Set List, 01/28 - 01/29/12 Fellowship Bible Church

This weekend, we returned to continue our series on the book of Romans.  Joe preached from what is possibly my favorite passage of Scripture - Romans 3:21-31. The gospel of grace, and the doctrine of justification by faith alone apart from the law, are both very clearly laid out here, and I am reminded of the amazing gift that we have been given in Christ. We all need to be constantly reminded of what the work of Christ has accomplished for us, because it changes everything. You can listen to the entire message here. Here's our service plan from this weekend:

Time of Preparation/Prayer "I Need You" (G) [Kristian Stanfill] Call To Worship Welcome/Greeting Time "Marvelous Light" (Bb) [Charlie Hall] "You Alone Can Rescue" (Bb) [Matt Redman] "Nothing But The Blood" (Bb) [Matt Redman] "Lamb Of God" (Ab) [original] Message - "Romans 3:21-31 - Justification" [Joe Hishmeh] "Jesus Messiah" (G) [Daniel Carson, Chris Tomlin, Ed Cash, Jesse Reeves] Offering/Announcements Dismissal

"I Need You" - We sang this song in our preparation time this weekend. I love the clarity of this song, and how it lays out our desperation for Christ's work for us. We are lost without Him. We are hopeless and helpless without Him. It is such a powerful song. We bring it down from the key of Bb to G, and it is much more singable for our congregation. I want to incorporate this song more into our regular worship sets, as I think our congregation is getting a better grasp of it.

"Marvelous Light" - This was our opener this week. We haven't sung this song in a while, but I think it was very fitting for us to sing this week as we focused on the cross. While we were a people without any hope and without spiritual life, Jesus stepped in and died for us, conquering sin and death. He has adopted us as sons and daughters, and has made us alive together with Him. Praise God that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life for us.

"You Alone Can Rescue" - This song continues to be one of my favorites. The chorus really draws the line in the sand regarding the gospel: "You alone can rescue/ You alone can save/ You alone can lift us from the grave/ You came down to find us/ And led us out of death/ To You alone belongs the highest praise." Because Jesus is the one who rescued us, He is the only one who deserves the credit, the praise, and the glory. He is the only one!

"Nothing But The Blood" - We haven't done this song much at Fellowship, but it was a perfect fit to our talk on justification this weekend. Nothing but the blood of Jesus reconciles us to God and makes it possible for us to be declared righteous before a holy God. His blood is the payment for our sin, satisfying the wrath of God against sin, and making peace with God for us. I was moved to tears several times this weekend as we sang this song. Jesus is our peace.

"Lamb of God" - This is a song that I wrote a few years ago as I was studying Isaiah 53. I wanted to write a song that really described the nature of the payment that Jesus paid for us as our substitute. I wanted to challenge us as a congregation to not sing these kinds of songs lightly, but to try and envision the suffering that Jesus bore in our place. I think that is how we sing of Christ's sacrifice on the cross with meaning. It is, and should be, overwhelming to think of how much Christ suffered for us, and how much He has given us that we did not deserve. He is far too good to us.

"Jesus Messiah" - We sang this song as our response this week. This about summed it all up from this weekend. As 2 Corinthians says, "He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that in Him we might become the righteousness of God." Jesus took our place, and He gives us His.

This weekend was really powerful, and I really experienced the presence of Christ as we worshiped in our services. When we focus so clearly and heavily on what Jesus accomplished for us, it is hard to avoid being overwhelmed with thanksgiving. I had to hold it together a few times when it was really hitting home. Our team did a great job. We also played Warren Barfield's "Saved" a few times this weekend between services, just to have fun and celebrate our salvation in Christ. God is good!

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, 06/04 - 06/05/11 Fellowship Bible Church

This weekend we focused on Philippians 2:12-18 and discussed criticism, grumbling, and arguing. Joe really challenged the church to counteract the tendency to complain and criticize by getting involved. You cannot be truly engaged and active in the ministry of the gospel and of the church and still have a critical spirit. We can all take this message to heart, and search out those areas where we choose to sit on the sidelines and "throw stones" rather than get engaged in ministry. This topic was a little tricky to develop a worship set around, so where we couldn't make a great connection, we focused on the goodness and faithfulness of God, and His unique worth. A few songs were great fits, and I think we ended with a strong connection in our response song.

