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.