Preparing for Sunday, 12/9/12

Our Christmas celebration as a local church continues tomorrow morning. Jordan will be preaching on 1 Corinthians 9:15-23, entitled "The Sweet Surrender of Our Rights." We'll continue talking about how our freedoms from the Law and legalism in Christ is never for our own selfish benefit, but for the sake of giving up our preferences and traditions for the sake of relationships with others, in and out of the Church. We are crucified with Christ, as Paul says in Galations 2, and often God reminds his people of that as we are confronted with opportunities to abandon our preferences for the sake of winning the heart of another person to the non-negotiables of the Gospel. Try to read the passage for tomorrow ahead of time, to prepare.

We also have one of our new "Missions Moments" during the first segment of the service tomorrow - make sure you're there on-time to catch this!

We'll sing the following songs of Christmas worship tomorrow. Pay particular attention to the version of "Hallelujah What A Savior" - this is a fresh take on a classic hymn. Aaron Ivey, a church music leader from a church called The Austin Stone in Austin, TX, wrote Christmas-themed verses to the hymn, and added a chorus. The essence and melody of the original are there, with verses that put the central repeated line "Hallalujah, what a Savior" into the specific story of Christmas and Christ's incarnation. It's a wonderful re-working of a hymn. Get ready to sing that one out with us tomorrow.

1. Joy to the World (Unspeakeable Joy)
2. The First Noel
3. Hallalujah What A Savior (Christmas version by Aaron Ivey)
4. O Holy Night

Preparing for Sunday, 12/2/12 (1st Sunday of Advent!)

Hey everyone,
Christmas trees are going up, lights are appearing on eaves, the rain and cold are coming more often, and the stores are gettin' busier and busier.  Here we are at the first Sunday of December, and the first Sunday of the Church season of Advent. If you're not aware, Advent has been celebrated by the Christian church since about the 6th century, over the four Sundays leading up to Christmas. "Advent" means "coming," or "appearing," and is a time when we reflect on the wonder of Christ's first coming into our midst to bear our sin, and we reflect with (hopefully) great longing toward his 2nd appearing, when He'll come to finally receive His Church to Himself, and establish His coming kingdom on the earth.

I don't need to get into all the liturgical aspects that some churches incorporate into their corporate gatherings for Advent, but I do want to encourage a purposeful time of reflection over the next several weeks, as we sing Christmas-themed songs of reflection and worship, and reflect on the Gospel in a unique way. Hopefully the month of December is rich for us as we gather to worship as a local church, and as we dive into the glories and depths of the Gospel. May the Christmas season for our church family last longer, and have even more significance than a one-day celebration.

I'll be posting more specific thoughts on Advent, and on Christ's incarnation, etc., as we go along. Check back often for Advent resources to aid your worship this season.

Looking forward to kicking off our Christmas worship gatherings tomorrow morning. Here's what we'll sing together:

1. Joy to the World (Unspeakable Joy)
2. Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus
3. Angels We Have Heard On High
4. O Come All Ye Faithful

FOR THE TEAM: Practical Tips For Church Vocalists!

Here are a few tips for church vocalists from the Musicademy, an online guide for church musicians and singers. These are great, practical things to consider as all of us who sing try to consistently do our job better on Sundays, and for the sake of leading our church to sing.

A couple things:
1) I don't know that I care completely for the "abandoned worship" comment under tip #4. I don't mind a whole-hearted attitude in our church singing, and some spontaneous riffing is totally appropriate at times; but so often church folks use that term "abandoned worship" to refer to the "forget about everyone around you, personal worship experience." There are some theological problems with this. When we gather, we always keep in mind the people around us in the congregation, seeking to build them up and love them. We should never be so abandoned that we forget that they're there. Anyway - maybe this is just a semantics thing. Point #4 is great, though.

2) I really like the last point, on expressiveness. I'm a big fan, on our team anyway, of encouraging genuine expressiveness, not fake enthusiasm. You don't have to clap on stage, or close your eyes in a "holy pose" during singing; but it's important that everyone on the team is visibly engaged with the songs we're singing, and not looking bored or flippant while we're up there leading. As leaders, we should fight to be genuinely engaged with our songs and our congregation, whether it's an anthem of joyous praise, or a minor-key lament. That's part of the challenge in leading a church to sing - we have to fight to have soft hearts, engaged for real with our hymns and songs, because it's good for us and our gathered congregation takes its cues from the folks leading from the front.

All that to say, here are the tips for church vocalists!

1. Blend
   One of the keys to good Backing vocals is learning to blend so however many vocalists your have it sounds like one voice. So watch the lips of the worship leader or lead singer and try to match their starts, stops, phrasing, volume tone and vibrato.  
2. If more than one BV stick to your harmony part
   If you have multiple BV harmonies try not to cross over into another range. So if you are singing lines above the melody don’t go below it if another BV is taking that part.
3. Riffing
   Vocal riffs are kinda like lead guitar runs. They feel great for the person doing them but can be so easily inappropriate if overdone or used in the wrong place. So choose your moments wisely, maybe use riffs on ‘out there’ moments to encourage abandoned worship. Even if your riffs are great too many of them can get irritating really fast. 
4. Don’t upstage the lead vocal!
   Again the BV’s role is to support the lead vocal. Most people in congregations aren’t that musical and actually get confused if they can’t follow a clear lead so be careful that your BVs don’t do anything to cut across that melody.
5. You don’t have to close your eyes and adopt the holy pose
   One of the most worshipfully helpful backing vocalists I ever saw used to subtly use sign language as she sang to help her express the lyrics. It wasn’t supposed to be for anyone else’s benefit but her own and the gestures were very discrete but because it was genuine worship it was a very beautiful thing. Whatever gestures you make just be natural and mean it and sincerity will come across.

Preparing for Communion, Thanksgiving Eve, 11/21/12

We'll gather this Wednesday night for our annual Thanksgiving Eve 3 Fold Communion service. These are sweet times to be together as a local church, a local concentration of the bride of Christ; so make every effort to be there if you consider yourself part of our church family. We'll sing some hymns, and participate in the Lord's Table together. To help prepare, here is a quote by Rick Holland, about the dire importance of taking Communion as part of your local church:

"Communion is the best safeguard against doctrinal error, the best defense against apathy and lethargy, the best motivation for love and excitement for the Redeemer, and the best window into the depth and accessibility of gospel truth...God understands we forget. That's why He put Communion in our path...How do you uneclipse Jesus? You hold precious His death and remember His greatness. How do you hold that He is precious? By examining your life and seeing your sinfulness and loving His sacrifice on the cross on your behalf."

