:1 ESV
"Name Above All Names" (A) [Bill Horn]
"Before The Throne" (A) [Charitie Lees Bancroft]
Greeting Time/Announcements/ Send-off for The Catlin Family
Message - "Worship: Refuge" [Joe Hishmeh]
"Your Name" (Bb) [Glenn Packiam, Paul Baloche]
"Your Great Name" (Bb) [Michael Neale, Krissy Nordhoff]
"Everlasting God" (Bb) [Brenton Brown, Ken Riley]

Thoughts: this weekend was great, yet bittersweet. The Catlin family has answered God's call to serve the Lord as missionaries to East Asia, and we took opportunity this weekend to pray for them and send them off well. They are family friends, so my family is both excited and sad to see them go. As they sat in the service in front of me, I had a hard time holding my emotions in check as we sang about the greatness of Jesus and His gospel and how all the world will praise His name one day, because I had a beautiful example of someone laying down their lives in obedience to God's call on their lives to help make that very thing happen. They will be fantastic ambassadors for Christ where they are headed.

For the service this weekend, we focused on the Lord's sovereignty, sacrifice, atonement, faithfulness, and how He is our perfect refuge and shelter as a result. We began each service after the call to worship by introducing "Name Above All Names," which is an older song of mine (written in 2009). I am usually pretty reluctant to teach my own songs, but several team members who helped record some vocals on the song asked when we would be singing it in our services, so I went ahead and got it on the schedule. I've thought about it for a while, but it was finally time. The point of the song is that Jesus is above all, and everything in all creation will bow down to Him because He is worthy. Some themes in this song are the Lord's sovereignty, power, authority, and eternal reign. I will post specifically about this song later this week, so look for that. After "Name Above All Names," we moved on to "Before The Throne." This song remains one of my favorites and one of our church's, as well (I think I say that every time we sing it...). I love this song because it gives such a clear portrait of Jesus as both our atoning sacrifice and as our Advocate. It is definitely something we need to be reminding one another of as the body of Christ.

After the message, we responded with several songs to help us declare the truth that the Lord is trustworthy and faithful; our strong fortress, shelter, and refuge; and the One who restores and redeems us: "Your Name," "Your Great Name," and "Everlasting God."

Our team did a great job throughout the weekend, and it was one of those weekends where everything came together well in a unique and beautiful way. It was also "lose an hour of sleep" weekend, aka the beginning Daylight Saving Time (yes, I just learned that it is officially "saving" without the "s"), which always creates some interesting dynamics with our church's energy level on Sunday morning... Regardless, it was another great weekend with my church family!

Hope you had a great weekend of worship wherever you were!

 

Set List, 07/28 - 07/29/12 - Fellowship Bible Church

This week our pastor, Joe Hishmeh, shared some biblical wisdom regarding friendship, as we began a new series called "Can You Relate?". He emphasized the importance of having true, deep friendships in following the Lord. We need people we can trust with all our lives. As he said during the message, "Deep friendships are enduring," and "I need to be what I want to see in others." The areas where Joe pointed our focus were availability, acceptance, awareness, affirmation, and appreciation. It was a powerful challenge, especially for someone who leans toward being a "loner" like I do. You can listen to or watch the entire message and service here. For our singing this week, we focused mostly on songs that emphasized the solid foundation and constant presence of Christ with us. He never changes, He never fails, and He never leaves us. He is a shelter and a refuge, and we can trust in Him.

Here's our service plan from this weekend:

Pre-Service - "Beautiful Things" (D) [Michael Gungor, Lisa Gungor] "Hosanna (Praise Is Rising)" (G) [Paul Baloche, Brenton Brown] Welcome/Greeting Time "Cornerstone" (Bb) [Edward Mote, Jonas Myrin, Reuben Morgan, Eric Liljero, William B. Bradbury] Time of Confession "God Is Able" (Bb) [Reuben Morgan, Ben Fielding] "Your Name" (Bb) [Paul Baloche, Glenn Packiam] Message - "Can You Relate? - Friends" [Joe Hishmeh] Offering/Response Time "Forever Reign" (Ab) [Reuben Morgan, Jason Ingram] Announcements/Dismissal

"Beautiful Things" - We sang this song during the countdown time this weekend. I have wanted to do it for a long time, and it finally worked out and fit well. I love the lyric of this song, as it reminds us that despite the brokenness and sin in our lives and our world, Jesus makes things new and can make beautiful things from the mess. He is the one who can restore and recreate us. This song is written by Gungor, which is an amazingly talented and creative band. They use varying textures and stylings throughout their catalog of music, and it is always an enjoyable listen. If you haven't heard them, check them out ("Dry Bones" is probably my favorite song of theirs - it's AMAZING).

