Thoughts On Cutting A Song

This past Sunday, if you were there and you were paying attention, you may have noticed we had to cut a song from the order of service. What happened was, baptisms went slightly long, and we were left with about 11 or 12 fewer minutes in our order of service. So we cut a song on the fly, which is never a bad thing to have to do, even though we put all that work into it during rehearsal. Whether you're part of our music team or not, I wanted to encourage you by giving a few reasons why we would cut a song from what was planned, and why it's not a drag to have to do this every so often.

1. Ultimately, we cut the song in favor of (potentially) better things. 
We don't do baptisms every week, so when we do it's a special occasion and a way God communicates His grace in the Gospel in another way to our church. Baptism is commanded in Scripture, so we definitely don't want to cut corners on this. Also, baptisms are an opportunity for the baptis-ee (baptism-ee? baptee??) to share their testimony of the Gospel before the whole church, and any invited, unbelieving family or friends visiting that day. Shame on us if we cut corners on the body of Christ doing what it's supposed to do, in favor of sticking to the rehearsed order of service. The Church cannot always be a rehearsed, programmed gathering. We're a family, ultimately.

2. We cut the song to give time back to the preaching.
The Word of God needs to be taught in the assembly of God's gathered people. A big part of why we meet is to hear the teaching and preaching of Scripture. So if it looks like our songs are going to take a significant chunk of time away from Jordan's preaching, we need to think about changing something on the fly. Singing together is hugely important too, and is also commanded in Scripture - it's NOT, I repeat NOT merely to prepare the people for the sermon, though that is one function of it. But if we can balance preaching and singing together in a compromise, fantastic.

3. We cut the song because we're (hopefully) always open to the leading of the Holy Spirit in our gatherings. 
We ultimately need to be open to things not going according to plan, because sometimes the Holy Spirit knows better than we do what needs to happen on a particular morning. And when we're giving extra time to something that God commands, and desires His church to do (baptism, giving enough time for preaching), we need to be both humble, and flexible. I don't mean being open to the Holy Spirit's leading in an "everything goes," chaotic sense. I mean sometimes God actively takes time away, or ordains something to happen that we didn't plan for, and we roll with it knowing we can't control every little detail. God controls the details. May we be filled with a balance of preparedness, and Spirit-led flexibility, not relying on ourselves or our own wisdom to make church "happen."

So there you go. Some of this is just for me to formulate in my own thinking, as to why this last Sunday was great. I hope it's helpful to you too, as you prepare to gather with us next Sunday.

And rest assured, we'll sing "Christ Is Risen" sometime soon, since that's the one we had to cut.

Preparing for Sunday, 5/27/12

So I said it a while back, but to refresh, here are a few simple things you can do with these "Prep. for Sunday" posts to help you prepare for Sunday morning corporate worship:

1. Read the passage that Jordan will be preaching on, either by looking it up in your Bible or even by following the link given. Jordan preaches from the ESV version of the Bible, and the ESV has a GREAT website: esvbible.org. If you read the passage, and study it even just a little bit before Sunday morning, the sermon will give you a ton more insight into Scripture. Trust me.
2. Review the list of songs. The point of singing in church on Sunday morning is to SING TOGETHER AS A CHURCH. Go figure. :) So it's important that we all show up ready to do that, and that we view it the right way. Singing together creates unity in the Gospel, and brings the great truths of Scripture into our hearts and minds in a unique way. If a new song is coming up, take the opportunity to listen to that new song so it's not completely foreign when you show up on Sunday. The Church needs to sing with enthusiasm and great joy - we've been raised from the dead, after all.
3. Remind yourself of what Sunday morning church is for. A general purpose of all these posts is to provide a reminder, before we walk through the church doors on Sunday, that we are pilgrims in the world, who need to gather together for encouragement and teaching in the Gospel. The redeemed Church, the bride of Christ needs to be together to edify and encourage, to sing and praise our Savior, to remember who we are in Christ, and remember what our mission and purpose is in the world until our Savior comes back for His Church. We are so prone to forget, and go through the motions of weekly church gatherings. Let's try to be purposeful about our gatherings and make the most of the times we have with our church family.

Tomorrow, Jordan will preach from 1 Corinthians 2:1-5, on the "foolish" message of the Gospel. Paul said that he determined to know nothing among the Corinthians except Christ, and Him crucified - all the proclaiming Paul wanted to do was of the crucified Savior, because that and that alone is the message that raises people from the dead and gives them new life in God.