Pre-Service - "Walk The World (Let My Life Shine)" (B) [Charlie Hall, Kendall Combes] Call to Worship - Colossians 1:13-14 "Marvelous Light" (B) [Charlie Hall] Welcome/Offering/Announcements/Greeting "Blessed Be Your Name" (B) [Matt Redman, Beth Redman] "Always" (B) [Kristian Stanfill, Jason Ingram] Message - "The Appraisal of All Things: A New Appraisal of Criticism" Communion Setup Communion Song - "You Saw Me" (C) [Mia Fieldes, Ben Fielding, and Reuben Morgan] Taking the Elements Response Song - "Mighty To Save" (A) [Ben Fielding, Reuben Morgan]

"Walk The World (Let My Life Shine)" - I have enjoyed this song since I heard Charlie Hall do it first at Passion 2007 in Atlanta. I remember immediately thinking how interesting and fresh the chorus was: "Let my life shine/ Come and let my heart shine/ We're gonna walk the world/ And lift the bread and wine/ Like the stars shine/ Come and let our hearts shine/ In a dark world/ We lift the bread and wine." The connection between the Lord's Supper and the spread of the gospel is really unique. Charlie Hall explained that he was simply making use of the symbolism of communion to communicate that believers lift up the body and blood of Jesus Christ as we go out into the world, and He is the hope that we hold out for them. The focus passage this week talks about how believers "shine as lights in the world" (Phil. 2:15 ESV) and that was the major connection for this song. Being that this weekend was also a communion weekend, the image of the elements was also a neat connection. The groove on this song is killer, and the band did a great job putting the pieces together for it. Our intention for this song in the pre-service slot was not necessarily for participation, but to set the tone for the service and to get us pointed to the focus of the weekend.

"Marvelous Light" - This is a s0lid song about the change that the cross has made for us. While, this is not a new song for our congregation, I don't feel that it connects very well here. It may be due in part to the tricky melody of the verses, where it can really go anywhere, and people are not confident that they are singing the right thing (I have always thought that it was tricky for people to sing with). Even so, I love the pre-chorus and the chorus of the song, as they communicate the powerful truth of the gospel. The pre-chorus says it all, "Sin has lost its power/ Death has lost its sting/ From the grave You've risen/ Victoriously." Word.

"Blessed Be Your Name" - This song is (and should be) a constant challenge to me as we sing it together. To give Jesus all glory and praise, even in the midst of trials and suffering, is contrary to our human nature. If anything, we want to do the exact opposite, and curse God and our circumstances for the way they make us feel. It is only by His Spirit and His grace that we can worship Him in the midst of our suffering. This is why we must call one another to this kind of worship, that knows no boundaries or situations where we cannot worship God. He is always worthy, and we need to see Him that way. No matter the situation, no matter the trial, He deserves our worship and our glory. He deserves our love and trust. When we set our eyes on Him in this way, our troubles seem smaller and we see Him as Lord over all. In fact, worshiping Him in the dark times is really a matter of trust. We worship Him in those times when we truly trust Him. May our hearts continue to be changed to worship Him with this kind of deep love and trust.

"Always" - This was our first time singing this song together at Fellowship. It has been on my radar since I lived in Lakeland, and I have been waiting for the right opportunity to introduce it here. I have had it playing on the house background music for about a month to get people somewhat familiar with the sound and feel of it, so it wouldn't feel so foreign when we taught it. I love this song, and I am almost brought to tears every time I sing it, as it communicates trust in God in a unique way. The bridge of the song comes from Psalm 121, where the Psalmist looks to the hills, the high places surround the city of Jerusalem, and sees the idols and monuments there. He recognizes how powerless those idols are, being only wood and stone. Instead, he says, "my help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth" (ESV). He turned from the empty things of this world to the only one who has the power to save or change anything - the Lord. The Lord is the only one who can make any difference in our lives. He is the only one who can rescue us and save us. Let us look nowhere else for our help.

"You Saw Me" - We used this song for our communion time, and I think this song is perfect for that setting. It paints a very profound picture of Christ seeing us while suffering on the cross in our place. The chorus sings, "And You saw me when You took the crown of thorns/ Your blood washed over me/ And You loved me through the nails that You bore/ Your blood washes over me." I love this lyric, and I think it resonates with the church as we sing it. For my wife, it took a few hearings to really connect, and I suspect it may be the same for many people. I think it requires us to come at the song from a certain angle, and focusing on the wrong part of the lyric can throw you off. Focusing on the chorus of the song puts everything else in its proper place.