"Hosanna (Praise Is Rising)" - This is one of our church's favorite songs, and it is a great song to use towards the beginning of a service, as it is a call to worship and to opening our lives to the direction of the Lord. We can trust Him and give Him our lives without fear, because He is faithful and able, and in Him there is hope and promise.

"Cornerstone" - This song is fairly new to our congregation (our NextGen worship director, Erik Oldberg, introduced it last week during our family worship weekend). I had first heard this song before Easter this year, but it had fallen off my radar, and I'm glad Erik brought it back up after the new Hillsong Live release. I really appreciate how this song uses a beautiful and powerful lyric, and gives it a fresh take for a younger generation. In my opinion, "On Christ The Solid Rock I Stand" is one of the greatest hymns (remember that a "hymn" is basically a metered poem of praise to God that was usually set to music at a later time) ever penned. It inspires our confidence in the finished work of Christ alone, and that is the type of thing we need to sing continually, because we tend to drift toward confidence in what we do/have done and toward independence rather than dependence on Christ. I have had this song stuck in my head all week. I look forward to continuing to sing it together with our church.

"God Is Able" - After a time where we confessed sin--things that come between us and the Lord or between us and the people around us--we sang this song and trusted in the Lord's finished work for us, and in His unfailing love and presence with us. He is with us, He is for us, and He is on our side.

"Your Name" - We haven't sung this song in a long time (I'm not sure I have even sung it here with Fellowship), but with the subject matter, Sarah singing with us, and the cello, it was a perfect fit. I have always enjoyed this song. It is simple, but once again, it points our confidence to Jesus Christ as our "strong and mighty tower," "a shelter like no other," and the only one who has the power to save.

"Forever Reign" - We responded to the message with this song, which sings of the perfect attributes of God, compared with our failings and weaknesses. It is one of our congregation's favorite songs, and it has become one of mine as well. The bridge is a great moment of dedication: "My heart will sing/ No other name/ Jesus, Jesus." Before we sang, we committed to opening our lives up to others in one of the areas that Joe spoke about during the message. Then we turned to look to Christ and to commit ourselves to Him, who is the only one who can truly transform us.

This weekend was really simple and enjoyable, because we used a purely acoustic band. Erik and Sarah Oldberg led with me, and we also had a first-time cellist, Laramie Hulse, playing with us. She did a great job for her first time playing with us and getting used to the way we do things, and I'm looking forward to having her play with the team again in the near future. I have to confess that cello is probably my favorite instrument (aside from guitar), because of its powerful warmth and range. If I could find the time to learn another instrument, that would be the one.

We didn't use our in-ear monitoring system this weekend, and instead switched to floor monitors, and it was nice to hear the congregation singing out in the open. The accuracy and clarity of in-ears forces us to sacrifice a little in the way of hearing the congregation as clearly, while using floor monitors forces us to sacrifice a little in clarity and accuracy. For that reason, it's not always the best for our team to use wedges, but this week was a perfect week to do it.

I hope you had a great weekend of worship wherever you were!

What were your thoughts or experiences from this weekend in your church?

p.s. don't forget to check out The Worship Community!

