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

Set List, 10/06 - 10/07/12 - Fellowship Bible Church

(an image of our Ephesians set design, courtesy of our Tech Director, Wyatt Johnston)

This week our pastor, Joe Hishmeh, continued our discipleship series, "Ephesians - United in Christ." In his message, Joe shared from Ephesians 3:14-21 about submitting our lives to Jesus, and asking for His presence to dwell in us, His love to thrive in us, and His character to fill us. This, Joe said, is the greatest prayer we can pray as believers. When these things are a reality in our lives, the gospel will advance through us to others. You can listen to or watch the entire message and service here.

For our singing this week, we focused on the powerful love of God, which surpasses all we can imagine.

Here's our service plan from this weekend:

"In Tenderness" (G) [W. Spencer Walton, Adoniram J. Gordon, Nate Garvey] Welcome/Greeting Time "God Is Able" (B) [Ben Fielding, Reuben Morgan] "One Thing Remains (Your Love Never Fails)" (B) [Brian Johnson, Christa Black, Jeremy Riddle] "Beneath The Waters (I Will Rise)" (G) [Scott Ligertwood, Brooke Ligertwood] Message - "Ephesians 3:14-21" [Joe Hishmeh] Communion "Stronger" (B) [Ben Fielding, Reuben Morgan] Offering/Announcements/Dismissal

"In Tenderness" - We taught this song over a few weekends recently, and this was a refresher weekend for the song. It is quickly becoming one of my new favorites, and it is a great fit as we walk through the book of Ephesians. The chorus captures the heart of God in the gospel very succinctly - "O, the love that sought me/ O, the blood that bought me/ O, the grace that brought me to the fold of God/ Grace that brought me to the fold of God!" I simply love declaring this together with the Church!

"God Is Able"- We sang this song coming out of the welcome and greeting time, and it focused us right in on where we were going this morning. We sang this song in particular because part of our passage this week was Ephesians 3:20-21:

"Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen." (Ephesians 3:20-21 ESV)

This is a solid staple in our worship song vocabulary here at Fellowship, and it does a great job of building our confidence in the one who is truly able, our Lord Jesus Christ. He conquered sin and death, and He has redeemed us and given us life. There is no one else who has done what He has done, or who could do what He can do.

"One Thing Remains (Your Love Never Fails)" - This is another fairly new song that we introduced about two months ago. I love the strong declaration that this song makes regarding God's faithful love. Again, this song builds our hope and our confidence in who Christ is and what He has done/will do.

"Beneath The Waters (I Will Rise)" - This is a new song that our NextGen director Erik Oldberg and his wife Sarah introduced last weekend. We continued teaching it this weekend, and one of our newer worship team members, Cindy Gular, led us on this song. It is a very strong and beautiful song, but I'm not sure yet of how it serves as a congregational song in which our people can participate besides the chorus.

As an aside, I also wanted to make a note about using this song: we made one change before we introduced it, in that we adjusted one line of the song. In the second verse, the original recording by Hillsong has the line, "Salvation through repentance." This elevates a result of saving faith to a causal position with regards to our salvation. We are "saved by grace through faith," according to Ephesians 2:8-9. Repentance and baptism, which are connected with salvation by Peter in the book of Acts (Acts 2:38), are demonstrations of our faith, but faith comes first. We believe and therefore we are saved. Repentance and baptism are not salvific, meaning they do not cause salvation or result in our redemption. When we truly believe in Christ, we will do those things that are fitting of a saving relationship with Christ, but salvation does not come through those things. They are not the means of salvation--faith is. While most people would not notice or make a big deal about the word "through" in this line, I think it is a huge deal, because it communicates that salvation is somehow in our hands, which is not the case. Salvation is a gift, and nothing we can do can earn it. We simply place our trust in Him as our divine substitute at the cross, recognizing our own sinfulness and desperate need for rescuing. Because of this, we changed the line to say, "Salvation to repentance," trying to clarify that we repent because we have saving faith. The bottom line is this: as leaders, we are responsible for what we teach our people (and yes, we ARE teaching our people through the songs that we sing together). I want us to be as clear as possible with the message of the gospel. It has been entrusted to us as His Church and we must be crystal clear with it, because the world around us is doing everything possible to muddy up the truth about salvation.

