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» Grace Gathering: 6.25.06

Grace Church of Columbia - Grace Gathering
Sunday, June 25th, 2006 10:00 am

Call to Worship
Isaiah 49:6

Opening Song
Arise, My Soul, Arise (Twit, Kevin / Wesley, Charles)

Confession of Sin/Assurance of Pardon
Silent Prayer for Forgiveness
Luke 4:17-20

Songs of Worship
The Solid Rock (Edward Mote)
Here I am to Worship (Tim Hughes)

Confession of Our Common Faith
The Church (Bethlehem Baptist Elder Affirmation)

Song of Commitment
Covenant Song (Eric Schumacher, Kevin Twit)

Offering
Offering Prayer
Receiving the Offering
Here I am to Worship (instrum)

Message
Spreading the Salt and Light of Grace.Matthew 5:13-16

Scripture Reading
John 17

Lord's Supper
Invitation to the Table of our Lord
Jesus, With Thy Church Abide (Thomas Pollock, Christopher Miner)
Serving the Bread and the Cup
The Bread and the Cup

Community Life
Welcome to Guests
Presentation of New Member
Announcements
Sharing and Praying

Song of Thanksgiving
How Great Is Our God (Chris Tomlin)

Sending
Sending 9.1.23 (The Worship Sourcebook)

» New Family Worship Book (Quarterly)

We've just finished assembling the family worship book for the third quarter. For those who might have missed my earlier post, it's a compendium of short scripture readings, catechism questions, a memory verse, a bible reading plan, and a hymn of the week published quarterly for our church family. I almost always choose one or two of the readings, the hymn, and sometimes even the catechism questions for use in our public worship. This lets families do lots of preparation days or weeks ahead of time helping their children learn how to participate.

You can download a PDF of the book Here. It's in booklet form, so you'll want to print it two sided and fold it together to make sense of it.

Please note that on pages 10-12 I have rewritten the questions on the Sabbath and added a footnote to explain. Most reformed catechisms include questions demonstrating the view that the Sabbath of the Mosaic Covenant has become the "Christian Sabbath," to be observed on Sunday. We do not hold that view, and I didn't know of any catechisms for children that did not follow the historic reformed ones.... (continue reading...)

» Grace Gathering: 6.18.06

Call to Worship
Psalm 89:5-8

Opening Song
Holy is the Lord (Chris Tomlin & Louie Giglio)

Confession of Sin/Assurance of Pardon
Confession of Sin 2.2.68 (The Worship Sourcebook)
1 Peter 2:24

Song of Meditation
'Tis So Sweet To Trust In Jesus (Louisa Stead, William Kirkpatrick)

Scripture Reading
Daniel 3:8-30

Songs of Worship
Raise Up the Crown (All Hail the Power of Jesus' Name) (Perronet, Holden, Tomlin)
On Jordan's Stormy Banks I Stand (Samuel Stennett, Christopher Miner)

Offering
Offering Prayer
Receiving the Offering

Message
Persecution because of the Gospel of Grace: Matthew 5:10-12

Song of Commitment
Jesus, I My Cross Have Taken (Henry Lyte, Bill Moore)

Lord's Supper
Invitation to the Table of our Lord
The Wonderful Cross (Chris Tomlin, Dan Gailbraith)
Serving the Bread and the Cup
The Bread and the Cup

Community Life
Welcome to Guests
Announcements
Sharing and Praying

Song of Worship
Blessed Be Your Name (Matt Redman, Beth Redman)

Benediction
1 Peter 5:8-11

» Grace Gathering: 6.11.06

Call to Worship
Psalm 100

Opening Song
Forever (Chris Tomlin)

Confession of Sin/Assurance of Pardon
Confession of Sin 2.2.68 (The Worship Sourcebook)
Romans 5:1

Song of Meditation
There Is a Fountain Filled with Blood (William Cowper, William Horsley)

Song of Praise
Holy, Holy, Holy (Reginald Heber)

Song of Meditation
This Fathomless Love (Steve and Vikki Cook)

Scripture Reading
Ephesians 2

Song of Worship
God Who Saves (Aaron Senseman)

Offering
Offering Prayer
Receiving the Offering
God Who Saves--instrumental (Aaron Senseman)

Message
Peacemaking Through the Gospel of Grace: Matthew 5:9

Lord's Supper
Invitation to the Table of our Lord
The Power of the Cross (Keith Getty/Stewart Townend)
Serving the Bread and the Cup
The Bread and the Cup

Community Life
Announcements
Sharing and Praying

Song of Sending
Take to the World (Aaron Tate)

Benediction
2 Corinthians 13:11-14

» Gathered Worship at Redeemer, 6/18/06

This Sunday is Father's Day and one of our songteam members is going to share a song she wrote about her dad (that's what Special Music is).