Set List, 05/21 - 05/22/11 Fellowship Bible Church (Through the Storm)

This weekend held a few surprises! During the middle of the message in the 5 PM service, we had a funnel cloud sighting and the tornado siren going off in Topeka, so we had to move everyone to our children's theater in the basement to take shelter. Joe closed out his message and I brought my guitar down so we could worship together. It was a sweet time of worship in that basement, with everyone (kids and all) crowded into a smaller room. We sang a few songs together, and it was such a beautiful sound to hear everyone so clearly (our worship center is pretty deadened sonically, so it is sometimes difficult to hear everyone). It was a blessing. Because the warnings persisted, we decided to hold our 7 PM service  in the basement as well. The whole band came down and it was a really special time for all of us, as we adapted to the situation and still served God and our church. I will never forget last night. You can see more about the details of what happened over my Tech Director, Wyatt Johnston's blog: wyattjohnston.com.

Joe talked about fear and security, and suffering for the cause of Christ. It was a challenging message. He shared about how God calls us to faith, trust, and certainty rather than fear, doubt, and uncertainty, regardless of the circumstances. He shared about the high calling of suffering together with Christ, that Jesus' name may be lifted high through it. May we all be counted worthy to suffer for His name.

Here's our set from this weekend:

Pre-Service - "Those Who Trust" (Em) [Don Chaffer] Call to Worship - Psalm 150:3-6 "Everlasting God" (Bb) [Brenton Brown, Ken Riley] Welcome/Announcements/Offering/Greeting Time "Hosanna (Praise is Rising)" (G) [Paul Baloche, Brenton Brown] "You Never Let Go" (Bb) [Matt Redman] "Your Name" (Bb) (Paul Baloche, Glenn Packiam] Message - "A New Appraisal of  Fear and Security" [Joe Hishmeh] Response - "Forever Reign" (Ab) [Jason Ingram, Reuben Morgan]

We began our pre-service time with "Those Who Trust" from the album Enter the Worship Circle: First Circle. This entire album holds a special place in my life and walk with Jesus, as it was a catalyst for a worship reformation for me. Each of the songs comes directly from Scripture, and the writers came together, studied the Bible, and created songs out of that experience together. The recording is raw and full of life, and done with all acoustic instruments. One of the most amazing worship experiences I have ever had happened as a result of this music. I joined a few friends after an event, and we were sitting on the floor in their living room, and we had a few guitars, and they began to sing some of these songs. As we sang and spent some time in a spontaneous worship moment, just playing a few chords and singing our prayers to God, a bridge came to me, and it ended up becoming the bridge of this song, Everything. The experience taught me a new way to write and to worship, in singing my prayers to God. This particular song has a great groove to it, and I love the declaration of confidence in God from Psalm 125. "Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, which cannot move, but abides forever." Our God is a sure foundation, and we can place all of our confidence in Him. This song was an even better fit for the message than I had planned.

During our call to worship, we focused on Psalm 150:3-6, and taught our people about the Biblical expressions of worship through the instruments that are written about there (with a few adaptations...). We had our Adult Ministries Pastor, David Hinkle, playing trumpet for the service, so it was the perfect opportunity for this. It was a fun demonstration of Biblical worship. This passage ends with the command: "Let everything that has breath praise the Lord" (ESV), so we repeated together as a church, "Praise the Lord!"

After the call to worship, we went straight into "Everlasting God." This song is a standard for our church, and we always sing it well together. I love the simplicity and solid foundation of this song directly from Isaiah 40. We followed this with Redman's "You Never Let Go," which was very much in keeping with the theme of leaving our fear behind and placing our confidence and trust in the Lord, coming largely from Psalm 23. This was the second week that we have been teaching this song, and the congregation was sing much more in each of the services. We finished the second set with "Your Name," which partly comes from Psalm 65:8: "The whole earth is filled with awe at your wonders; where morning dawns, where evening fades, you call forth songs of joy" (NIV). This song is very singable, and is well-known to our people, so we all sing well on it. David Hinkle played the cello part on his trumpet with the mute, and it was a cool and new feel for that line. I really enjoyed it.

We responded to Joe's message with "Forever Reign." Sarah Oldberg sang lead on this song, and did a great job. This song focused on another element of the message this week--that Jesus is more worthy and more valuable than anything we can have or lose in this life: "Oh, I'm running to Your arms, I'm running to Your arms/ The riches of Your love will always be enough/ Nothing compares to Your embrace/ Light of the world, forever reign." The bridge of this song always engages me, as we sing together, "My heart will sing/ No other name/ Jesus, Jesus." May this be true of all of us. May our hearts truly seek Jesus as the main object of our love and affection.

