Preparing for Sunday, 1/15/12!

Hey everyone,
hope you've gotten a chance this week to look forward to our Sunday morning gathering; but either way, I hope this post is a help to you. I'm more and more convinced that our Sunday corporate worship is best when we've thought ahead about it, and are purposeful as we come to sing, dig into the Word together, pray and fellowship. We have to be purposeful.

So, let's start by reading the passage ahead of time. Pastor John will continue preaching on the theme of giving (our time and resources to the church), preaching from 2 Corinthians 8:10-24. The focus will continue to be the grace of God. We give, and can give selflessly, because God has poured His grace out to us in Jesus. Again, we are not our own, but are blood-bought adopted sons of God. And our resources are really His.

We'll sing the following songs. If you don't know any of them well, listen to the linked recordings below. Let's be prepared to sing loud and well together!

Also take a look at the set of songs as a whole - they will focus on what it means to be a people saved from our sin by God's grace.

1. Our God
This tune focuses on the strength and power of God over sin and death. The song quotes from Romans 8:31-39, that because we are redeemed by the blood of Christ that was shed for us, nothing can stand against the people of God.

2. Grace Like Rain
This one comes requested by Pastor John this week (one of his fav's). It's a creative re-working of our classic hymn "Amazing Grace." This song rejoices in the grace of God that has been poured out on us in great abundance. Also, I like that it's in a minor key. The minor key emphasizes that God's work in redemption has an edgy side to it. Grace has come to us because the Son of God went to the cross, and our salvation was the victory stroke, where God's glory triumphed and the power of death was defeated.

3. Nothing but the Blood
Another re-working of a hymn, this song affirms that Christ's blood is the only thing that washes away sin. It says, "Your blood speaks a better word than all the empty claims I've heard upon this earth/Speaks righteousness for me, and stands in my defense."

4. Stronger
One of our "new favorites." "Stronger" rejoices in, and affirms that Christ is a strong Savior, and that nothing can snatch us out of Christ's hand (See the link to Romans 8 above)!

Preparing for Sunday, 1/8/12

Hey everyone,
it's good to be back. We'll be hitting it hard this Sunday, so make sure you don't miss corporate worship. It's good to continue to start our new year off by not neglecting to meet together and encourage one another as the body of Christ.

Pastor John will be preaching tomorrow from 2 Corinthians 8:1-9, beginning a short series on giving. He will be focusing on the grace of God that has been given us in the Gospel, as the great motivator for us to give our time and resources to the church. Christ has bought us with His blood; we are His and not our own, so why would we not give to the Gospel work of the church?

In our singing tomorrow, we'll focus especially on the grace of God that was poured out on us in Jesus Christ, and in the cross. We'll sing the following songs:

1. Your Grace is Enough
We'll proclaim this as our call to worship - that as redeemed people of God, living on God and His grace is always enough (whether we always affirm this with our lives or not). Having God in and through Christ is always enough.

2. My Hope is Built
One of my all-time favorite hymns. The poetry of this hymn is taken from Hebrews 6:13-20, which says that Christ secured our salvation permanently, and anchored it in the most secure ground possible. No trial or scheme of the devil will sweep our salvation away. As a Christian, God has adopted me as His son because Christ has stood in my place - when God looks at me, He sees Christ's righteousness substituted to me. What grace we have been given!

3. Glorious and Mighty
We'll sing this song after offering. We do not want to lose sight of the full character of the God Who has saved us. This song speaks of God (and Christ) as majestic creator, just judge, and coming King.

4. Because of Your Love
This Phil Wickham tune talks about the "Creator of the universe, broken for the sins of the earth." This song will bring us back one more time to the truths of the Gospel - that Christ shed His blood to save us from our sin.

Hope this is helpful to you as you prepare for tomorrow. Come ready to sing, and to be fed with the Word of God together. Get your rest, and keep your singin' voice in tip-top-shape. Every voice of the congregation is needed!