Fellowship Service Recap - 09/03 - 09/04/16

This weekend we concluded our Storms series looking at Paul's shipwreck in Acts 27-28. It was a special weekend for me, as it was the first time I have had the opportunity to teach. It was a little step out of my comfort zone in terms of what is familiar, but it was energizing to use one of my spiritual gifts that I don't get to exercise as much as some others. I shared about "How God uses storms for our good and His glory." I also shared about our experience with Hurricane Katrina after these 11 years. We looked at Romans 8:28-39 to see why Paul was so confident that the Lord would see Him through. If you want to watch the message, here's the link: http://fbctopeka.com/sermon/storms-week-4/

Harper Compton, my worship arts associate and right hand man, led us in worship, and he and the team did an excellent job.  

Here's what we sang together: 

 Pre-service - "Suffering Servant" [The Modern Post/Dustin Kensrue]

"Rejoice" [The Modern Post/Dustin Kensrue] 

"It Is Well"  [Horatio Spafford/Todd Fields]

"You Never Let Go" [Matt Redman] 

Communion - "Man Of Sorrow" [Hillsong] 

As we sang, I was overwhelmed at many moments as I thought of how faithful the Lord has been. His love has never failed, and He has been with us through it all.  

My prayer is that, as we face the inevitable storms of this life, we would know that the Lord is with us and is working all things together for good for us. 

In the Son, 

Bill

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, 06/28 - 06/29/2014 - Fellowship Bible Church

This weekend was the fifth weekend of our "Hope" series, and Brian Tryhus preached about our hope of redemption through Jesus, the Suffering Servant, coming from Isaiah 53 (one of my favorite passages of Scripture). It was a beautiful reminder of the amazing grace that Jesus has shown us through the cross, and the incredible hope we have through Him alone!

For our services, we had a great pair of brass players (Ronnie and Haley Murphy) on our team, and they were a fantastic addition. It made for an incredibly challenging and fun weekend for the whole team.

Here are our songs from this weekend:

"Felix Culpa" (Am) [Kings Kaleidoscope] - Our team has been trying to get me to incorporate this song for a few months now (it started before Easter!). It's not really a great congregational song, but it was a great fit thematically and it is just an incredible song overall. It's not an easy one, though.

"In Tenderness" (G) [Nate Garvey, Adoniram Judson Gordon, W. Spencer Walton, arr. by Citizens/Kings Kaleidoscope] - This weekend, we took a stab at the Kings Kaleidoscope arrangement of the Citizens arrangement of this song (got all of that?), which incorporates a great brass part that complements it all very well.

"Made Alive" (C) [Zach Bolen, Brian Eichelberger] - This song is one of our staples now. I am trying not to wear it out around here, though, but it's tricky. It is a great celebration and thanksgiving song from Ephesians 2.

"Suffering Servant" (G-A) [Dustin Kensrue] - This song was a perfect fit for the message from Isaiah 53. This song captures the essence of that passage better than any other song I have heard. It is incredibly powerful and beautiful. While it is quite wordy, I think it is one of those songs that breaks the rules and the congregation wants to sing anyway.

"Jesus Messiah" (G) [Daniel Carson, Jesse Reeves, Chris Tomlin, Ed Cash] - We hadn't sung this in a while, but it is still one of our church's favorites, and it helps us look to the cross of Jesus for our hope and redemption.

"In Christ Alone" (G) [Stuart Townend, Keith Getty, arr. by Kings Kaleidoscope] - Again, we used the Kings Kaleidoscope arrangement on this one (they are one of the only modern worship bands I know of that have brass players). This was a fantastic way to end our services, because the statement, "In Christ alone my hope is found" sums it all up very well. That is what we needed to walk away with (maybe what need to walk away with every week...). Jesus is everything we need, and our hope is in Him and Him alone.

This weekend was simply incredible–definitely one of the best yet! I love our beautiful church and our amazing team of leaders!

Songs We Sing, 04/19 - 04/20/14 Easter - Fellowship Bible Church

This was an incredible Easter weekend with Fellowship! Pastor Joe shared how Jesus is our only remedy because of His life, death, and resurrection. The church sang out like I've never heard before. Our team did a fantastic job putting it all together, and I'm so privileged to serve with them. It was a beautiful thing!

Here are the songs we sang:

Pre-Service - "Suffering Servant" [Dustin Kensrue]
"Made Alive" [Zach Bolen, Brian Eichelberger]
"Before the Throne" [Charitie Lees Bancroft, Vikki Cook, arr. by The Modern Post]
"Remedy" [David Crowder]
"Forever Reign" [Jason Ingram, Reuben Morgan]
"This Is Amazing Grace" [Phil Wickham, Josh Farro, Jeremy Riddle]

Jesus is alive! Happy Easter!

in the Son,

Bill

The Suffering Servant

Over the past few weeks, we have been singing a song in our services that comes almost directly from Isaiah 52-53, a passage often labeled "The Suffering Servant." This passage is one of my favorites in all of the Scriptures, and the song is a moving translation of the passage into music.

You can read Dustin's thoughts on the passage from Isaiah here.

What are your thoughts or feelings after listening to this song?

Songs We Sing, 02/22 - 02/23/2014 - Fellowship Bible Church

This weekend, our family pastor Brian Tryhus concluded our series on Obedience with a message about sacrifice and the providence of God. He urged our congregation to obey the call of God despite the fear that naturally arises, because we can trust Him. You can listen to the message or the entire service here.

