Preparing for Sunday, 1-9-11

This is an exciting Sunday - Jordan will be starting the new preaching series in the book of Colossians, giving an overview of the book. Colossians is one of my favorites, and I'm really looking forward to how the Spirit will work in our church through the preaching and teaching from this book.

The major theme of the book of Colossians that Jordan and I talked about this past week, is ultimately found in 1:18, where Paul says, "And he (Christ) is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent." The preeminence of Christ, or to put it more simply that He is above all things, and superior to everything else in the universe, will be one of the major themes we will keep diving into. This will happen in the preaching, but also in our music selections. Hopefully we find ourselves growing in our knowledge of the greatness of Christ through our times of worship in the coming months.

This Sunday our songs will go as follows:
1. Happy Day
A joyful song of praise to God for rescuing us from our sin and from Hell in and through Jesus. The song also touches on the hope of Heaven, where there will be "endless joy and perfect peace," and where "earthly pain finally will cease."

2. Open the Eyes of My Heart
We'll pause in the midst of theological reflection, to sing this prayer to God to open our hearts to more of who He is. This song will set the tone for the next two.

3. Christ is Risen (NEW SONG THIS WEEK!)
Definitely follow the link to this song and give it a listen. It's a new one we're introducing, and it's a rally cry for the church to leave sin behind and find complete joy in our Savior, because He has trampled over death, and He lives for us!

4. All I Have is Christ
One of our newer "staples." This song really sums up the major theme of the book of Colossians, that Christ is everything and that fullness of joy is found only in Him.

Looking forward to worshiping with you on Sunday!