"Stronger" - We sang this song for our response and communion song. We quietly sang the first part of the song (everything prior to the bridge) while the elements were being passed out, and then we sang the bridge and repeated the chorus after we took the elements. I was reminded how much I love this song when we attended the Hillsong Live concert in Kansas City a few weeks ago. It is a solid song about the gospel and what Jesus has done for us, and therefore it was a great fit for the message this weekend and for our time of communion.

This weekend was a good weekend of worship overall. Our team did a great job, and played and sang well together. I felt like the change to colder weather slowed our people down a little bit, but we celebrated the gospel and Jesus was lifted up as a result. I am so thankful for our church, and pray that the Lord continues to point us to His gospel and the salvation that is found in Him alone.  

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

What were your thoughts or experiences on your worship experience from this weekend?

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

Set List, 09/15 - 09/16/12 - Fellowship Bible Church

(an image of our Ephesians set design, courtesy of our Tech Director, Wyatt Johnston)

This week our lead pastor, Joe Hishmeh, continued our discipleship series, "Ephesians - United in Christ." In his message, Joe shared from Ephesians 2:1-10 that before Christ, we were dead in our sins, but we have been saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone! He has made us alive for the purposes of His kingdom--sharing the good news and doing good for those around us. You can listen to or watch the entire message and service here.

For our singing this week, we focused on the saving work of Christ on our behalf.

Here's our service plan from this weekend:

"In Tenderness" (G) [W. Spencer Walton, Adoniram J. Gordon, Nate Garvey, arr. by Citizens] Welcome/Greeting Time Call To Worship "All Because of Jesus" (A) [Steve Fee] "You Have Overcome" (A) [Bill Horn, Erik Oldberg] "God Is Able" (A) [Reuben Morgan, Ben Fielding] / "The Stand" (A) [Joel Houston] Message - "Ephesians 2:1-10" [Joe Hishmeh] "Jesus Messiah" (G) [Daniel Carson, Chris Tomlin, Ed Cash, Jesse Reeves] Offering/Announcements/Dismissal

"In Tenderness" - This is a song that we have been teaching our congregation recently. This song is a keeper for us, and it is a great fit for our study of the book of Ephesians as a whole, especially chapter two.

"All Because of Jesus" - We continued after our greeting time with this simple chorus that recognizes the true and sole source of our life - Jesus Christ. This is a song that is very familiar for our church, so we always sing it well together.

"You Have Overcome" - This is one of our originals here, and it seems to be a song that our congregation has latched onto. This song was inspired in part by Ephesians 2:1-10, so it was a beautiful fit with the message this week. Jesus has overcome the power of the grave, and no one else can save us; no one else can raise us.

"God Is Able" / "The Stand" - Though it was impossible for us to save ourselves, Jesus did it for us. He came to rescue us and to be with us forever. He is faithful and true, and His love is steadfast and unfailing. He has done everything we needed for our eternal salvation. What is our response to this amazing gift of grace? One of thanksgiving, of love, of worship with all that we are.

"Jesus Messiah" - This was our response song for the weekend. After hearing the gospel clearly laid out in the message, I wanted to come back to a song that declared and celebrated the beautiful sacrifice that Jesus made for us, to give us redemption, salvation, life, and hope! This song did just that. My favorite part of this song continues to be the bridge: "All our hope is in You/ All our hope is in You/ All the glory to You, God/ The Light of the world." Amen! Our hope is in no one else.

This weekend was another solid weekend of worship. Our team did a good job leading, and our people were engaged. It's hard not to get excited about the gospel! When we really reflect on what Christ has accomplished for us through His death and resurrection, I think we would have to fight off the urge to worship Him. This was a weekend where that was the case. I hope this is more often the case than not, because I can think of no greater reason to worship than the gospel.

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

What were your thoughts or experiences on your worship experience from this weekend?

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

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, 05/12 - 05/13/12 - Fellowship Bible Church

This weekend, we continued our series called "Everything!" Joe shared this week from 2 Corinthians 8:7, which talks about excelling in the grace of giving. You can listen to the entire message here. Also this weekend, our church brought 10% of all of our clothing to donate to the Topeka Rescue Mission. Last weekend, our church brought in 8,345 lbs. (more than 4 tons!!!) of non-perishable goods for the Rescue Mission! It's a beautiful thing to see the church come together for a cause like this. It's amazing what we can do together. For the music this week, I chose songs that helped us focus on how God's grace for us was demonstrated at the cross, where Christ laid down His life for us, even when we were His enemies.