And we do this by participating in Communion together. Doing this isn't an option, or an "extra" for a Christian. God designed this aspect of fellowship with Christ and with one another to be "the best safeguard" as Holland says, against sin, error in doctrine, and indifference toward Jesus. It's incredibly important for us to make it a priority to be there, to engage with one another, to examine our hearts and confess sin, and to sing loud and well in praise to our Savior.

We'll sing the following songs tomorrow night. Prepare thy voice!

1. Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus/When I Survey The Wondrous Cross Medley
2. There Is A Fountain Filled With Blood
3. Near The Cross
4. Jesus Thank You

Preparing for Sunday, 11/11/12

Hey guys!
a few things: first, I won't be leading the music tomorrow. Eric Durso will take over, since Jenny and I are awaiting our new baby's arrival. Our due date was this past week. Could be any second now, so the guys on staff had me go ahead and trade off with Eric this week, to avoid the last minute, 3:00 AM Sunday morning call to Eric to come lead after all.

Weeks like this are great for our church, because we never want to slip into "personality-driven" church mode. We have leaders over certain areas of service and ministry within our church family, but sometimes those folks are taken out temporarily or indefinitely, or permanently for various reasons, and ministry continues! The body of Christ continues to share gifting with one another, to build one another up as we meet together. So tomorrow will be a great time of corporate, gathered worship of God.

Jordan will be preaching from 1 Corinthians 8:1-13, talking about food offered to idols, and how our freedoms in Christ are ultimately for caring for one another. We are free, in Christ, to give things up for the sake of not causing weaker Christians to stumble, and for the overall encouragement and building up of the Church.

We'll sing the following songs in our gathering tomorrow:

1. Your Grace Is Enough
A call to worship God, on the basis of His grace. We are saved from our sin by God's grace alone, and made a part of God's family, the Church, also by His grace alone. We aren't earning anything with God by meeting and singing together tomorrow - Christ has paid the sacrifice for our sin already, so we're called to gather, build each other up, and enjoy God, in and through Christ because we're fully saved and accepted by God, by His grace.

2. My Hope Is Built
This hymn rejoices in the perfect sacrifice of Jesus - that all the sacrifice due for our sin was paid by Christ. His blood, shed for us, saves us to the uttermost. Christ is our Solid Rock, even through every "high and stormy gale." Nothing can shake us, or snatch us from Christ if we're saved in Him.

3. Come Thou Fount
Another hymn, this tune opens with the plea for God to "tune our hearts to sing [His] praise." We need God to shape our hearts and continue to give us the right desires to worship Him, be satisfied in the Gospel, and to find all our hope and joy in Christ and His death and resurrection.

God, tune our hearts tomorrow to have deep joy in You, and You alone.

Preparing for Sunday, 10/28/12

Hi guys,
we're preparing to gather as a church family tomorrow morning, for a time of gathered, corporate worship. Hope you're thinking ahead, to make the most of that time. If you look back one post, there's a quote from David Mathis, about coming to church ready to serve others rather than be served. Always good to consider in our process of preparation how we'll serve and edify our brothers and sisters. Hope this post can be a short resource to help you prepare in other ways too.

Start with the Scripture passage that Jordan will be preaching on. Follow the link to read the passage ahead of time, hopefully making some observations and prayerfully asking God to reveal new treasure from this passage tomorrow morning. Jordan will be preaching on 1 Corinthians 7:25-35, focusing on being single and serving Christ. Keep this in mind for tomorrow: being single is not a second-best option for a Christian's life.

In addition, we'll take communion together after the preaching tomorrow, as a response to the proclamation of God's Word.

We'll sing the following songs:

1. Blessed Be Your Name
2. Before The Throne Of God Above
3. The Wonderful Cross
4. Christ Is Risen (after communion)

I want to point out something in just one of the songs this week. In "The Wonderful Cross," we'll sing the sometimes-neglected 3rd verse, that says, "Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast/Save in the death of Christ, my God/All the vain things that charm me most/I sacrifice them to His blood." This verse is a prayer for God to help us never boast in anything, except what Christ has accomplished for us on the cross. Our righteousness is not ours, but Christ's, that is substituted to us if our faith is in Him as our Savior. And so, the verse ends saying that the vain things in life that we like to boast in and find pleasure in, we sacrifice them to God. We give control over all things to Christ, holding everything loosely because whether we have blessings in this life or not, we have the ultimate blessing - life in Christ - that cannot be shaken or removed. 

Let's rejoice together tomorrow in the abundant life that Christ secured for His own, by His death and resurrection. See you then.

David Mathis on Corporate Gatherings

A few posts ago I put up a quote by David Mathis, elder at Bethlehem Baptist Church in MN, and executive editor at DesiringGod. His thoughts here are just great, on the mindset we should have as we enter a time of corporate worship as a church. Give this a ponder:

We're prone to get this backwards. We come to worship thinking that we're somehow giving to God, and we subtly expect we'll be receiving from others. We desperately need to turn that pattern on its head.

The God we worship is one not "served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything" (Acts 17:25). And when he came in the flesh, he did so "not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many" (Mark 10:45). Beware coming to corporate worship to serve God. But by all means, come on the lookout to serve others. Worshiping God and building up others aren't mutually exclusive but come to their fullness together.

We give to one another as we together come to receive from God our soul's satisfaction. We kill both the vertical and horizontal of corporate worship when we come looking to give to God and receive from others.

Preparing for Sunday, 10/14/12

Hey everyone,
been a couple weeks since I've blogged. Hope this post finds you well and ready to prepare a little bit for tomorrow's worship gathering. Jordan will be preaching on 1 Corinthians 7:10-16, a part 2 of last weeks sermon dealing with marriage and divorce, and how Christians are especially called to live in light of these situations. Click the link above to read the passage ahead of time, so our time in Scripture is as rich as possible. The more preaching I listen to, the more I'm convinced I need to regularly prepare my heart ahead of time to listen and be taught, edified and convicted by the proclaiming of God's Word.

