Preparing for Sunday, 10-31-10

FUN FACT: it's Reformation Day this Sunday! On October 31, 1517 Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the door of All Saints' Church in Wittenberg, Germany. Luther never meant to "confront" the church necessarily, but to spark a scholarly debate over church practices (lack of teaching on repentance, the authority of the pope to forgive sins, etc). However, Luther's bold, controversial (and biblical) 95 theses began the Protestant Reformation, which would liberate Christianity from the heresies that had crept into the doctrine of the church. Is that more awesome than Halloween? Maybe.

You can read an English translation of Luther's 95 theses here!

So, fun facts aside, we have some good things coming up this Sunday morning. Pastor John will be preaching from Titus 2:3-5, focusing on the character and ambitions of a godly younger woman. Our Children's Choir will also be singing a song during service. You'll get to hear them in church a few more times throughout the holiday season!

The music team will lead the following songs:

1. Lord, Reign in Me

As John continues to preach from Titus 2, a classic passage on appropriate Christian living/conduct, it's important that we sing a few songs that connect to that theme. This song is great, in that it focuses both on the glory and greatness of God ("Over all the earth, You reign on high..."), and responds to that with a prayer for Him to cause us to live in obedience because HE is ruling in our hearts ("Lord, reign in me/Reign in Your power/Over all my dreams/In my darkest hour").

2. Glorious and Mighty

We'll continue singing after a short greeting/fellowship time, with Glorious and Mighty. This is one of our church's newer favorites, put out by Sovereign Grace Music. With this song we'll transition from our prayer in Reign in Me, to more focused attention on the character of God which should be inspiring our worship. I love how this song is a joyful exultation in who our God is.

3. Because of Your Love

Here's where we'll transition into thinking and singing about the Gospel. The connection to what we've already been singing about is clear: "Maker of the universe/Broken for the sins of the earth/All because of Your love!"

See you Sunday morning!

Page CXVI

I love old hymns of the church, and I'm a big fan of learning and writing new arrangements to old hymns (especially for our church's corporate gatherings). I really believe, as C.S. Lewis talked about, that something is not better just because it's new. Many of the classic hymns express rich, sound Biblical truth in timeless ways, and I love that there is a recent trend in returning to some of our classic church music.

Page CXVI is a project by a group of musicians to rework some of the old hymns, infusing them into more contemporary arrangements. They give the hymns new, semi indie/rock and indi/folk sounds. Check them out - they do a pretty good job. They've also offered free downloads of their EPs a few different times. Good stuff.

Visit their website here to learn about the project, purchase their records, etc .

Preparing for Sunday, 10-24-10

I really want to emphasize a new song we'll be singing this week. It's a newer arrangement to an old hymn (written in 1738 to be exact), called "And Can It Be That I Should Gain" by Charles Wesley (pictured at left). The more I research classic hymns of the church, I keep being drawn to Wesley's. His poetry, and the way some of his hymns combine poetry and melody are pretty amazing, to say the least.

Almost a year and a half ago, I learned "And Can It Be" at the Resolved conference in Palm Springs. I love the poetry of the song, and the way it narrates through different aspects of the Gospel. My favorite part of the song is the 3rd stanza, where the lyrics focus in on the moment in the salvation of a believer, when the Holy Spirit first takes possession. The language echoes 2 Corinthians 4:6, where Paul says that in the same way that God spoke light into existence, He has caused light and life to exist in our sinful hearts. Wesley writes,

Long my imprison'd spirit lay

Fast-bound in sin and nature's night;

Thine eye diffused a quick'ning ray,

I woke, the dungeon flamed with light

My chains fell off, my heart was free

I rose, went forth and followed Thee!

Amazing love, how can it be

That Thou, my God, should'st die for me!

I hope that week-to-week, as we repeatedly find our way again and again into the content of the Gospel in our corporate worship, that this hymn can be added in, and that it can help us speak these great truths of the Gospel to ourselves and to each other. You can watch Enfield, the Resolved band, play the song here.