Here's our service plan from this weekend:

"Happy Day" (Bb) [Tim Hughes, Ben Cantelon] Mother's Day Video - "I'll Need You, Mom" Welcome/Greeting Time "Glory To God Forever" (A) [Vicky Beeching, Steve Fee] "You Have Overcome" (A) [Bill Horn, Erik Oldberg] "God Is Able" (A) [Ben Fielding, Reuben Morgan] Message - "Everything: Excel In The Grace Of Giving" [Joe Hishmeh] Offering Intro "Jesus Paid It All" (Bb) [Elvina M. Hall, John T. Grape, Alex Nifong] Announcements Dismissal

"Happy Day"- We sang this song simply for the fact that it recognizes and celebrates the gift of salvation and redemption that Christ has given us through His sacrifice.

"Glory To God Forever" - This song, as I have written about previously, gives expression to what is true worship - offering our lives as living sacrifices of worship to God: "Take my life and let it be/ All for You and for Your glory/ Take my life and let it be Yours." May this be our prayer as we meet together each weekend and as we go out into our world. May our lives be lived for His glory alone.

"You Have Overcome"- We wrote and taught this song to our congregation a few weeks ago, and this weekend be brought it back for a refresher because it is so new to us. It focuses on what Jesus has accomplished for us and provided for us in His life, death, and resurrection. He has rescued us from sin and death!

"God Is Able"- This song reminds us of God's faithful presence with us through everything we face and experience in this life. We can trust Him and depend on Him, because He will never change and He will never fail. He will always be with us, as He promised in Hebrews 13:5 (quoting Deuteronomy 31:6): "Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, 'I will never leave you nor forsake you.' So we say with confidence, 'The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?'  (Heb. 13:5 ESV)."

"Jesus Paid It All"- This was our response song this weekend, and we sang it to focus again on how Jesus gave first because of His grace toward us. Our response to Him and to others ought to imitate that grace and generosity. He has done great things for us, and He has been so merciful and gracious toward us; let us also have grace and mercy for those around us, and let us lay down our lives for Christ and for our neighbors.

This weekend was a good weekend spent worshiping together. The songs worked well with the message and with each other for a cohesive idea, and I felt that our congregation connected well in worship this weekend. I am so grateful for what the Lord is doing in our church. He is so faithful! May we continue to grow into a generous church!

Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers out there. I am so thankful for my Mom and for my bride, Diane. They are the two  greatest mothers I know!

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

In the Son, Bill

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

Set List, 04/14 - 04/15/12 - Fellowship Bible Church

This weekend, we began a series called "Everything!" Joe is talking through the concepts of a generous life and stewardship with all that we have. It was a really fresh and challenging perspective on generosity, beginning this weekend with a focus on the true owner of the things in this world - God owns everything, and we are stewards of what He owns. You can listen to the entire message here. Here's our service plan from this weekend:

"All Because Of Jesus" (Bb) [Steve Fee] Welcome/Greeting Time Call To Worship "Unchanging" (G) [Chris Tomlin] "You Have Overcome" (A) [Bill Horn, Erik Oldberg] "God Is Able" (A) [Reuben Morgan, Ben Fielding] Message - "Everything: Everything Comes From God" [Joe Hishmeh] "10,000 Reasons (Bless The Lord)" (G) [Matt Redman, Jonas Myrin, Jason Ingram] Offering/Announcements Dismissal

"All Because Of Jesus" - We opened our services with this song, as it tied last week and this week together. We celebrate the life that we have because of Jesus Christ - because He died in our place and was raised from the grave for us - and we also thank Him because He is the giver of all that we have, even our very breath. As James 1:17 says, "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change" (ESV).

"Unchanging" - Because of the focus of the message series, and the fact that this week was foundational for the whole thing, I wanted us to sing songs that help us to trust God more in all areas of our lives. This song comes from Hebrews 13:8 - "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever" and Revelation 1:8, "'I am the Alpha and Omega,' says the Lord God, 'who is and who was and is to come, the Almighty.'" Jesus is unchanging, and that is the reason we can stake our lives on who He is and what He says. He will never change, and we can trust Him.

