Fellowship Bible Church - Christmas Eve 2016

God is with us! This weekend, we concluded our Christmas Series – "Christmas On Purpose" with a message entitled "To Save Sinners." That is ultimately why Jesus stepped down from His throne and became flesh. He came to rescue us and to give us new life.

Here's what we sang together to celebrate the Savior's birth:

Pre-service - "Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence (Instrumental) [Based off of Fernando Ortega's arrangement]
"Joy to the World" [Traditional, my arrangement]
"O Come Let Us Adore Him" [Hillsong]
"O Holy Night" [Traditional, my arrangement]
"Silent Night" [Traditional]

Christmas Eve is always a beautiful and special celebration that closes with candle-lighting to remember the Light of World who stepped into the darkness to bring us out into the light.

Merry Christmas!

in the Son,

Bill 

Christmas Worship Night Set- 12/13/15

This is War [The Modern Post]
Come Thou Long Expected Jesus [Traditional]
O Come, O Come Emmanuel [Traditional, w/ FBC arrangement]
Silent Night [Traditional]
What Child Is This [Traditional, w/ FBC arrangement]
Hark The Herald Angels Sing [Citizens & Saints]
Joy to the World [Citizens & Saints]
O Come Let Us Adore Him [Hillsong]
Go Tell It On The Mountain [adaptation of Crystal Lewis' version]
God With Us [All Sons & Daughters]
Your Name (Christmas Version) [Paul Baloche]
You Alone Can Rescue [Matt Redman]
Great Are You Lord [All Sons & Daughters]
In Tenderness [Citizens & Saints]
He is Jesus [North Point Community Church]

We had a great night of worship together, as we celebrated Advent and looked forward to Christ's eventual return for His Church! My favorite song from this set was "This Is War" by The Modern Post/Dustin Kensrue. It's a powerful and thought-provoking perspective on Advent, seeing it as the Lord's declaration of war against sin and death. Our team did a fantastic job pulling off two of these, and they put in countless hours of rehearsal and preparation to make it happen. I'm so thankful to serve with such a great team!

in the Son,

Bill

Weekend Recap - 12/12 - 12/13/15 - Fellowship Bible Church

This was our second weekend of our Christmas series, The Christ of Christmas. Our focus this weekend was on "Christ The Man," where Joe shared about Christ's humanity.

Here are our songs from this weekend:

"God With Us" [Jason Ingram, Leslie Jordan]
"Hark The Herald Angels Sing" [Felix Mendelssohn, Charles Wesley, our arrangement]
"O Come Let Us Adore Him" [John Francis Wade, C. Frederick Oakeley, Matt Crocker, Autumn Hardman, Ryan Taubert]
"Come Thou Long Expected Jesus" [Charles Wesley, Rowland Prichard]
"Here I Am To Worship" [Tim Hughes]
"What Child Is This" [William Chatterton Dix, our arrangement]

It was a great weekend together. I love the Advent season, as it really calls our attention to the great condescension of Christ on our behalf. As Philippians 2 says, he set aside His throne and all the honor that comes with it, and He took on flesh in obedience to the Father. All of this was for our benefit, because He came to rescue us from sin and death. This time of year, aside from all of the traditions and special events that call us to celebrate with our families, points me to the gospel. Jesus is God With Us. Emmanuel. And because of this all-important fact of history, my life will never be the same.

Advent Songs We Sing - Fellowship Bible Church - 2013

Here are the song sets from all of our Advent services this year. It is always one of my favorite seasons of the year, as we celebrate how God is with us, and also anticipate how He is coming again for us! You can watch the messages and services here.

December 7 & 8, 2013

"Joy to the World" (G) [George Friedrich Handel, Isaac Watts, arr. by Bill Horn] 
"Lead Me To The Cross" (Bm) [Brooke Ligertwood]
"What Child Is This" (Em) [William Chatterton Dix, arr. by Bill Horn]
"O Come Let Us Adore Him" (D) [Matt Crocker, Autumn Hardman, C. Frederick Oakeley, Ryan Taubert, John Francis Wade]

