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"Worship is man's full reason for existence. Worship is why we are born and why we are born again." A.W. Tozer

Sunday, August 28, 2011

Sunday Setlist - 08.28.11


Week #162 of Sunday Setlists. Here is our setlist for Sunday, August 28th.

- Everlasting God by Brenton Brown
- Song of Moses by Aaron Keyes
- Stronger by Hillsong
- Enough by Chris Tomlin

Good morning of worship. John did a great job choosing the songs and leading worship this morning. I believe the songs fit the message perfectly. The congregation really seems to be connecting with Song of Moses. It's been a fantastic song to introduce to our congregation and I'm glad they're connecting with it.

To check out what others are doing in their services and learn more about what Sunday Setlists is all about, check out TheWorshipCommunity.com at http://www.theworshipcommunity.com/sunday-setlist-162/

Thursday, August 25, 2011

Mirror Ball by Matt Redman

Mirror Ball: Living Boldly and Shining Brightly For the Glory of God is the brand new book by worship leader, songwriter, and author Matt Redman. Many of you may be familiar of Matt Redman because you've sang his songs in church, but he is also a fantastic author. As a worship leader myself, I'm always interested in resources by other worship leaders. I have never been disappointed by any of Matt Redman's music or other books and this book continues that trend. This book is a very quick read, but don't doubt it's impact because of that. I also love how some the ideas and themes he presents in this book follow along with his latest worship project, 10,000 Reasons. I found myself being led in worship by reading the words on the pages. He also includes discussion guides in the back half of the book. Throughout this book Redman calls us to live a life of worship. As much as this is a call for us personally, it's also a call to the entire Church. Our God is big and no matter how inadequate we feel, because of God's redemptive work in our hearts we can shine forth the light of God. I love the story Redman shares in the beginning of the book regarding Louie Giglio's idea to have a mirror ball come down from the ceiling during a part of the Passion Conference. They're in a massive arena and when Matt Redman sees the small size of the mirror ball he's worried that it is not going to make any kind of impact and is going to turn out to be the worst idea ever. However is the service when the time came, the ball dropped and bright beams of light hit the ball and the light radiated to all corners of the arena. It may have been small and seemed in adequate, but the result was anything but. Because of the love of God and Him living in us, we need to radiate His light through us by the lives that we live. We become the mirror ball for His light that shines upon us.
"When God shines upon His church, we become a dazzling testimony to His awesome radiance. You may feel ineffective. You might have lost confidence in your ability to shine. You may think you are too small or inconsequential to ever be of any value in the kingdom of God. But no matter at all-for, in the end, it is all a matter of light. His light. The life of worship never begins with you. It starts and ends with Jesus."
Special thanks to The B & B Media Group, Inc. and David C. Cook for providing this complimentary book to read and review. You can purchase the book here on amazon.com.

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Let God Change Your Life by Greg Laurie

Greg Laurie has written a great book; Let God Change Your Life: How to Know and Follow Jesus. This is definitely not a book for just non-believers or new believers. This is a book that every believer should read. Laurie challenges us to take a long, hard look at the Christian life we're living. "What often is perceived as the Christian life is, in many ways, not what the Bible teaches. Are you really living the Christian life as Jesus meant for you to live it? If your Christian experience feels dull and unfulfilling, then it's time to seriously examine Jesus' teaching regarding discipleship. Radical Christian living is really normal Christian living." There is so much more to this life that we're living than the way we're living it. It causes me to seriously look into my own life and reexamine how I'm living my own life in light of how God truly called me to live it. Laurie takes on three aspects of our relationship with and following Christ;
• How to Know God
• Discipleship
• Making Him Known
Laurie takes us on a logical progression of how we should be living our lives. He begins right where it's needed the most; the heart. What we find throughout the pages of this book is how to live the Christian life based in the Bible. Laurie's book is a challenge and one that shouldn't be taken lightly. "'Are you a laborer in the harvest?' Laurie asks. 'The complainers are many. The observers are many. The spectators are many. The critics are many. But the laborers are few. We need laborers in the harvest. Will you become one?' Let God Change Your Life is a bold challenge to Christians everywhere to rethink their lives in terms of dynamic New Testament living."

Special thanks to The B & B Media Group, Inc. and David C. Cook for providing this complimentary book to read and review. You can purchase the book here on amazon.com.

Friday, August 19, 2011

Sunday Setlist - 08.21.11


Week #161 of Sunday Setlists. Here is our setlist for Sunday, August 21st.

- How Great Thou Art by Paul Baloche
- Song of Moses by Aaron Keyes
- Not To Us by Chris Tomlin

A good morning. We also introduced a new song; Song of Moses by Aaron Keyes. Everyone seemed to grab a hold of it. I played/sang the chorus for them and then had them sing it along with me, and this was probably one of the few times I could really hear everyone singing. Here is a blog post from Aaron Keyes' blog about the song. I love the lyrics of it and how it's grounded in scripture. We rearranged the order of the song and repeated some of the sections, so I took the opportunity to break up the song with adding some scripture and it fit perfectly. After the scripture, we went back into the bridge of the song; "The Lord shall reign forever and ever." Here is the passage I used.

Psalm 97

1 The Lord reigns, let the earth be glad;
let the distant shores rejoice.

2 Clouds and thick darkness surround him;
righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.

3 Fire goes before him
and consumes his foes on every side.

4 His lightning lights up the world;
the earth sees and trembles.

5 The mountains melt like wax before the Lord,
before the Lord of all the earth.

6 The heavens proclaim his righteousness,
and all peoples see his glory.

9 For you, Lord, are the Most High over all the earth;
you are exalted far above all gods.

10 Let those who love the Lord hate evil,
for he guards the lives of his faithful ones
and delivers them from the hand of the wicked.