"You Have Overcome" - This is the third week that we have taught this new song to our congregation. They are singing it well, and I believe this will be a song that we will sing for many years together. This song did not have a specific tie-in to this weekend's message, other than being a simple, gospel-centered song that helps us exalt Jesus for what He has accomplished on our behalf. He has rescued us. Therefore, He is worthy of everything we have to give in response to His goodness and mercy.

"God Is Able" - This song furthered the idea of "Unchanging," in that it spoke to God's faithfulness and trustworthiness. He will never leave us or forsake us. He will never fail. We have nothing to fear in Him.

"10,000 Reasons (Bless The Lord)" - I felt that this song was a fitting response to Joe's message this week. God has blessed us so much, and the proper response is that we would worship God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength for all of our days. He is worthy!

This weekend was a solid and very enjoyable weekend of worship. We had our 12-year-old drummer, Anthony, on the team (he always does a fantastic job), and a first-time singer who filled in at the last minute. The team did a great job, and I believe the Lord was glorified by our times of worship. I am really excited about how it all came together. I pray that the content of what we sang together and studied together will take root in our lives outside these walls, because it will be a game-changer in our church, our community, and our world!

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

In the Son, Bill

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

Set List, 12/03 - 12/04/11 Fellowship Bible Church

This weekend, we began our Advent series with a message entitled "God Before Us." Joe focused on four ways that Jesus was "before" us: in creation, in the Passover, in the Prophets, and in experience. Jesus is the source of life, the sacrifice for our redemption, the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets, and our example. It was a powerful perspective for our first week of focusing on Advent. You can listen to the entire message here. For the first week of this series, we decided to try a drastically different format for our services, following each point of the message with a time of response through singing. I think it gave the services a more reflective emphasis, and I really enjoyed it as a change up to keep us engaged in responding to the Word of God. Here's our service plan from this weekend:

Time of Preparation/Prayer "Joyous Light" (G) [Unknown/John H. Gower, w/ add. chorus by Chris Tomlin, David Crowder, Louie Giglio] Welcome/Greeting Time "Joyful (The One Who Saves)" (D) [Brenton Brown, Jason Ingram, Henry van Dyke, Ludwig van Beethoven] Message - "God Before Us In Creation" [Joe Hishmeh] "Glory To God Forever" (Bb) [Vicky Beeching, Steve Fee] Message - "God Before Us In The Passover" [Joe Hishmeh] "Jesus Messiah" (G) [Daniel Carson, Chris Tomlin, Ed Cash, Jesse Reeves] Communion Message - "God Before Us In The Prophets" [Joe Hishmeh] "O Come, O Come Emmanuel" (G) [John M. Neale] Message - "God Before Us In Experience" - [Joe Hishmeh] "God Is Able" (A) [Reuben Morgan, Ben Fielding] Offering/Announcements Dismissal

"Joyous Light" - We sang this song in our preparation time. We have done a few times in the past, and I love using the translation of this ancient hymn with the modern chorus. It was a great fit for Advent as well, focusing on Jesus as the Light of the world.

"Joyful (The One Who Saves)" - We taught this song to our congregation this weekend, and it is a song that I have wanted to sing with our congregation for over a year. I love the new chorus added to the hymn, "Joyful, Joyful": "You are the One who saves/ You are the One who saves/ You are the One whose hands lift us from the grave/ You are the Light of life/ The everlasting Day/ You are the One who takes all our sins away."

"Glory To God Forever" - After Joe spoke about Jesus being before us in creation, this song was a fitting response. He is before all things, and He is the almighty God, who is worthy of all the glory, forever!

"Jesus Messiah" - We sang this song during communion after Joe spoke about Jesus being before us in the Passover. He used a doorframe to illustrate the brushing of the blood of the lamb on the doorposts and the lintel in the Passover, and explained how the blood of the Lamb not only protects us and spares us from the wrath of God, but it sets us free to life in the promise of God. Our hope is in Jesus alone, and this song echoes this and celebrates what our Messiah has done for us.