We'll sing the following songs tomorrow:

1. Happy Day
A rousing tune, calling our hearts to rejoice in "the greatest day in history" when Christ accomplished his sacrifice and payment for our sin, for all who come to Him by faith. The song also looks forward to the "endless joy" and "perfect peace" prepared for us, that Christ will bring us into one day as we spend eternity in glory with our King.

2. How Great Is Our God
This one is especially valuable as a setup for our 3rd song of the morning. We'll also tag a chorus of "How Great Thou Art" on the end of this one, so be ready to belt that out when we come to it.

3. The Power Of The Cross
Here's how "How Great Is Our God" sets us up for this hymn. "How Great" talks about God's splendor and majesty, His greatness, and the fact that God is also triune, "Father, Spirit, Son." Then our 3rd song here will say in its 3rd verse, that the earth became dark and the ground "quaked as its Maker bowed His head." God the glorious Creator, the Name above all names, became flesh, dwelt among us, and bore all of the wrath we deserved for our sin and rebellion against Him. Hopefully the order of songs this morning gets us fairly deep into the Gospel truths of what Jesus accomplished as God's sacrificed Son.

Hope to see you tomorrow morning! Get your voice and your Bible ready.

Preparing for Sunday, 9/23/12

Hey everybody,
hope you'll be in church with us tomorrow. Make sure you're on-time, as we'll start our corporate worship with a little singing together, followed by 2 baptisms. It's a big deal to share in a time of baptism together as a gathered church, and there is an element of worship and accountability on all of us when one of our own proclaims their adoption into God's family by being baptized. Don't miss out on this opportunity and joy to be a part of the gathered Church this way.

Jordan will preach from 1 Corinthians 6:12-20 again this week, doing kind of a PART 2 of last week. He'll be talking about what it actually looks like to flee sexual immorality, and flee to the infinitely better things God gives us in the Gospel, in His Son. Follow the link above to give the passage a read.

We'll sing through the following songs tomorrow. Before I list out our song set, here's a quote by David Mathis of DesiringGod, about considering others and participating heartily in a time of corporate singing. I really encourage reading the whole article, but here's a great thought from it:

"Participate heartily.
Heartily" is an attempt to communicate a balanced kind of engaged participation---not being a mere spectator and not being that guy singing with the out-of-control volume. The problem of over-participating speaks for itself (quite literally), but in regard to under-participating, note that you are actually robbing others of the value of corporate worship when you don't engage. Your presence is a part, and your voice is a part as well. The experience of corporate worship is enriched when all the attendees participate."

We're all responsible to play our part in a corporate worship gathering. Every voice is, indeed, a crucial part, and is hugely important. If we miss your voice in the time of singing, it's really like missing you from a part of what we're doing, in a way.

Here are our songs. Be ready to sing it out with us tomorrow!

1. Blessed Be Your Name

2. Before The Throne Of God Above

3. Behold Our God

Preparing for Sunday, 9/16/12

Tomorrow Jordan will be preaching from 1 Corinthians 6:12-20, on sexual immorality in the Church. This is super relevant, seeing as this is a problem in every culture and every time period. God created sex as a good thing within marriage, and it's one of the biggest good things that Satan and sin pervert for their own ends. But the call of Christ is to enjoy the world and the blessings of God on His terms. Make sure, if you can, to prayerfully read the passage ahead of time.

We'll sing the following songs:
1. Mighty To Save
An anthem that proclaims that our King, Christ, has defeated the grave, has conquered sin, and our fullest joy is found in knowing Him and proclaiming His goodness in the world.

2. Glorious and Mighty
This is a great re-working of Psalm 96, continuing the theme of the glory of God and the joy of knowing Him. The last line of the chorus, that we get to repeat several times through the song, says that God is "greatly to be praised." God is to be praised greatly because He is the fullest joy and goodness that there is. We fool ourselves when we turn to anything else to make us happy. We were created to know and enjoy God, and proclaim His worth with our lives.

3. In Christ Alone
This hymn will help us not miss the point tomorrow, that we can't give God proper glory apart from being saved, redeemed, and born-again through the shed blood and resurrection of Jesus. If we were "bought with a price" like 1 Corinthians 6:20 says, then we have new, regenerate hearts to put faith in Christ, and enjoy the fullness of the triune God. The sacrifice of Christ substituted to us by faith is the non-negotiable part of knowing God. We cannot know God apart from what He has done through Christ. We can't know God apart from being enabled by the power of what Christ has done to pay for our sin.

_______________________________

I'm also going to shamelessly plug my equipping class, mostly as a reminder to everybody that's been there, that we're starting back up tomorrow for the final 6 weeks. We introduced "worship" back on 8/19, and built a broad definition of what churches and Christians often mean by "worship" and what it actually is biblically. Then 3 weeks ago Marshall filled in and taught on worship in the Old Testament, looking at our severed relationship with God because of the Fall, and at examples of wrong worship in the OT.

Tomorrow we're going to transition into the Gospel, and at how Christ changed everything related to worship. We'll look at some passages from the New Testament, and at how we need to think about what it means to be worshipers of God under the New Covenant. Don't miss it - should be a great time of discussion, and I hope that the class continues to be an encouragement and a spark for us to think deeply about what we do when we gather to worship as a church, and as we worship in our individual lives.

Preparing for Sunday, 9/2/12 FAMILY SUNDAY

It's good to be back with our church family this week. We were back in New Hampshire last weekend for Jenny's sister's wedding (which was great). And as I understand it, Eric Durso's music leading was also great. But we missed you guys, and we're looking forward to worshiping together tomorrow.

Jordan will be preaching on 1 Corinthians 6:7-11. Give the passage a read or two ahead of time, so that tomorrow's preaching is a rich avenue of worship. Don't want to give too much away this week. Just be there for the sermon - 'Twill be some good stuff.

Here's our song list - we're doing music before and after preaching tomorrow. Our songs will focus holistically on the Gospel, meaning that we'll start with who God is, and move to what He has done to save us from His wrath, through Christ, including something of the "big picture" of the Gospel. We're a people called out of our sin by God, and we are defined by what God accomplished for us at the cross. So tomorrow we'll rejoice both in our salvation, and ultimately in the God who has brought us to Himself, through His Son.

Songs Before Preaching:
1. Indescribable
A wonderful tune describing the wonder and majesty of the God who created the heavens and earth, and who loves us and gave His Son for us.

