First Post!

Well, here's to kicking off a brand new blog about our corporate worship at Grace Brethren, Simi Valley. Thanks for reading! The hope for this blog is to provide a place where members of the body can visit, and read any thoughts that our pastors, or I may have that would help all of us prepare for our corporate worship gatherings. I also need to state at the outset, that the idea for this blog was inspired by my friend Paul Hoover (a fellow church music leader), who manages a similar blog for his church.

The type of post you'll see here most often will consist of a list of songs planned for the upcoming Sunday morning, with some thoughts about why each song was chosen (and possible links for you to listen to, or download that particular song), as well as possible thoughts about the upcoming sermon, etc.

The goal, again, is to cultivate a mindset of preparing, thoughtfully and purposefully, for when we gather together on Sunday morning as the redeemed body of Christ. Lets worship with our lives during the week, and be ready to joyfully and genuinely worship together on Sunday morning.

The name of the blog, "By means of grace...", is inspired by the encouragements we see from Paul in his letters (to the Galations, Ephesians, etc.). Paul always recognizes that everything praiseworthy done by any person is only by the means of God's grace, and we recognize this same truth extends to our worship gatherings. In Ephesians 1:3-12, Paul states that we have been chosen by God and predestined to adoption as sons of God, according to God's good pleasure, "to the praise of His glorious grace," and that we have redemption and forgiveness of sins, "according to the riches of His grace which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence..." So all is grace, and we gather together to worship God through hearing of the preaching of the Word, through music, and through fellowship - all by means of grace.

Thanks for reading - many more posts to follow.

Josh