"O Come, O Come Emmanuel" - After talking about the Prophets and how God's people were crying out for the Messiah to come, we sang this Christmas standard. A few years ago, I rearranged this song for an acoustic Christmas CD that I recorded with my wife for our friends and family, and that's the arrangement that we used. This is one of my favorite Advent songs, and I think it made a great connection with the Prophets and the people of God in the Old Testament period, and God's people today who await His triumphant return.

"God Is Able" - We closed with this song, looking to Jesus as our victorious Savior who can do all things and who will rescue and redeem us from sin and death. He is with us and He is for us as His people. He will never fail. He will never leave us. Amen!

This was a unique and refreshing weekend of worshiping our Savior together. Our team did a great job as always. I love celebrating Advent with the Church. It's a beautiful thing.

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

In the Son,

Bill

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

Set List, 10/29 - 10/30/11 Fellowship Bible Church

This weekend, we focused on John 14, examining the Holy Spirit and how He changes the way we live and face reality in this life. You can listen to the entire message here. Because of the focus of the message this week, our call to worship came from selections from Psalm 107 (an awesome psalm!), which helps us to remember all the ways God has been with us and for us. It helps us to recall the faithfulness of our God. He is so good to us. I challenged our congregation to focus on things that the Lord has done in our lives, from redemption to walking with us through a difficult time, and to dwell on those moments as we sang out to our God. This was something that the Lord laid on my heart as we were rehearsing. As we were singing "You Never Let Go" and "Never Once," I found myself recalling God's faithfulness in bringing my family and I to this church. I remembered God's faithfulness in our journey after Hurricane Katrina moved us out of New Orleans. As these things were at the front of my mind, I was overwhelmed with thanksgiving and praise because of what the Lord had done. He is faithful. This became the focus of our time of worshiping through singing together. Psalm 107 ends by saying, "Whoever is wise, let him attend to these things; let them consider the steadfast love of the Lord" (Psalm 107:43 ESV). Here's our service plan from this weekend:

Time of Preparation/Prayer "Jesus, You" (E) [original] Welcome/Greeting Time Call to Worship - Psalm 107 "Happy Day" (Bb) [Tim Hughes, Ben Cantelon] "You Never Let Go" (Bb) [Matt Redman, Beth Redman] "God Is Able" (Bb) [Reuben Morgan, Ben Fielding] "Never Once" (Bb) [Matt Redman, Jason Ingram, Tim Wanstall] Prayer Message - John 14 [Joe Hishmeh] Offering/Video/Announcements Response/Closing Time "'Tis So Sweet To Trust In Jesus" (E) [Louisa M. R. Steed, William James Kirkpatrick] Dismissal

"Jesus, You" - We opened our preparation time with this song again this week. I want our congregation to know it, because at the very least, it is helpful for us to focus on the gospel and to remember clearly what the Lord has done for us. As the book of Romans lays out clearly, we were dead and without hope--enemies of God--yet Jesus came to rescue us by dying in our place and rising again victorious over sin and death. Because of what He has done for us, our song for eternity will be one that sings the name of Jesus, our redeemer.

"Happy Day" - This song is a great opening song that helps to put the focus immediately on the gospel of redemption. It is very familiar for our congregation, and I think it resonates with many of us.

"You Never Let Go" - This song remains one of my favorites. We haven't sung this together in a while, so it was good to pick it back up this weekend. I love the reminder in this song of Jesus' promise to believers, recounted in Hebrews 13:5, "I will never leave you or forsake you." There is great comfort, peace, and assurance in that promise, and it is one that we really need to remember as we make the journey through our lives with Jesus. Because

"God Is Able" - We taught this song a couple of months ago, and I think it was a great fit for this weekend's focus because of it's repeated emphasis on God's continual presence with us. I really enjoy this song, and I think our congregation has connected well with it, so we will continue to sing it together in the future.

"Never Once" - Similar to the previous two songs, this song emphasizes God's presence with us and His faithfulness to us as His children. When we look back on our lives in Christ, we will be able to look back on our lives and see that God was always with us, and never, at any point, did we walk alone.

"'Tis So Sweet To Trust In Jesus" - We responded to God's Word with this song. This is a favorite hymn of mine, because it sings about the blessing of the relationship we have with Jesus when we are trusting Him fully. The benefits of knowing and trusting Jesus are the same that the Spirit provides in us, and that is why we sang this song as the response. We will only experience the blessing of truly knowing Jesus through His Spirit when we trust Him.