2. O Worship The King
Continuing the theme of the last song, we'll rejoice in our Savior-God with this hymn. The lyrics say, "O tell of His might, O sing of His grace!" This song gives us words to proclaim this to one another as a gathered body of singers.

3. My Hope Is Built
This one proclaims the glory of our Savior, and the unshakeable, unbreaking, imperishable eternal life we have if we're Christ's. This hymn is a treasure of the church.

Songs After Preaching:
4. Nothing But The Blood
This is partly a re-worked hymn, that proclaims Christ's blood and His cross as more valuable than anything else we could ever find in this life. God "made a way for us" to be reconciled to Him, forgiven of our sin, all in Christ.

5. Jesus Paid It All
I love the bridge of this song, that we'll sing through a few times tomorrow. It sums everything up we've already sang about today: "O praise the One who paid my debt, and raised this life up from the dead!"

Lots of good stuff happenin' tomorrow! Lord-willing, we'll see you then. 9:00 AM.

Our Current Archived Sermons!

We've gotten a lot of questions recently about where to get our most recent sermons, and how to open the player to access the menu. We're working through revamping our church website in the very near future, to streamline things and make the website more easy and simple to work with. But for now, we do have a decent archive of recent sermons for you to listen to. Here's the link to the full player - open the link and scroll down to see the list of sermons available for you to listen to. This is also accessible right from the home page of the Grace Brethren Church website - the player's on the right, and click the little square icon in the bottom right corner to open the full player. The link above just simplifies things a bit.

I'd encourage you to make use of this, especially if you have small kids that keep you out of part of the service, or you've been working in the nursery, etc. Hearing sound preaching of the Word of God is a huge component to our worship as Christians. Make sure you get a good dose of it.

Enjoy the sermons - hope this is a helpful tool for you during the week as you look ahead to our next Sunday gathering. :)

Preparing for Sunday, 8/5/12

 

Hard to believe August is already here and summer's drawin' to a close. Crazy. But here we are, and it's so good and so necessary for us to meet together as a church, to encourage one another to stay the course of the Faith and to value Christ above all. And all the more as we wait for Christ's immanent return. Hebrews 10:23-25 says,

"Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for [God] who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near." (emphasis added)

 SO, tomorrow Marshall Walter will be preaching on 1 Corinthians 4:14-21. Follow the link to read the passage and prepare your heart and mind to hear from the Word tomorrow.

We'll sing the following songs together tomorrow:
1. Open The Eyes Of My Heart
2. The Glories Of Calvary
3. Come Thou Fount
4. Jesus Thank You

I just want to highlight a verse of one of the songs this week. In "Come Thou Fount," the last verse we'll sing says "Oh that day when freed from sinning, I shall see Thy lovely face/Full-arrayed in blood-washed linen, how I'll sing Thy sovereign grace." Let's count the cost of what we sing tomorrow, and prepare our hearts by reading the passage from 1 Corinthians, and/or from our other study of Scripture, to sing that with our hearts fully engaged. That we will hopefully sing together, encouraging one another as we do, longing for the day when Christ will return and end sin's reign in our lives once and for all. And praise God that we have the perfect righteousness of Jesus substituted to us, so we can stand before God and call Him "Father." And we can truly long for that day with hope and joy and confidence.

Hope to see you tomorrow. Get your coffee, warm up your voice on the drive in, and let's genuinely worship as the gathered Church.

Preparing for Sunday, 7/29/12

Hey guys,
hope you're planning to be there with us tomorrow morning. We have some good stuff going on in our gathering. We have the opportunity and joy to participate in communion together, to remember Christ's death and sacrifice for our sins, and to value Jesus Christ above all the other things that compete for our attention and affection. I quoted Rick Holland several months ago because some of his quotes about communion are very helpful. I thought I'd include a quote this week, by J.C. Ryle, quoted by Rick Holland in his book Uneclipsing The Son. Ryle says,

"A sense of our own unworthiness is the best worthiness we can bring to the Lord's Table (communion). A deep feeling of our own entire indebtedness to Christ for all we have and hope for is the best feeling we can bring with us."

Jordan will preach tomorrow on 1 Corinthians 4:6-13. Follow the link to read the text beforehand, take some notes, think through what Paul's getting at in the passage, and maybe even read the 3 chapters leading up to this passage to get ready!

Here's our song list for the morning:

1. Blessed Be Your Name
This song's theology is solid, and its poetry is quite good. This tune proclaims the great joy in knowing God's sovereign goodness. That we can bless the name of the Lord (desire only God), whether He "gives or takes away" from us in this life. Great, great truth in this song.

2. Before The Throne Of God Above
This hymn unpacks the person of our Savior, and what He's accomplished for His people in His death and resurrection. It says that before the throne of God, where sin is judged and a sinner cannot stand, we have a great High Priest who lives and pleads for us! If you've been saved because of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, Christ Himself pleads for you and stands always in your place in the courts of God.

3. All I Have Is Christ
This one is a final response to the truths we've been singing about - that God has drawn us to Himself, paid for our sins once and for all, and welcomed us into eternal, joyous life, all through His Son. The last verse of this song says, as a response to the Gospel, "O Father, use my ransomed life in any way You choose/And let my song forever be 'My only boast is You!"

See you in the morning, 9:00!

Also, hope you'll join us for our Sunday RENEW night (the last one for the year!) at 5:00 PM for food, 6:00 for singing and teaching. More information in service tomorrow morning if you need it.

Preparing for Sunday, 7/22/12

Hey folks,
for your reading pleasure, exhortation and edification, Jordan will be preaching on 1 Corinthians 4:1-5 tomorrow. He'll be addressing faithfulness to the Gospel as a steward appointed by God, and not fearing the judgement of men but fearing God alone. Hopefully the mindset Paul reveals in this passage keeps us from being wimpy Christians in our witness to the Gospel, and in how we process and respond to the criticism of others. Give the passage a few reads before tomorrow's preaching to get ready!

We'll sing the following songs tomorrow morning:

1. Forever
Our "call to worship" for the morning, with this song we call each other to sing praise to our God who has promised to always be faithful to His people. The songs says, "For the life that's been reborn, His love endures forever." God promises never to desert the ones He has caused to be born again to new life in Christ. What a great truth to spark some hearty singing as we gather tomorrow!