In each of our services this weekend, I felt that our people were really engaging and participating. I am really encouraged by how we are growing together, and God is being glorified in our transformation. I am also encouraged by how well all of our teams adapted to the craziness of the storms on Saturday night. No one complained (not once!) about the inconvenience of moving all their gear downstairs, or recreating the worship slides, or having to deal with a smaller stage or lesser equipment. Everyone maintained the attitude that it is a joy and honor to serve Jesus and His church, and adapted to the changes with grace and gratefulness. This just goes to show what an amazing group of people I have the privilege of serving with here with Fellowship. I am so thankful for each of them. God is so good!

I hope you had a great weekend in worship, and I hope that you are safe from the weather. Be sure to head over to The Worship Community to see what other churches and leaders experienced this weekend, and join the conversation there. Also, share your thoughts below. I love to hear your take on things!

In the Son,

Bill

Set List, Sunday 04/18/10 Church at the Mall

(Well, I just typed most of a post, and hit the track pad with the palm of my hand, clicking on a link and erasing everything I'd typed. This one may be shorter…) Here's our set for this week:

"Faithful One" [original] "Cannons" [Phil Wickham] "Indescribable" [Laura Story, Jesse Reeves] "Lord of All" [Kristian Stanfill] "You Never Let Go" [Matt and Beth Redman] "Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone)" [w/ add. chorus by Chris Tomlin, Louie Giglio, Jesse Reaves, et al] "Your Name" [Paul Baloche and Glenn Packiam]

This week, we did something different. We went ALL acoustic. Every instrument was an acoustic instrument. Corey played the cajon (Spanish for "box"), Melanie played piano, Sal played high-strung acoustic (which has nothing to do with coffee), our friend Zack Nethercutt played cello, and Andrew and I played acoustic. It was fun to wail away on our guitars, like it should be done.

This week took me back to my roots, when I started getting involved and then leading worship in music over 15 years ago. It was never a well-produced band with electric guitars, drums, keyboards, and bass. It was usually just three to seven acoustic guitars and possibly a djembe for percussion. Its value was not in the production or the performance. It was in the sincerity and the intimacy. This is what this weekend was like for me. It was a return to the heart of the matter and the central focus of worship- Jesus Christ. That was my purpose in the whole thing, and judging from what some people have told me, they got it. I had two comments from the morning that confirmed this. One of the pastors said that by the time we finished, God was glorified. That is the mother of all compliments for a worshiper. I told him, "That is what I live for." I want nothing more than all of us to say that God was glorified when all is said and done. I don't care that people enjoy the music, if they miss God and His glory in the whole thing! I care about doing it well, but that is not the end goal. The end goal is ALWAYS the glorifying of our Lord Jesus Christ. The second comment was from one of our people, who said that it really helped to put things in perspective. That's what I hoped for. It's all too easy to get used to having all the big production, with the loud drums and guitars, and the driving, energizing music, and to think that is what is necessary to engage God in worship. This morning was a necessary break from the pattern to jar us all back on track. The point is to glorify God, not rock and roll (even though I love that part of it, too.)

Two things stood out to me about the morning. The first was Zack on cello. He did a fantastic job, and his passion for his instrument really came through. We had a ton of fun playing together, and I can't wait to get him back in there and playing again soon. The second thing was the people singing. I have never heard our church sing so loud! The youth have added so much to our service, too. It was awesome to hear all of their sweet voices lifting praise to God. There was a moment at the end of "You Never Let Go" where everything dropped out it was just the cello and our voices, and it was so beautiful.

It was a great day for our worship team and for our church, in my opinion. I hope we can do it again soon. I am thankful for Pastor Jay supporting me in taking a chance and trying something different. It was a beautiful thing. I hope you had a great week of worship, wherever you were. Next week, we’re going to continue to try some new things, just to keep us all on our toes!

Glory to God!

Bill

Be sure to check out Sunday Set Lists over at www.theworshipcommunity.com, to see what other leaders and team members have to say about their worship experiences all over the globe!