All around, this was a great weekend of worshiping our Savior. Our team did a fantastic job, and I'm thankful for what the Lord is doing in us.

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

In the Son,

Bill

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

Set List, 09/17 - 09/18/11 Fellowship Bible Church

This weekend, we focused on John 2:1 - 4:44, and looked at several people and their responses to Jesus. Ultimately, we all need to have the mindset of John the Baptist, that Christ must increase, and we must decrease. Jesus should be the one to receive all the glory in our lives, and not us. From salvation to the day-to-day, Jesus is the one who deserves the credit and thanksgiving for all that is good in our lives. We also focused on the gospel, and how our lives should interact with it on a daily basis. In the songs for this weekend, we emphasized the miraculous and God's ability to do the impossible, with the ultimate point being that the gospel is a fantastic miracle, where Jesus accomplished the impossible on our behalf, and rescued us from our sin. Here's our service plan from this weekend:

Time of Preparation Welcome/Greeting Time Call to Worship/Prayer "Unchanging" (G) [Chris Tomlin] "Our God" (G) [Jonas Myrin, Matt Redman, Chris Tomlin, Jesse Reeves] "The Lost Are Found" (A) [Ben Fielding, Sam Knock] "God Is Able" (A) [Reuben Morgan, Ben Fielding] Prayer Message - John 3:22-36 [Joe Hishmeh] Offering/Announcements Response - "God Is Able" [Reuben Morgan, Ben Fielding] Dismissal Baptism Service

"Unchanging" - We sang this song this weekend because it speaks about the eternal, unchanging existence of Jesus. He has always been God. As the Gospel of John begins, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." This song is a strong part of our church's worship vocabulary, and we are able to sing it from our hearts and not merely from the page. I have loved this song since it was first released back in 2002 on Tomlin's Not To Us album, partly because it says something that isn't quite common in worship music: Jesus was, and is, and is to come. As Hebrews 13:8 says, "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever."

"Our God" - As we have been reading through the Gospel of John as a church, we have begun reading the accounts of Jesus' miracles as His public ministry began. This song speaks of some of those miracles, and turns those to point to Christ's supremacy - He is higher than any other, and there is no one like Him. This is another staple in our vocabulary, and it is a great reminder of the glory of God.

"The Lost Are Found" - We began teaching this song a few weeks ago, and brought it back this week as a refresher, as it fit very well with where we have been reading in John. One thing I value about this song is how it not only looks back to the miracles that Christ worked on this earth, but also forward to the future when Chris returns and makes everything new. He will restore all that is broken, heal hurts, right the wrongs of injustice, and wipe away every tear. We can look forward with confidence and hope to that day, that hope should change the way we live (as 1 John 3:3 says). This not my favorite song, because there is not a whole lot to it. However, it communicates a great truth in a new way, and some of our people really connect with it.

"God Is Able" - This was a new song that we taught this week. I have not been able to get this song off of my heart and mind over the past few weeks since I first heard it. It is very easy to sing, and it is a very encouraging song that points to the power and ability of our God to change things. Nothing is impossible with God (Luke 1:37), and He will never fail. We can place our hope and confidence in Him as we look to the empty grave and see God's power over sin and death. He is truly the Almighty. Here's the lyric:

"God Is Able" Reuben Morgan and Ben Fielding

VERSE 1 God is able, He will never fail He is almighty God Greater than all we seek Greater than all we ask He has done great things

CHORUS Lifted up, He defeated the grave Raised to life, our God is able In His name, we overcome For the Lord our God is able

VERSE 2 God is with us, God is on our side He will make a way Far above all we know Far above all we hope He has done great things 

BRIDGE God is with us, He will go before He will never leave us, He will never leave us God is for us, He has open arms He will never fail us, He will never fail us

This is one of my favorite songs of this year. It grabs my heart and points my hope and my glory to the risen Christ. We repeated this song after the message. I look forward to this song becoming a part of our church's worship vocabulary over the next few weeks. Our congregation was already singing out and engaging with it this weekend, so I can't imagine how that will develop with time.

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

In the Son,

Bill

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