2. O Worship The King
This is a "reworking" of a classic hymn, that rejoices in more of God's character. In the 3rd verse, there's a unique description of God's attributes: "Immeasurable might, ineffable love." "Ineffable" means something is so great, it is beyond adequate description. Not many songs employ this word to describe God's love, but I think this is appropriate here, that the God of infinite, sovereign might would love us to the point of giving His Son as a sacrifice, to pay for our sins.

3. Come Thou Fount
One of our church favorites, this hymn meditates on several aspects of the Gospel. One to be aware of for tomorrow is the prayer in verse 3, for God to bind our "wandering hearts" to Himself. We know that our hearts would wander from God if He, in His grace, didn't hold us close, planted and rooted in the work of Jesus for us on the cross.

4. Behold Our God
A new song we introduced about a month ago. We'll end our whole set tomorrow by proclaiming "Behold our God, seated on His throne/Come let us adore Him!" God is worthy of all of our adoration. He is supremely valuable, and the source of joy. And because of the Gospel, we can draw near to Him and behold His full character with joy.

___________________________________

Also, we hope you're planning on being there tomorrow night for RENEW. Counting tomorrow night, we have 2 more RENEW summer nights. Lets make the most of these, and come out for a time of fellowship/food, singing, and teaching from the Word. Tomorrow night is "bring your own family picnic" night, and Joe Keller will be teaching us. See you there!

A Quote To Ponder: "We shall not sing solos.."

Food for thought, on how our singing in our church gatherings reflects our worship in the new heavens and new earth:

"[In Heaven] We shall sit with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, in eternal fellowship. We shall hold high converse with the noble host of the elect, all reigning with Him who by His love and His potent arm has brought them safely home.

"We shall not sing solos, but in chorus shall we praise our King. Heaven is a place of victory realized. Whenever, Christian, thou hast achieved a victory over thy lusts—whenever after hard struggling, thou hast laid a temptation dead at thy feet—thou hast in that hour a foretaste of the joy that awaits thee when the Lord shall shortly tread Satan under thy feet, and thou shalt find thyself more than conqueror through Him who hath loved thee."

- Charles Spurgeon, in Morning and Evening, via Tolle Lege.

A Quote To Ponder

"A Christian's heart should be brimming everyday with the song of Calvary."

- C.J. Mahaney, in The Cross Centered Life

Preparing for Sunday, 7/15/12

Hey folks,
here's to a little last-minute prep for Sunday morning. I'll keep this short, since time is also short.

Jordan will preach tomorrow morning on 1 Corinthians 3:16-23, focusing on all we've been given in Christ, by God Himself. This is the Apostle Paul's big killer of boasting in this passage: that God truly has and continues to give us EVERYthing in His Son. So why would we boast in which teachers we follow in the Church, or in abilities that we have, or programs we've been a part of? We need to guard ourselves against becoming short-sighted to the big, huge, grandiose picture of what God really has given us in Christ. Hope you'll be there with us to hear the sermon tomorrow, as Jordan unpacks this text.

We'll sing the following songs:

1. Let Your Kingdom Come
(New song from last week. I'm including the YouTube player for this at the bottom of the post. Give it a few more listens!)

2. Before The Throne Of God Above
Here's a line from this hymn, that tells us exactly how to fight the accusations and temptations of the Devil. Ready? "When Satan tempts me to despair and tells me of the guilt within/Upward I look and see Him there Who made an end of all my sin/Because the sinless Savior died, my sinful soul is counted free/For God the Just is satisfied to look on Him and pardon me!"

3. Christ Is Risen
"Let no one caught in sin remain inside the lie of inward shame/But fix our eyes upon the cross, and run to Him who showed great love/And bled for us, freely He bled for us."

4. It Is Well With My Soul
"My sin, Oh! the bliss of this glorious thought/My sin not in part, but the whole/Was nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more/Praise the Lord, praise the Lord oh my soul!"

Hope to see you in the morning!

A Quote(s) To Ponder

Y'all know I love to read about worship, and specifically church corporate worship. And I love to pass on great thoughts from books, sermons, and articles that I find that really say something worth considering. I hope this is helpful, both for our music team folks, and our other church worshipers who visit this blog. These are a couple of quotes from Brian Chapell, from his book Christ Centered Worship, which is great by the way.

"Concerns for both adequate performance and grateful praise will make us strive for excellence in worship expression, but only the latter [grateful praise,] truly honors God alone."

And,

"Over time, only what truly serves the ministry of the Word survives in worship ... Where Scripture holds sway, the church will always find its way."

Preparing for Sunday, 7/8/12

Well folks, it's been a couple of weeks since the last "preparing for Sunday" post. Hope this is helpful to you as you think ahead to Sunday morning.

 Jordan will preach on 1 Corinthians 3:10-15, on building a local church on the only real foundation, which is Christ. Paul says to take care how we build, and that God will indeed test at the end, whether or not we built the lives of our church families appropriately on Christ, or not. A question is this: do we rely on the "wood, hay and straw" of superficial entertainment and selfish pursuits in my church, or do I build true, Gospel-centered relationships that honor and proclaim Christ as glorious? As Jordan told me yesterday, this is "a serious local church passage." Hope you're there to take part in the hearing of the preaching. Read the passage ahead of time to enrich what you get out of it on Sunday (the link is above if you missed it).

We'll sing the following songs on Sunday:

1. God Of Wonders 
A church favorite, this is a great "call-to-worship" type of song, that gives us words to sing together, that we'll celebrate and draw near to God when we wake in the morning, and call on Him to save us when we "stumble in the darkness."

2. Let Your Kingdom Come (NEW SONG)
We're introducing a new song this week, so if you're reading this, make sure you click the link above and give it a few listens so you can belt it out with us on Sunday. This song is a prayer of request, for God to give us courage to proclaim the Gospel in a dark, fallen world. This song is also great in that it helps us shape our desire for Christ's Kingdom to come, and rejoices in God allowing us to take part in His Kingdom. The song says, "Your glorious cause, O God, engages our hearts/May Jesus Christ be known wherever we are."

 3. How Deep The Father's Love For Us 
We'll focus our time, in connection with the 1 Corinthians passage, onto Christ's saving work on the cross. This song proclaims God's sovereign, wise purposes in crushing His own Son to save us, and draw His people out of their sin. It says, "Why should I gain from His reward, I cannot give an answer/But this I know with all my heart: His wounds have paid my ransom."