John will be preaching this Sunday from Titus 2:1,2 - on the character and ambitions of a Godly man. We'll also be singing the following, focusing on the Gospel, and our response in holy living:

1. Your Grace is Enough

2. And Can It Be

3. Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone)

4. Take My Life

Preparing for Sunday, 10-17-10

I'm looking forward to this Sunday! We'll be singing together, and taking bread & cup communion together before we hear from Pastor Jordan, who will preaching from Titus 1:10-16. His sermon will be very Gospel-centered, and so will our singing! The order of songs is below, with each one linked to the closest recorded version on YouTube. Let's prepare our hearts for Sunday, and be very thoughtful about our worship together in Sunday's corporate setting.

1. Doxology

A great call to worship, and one of our re-arranged hymns. We haven't played this in our church as long as I can remember, but it should be a familiar congregational hymn for many. It will lead out in praise to our triune God.

2. Our God

Tim introduced this song two Sundays ago. It's an exultation in the greatness of our God, centering around the bridge which is a paraphrase of Romans 8:31-35 - that if God is for us, what can possibly stand against us? We'll sing this as a declaration against our sin that we are constantly at war with, whether we realize it or not.

3. How Marvelous

We'll transition with this song, into a meditation on the Gospel, and what God has done for us, in and through Jesus Christ. This is a fairly simple hymn, rejoicing in the love of Christ, our Savior. I love the 2nd verse, which says that "He took our sins and our sorrows, and made them His very own."

4. All I Have is Christ

This song will be the "capstone" of the morning. It's a Gospel-centered song from Sovereign Grace Music, and it hits all points of the Gospel. God looked upon us in our sin and in our inability to seek after Him; He "looked upon our helpless state," and led us to the cross; now, as adopted children of God, we are free from sin to live lives of worship to God. We'll make it our prayer that He will use "our ransomed lives in any way He chooses."

Why do we sing in church?

Why do we sing in church? I plan on writing more in answer to this question, but here's a really short, insightful quote by C.J. Mahaney on the topic of singing in church. For the time being, think about the following:

"Troubled souls become hopeful souls when we sing truth about God to Him, and to ourselves."

"Why sing so many cross-centered songs?"

C.J. Mahaney and Bob Kauflin have been hugely influential in my thinking about church music over the past year. Their perspectives on church music are Biblical, and extremely helpful; their perspectives are also rooted in deep affections for the Gospel and for Christ. Go here to watch a short segment from a panel involving both of these guys, talking about why we need to be singing Gospel-centered/cross-centered songs that are clear in their theology.

It's always great to hear from others who are very well-thought through, as we go about shaping our own thinking on something, especially something involved in our thinking about the church.

I love it in this clip when C.J. talks about our constant need for Christ as our Mediator.

OUT SICK, Sunday, 10/3:

So as it happens, I ended up sick Thursday night/Friday morning. I tried hard to get well before Sunday (excessive ingestion of vitamins, lots of tea with honey, not talking, etc.), but Saturday I was feeling worse, not better. So Tim Plaster was gracious and willing to step up and cover Sunday. I can't say enough about how much I appreciate Tim - he's a great servant-leader, and has taught me a great deal about being just that. From what I hear, Sunday went well. Tim was even up for introducing the new song planned for this week, which by good providence he had already been learning on his own.

The new song we tried out this week, and that we'll play again in 2 weeks, is called Our God is Greater, by Matt Redman and Chris Tomlin. The reason it was chosen for the set was the specific way it speaks of some of God's attributes - that He is strong, awesome in power, etc. Also, the bridge is really what I see as the focal point of the song, that if God is for us, what can stand against us? We can sing this on future Sundays as a declaration of our war against sin, and fear of man; God's sovereign grace and power enable us to fight sin and take bold, risky steps of obedience to what He has called us to.

Give the song a listen, and hopefully I'll see you next Sunday!

Josh