Fellowship Bible Church - 05/06 - 05/07/2017

This weekend, we wrapped up our generosity series, The Flow of Everything, and we looked at what could be possible if all the church joined together to bless our community and our world with what we have. We also had our annual event, Sharefest, where we partnered with more than 30 churches in the city to bless area schools, the Boys & Girls Club, and the Topeka Rescue Mission by doing much-needed landscaping work and projects. It is always a beautiful picture of the church in action.

For our singing, we focused on how abundantly and graciously God has provided for our redemption through the cross. We concluded our services by celebrating communion together, remembering the sacrifice of Christ on our behalf. He has done great things for us!

Here's what we sang together this weekend:

Pre-Service - "Worthy of Your Name" [Passion Worship Band]
"It Is Finished" [The Modern Post/Dustin Kensrue]
"I Stand Amazed" [Charles Hutchison Gabriel]
"Lord I Need You" [Passion Worship Band]
"Jesus Paid It All" [Traditional, Alex Nifong, Passion Worship Band]

It was a great weekend together! I am excited about what the Lord is doing in the Church in Topeka, and it is awesome to be a part of it through Fellowship.

I hope you had a great weekend!

in the Son,

Bill

Fellowship Bible Church - 04/29 - 04/30/2017

This weekend, we continued our Flow of Everything series about living a generous life. This continues to be a challenging series as we examine how God has blessed us and how we respond to that blessing with what God has entrusted to us.

Here's what we sang together this weekend:

Pre-service - "Worthy of Your Name" [Brett Younker, Sean Curran, Passion Worship Band]
"The Solid Rock" [The Dispatch]
"Grace Alone" [The Modern Post, Dustin Kensrue]
"10,000 Reasons" [Matt Redman]
"Because of Your Love" [Phil Wickham]

We introduced a newer song this weekend, "Worthy of Your Name" which came out of Passion 2017. Several of our college students attended the event and came back talking about the song, so I have been looking forward to introducing it to our church family. There was some thought about incorporating it into our Easter services, but we didn't have enough lead time to do so effectively. It's a tricky song to find the right key for congregational singing because the original vocalist has such a high range. But, we'll keep toying with it to try to find the best key for our church. For the rest of our singing this weekend, we focused on the grace and goodness of God, and called each other (and ourselves) to respond with a life of worship to who He is and what He has done for us. It was a great weekend together!

I hope you had a great weekend of worship!

in the Son,

Bill

Fellowship Bible Church - 01/07 - 01/08/16

This weekend we began our spring series through Jesus' Sermon on the Mount in the book of Matthew–The Way of Life. The message this weekend was an introduction about why and how to listen to God. I'm really excited about this series because the Sermon on the Mount is so powerful and shows us the righteousness of God in such a striking and challenging way. 

Here's what we sang together this weekend:

Pre-service - "Lead Me to the Cross" [Hillsong United]
"Jesus!" [Citizens & Saints / The Northwest Collective]
"Before the Throne" [The Modern Post]
"No Longer Slaves" [Bethel Music]
"Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone)" [Chris Tomlin]

I hope you had a great weekend and that you are resting in the finished work of Jesus as your hope!

in the Son,
Bill

Fellowship Service Recap - 10/15 - 10/16/16

This weekend we concluded our Awakening series with a message from 2 Timothy 1:6-12 about how the Gospel is the greatest gift for us and for others. It was a great reminder and encouragement to share the wealth of the Gospel message with everyone in our lives.

Here's what we sang together:

Pre-Service - "Lead Me To The Cross" [Hillsong United]
"Sing to the King" [Billy Foote, Passion Worship Band]
"Hosanna" [Hillsong United]
"Your Great Name" [Michael Neale, Krissy Nordhoff]
"My Victory" [Crowder]

It was a great weekend together. Both Lindsay and Rachel did a great job leading, and I was thankful to only be leading one song this weekend, as I ended up with a pretty good cough. Someone commented to me that every single member of the band was singing as they played throughout the weekend, and that is a great inspiration to our congregation as they led from their respective positions. It was a beautiful thing.

I continue to see a lot of new faces in the congregation each weekend, many of whom are infusing a new energy into our gatherings, and it is very encouraging to see. I'm excited to see what the Lord does in and through our church family in the coming years!

Have a great week!

in the Son,

Bill

Fellowship Service Recap - 07/09 - 07/10/16

This weekend we wrapped up our series on the life of David, Rise or Fall. The message this weekend from our family pastor, Brian Tryhus, was about the legacy of David as a man after God's own heart. Despite many moments of serious failure with heavy consequences, David always responded to his sin with confession and repentance and turned back to the Lord in faith and obedience. Brian challenged us to respond in the same way to our sin so that we might all be people after God's own heart like David.

A highlight of the message for me was a story Brian shared about G.K. Chesterton. He told us how a London newspaper had asked authors to answer the question, "What is wrong with the world today?" G.K. Chesterton's response was simply,

Dear Sirs,

I am.

Yours, 
G.K. Chesteron

In light of the tragic events in our country and around the world over these past few weeks, that answer is simple but profound. We all need to recognize that we, because of sin, are are each part of the problem with the world. The solution is to pursue a life of humility, confession, repentance, and love–like David.

Here's what we sang together this weekend:

Pre-service: "How Can It Be" [Lauren Daigle]
"In Tenderness" [Citizens & Saints]
"God With Us" [All Sons & Daughters]
"I Stand Amazed" [Charles Hutchison Gabriel]
"Grace Flows Down" [Christy Nockels, Passion Worship Band]
"O Come To The Altar" [Elevation Worship]

It felt like a heavy weekend as we gathered together, but one in which I felt a great deal of hope because of Jesus and His gospel. We had planned for a few weeks to emphasize how Christ had worked redemption and forgiveness for our sin through the cross, and I can see how God was at work in the planning because it felt very fitting to sing these songs together this weekend. Our team led well, and the church sang out together as we celebrated the light and hope of the gospel message, even in the face of great darkness, both within each of us and in our world.

in the Son,

Bill