11 Light shinest on the righteous
and joy on the upright in heart.

12 Rejoice in the Lord, you who are righteous,
and praise his holy name.


To check out what others are doing in their services and learn more about what Sunday Setlists is all about, check out TheWorshipCommunity.com at http://www.theworshipcommunity.com/sunday-setlist-161/

Thursday, August 18, 2011

Revise Us Again by Frank Viola

Frank Viola has come out with his new book, Revise Us Again: Living from a Renewed Christian Script. Not a difficult book to read, but it has a great feel to it. It really feels as if your sitting down with someone and chatting over a cup of coffee. It's a nice change to some of the deep theological books where you have to constantly be thinking of the content and questions. That's not to say that this book doesn't make you think. Viola calls us to revisit and revise the script that we've been living our lives by. With all the advances in technology, all kinds of churches, all kinds of teachings, all kinds of books, cultural influences, etc., the way we're told to live our lives can become distorted. It's easy to go along with the next great idea, but it may not be the way that God calls us to live. Viola calls for us to return to the only script worth living by; the Word of God. This books makes you look into your heart and your relationship with the Lord, then revise those things that don't match up with the teachings of Jesus. The way we are to live our lives is found in the pages of the Word of God and how Jesus lived. I love Viola's transparency, as he writes this about the book, "I'm simply sharing some of the discoveries I've made in my own personal struggles and challenges as a follower of Jesus Christ." He doesn't say that it's going to be easy, but it's something that needs to be done. I believe there is something in this book for every believer. It's a call to come back to the Gospel of Jesus Christ; we're called to be Christ-like and live like Jesus did. These are the areas that Viola tackles in this book; Revising the Lord's Voice, Revising Christianeze, Revising Christian Code Language, Revising Our Semantics, Revising Our Message, Revising Our Awareness of the Diving, Revising Our Attitudes, Revising Our Spiritual Expectations, Revising the Holy Spirit's Ministry, and Revising Our Chief Pursuit.

Special thanks to The B & B Media Group, Inc. and David C. Cook for providing this complimentary book to read and review. You can purchase the book here on amazon.com.

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

The God I Never Knew by Robert Morris

Pastor Robert Morris just released his new book, The God I Never Knew: How Real Friendship with the Holy Spirit Can Change Your Life. This is a book I was really excited to read. Morris writes this on the back cover; "To many people the Holy Spirit is mysterious, confounding, and ever controversial. Why is the third person in the Godhead-the one whom Jesus said would be the believer's ultimate source of truth and unending comfort-the source of so much confusion?" I have often wondered myself what the Holy Spirit's role is in my spiritual journey. Through the process of reading this book though, I became less and less excited to continue reading. I feel that this book was broken into two sections. The first section regarding the truth of the Holy Spirit and what He promises to do in your life; dwell with you, be your helper, guide you into all truth, comfort you, pray for you, show you things to come, and never leave you. Morris helps us understand that view of the Holy Spirit should be about a relationship. However, moving into the second part of the book I feel as if it's more about defending a view then showing us the Holy Spirit. It feels as if I'm being forced to believe a certain view than discover what this relationship is all about. Instead of finishing the book feeling like I now know someone I didn't know very well before, I'm left with a lot of questions and not sure what I believe.

Special thanks to WaterBrook Multnomah and Blogging for Books for providing this complimentary book to read and review. You can purchase the book here on amazon.com.

If you found this review helpful, would you go to the review on Blogging for Books and rate it.

Sunday, August 14, 2011

Sunday Setlist - 08.14.11


Week #160 of Sunday Setlists. Here is our setlist for Sunday, August 14th.

- Open the Eyes of My Heart by Paul Baloche
- It Is Well
- Blessed Be Your Name by Matt Redman
- Shine Jesus Shine by Graham Kendrick

Another good morning of worship. It's been nice to have these could Sunday's a month where others from my worship team take the lead. Nice to sit back and see them do it and just play. We also got back into our Acts series this morning.

To check out what others are doing in their services and learn more about what Sunday Setlists is all about, check out TheWorshipCommunity.com at http://www.theworshipcommunity.com/sunday-setlists-160/

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Sunday Setlist - 08.07.11


Week #159 of Sunday Setlists. Here is our setlist for Sunday, August 7th.

- O Worship the King by Chris Tomlin
- New Doxology by Gateway Worship
- Lord I Need You by Kristian Stanfill (special music - communion)
- Open the Eyes of My Heart by Paul Baloche

It was a great morning of worship. Also, the sound system was much better this Sunday than the past couple. It was also a very different Sunday as we didn't have much of a message, but instead spent some time praying as a church at a lot of different prayer stations that each had a different focus. For those that find this that are worship leaders, I want to take this moment to share with you all a resource that I recently came across. My friend Adam Hundley shared with me a fantastic app for the iPad called OnSong. It's a great app for managing all your chord charts and using the iPad to display them on a Sunday morning. I was previously having to shorten and convert all my charts to PDF and pull them in with Stanza. There's a decent amount of time involved changing the charts to the right format, but once that's done it's a great app. This was the first time that I used it, but I plan on using it for a while.

To check out what others are doing in their services and learn more about what Sunday Setlists is all about, check out TheWorshipCommunity.com at http://www.theworshipcommunity.com/sunday-setlists-159/