"Mighty to Save" - We responded to the call of this weekend's message with this song, mainly because of the bridge, which connected well with Philippians 2:15 (see above) when it sings, "Shine your light and let the whole world see/ We're singing for the glory of the risen King, Jesus." This song is very familiar to our congregation, and I think it was a great fit for the weekend. We are called to carry the message of the gospel to the world, and we cannot do that when we are busying ourselves with complaining and arguing. It's just not possible. Jesus and His gospel are infinitely more worthy of our time and dedication than our own preferences or desires!

("Unleashed" by Warren Barfield) - we only did this song after the Sunday services, as we began jamming with it as band members were showing up for our warm-up time this morning before the first service. This was the song, from the album Reach that introduced me to Warren Barfield.

It didn't seem like the congregation was participating as much this weekend as the past few weeks. I was a little concerned that the keys of some the songs might be a little out of reach, so that may be partly to blame. It may have been the two new songs combined with one with difficult verses. At any rate, the weekend had a very strong and powerful feel to it, and I didn't quite expect it to the extent that it was. "Blessed Be Your Name" and "Always" felt much more powerful than I anticipated. I was really blessed by our worship times this weekend and by our team. I was also very challenged by what Joe shared from the Word. God is so good and faithful. May my life be more committed to expanding the kingdom of God, no matter the personal cost!

I hope you had a great weekend of worship wherever you were. Be sure to check out The Worship Community to see what other leaders and worshipers experienced this weekend in their respective contexts.

Join in the discussion below. Talk about the songs from this weekend, the message, the flow, the environment of the services (if you were here), and how the different elements affected you. I love to hear your perspective on things.

In the Son,

Bill

Set List 04/30 - 05/01/11 Fellowship Bible Church

This weekend in worship, we began a new series, The Appraisal of All Things. In it, we are digging into the epistle of Philippians, where Paul communicates with the church at Philippi about what matters most. Our set for the series involves a junked 40's International truck and rusty tin, along with some junkyard images on our sidewalls. The thinking was that we are portraying things that were once very valuable, but now they are worthless pieces of junked rust. Paul said that he counted the things of this world "rubbish" in comparison to the joy of knowing Jesus Christ. Our hope through this series is for our church to put things in proper perspective, and "appraise" their worth in comparison to the matchless worth of Jesus. Here's our set from this weekend:

"All Because Of Jesus" (Bb) [Steve Fee] Call to Worship - Psalm 63:3-5 "Marvelous Light" (B) [Charlie Hall] Welcome/Offering/Announcements/Greeting Time "Your Grace Is Enough" (G) [Matt Maher] "Son of God" (G) [Jon Neufeld, Tim Neufeld, Ed Cash, Gordon Cochran] "Wonderful Maker" (G) [Matt Redman and Chris Tomlin] Message - "The Appraisal of All Things: He Who Began a Good Work in You" [Joe Hishmeh] Response - "From the Inside Out" (C) [Joel Houston] 

(This will be a brief recap, because I am about to leave on a 23-hour road trip to visit friends and family in Florida.)

Because the thrust of Joe's message was going to be on Philippians 1:6, "And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ" (ESV), I went with the theme of God creating us--both in the beginning and through Christ. Along these lines, we opened our services with "All Because of Jesus," which emphasizes how the Lord is the giver and sustainer of physical life, as well as how He is the giver and sustainer of spiritual life through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It was exactly the angle I was going for in our theme for worship this weekend.

During the call to worship we tried something new (it was new to me, too), and began to teach our congregation about different Biblical expressions of worship, mostly described in the Psalms. This weekend, we taught our congregation about lifting their hands in worship. I read from Psalm 63:3-5, which ends by stating, "So I will bless You as long as I live; In Your name I will lift up my hands" (ESV). I had them raise one hand while we prayed together, just as a way to practice the expression in a non-threatening environment, where everyone was doing it together. I could tell that some people felt a little awkward, but it was a learning moment, and I believe it was healthy for our congregation. The idea of going through the Biblical expressions of worship with a congregation was not original from me--I got the idea from Paul Baloche at a worship conference in Florida. I thought it was a brilliant way to expand a church's horizons and give them more understanding of ways that they can Biblically express themselves to God. I will keep you updated about how it progresses.

After the call to worship, we jumped into “Marvelous Light,” to declare how we have been transferred from the domain of darkness into the kingdom of Jesus—the kingdom of light. The chorus is always powerful: “Into marvelous light I’m running/ Out of darkness, out of shame/ By the cross You are the truth, You are the life, You are the way.” My favorite part of the song, however, is the pre-chorus, which sings, “Sin has lost its power/ Death has lost its sting/ From the grave You’ve risen/ Victoriously!” When we go strong on that part after the instrumental break, I am always pumped up. Does our celebration in Christ get wrapped up much more succinctly? I can’t think of a lyric that says it better.