Our songs will focus on both the power of our God, and the glory of the Gospel and the Savior who shed His blood for our sins. We also have 3 baptisms tomorrow, so it's appropriate that we sing some big anthem-type hymns together as we rejoice together. By the way, the baptisms are coming right after the first song, so get there on time to be a part of that part of the service!

Here are our songs:

1. O Worship The King
2. How Great Is Our God
3. Christ Is Risen
4. You Are My King

Preparing for Sunday, 5/13/12 MOTHERS' DAY

Tomorrow we gather on Mothers' Day, and it's a great opportunity for us as a church to celebrate our mothers, and the distinct and infinitely valuable role that God has created for them in the family. And its a day for us to also dive into the hope of the Gospel together, as always, as we honestly deal with the fact that not all families are perfect, and not all parents are perfect. As we all come from different backgrounds and family situations, as we come with varying levels of blessings and trials we can gather to find our hope in Jesus Christ together tomorrow. So tomorrow will be a great time of worship, and celebration of God's blessing of mothers, and all the great things He gives us through them. And may our hope and joy continue to be found in Jesus over and above all else.

Jordan will be preaching from 1 Corinthians 1:18-25, on the foolishness of the Gospel in the eyes of the world, that is actually the deepest wisdom of God. To sing about a cross, and a King who was crucified really IS foolishness if you think about it. Other religions and faith systems can't conceive of a God who would die, and die the way Christ did. But Paul tells us that the cross is the very wisdom of God - that God would give His Son to die, to make ultimate peace and provide salvation for His people from their sin. And so we gather tomorrow as God's saved people, completely forgiven and reconciled! Praise God for the cross, and all that He accomplished there.

Our songs will go like this:
1. Open The Eyes Of My Heart
I really enjoy coupling this song, with a good hymn coming right after. It's a great pairing of a prayer for God to show Himself to us, and them a meditation on some profound theological truth.

2. How Deep The Father's Love For Us
And here's the hymn that comes next. Thinking about the cross this morning, this song talks about the Father's profound love for His people, that He did not even spare His only Son to be a sacrifice for our sin. God crushing His own beloved Son for us is a great assurance and proof that our salvation is secure. Lets rejoice in this tomorrow!

3. KIDS' CHOIR: You Show Me Kindness
We'll worship by listenin' to this one. This is the last time the kids will sing with us in service until the Fall. What a great opportunity and a joy to have them be a part of the service. Be sure to tell Erica Rossi that she's doing an awesome job with the Kids' Choir, when you see her around tomorrow.

4. Because Of Your Love
This song continues our line of though about the cross. The "Maker of the universe" was "broken for the sins of the earth." And all because of God's great love for us, and in His great wisdom that he saves us through this "foolish" message, as Paul says.

Preparing for Sunday, 5/6/12

Well I wanted to just start off this post with a few thoughts about last Sunday, 4/29. What a great morning - not in spite of, but because of the big technical difficulty at the start of the service. If you with us last Sunday you know what I'm talking about - the sound board channels weren't working for us for the first 7 minutes, so we had to stop the music for a little bit. Jordan talked about it a little bit during preaching - we rely so much on technology to make our services happen, and we often expect perfection when we show up for church on Sunday. But if we're really the family of God, gathering to encourage one another in our obedience and worship of Him, then we can do that unhindered even if the tech stuff fails on us. The technology is really always a bonus, that we have to aid the things we do when we gather as a church. We should always be thankful both that we have it, and that it works so well almost all of the time. But God really does remind us every so often (like last Sunday), what really matters for our Church gatherings.

And huge props go to our congregation - after the sound came back on, you guys were ready to sing together, and you did it well! Singing was great, and loud once we got rolling.

So this week, since we had Bread & Cup last Sunday, Jordan will deliver the 2nd half of his sermon, on 1 Corinthians 1:10-17 and unity in the Body of Christ. You can see last week's post for some comments on the passage.

We'll also officially welcome Eric and Ashley Durso and their kids as a returning part of our church family tomorrow, and Eric as our new youth pastor. Make sure you're there to be a part!