 4. You Are My King
This song will be a little bit more of a response to the great, lofty truths we sang in the last one. We'll proclaim Christ as King, and as the King Who not only rules, but also died to pay our ransom. The goals of our songs this week are to help us rest and have joy in Christ, our King and Savior. But I guess that's the goal of our songs every week.

Hope you're there with us Sunday! Enjoy preparing!

Preparing for Sunday, 6/17/12 FATHERS' DAY

Hope you're planning to meet together with us this Sunday. We're taking communion together in service, so make sure you don't miss it! Our Lord commands us to observe communion together, to remember the broken body and shed blood of Christ on our behalf. Communion helps us in a few important ways:

1. It helps us remember the great price that God paid to secure our salvation - He did not even spare His only Son, to substitute payment for sin, and eternal life to us.
2. It helps us remember the greatness of our salvation, and it helps us treasure our Savior - if Christ Himself secured our pardon for sin, with His own blood, we can be sure that God really does desire to show kindness to His people for all eternity (Eph. 2:4-7).
3. It helps us fight our sin - in a world and culture that pull on our attention and our affections, we fight our sinful tendency to wander from God by repeatedly remembering what Christ has done for us. When we find the greatest joy in our Savior, the passing pleasures of sin lose their power over us.

In addition to taking communion, Jordan will be preaching from 1 Corinthians 2:6b-11, on the wisdom of God that is put on full display in the Gospel, specifically in His crucified Son. You don't want to miss diving into the Word with us - read the passage ahead of time, so you have some context heading into the sermon.

We'll sing the following songs this Sunday, focusing on God's faithfulness to His people, and the great cost that He paid to wash away our sins. I'm including a quote from each of the songs, that's particularly important to that song. Also, below is an embedded video of the new song we introduced last week and that we'll sing again this Sunday. It's called "Behold Our God." Give it a few listens, so you're ready to really belt it out with us on Sunday!

1. Forever

"For the life that's been reborn - His love endures forever...From the rising to the setting sun - His love endures forever!"

2. And Can It Be

"No condemnation now I dread - Jesus and all in Him is mine/Alive in Him, my living Head, and clothed in righteousness divine."

3. Behold Our God

"Who has felt the nails upon His hands, bearing all the guilt of sinful man/God eternal, humbled to the grave/Jesus, Savior risen now to reign!"

A Quote To Ponder

Why we sing songs that stay close to Biblical content:

"[R]eadings from Scripture, the Sermons that expound Scripture, and the other aspects of worship that quote the assurances and petitions of Scripture focus our worship on God's Word. The appropriateness of such a focus is evident when we remember that Scripture is God's 'voice incarnate.'

Brian Chapell

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!

_____________________

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.

A Quote To Ponder

"When people step into worship services, they should sense that heaven has stepped down."
- Steve Lawson

This isn't just because of the band or the preacher, but mostly because of the presence of the gathered saints of God, singing and communing together. The gathered Church is the powerful witness and picture of heaven. Do we play this out when we gather on Sunday mornings?

Easter Sunday, 4/8/12

Here we go - Easter Sunday tomorrow and a very significant morning to celebrate as a church body! Jordan and I and some of the staff guys were talking through things earlier this week, and we decided against a big "production" for a special day of worship. We'll definitely have visitors and folks returning to worship with our church who have been away for whatever reason, and the last thing we would want to do is give anybody a false impression of what goes on at Grace Brethren Church on any normal week.

But that said, we WILL celebrate the glorious resurrection of our Savior, and we'll proclaim loudly that "He is risen, He is risen indeed!" The resurrection means that not only Christ's death and payment for sin, but his resurrected, glorified, perfect life is substituted to us too, by faith. Our Savior lives, and intercedes without ceasing before God for all of His people. That is reason to celebrate.

Here are a couple of Scripture passages for reflection and worship as you prepare to gather with the church family tomorrow morning:

    "What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.
    For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.
    Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace."

Romans 6:1-14 ESV

    "But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death."

1 Corinthians 15:20-26 ESV

Jordan's sermon is titled "The People Who Missed Easter," and will take us through the people in the Gospel accounts who experienced the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus, but still missed what actually happened, even to the point of rejecting Jesus.

We'll sing the following songs, with a special surprise thrown in here or there:
1. Christ The Lord Is Risen Today
2. Happy Day
3. Christ is Risen
4. In Christ Alone
5. You Are My King
6. The Glories of Calvary

Services are at 9:00 and 10:45. See you there!

Preparing for Good Friday, 4/6/12

Good Friday is upon us. We celebrate tonight together as a church, the day that our Savior was crucified, bearing all of our sins to the cross. The crucifixion of Jesus was a tragedy, but a tragedy that God ordained to bring even greater good to His people. He has nailed all of our sins to the cross, and by faith in Jesus we are adopted as God's children, with our sins completely forgiven.

Mike Cosper wrote on his blog,
"Good Friday can be good while nonetheless being a day of grief. No matter how we spin the story of the cross, it’s a tragedy. The world wasn’t meant for tragedy and death. When sin entered the world, it began to spin out of control, bringing disease, decay, and suffering to all of us...

...Good Friday is where the disease of sin finds a profound and surprising remedy. From the cross, God reveals a conspiracy of redemption, turning back the curse and restoring the world through Christ and his church."

As you prepare for tonight, read through John, chapters 12-13, which we use as a model for our 3 Fold Communion services at Grace. These chapters in John detail some of the last hours Jesus spent with His disciples, before He went to the cross. Christ gives them an example of humble service (by washing their feet), which He expects from believers in His church, toward one another. Christ's kingdom is a kingdom of glory and joy, but which only comes through service and dying to self. Christ did this for us, and he commands this to be our attitude toward each other.

Tonight we'll sing the following songs, broken up throughout the evening:
1. Blessed Assurance
2. In Christ Alone
3. The Wonderful Cross
4. Jesus Thank You

Join us at 6:00 in the main building tonight at Grace Brethren Church. We hope to see our whole church family there.

