FBC Service Recap - 01/23 -01/24/16

This was our third week in the book of Acts for our Mission Possible series, and in his message, Joe shared about how the early Church endured suffering with the power of Lord working in them.

Here's what we sang together this weekend:

Pre-Service - "Suffering Servant" [Dustin Kensrue]
"Before the Throne" [Charitie Lees Bancroft, Vicki Cook, arr. by The Modern Post]
"Desert Song" [Brooke Fraser]
"Always" [Kristian Stanfill, Jason Ingram]
"God With Us" [Jason Ingram, Leslie Jordan]
"Rejoice" [Dustin Kensrue, Stuart Townend]

 It was a moving weekend of worshiping together. For our singing, we focused on themes of Jesus as our example of enduring suffering to advance the purposes of God (from Isaiah 53), Jesus as our sympathetic Great High Priest who has gone before us and walks with us (from Hebrews 4), and Jesus as Emmanuel who is always with us and who never leaves us or forsakes us (Matthew 1:23; 28:20; Hebrews 13:5).

As I looked across our congregation while we were singing this weekend, it was almost overwhelming to think of the suffering that some of our people are walking through or have recently walked through, and to see those same people limiting their hands and singing to the Lord, finding their hope and their refuge in Him. I was inspired to worship more because of these dear brothers and sisters. It is a beautiful thing to come together in worship, and part of that is bearing one another's burdens.

May you find your hope and confidence in our faithful High Priest, Jesus.  

in the Son, 

Bill

Songs We Sing - 04/11 - 04/12/15 - Fellowship Bible Church

This weekend, we began a new series, entitled Never. In this series, Pastor Joe is going to share about how life in Christ enables us to "Never Give In" (to temptation), "Never Go Back" (to our old lives), and "Never Give Up" (in the face of trials). This week, Joe shared some practical wisdom about temptation. For our singing this week, we focused on Jesus' faithfulness to us as our Great High Priest (Hebrews 4), and how He is all we need.

Here are our songs from this weekend:

"The Mighty Hand of God" [Citizens & Saints - Zach Bolen, Dustin Kensrue, Cam Huxford, Brian Eichelberger]
"Before the Throne" [The Modern Post - Charitie Lees Bancroft, arr. by Dustin Kensrue]
"One Thing Remains" [Bethel Worship - Brian Johnson, Jeremy Riddle, Christa Black]
"Always" [Kristian Stanfill, Jason Ingram]
"You Never Let Go" [Matt Redman, Beth Redman]

The week after Easter always feels a bit like recovery, especially when Easter services are done off-site. There is lingering fatigue and fogginess in the wake of such a significant gathering for the church body. Lots of hours are spent both setting up and tearing down the many pieces that go into such an event. Despite the overall tiredness of our team, we had a great weekend of worship together. Our team did a great job, and the congregation was engaged and worshiping together. I will never get over the joy of hearing the Church sing to Jesus for who He is and what He has done!

The first two songs this weekend really established the foundation for where we were going this weekend, in that our standing with God is dependent on the finished work of Jesus and not our own ability to "get it right." Instead, we seek to honor God and reflect Him with our lives because of who He is and what He has done for us. Our confidence is in Him—not ourselves.

The final three songs were practice for us, giving us the opportunity to trust the Lord in the midst of our struggles and difficulties. All three are powerful expressions of faith and trust in Jesus, who is faithful and constant no matter what we're facing. He is God with us, and we do not have to be afraid of reality any longer. We can move forward in confidence that He's got us, and that He will never let us go.