Announcements
Time of Reflection
Call to Worship - Psalm 92:1-2
Invocation (prayer)
Special Music
Song: Come, Thou Fount Of Every Blessing - Robert Robinson
Prayer: Confession of Sin 2.2.68 - The Worship Sourcebook
Song: Just as I Am, Without One Plea (1,2,3,4) - Charlotte Elliott
Song: I Need You - David L. Ward / Frederick Whitfield (1829-1904)
Old Testament Reading - 1 Samuel 15:34 - 16:13
Song: Join all the Glorious Names - Bob Kauflin / Isaac Watts
Song: In My Heart - Grover, Eric
New Testament Reading - 2 Corinthians 5:6-17
Song: Glory is Certain - Henry Lyte (1793-1847) / David L. Ward
Responsive Psalm Reading - Psalm 92:1-4, 12-15
Prayer of Praise and Provision
Worship Through Giving - Offering
Song: Just as I Am, Without One Plea (1,5,6) - Charlotte Elliott
The Ministry of the Word - Bob Glenn
Song of Response

» Christian Radio Jewel

I heard a quote from a Christian radio announcer this morning (one of those positive, uplifting music stations…) that I just had to share. After a song came on about God being there for us during the storms of our lives, she said something like (I'm horrible at remembering conversations, but hopefully this is close) "isn't it great that we can listen to songs like this that really lift us up when we are in the midst of life's storms. It's not about us, it's about these songwriters. They have truly been anointed by God…"

As a songwriter, I was horrified by this remark. Being comforted by God's faithfulness and loving care for us is not about anyone, especially the songwriters (who are particularly prone to taking pride in their craft, I know from experience!). It's not about us, it's about God.

» Thoughts on Leading Worship

I wrote up a very quick and very rough draft of a document on leading worship to share with a worship leader who will be leading in my absence in a few weeks. What do you think of the following excerpt?

The role of worship leader at Redeemer is extremely important. His task can be summarized as aiding the Holy Spirit in putting Jesus on display in the thoughts and affections of His people. The fact that God would even allow men to be used in this way should deeply humble and amaze his soul. This is done by example (both in how worship leadership is executed and in his life outside of worship), and by spoken word through exhortations and prayers. He should strive to maintain an atmosphere of comfort and security during the worship service and should strive to avoid at all costs the awkward feeling of not knowing what is coming next or being unsure of what to do or say next. This awkwardness tends to pull our attention away from the Savior and onto people.


How the worship leader aids the Spirit
  First, the... (continue reading...)

» Teaching Doctrine Through Song: David

Thanks for reminding us of the importance of what our songs are teaching. It's often said that songs can be more effective vehicles for truth-delivery than sermons! (We must not despise the fact that God has ordained preaching, not singing, as the means by which people are saved - see Romans 10) Your post reminded me of a chapter in a John Witvliet book called Worship Seeking Understanding titled "Soul Food for the People of God." In it, Witvliet compares the choice of songs for a congregation to our diets. Like the maxim "we are what we eat" he says "we are what we sing." Going even further, he says "What more soul-shaping force can we imagine than the songs we sing?"

He gives us seven dimensions of this metaphor:

Congregational song is a means of spiritual nourishment.
A great couple of quotes from this heading are "Consider the prominent spiritual disease of sentimentality: religious experience as candy-coated happiness and bliss. If we feed our souls a steady diet of musical candy, we will have little spiritual protein to sustain us." and "[Music] is more than a shell for the... (continue reading...)

» Re: Grace Gathering, 5/21/06 (David)

Kevin,

Thanks for posting your service orders. I hope that it will help readers think critically about how they plan their own services. One way in which we differ in our planning is how you structure your service into groups or functions. For example, you give each song or group of songs a section heading like "Songs of Meditation." While I might have the function of songs in mind when I plan, I like to leave this out b/c service items can fulfill multiple functions, which can change based on how the Spirit is moving on our hearts and minds as the service goes along. Another reason I don't add functions to items is that my people don't have a service order. We use the overhead projector and most people seem to feel comfortable just following along. We do make a music/lyric booklet available for those that want it, so those that need that sense of security that comes from knowing what's next can satisfy their desire.

The opening song is a great choice. It presents God's character and asks for help worshipping Him. I often use a... (continue reading...)

» Re: Key Worship Convictions of Grace Church (David)

Kevin,

Thanks for thinking so deeply about your church's approach to worship and identifying key goals. For many of these I can simply say "amen," and for the others I'll try to add something meaningful below.

Theological Richness: Songs should not only be doctrinally true, but theologically rich. Preference will be shown to modern hymns, and shallow, repetitive songs will be avoided.

I wouldn't write off shallow, repetitive songs completely. I occasionally use very simple songs (but don't repeat them too many times) particularly for those who can't fully grasp the complex theological ideas in the larger songs, like children or mentally slow adults.

Historical Connection: The great hymns of the faith should be sung, either with their original tunes or with modern revisions of them, allowing today’s worshippers to be connected to their brothers and sisters of the past and their depth of expression.

I completely agree that we need to connect our people to the past and give them a sense of the history of worship songs, particularly for congregations that haven't grown up with a hymn background. And I think it's important that they learn the original tunes... (continue reading...)