Looking to Good Friday and Easter

"[T]he deeper I go into the gospel, the more I comprehend and confess aloud the depth of my sinfulness. A gruesome death like the one that Christ endured for me would only be required for one who is exceedingly sinful and unable to appease a holy God. Consequently, whenever I consider the necessity and manner of His death, along with the love and selflessness behind it, I am laid bare and utterly exposed for the sinner I am.

"Such an awareness of my sinfulness does not drag me down, but actually serves to lift me up by magnifying my appreciation of God's forgiving grace in my life. The more I appreciate the magnitude of God's forgiveness of my sins, the more I love Him and delight to show Him love through heart-felt expressions of worship."

Milton Vincent, in A Gospel Primer


"The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life. To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen."

1 Timothy 1:15-17 ESV

Looking to Good Friday and Easter

"Everlasting Creator-Father,
I have destroyed myself,
my nature is defiled,
the powers of my soul are degraded;
I am vile, miserable, strengthless,
but my hope is in Thee.
If ever I am saved it will be by goodness undeserved and astonishing,
not by mercy alone but by abundant mercy,
not by grace but by exceeding riches of grace...

Thou hast devised means
to rescue me from sin's perdition,
to restore me to happiness, honor, safety...
I rejoice that [Christ] failed not, nor was discouraged,
but accomplished the work Thou gavest Him to do;
and said on the cross, 'It is finished."

I look to a present and personal interest in Christ and say,
Surely He has borne my griefs, carried my sorrows,
won my peace, healed my soul."

(From The Valley of Vision)


    "Surely he has borne our griefs
        and carried our sorrows;
    yet we esteemed him stricken,
        smitten by God, and afflicted.
    But he was pierced for our transgressions;
        he was crushed for our iniquities;
    upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
        and with his wounds we are healed.
    All we like sheep have gone astray;
        we have turned—every one—to his own way;
    and the LORD has laid on him
        the iniquity of us all."

Isaiah 53:4-6 ESV

Looking to Good Friday and Easter

The goal for this week, aside from posts preparing for Good Friday and Easter corporate worship, is going to be to have a quote a day by various pastors and theologians, reflecting on the significance of these days that we observe as the Church.

2 days ago I posted up a quote by Tim Keller to help prepare us for Palm Sunday. Hopefully as we continue the series of quotes, it will be helpful as an aid to all of our worship as we prepare to gather for Good Friday and Easter. The quotes will be by different people, focusing on what Christ accomplished through His death and resurrection. So often we take our church "holidays" for granted, missing opportunities for them to be transforming in our lives. Take this opportunity to read these quotes and accompanying Scripture passages, and prayerfully worship God this week, preparing to gather Friday and Sunday as a church body.

J.I. Packer says,
"Calvary...not merely made possible the salvation of those for whom Christ died; it ensured that they would be brought to faith and their salvation made actual. The Cross saves."

(From Introduction to John Owen's The Death of Death in the Death of Christ)

    "For in [Christ] the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority. In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead. And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross."

Colossians 2:9-14 ESV

Preparing for Sunday, 4/1/12 PALM SUNDAY

I haven't had a chance to post much the past few weeks - very sorry about that. But tomorrow is Palm Sunday, with Good Friday and Easter coming up right quick. This is a great time for us to really celebrate as a church by diving into the depths of the Gospel, and all that God accomplished in His Son, especially as He went to the cross.

Tomorrow Jordan will be preaching on God's glory and His love for the nations, from Psalm 96 and some selected Scriptures. Instead of the usual song list, I wanted to just post a quote for Palm Sunday, for reflection and prayer. Here's Tim Keller, talking about what Christ accomplished in the Gospel.

"[I]n Revelation, when John looks at the throne, the place of ultimate power in the universe, why does he see a slaughtered lamb? Because the death of Jesus Christ - the Lamb of God - is the greatest royal triumph in the history of the cosmos. When Jesus went under the sword, it broke his body, but it also broke itself...[H]e was overturning the sacrificial system of the temple and opening the way into the presence of God for everyone."

Tim Keller (from King's Cross)

When Jesus entered Jerusalem on Palm Sunday He received a lot of praise from the people, but He would be a conquering King in ways people had no clue about at that time. I hope this can help fuel your worship, as we all gather the next two weeks and rejoice together in the Gospel.

See you tomorrow!

Preparing for Sunday, 3/11/12 (AND DAYLIGHT SAVINGS!)

I'm super excited for tomorrow morning. But first of all, as a great matter of importance, you need to set your clocks ahead tonight, so you're not late for worship in the morning! If you don't show up to church the music team will come sprinkle jelly beans on your lawn.

But in all seriousness, It's going to be a great morning of worship. Jordan will preach from Romans 3:21-26, on "God's Righteousness and the Glory of Salvation." The focus will be how God is always upholding His own glory and righteousness in all aspects of the Gospel. As Christ stood in our place, and intercedes for us before God's throne, God is bringing glory and praise to Himself. And God's desire to bring Himself glory ultimately results in infinite good for us, as God is redeeming a people from their sin to be worshipers of Him.

Here's the song list for tomorrow:

1. Open the Eyes of My Heart
Our call to worship. This song really expresses a big part of why we should be coming to worship together each week. We desire to behold the glory of God, and to be refreshed in our delight in Him.

2. The Glories of Calvary
This song transitions to the glory of God displayed at Calvary, and at the cross as God crushed His Son for the sake of His people. I especially love the line, "Sinners find eternal joy in the triumph of Your wounds/By our Savior's crimson flow, holy wrath has been removed!"

3. Jesus Thank you
A song of thanksgiving to Christ, for bearing all of our sins to the cross, which we could never do. Romans 1:21-23 says that when we stop being thankful we turn to idols and try to find joy in God's created things instead of God Himself. So we do well to remind ourselves to be eternally thankful to God for our salvation.

4. Before the Throne of God Above
This hymn exalts Christ as our perfect mediator between us and God the Father. The 2nd verse says, "When Satan tempts me to despair and tells me of the guilt within, upward I look and see Him there, Who made an end of all my sin!"

5. (AFTER PREACHING) It Is Well
This is one of our church favorites. A hymn written by Horatio Spafford as a response to intense suffering, this one says that God truly cares for His people. God has nailed all our sins to the cross and we "bear them no more," so it is always well with our souls if we are Christ's.

Preparing for Sunday, 3/4/12

Hey folks,
I really did intend at first to get a "Preparing for Sunday" post up for last Sunday. But as I thought through things, the post I already had up really seemed like enough. It's the post right before this one if you missed it. And those ways to pray still apply.