Here's our order from this weekend:

Pre-Service - "Suffering Servant" (A–B) [Dustin Kensrue]
Call to Worship - Congregational Reading - Romans 12:1 ESV
"I Stand Amazed (How Marvelous)" (E) [Charles Hutchison Gabriel]
Greeting Time
Special Guest - Pastor Reynixon Rosales
Announcements
Message - "Obedience: Sacrifice" [Brian Tryhus] 
"The Stand" (A) [Joel Houston]
"You Are God Alone (Not a god)" (A) [Billy Foote, Cindy Foote]
"You Have Overcome" (A) [Bill Horn, Erik Oldberg]
Dismissal

Thoughts: This was a powerful weekend. For one, we had a special guest, pastor Reynixon Rosales (he usually goes by Pastor Nixon) from the Smokey Mountain landfill community in Manila, Philippines. He is one of the amazing leaders I had the privilege of meeting a few weeks ago on my trip to Manila with Trash Mountain Project. In our services this weekend, he shared how he grew up in Smokey Mountain, ended up getting out of the community and finishing his education, and then how God called him and his wife back to that community. Smokey Mountain has the worst living conditions I have ever witnessed, and Nixon and his wife, Cora, answered God's call on their lives to head back in these conditions to feed the children and to proclaim the gospel of Jesus. They are heroes of the faith for me, and for everyone else who has met them.

The timing of his visit with our church was perfect, as it aligned perfectly with what our family pastor, Brian Tryhus, preached on: obedience and sacrifice. His example was Esther, and how her initial reaction to the call of God on her life was fear, but ultimately she willingly laid down her own life for those of her people, and she became a critical part of God's story. 

The service as a whole was a powerful time of worship. The team led very well, with everyone doing their part to serve the congregation with excellence. We opened in the pre-service again with "Suffering Servant," and after this we read Romans 12:1 together as a congregation. This verse was key to tie everything in the service together–our offering ourselves as living sacrifices is a response to the "mercies of God" (ESV). Kelsey Thomsen then led us on "I Stand Amazed." We responded to the message with "The Stand," and then Kelsey led us again in "You Are God Alone," which we sang for the fourth time now in our services and is our church is learning it and singing it together. I love this song, as it is entirely a song about who God is–His sovereignty, His immutability, and His power. The character of God is crucial to understanding why we should follow and obey Him as He calls us and directs our lives. He is ultimately worthy of all that we are. We closed our services with "You Have Overcome" to bring full circle the connection between Christ's sacrifice for us and putting our obedience in the proper place of being a response to what Christ has already accomplished for us. This truth is critical for us to understand as believers; our obedience, our worship, or any "good work" are all responses to how Christ has accomplished our salvation for us. These deeds do not move us toward salvation. They are a means of following the example of our Savior. They are a means of demonstrating our thanks and love for Him. They are a means of being selfless for others, just as Christ was selfless for us.

It was a beautiful weekend of both celebrating the sacrifice that Christ made for us and contemplating His call on our lives to make disciples. Between Brian's message, Pastor Nixon's testimony, and our time of singing together, it was an incredibly moving and challenging weekend of worship.

Your turn: what were your experiences, observations, or take-aways from this weekend?

- Bill

Songs We Sing, 02/15 - 02/16/14 Fellowship Bible Church

This weekend we continued in the fifth week of our series, "Obedience," and Joe shared about the life of Elijah and how he stood with the Lord to confront evil in his lifetime. You can listen to or watch the entire message and service here.

Here's our service plan:

Pre-Service - "Suffering Servant" (A - B) [Dustin Kensrue]
"Sing to the King" (D) [Billy Foote, Charles Silvester Horne]
Greeting Time Child Dedications (at 5 PM & 9:15 AM services)
Announcements
Message - "Obedience: Confrontation" [Joe Hishmeh]
"Always" (Bb) [Kristian Stanfill, Jason Ingram]
"Hosanna" (Eb) [Brooke Ligertwood]
"This Is Amazing Grace" (Bb) [Phil Wickham, Josh Farro, Jeremy Riddle]
Dismissal

Thoughts: This was a powerful weekend. Once again, Joe's message was a powerful challenge to follow Christ with all of our lives, and to confront the evil in our world and lives with the power of the gospel. We started out our weekend in the pre-service time with Dustin Kensrue's "Suffering Servant," which is a fantastic song from his new record, coming almost directly from Isaiah 52 & 53. This song has brought me to tears several times over the past month, as I have been overwhelmed with the amazing sacrifice that Jesus made for our redemption. It is powerful in both its words and in its music. There are quite a few words to the song, so it may remain a song for special occasions, but I would love to sing it more often. We continued into the service with Becky leading us in "Sing to the King," which gives us great words by which to celebrate Christ's victory, and which is one of our church's favorites. In response to the message, we expressed our confidence and trust in the Lord through singing "Always." We hadn't sung this song in quite a while, and it was great to sing it again, as it is a powerful statement of our faith. From there, Becky led us in singing "Hosanna," and then we closed out the service with "This Is Amazing Grace." This song has been one of my favorites lately, mainly for the chorus: "This is amazing grace/ This is unfailing love/ That You would take my place/ That You would bear my cross/ You would lay down Your life/ That I would be set free/ Jesus, I sing for/ All that You've done for me!"

THAT is why we sing. THAT is why we worship. Jesus has been so good to us.

Your turn: what were your experiences, observations, or take-aways from this past weekend?

- Bill