December 14 & 15, 2013

"Hark The Herald Angels Sing" (E) [Felix Mendelssohn, Charles Wesley, arr. by Bill Horn]
"Hosanna" (E) [Brooke Ligertwood]
"Your Great Name" (Bb) [Micheal Neale, Krissy Nordhoff]
"Jesus Messiah" (G) [Daniel Carson, Jesse Reeves, Ed Cash, Chris Tomlin]
"O Holy Night" (C) [Adolphe Charles Adam, Placide Cappeau, John S. Dwight]

December 21 & 22, 2013

"Angels From The Realms Of Glory" (Bb) [James Montgomery, Henry Thomas Smart, arr. by Bill Horn]
"Everlasting God" (Bb) [Brenton Brown, Ken Riley]
"O Come, O Come, Emmanuel" (Em) [Henry Sloane Coffin, Thomas Helmore, John Mason Neale]
"You Have Overcome" (A) [Bill Horn, Erik Oldberg]
"Rejoice" (Bb) [Dustin Kensrue, Stuart Townend]

Christmas Eve, December 24, 2013

"Joy To The World" (C) [George Friedrich Handel, Isaac Watts, arr. by Bill Horn]
"Go Tell It On The Mountain" (D) [John W. Work]
"O Come Let Us Adore Him" (D) [Matt Crocker, Autumn Hardman, C. Frederick Oakeley, Ryan Taubert, John Francis Wade]
"What Child Is This" (Em) [William Chatterton Dix, arr. by Bill Horn]
"Silent Night" (G) [Franz Xaver Gruber, Joseph Mohr, John Freeman Young]

Set List, 12/24 - 12/25/11 Christmas Eve and Christmas Day at Fellowship Bible Church

This weekend, we finished our Advent series with a message entitled, "God In Us." In it, Joe shared about how God is closer to us than anyone because He is in us. He is "God with us" in a way that would have never imagined before Christ came. Christ's finished work on the cross for us has made this possible. We have inestimable blessings that come from God's immanence within us. You can listen to the entire message here. Here's our service plan from this weekend:

Carol Singing Pre-Service "Away In A Manger" (E) [Unknown, Charles H. Gabriel, James R. Murray] "Hark The Herald Angels Sing" (E) [Charles Wesley, George Whitefield, Felix Mendelssohn] "Angels We Have Heard On High" (F) [Unknown French Poet, translated by James Chadwick] "Angels From The Realms Of Glory" (Bb) [James Montgomery, Henry Smart] Welcome/Announcements/Greeting Time "Joy To The World" (C) [Isaac Watts] "O Come Let Us Adore Him" (D) [John Francis Wade, C. Frederick Oakeley, Matt Crocker, Autumn Hardman, Ryan Taubert] "What Child Is This" (Em) [William Chatterton Dix] "Emmanuel (Hallowed Manger Ground)" (G) [Ed Cash and Chris Tomlin] Message - "God In Us" [Joe Hishmeh] "Silent Night" (A) [Joseph Mohr, Franz Zaver Gruber, translated by John Freeman Young] Dismissal

(Because this weekend is Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, I will not be doing an elaborate recap, but I wanted to point out one song in particular, because it was a fresh element to our Christmas services this year, and I really enjoy it.)

"O Come Let Us Adore Him" - This song comes from Hillsong's new Christmas album, Born Is The King. It builds on the classic Christmas hymn, "O Come All Ye Faithful," adding a powerful chorus that sings, "O come all ye faithful/ Come let us adore Him." The entire album has a very unique feel for Hillsong, being more folky and organic sounding. This song is no exception, and has a really cool energy about it, which makes it really fun to sing together. I really encourage you to check it out if you haven't heard it yet.

I am so grateful that my family is back for this weekend of worshiping our God together. They were in southern Illinois for the past 2 1/2 weeks helping my mother-in-law for some post-surgery recovery. I missed them like crazy!

I am also very grateful for the opportunity to worship and work with my friends here at Fellowship Bible Church. My life is enriched by our worship team, and especially our worship staff. Erik Oldberg, Wyatt Johnston, Sarah Oldberg, Jack Hishmeh, and Dennis Brinkman did an awesome job with the weekend, serving in the band or on the tech.arts team, and sacrificing some time and rest with family in order to serve the Church.

Advent has been a truly special time for me this year, despite some unique challenges. God is so faithful, and I am a blessed man. 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!