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Tomorrow we'll sing the following songs:
1. Your Grace Is Enough
2. O Worship The King
3. Death In His Grave
4. Jesus Thank You

Rather than talk through each song this week, I want to talk a little bit about song #3, "Death In His Grave." If you were with us on Easter morning, you'll recognize this one. We introduced it as special music then, with the intention of bringing it in more and more as a congregational sing later one, which is what we'll do tomorrow.

You can listen to the song below. Basically, it's a story song that creatively retells Christ's crucifixion, and rejoices in Christ's victory over death, and victory over our sin. Christ was crushed by God, forsaken by Him on the cross, and buried in a tomb. But Christ rose from the dead - He "laid Death in His grave," and Christ's payment for sin and His perfect resurrected life are substituted to us by faith. This song does a great job of recasting some of these familiar, but foundational truths of our faith. Give it a couple listens below, and be ready to sing it with us tomorrow!



Death In His Grave (Performance Video) from john mark mcmillan on Vimeo.

Preparing for Sunday, 4/29/12

We hope you'll make a point to be in church with us tomorrow morning. There are some really good things in store, which will make for a little bit of a unique morning.

We'll sing as usual to open the time or worship together, and then the kids choir will sing after our greeting. It's always so good to incorporate the kids choir into our main corporate gatherings. If our church is actually the family of God, all ages from our families should take part in the worship from time to time. Tomorrow the kids will sing "Because You First Loved Me," and we'll worship by listening as they sing about the transforming love of God in the Gospel.

We'll also take the bread and cup of communion together before preaching, which will be a time of reflection on the Gospel, and a time of reminder that Christ's sacrifice has purchased us, washed away our sins, and brings us to God.

After bread and cup, we'll sing "Nothing But The Blood," which talks about these same things: "What can wash away our sin?/What can make us whole again?/Nothing but the blood of Jesus."

Jordan will preach from 1 Corinthians 1:10-17, on unity and divisions in the church. One point he'll be making is that the cross of Christ levels all of us, so that our pride doesn't elevate some people above others in God's family. So that we don't follow men over Christ, or think we're better because we follow such and such a teacher. We need Christ alone, and our job as a church is to make much of Christ together, and help each other do that when we gather together.

See you tomorrow at 9:00!

The Idolatry of "Youth Culture" in Church Worship

This is a great round table discussion between 3 very solid pastors of church worship and music. Mike Cosper, Isaac Wardell, and Kevin Twit talk about what church music should be, and they discuss some of the unbiblical, and incorrect ways of thinking about it that have become pretty widespread in our culture. Their discussion is super insightful, and definitely worth the time. Please give this a watch and/or listen when you have a few minutes to spare.

Preparing for Sunday, 4/15/12

You don't want to miss tomorrow. Jordan is starting a new preaching series in 1 Corinthians, which will take us about a year as we study through the whole book as a church. Tomorrow he will give background and context for Paul's writing of the letter, and introduce some of the major themes we'll come across in the study. Jordan may also focus on verses 1-3 as part of the intro. Go here for all of chapter 1 of 1 Corinthians, as you prepare and read ahead to get a sense of where the preaching is headed.

In our singing, tomorrow we'll focus on the calling of God, as He has called us out of our sin, and made us spiritually alive together with Christ. God is a loving Father who has redeemed us, paid for our sin, and brought us into His family, the Church. Here are the songs:

1. Open the Eyes of My Heart
This is a favorite of our church, that I believe is a great opening "call to worship" type of song. This really gives words to what our expectation and prayer should be as we gather for corporate worship - that God would open our eyes to his glory and goodness, and that He would be lifted up in our gathering as worthy of all worship. We ultimately gather as a church to proclaim and remind one another that God is of highest value.

2. How Deep the Father's Love For Us
A great modern hymn, this song focuses on God the Father, making a way for us to be saved and adopted as His children. The 2nd verse holds some weighty truth - that our sins held Christ to the cross; that we would be the scoffers if we were present at Christ's death. The line says "It was my sin that held Him there until it was accomplished/His dying breath has brought me life, I know that it is finished."

3. Here I Am To Worship
This is a favorite, that describes how Christ, the glorious Son of God, "stepped down into darkness" to bear our sins to the cross. This will continue to focus on how God has made a way to bring us to Himself.

4. Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone)
This is our final response to the grace of God, and His sovereign grace that has saved us. This song's last verse expresses hope that even though the things in this world may pass away, our calling in God is sure and fixed, and we have a future with Him forever that Christ secured with His own blood.