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!