For the second set, we sang “Your Grace Is Enough,” “Son of God,” and “Wonderful Maker.” “Your Grace Is Enough” is a staple, and very familiar with our people. For years, I sang Chris Tomlin’s version of the song, which adds the variations of the chorus at the end. Only recently, as I have tried to make the songs we sing more accessible for congregations, have I sung Matt Maher’s version, without the additional choruses. I feel it is easier for people to sing with the original choruses, and the additional ones can be somewhat confusing because the rhythm of the lyric changes somewhat. If we are trying to get our people to engage and participate, I believe the original choruses are the way to go.

We also continued teaching Starfield’s “Son of God,” which continues to gain strength in our congregation. The simple melody, and clear and concise lyric connects well. We will continue teaching it for one more week, and then give it a break for a few weeks to bring it back later as a refresher. The focus of the song fits well with Philippians, so it will probably make a few appearances over the next 16 weeks or so as we journey through the book.

We finished this set with “Wonderful Maker,” which was part of a revolution in my thinking regarding worship music. Until I encountered this song, I was drawn to the emotional songs that focused on how I felt and what I needed. When I first heard this song, I was confronted with a song that has only one occurrence of first person, when it sings, “And we have only heard/ The faintest whispers of how great You are.” The rest of the song speaks only of God, His greatness, and His goodness. It was refreshing, to say the least, and it challenged my priorities in worship. Was I participating only for what I could get out of it? Was my worship selfish or self-centered? Or was I doing it only because the Godhead is worthy of all my praise and glory? These questions made me reevaluate my choices regarding worship and the way I led worship through music. As a result, I try to spend the majority of our worship time focusing on God--who He is and what He has done—and less time worrying about us. Worship is about God. He is worthy of my praise, no matter what I am dealing with or think I need. He has paid the price for our redemption and rescue, and He is ultimately more valuable than anything, or anyone, else.

We responded to Joe’s message about God’s “good work” in us by singing “From The Inside Out,” which is another well-known song for Fellowship. I love the dynamics of this song, how it builds from quiet reflection on our weaknesses to committed, sincere praise to the everlasting God, the one whose worth and power never diminishes.

The recurring themes throughout this weekend’s music were Jesus’ surpassing worth and creative activity. It was time well spent.

I hope you had a great weekend of worship wherever you were. Be sure to check out The Worship Community to see what other believers experienced in their worship gatherings this past weekend.

I will be out this next week on vacation, so I won’t have a set list for next weekend. I may have our Next Gen worship leader, Erik Oldberg (he doesn’t know it yet), put some of his thoughts down from leading the weekend services for me.

In the Son,

Bill

Set List, Sunday 11/20/10 - 11/21/10, Fellowship Bible Church, Topeka, KS

This is late, but here's the set from the last weekend I led in Kansas: "Happy Day" [Tim Hughes, Ben Cantelon] "Marvelous Light" [Charlie Hall] "Our God" [Jonas Myrin, Matt Redman, Chris Tomlin] "Lord of All" [Kristian Stanfill] Reflection: Psalm 23 "You Never Let Go" [Matt Redman, Beth Redman] Message: "I Am the Good Shepherd" [Pastor Joe Hishmeh] Response: "A Mighty Fortress is Our God" [Christy Nockels] (led by Sarah Oldberg)

I had a fantastic weekend leading worship with my new friends in Topeka, KS. I sent the files up two weeks prior, and we all got together Saturday afternoon to work it all out. Fellowship has four weekend services--two on Saturday at 5 PM and 7 PM, and two on Sunday at 9 AM and 10:45 AM. It makes for a pretty crazy weekend, but it definitely makes the most of the space they have available. I really enjoyed working with the band and the tech team. There are some great people there!

The highlight of the services for me was "A Mighty Fortress is Our God." I absolutely love that song, and Sarah did a fantastic job leading it. The lyric is so solid, and as Sarah said that weekend, "It sounds like you've heard it before." It is instantly singable, and as people began to grab hold of it, they stood in response and sang out the great truth: "A mighty fortress is our God/ A sacred refuge is Your name/ Your kingdom is unshakable/ With You forever we will reign."

I'm heading back up there this weekend to lead once again, and I'm excited about joining in some awesome worship of our King together. I hope you had a great worship experience wherever you were, and that you are taking time to focus in on the greatness of our God throughout your week!

In the Son,

Bill