A NOTE ON LAST WEEK: What an encouraging Sunday. John's sermon from 2 Timothy was great, the commissioning of Jordan went very well and was a great church "family time." And the congregation sang heartily. It was a great celebration of God's faithfulness- I really believe we made much of God and of our Savior last week, which was the most important, and beneficial thing for us to do together.  Again, check out the last post for ways to continue to pray for our church and our pastors/elders as we move into a new chapter as Grace Brethren Church of Simi Valley.

This week Jordan will be preaching from various Scripture texts, from the Old and New Testaments. The sermon will be more of a survey, looking at God's grand purposes that He reveals in all of Scripture. It's going to be some pretty weighty theology, but it's theology that will change your life. You need to make sure you're there for the start of this short preaching series, on the character and purposes of God.

Here are our songs for this week:

1. Forever
We'll sing this as a "call to worship," praising God for His faithfulness to His people. He upholds us with His own hand, and we "carry on" in this fallen world because God graciously cares for us and will not let a single one of His sheep be lost.

2. Indescribable
This song speaks of God's glory in Creation. There is some great poetry in this one that can help us express, and connect with what God tells us about Himself in Scripture - I especially love the line, "Who imagined the sun and gives source to its light?"

3. Glorious and Mighty
This is really a "modern hymn" in its construction and systematic development of an idea. Also, it's basically Psalm 96 put to music. The 3rd verse sings about the hope of Christ's coming Kingdom: "Majesty, we'll sing with Creation/When You come again in the clouds/Every knee will bow down and worship the one True God!"

4. Because of Your Love
Here's our specific meditation on the Gospel in our songs this week. The song talks about the "Creator of the universe, broken for the sins of the earth." The Son of God became incarnate, to bear the sins of His people on the cross.

Hope to see you there tomorrow morning, and that this is a help to you as you prepare for worship. Adios!

Pray For The Transition!

Hey everyone,
a "Preparing for Sunday" post is on the way. But for now, I wanted to write down a few reflections on our transition between pastors coming up this Sunday, and a few ways you can be praying for our church as we go through this unique, joyous time.

First of all, what an encouragement to be a part of a local church that is transitioning its senior pastors the way ours is. Pastor John has been purposeful to keep a mindset of discipleship, and has been purposeful to line Jordan up, and train him, to take the baton of senior pastor of our church. 2 Timothy 2:2 says to "entrust [the Word of God] to faithful men who will be able to teach others also." John is doing this with Jordan, and the Word of God will continue to be taught faithfully in our church as Jordan takes the baton.

It's hard to believe we're already at the week where John will commission Jordan, but here we are. I came to Christ in our church's high school ministry. So on some level I feel like my faith is a product of the Holy Spirit working through John's 29 years of pastoring and shepherding. I know many of you feel the same way.

So first of all, I want to encourage everyone to be there this Sunday, and to stick around for lunch afterward. It will be a sweet time of celebration together. This shouldn't be a sad time - everything about this Sunday should be encouraging, and a testimony of God's faithfulness to His people!

Second, be in prayer for our church, and our pastors and elders. Here are a few ways you can pray:

1. Pray thankfulness to God for John's faithfulness to the preaching and pastoring ministries God has entrusted him with. Faithfulness is hard to find these days, but the Holy Spirit has enabled John to faithfully shepherd this local church. We're extremely blessed.
2. Pray for John as he changes his role at the church. He has asked for prayer specifically for this. Pray that God would direct him into the perfect avenues in the Body of Christ, to use his gifts of teaching and shepherding. 
3. Pray for Jordan, that God will give him full strength and encouragement as he takes the baton of leadership. Also pray for Jordan's own relationship with Christ, and that Jordan would continue to dive deep in his time in Scripture, into the glory of the Gospel. And pray that this would come to us by way of his preaching.
4. Pray for protection for our church, for Jordan, and our other pastors and elders. The evil one does prowl around like a roaring lion (1 Peter 5:8). We need to be in prayer that God will protect our church from the schemes of the devil as we move forward in proclaiming the hope and joy of the Gospel.

A Quote to Ponder (Been a while since I've done one of these.)

"If we hope that our worship will help shape the people of the congregation into Christ-likeness, we must be careful to choose songs that are strongly biblical rather than romantic, trivial, or therapeutic...

...[N]ever choose songs with passable lyrics - choose songs with lyrics that will change people's lives."

~ Greg Scheer, from The Art of Worship

Preparing for Sunday, 2/5/12

We'll continue this week with our mini-series on giving in the church. I have to say, I've been hugely motivated and encouraged, and challenged by this preaching series from 2 Corinthians. My wife and I get comfortable in the giving of our money to the church. But when we're comfortable with our giving, maybe it's time to think about what we can do to give more. I've been especially challenged by the fact that giving should be planned and thoughtful, not just an afterthought of the week or month. If I'm a part of the life of our local church, I'm a part of the redeemed family of God and have a family life and identity to participate in. So we plan to share our resources, and do it out of thankfulness for all that God has ultimately done for us. You probably want to just read all of 2 Corinthians 9 to get ready for tomorrow.

We'll sing the following songs:

1. Your Grace is Enough
This will be our "call to worship" song, reminding ourselves right from the start of the morning that God has poured out His love and grace on His people, and that we could not be more welcomed into God's redeemed family than we are.

2. My Hope is Built
We'll focus things in a little more with this hymn, that basically unpacks Hebrews 6:13-20, that says that Christ has secured and anchored our salvation permanently and for good, by His sacrifice for sin. Can't say enough about how much I love this one.

3. There is a Redeemer
This is another great hymn that will hit more sides of Christ's great, finished work. The songs says, "Jesus, our Redeemer, Name above all names/Precious Lamb of God, Messiah, Hope for sinners slain!"

The chorus also affirms that God has not left us alone once saved, but has out His Spirit in us, to sanctify and bring us safely home to Him. Good stuff.

4. All I Have is Christ
This is something of a "narrative" or story song.  This one will give us the chance to respond to all of Christ's great saving work, by singing in the 3rd verse, "Now Father, use my ransomed life in any way You choose/And let my song forever be 'My only hope is You!

Hope to see you tomorrow. Really looking forward to gathering for worship in the morning!