Sunday's Music - September 6, 2015

I wanted to share the music plans for this coming Sunday at our church fellowship, Summit Crossing Limestone (and I added some stuff at the end).

For a quick-start, here’s a Spotify playlist for those who have the app:http://spoti.fi/1JUgi0R

And here’s a YouTube playlist: http://bit.ly/1i2KWPH

Here are the songs:

- Desert Song (Hillsong Worship)
– Our God is Faithful (UMobile Worship)
– How Deep the Father’s Love for Us (Christy Nockels)
– How He Loves (David Crowder Band)
– From the Day (I Am They)

I come from a church-culture background of singing and playing hymns. As some of you may remember, in the 90s, “choruses” edged their way in as the thing to sing. At least, they became the thing to sing for some churches. In many fellowships, though, music style quickly became a source of contention; believers argued vehemently and often quite viciously about which kind of song was the best kind of song for corporate worship.

It seems the lyrics weren’t theologically deep enough, or maybe they were too archaic. One group thought the music was too simplistic, but for some it was confusingly complex. And then there was the pivotal issue of “raise mine Ebenezer” vs. “All things are possible! All things are possible! All things are possible! All things are possible! (Repeat 3x)”.

And in all this confusion the Gospel was (and in many places still is), unimaginably sadly, lost. A totally unique vehicle that the Maker of the universe ordained for us to use to worship Him and loudly declare our thanks and praise — music — had become a source of divisiveness.

May that never be so among the people whom Jesus has brought to life. We have the mind-boggling privilege of being children of God. Do we really want to reduce that?

It’s my perpetual prayer that our corporate opportunities to sing to our Father together will be Gospel-centric; not focused on ourselves in any way.

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Sunday's Music - Obtober 3

It's been many months since I posted a list of Sunday's music. Our house church group has been singing pretty much every Sunday, but since I don't plan the music out I haven't really seen fit to post the list. That may be goofy. I think I'll start.

This is going to be part of The Worship Community's Sunday Setlists network (tomorrow, when I can link to everyone else's song lists), but I'm posting in advance because we'll be meeting tomorrow afternoon in a neighboring city for baptism in the river! Won't have time to post anything.

Tomorrow will be my second Sunday leading the music at Toney United Methodist Church's 8:45 service. They had a need and asked if I'd help, so I volunteered to lead for several weeks. Great group of believers! We're having the privilege of making new friends and worshipping with brothers and sisters we hadn't met before. (It wasn't an easy decision for me to do this, and you'll realize this if you've followed the blog. I want to give what I can for the sake of others, and to build up and teach the body of Christ.)

Our songs for tomorrow are as follows. Nothing brand-new, but we'll be looking at some new songs over the coming weeks. If we have some major techincal difficulties or any other fun things tomorrow, I'll be sure to let you know. I'm listing the artists with whom most are familiar rather than the songwriters, by the way.

• Holy is the Lord- Chris Tomlin - key of G
• Agnus Dei- Third Day/Michael W. Smith - key of G
• He Reigns- Newsboys - key of E
• Come Thou Fount Come Thou King- Gateway Worship - key of D
• Happy Day- Fee/Tim Hughes - key of C
• Holiness/Take My Life- Passion Worship Band - key of E

May your life be blessed as you live out worship and carry that passion with you!

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final sunday setlist

This will be my last entry in the Sunday Setlist blog carnival for the foreseeable future. (By the way, here is my favorite original Sunday Setlists graphic, I think. I may do a gallery of the various graphics I've made up for Sunday Setlists.)

As you may have read in a previous post, our family is embarking on a path that we've prayed over and read in the Word about for a very long time. Many call it "organic church." This doesn't mean that we're elitist or feel like we're superior to or smarter or more holy than anyone. It does mean that we're following the path that God has laid out for us.

Over the years God has surrounded me and my wife with so many amazing friends that it's... ah... amazing. Sunday night, April 25 was my last service as Worship Pastor at Wall Highway, and we had a fantastic (and very long) music gathering.

Many old friends and former team members were able to be there, and that was a truly huge blessing. I can't do enough to express my thanks to long-time friends and current team members, as well as those who've moved on to other church fellowships.

Below is our song list, in roughly the sets that we did the songs in. Not many are up-to-the-minute "hit singles," but that's okay. These are songs that we've come to love over the years as vehicles of praise and of worship. This was about two hours' worth of music, and I could've easily played longer. (By the way, I think I get some kind of commission if you purchase one of these MP3s after clicking on its link. I'm just sayin'... Links go to Amazon.com MP3 downloads.)

Today is the Day (Lincoln Brewster)
Because of Your Love (Paul Baloche)
Sing for Joy (Lamont Hiebert)

Higher Ground (traditional)
Friend of God (Israel Houghton)
Did You Feel the Mountains Tremble? (Delirious?)

Glory to the Lord (Don Moen)
Let the Praises Ring (Lincoln Brewster)
Hallelujah (Your Love is Amazing) (Brian Doerksen)
Revelation Song (various) (link goes to the Kari Jobe version)

Everlasting God (Lincoln Brewster version, sort of)
You Shine (Brian Doerksen)

Down to the River to Pray (Alison Krauss)
When It's All Been Said and Done (Don Moen)

Glory to God Forever (Fee)
It's Time for the Reign of God (Brian Doerksen)
Hosanna (Paul Baloche) (looks like this MP3 may be free...?)
We Fall Down (Passion)

Come Thou Fount, Come Thou King (Gateway Worship)
He Reigns (Newsboys)
Days of Elijah (Robin Mark)

We Will Hold On (Paul Baloche)
God is Good All the Time (Don Moen)
You Never Let Go (Matt Redman)

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easter sunday 2010 music

We planned four services for Sunday morning -- two simultaneous services in the sanctuary and the gym at 9:00 and likewise at 10:45. My wife Callie I led the first service in the gym with me playing acoustic guitar and one of our dummer/percussionists, David Plunk, on congas, in which an ailing power amp forced us to shut the sound system down and move to the floor so that everyone could hear and sing more freely than if we were on the stage without amplification. This was a nice way to do it; I've grown to be less and less a fan of a person or group on stage, separated, spotlighted, and physically above the congregation of people. That arrangement seems to me to fundamentally fly in the face of the idea that "we are not there to entertain."

My friend and extraordinary vocalist Josh Wilhoit ably led both sanctuary services, the second of which I joined playing acoustic and singing tenor since there were enough seats available to accommodate all those who attended, without having to have a second service in the gym. The same songs were sung in all services.

• Christ Arose (key of A) - Public Domain, Traditional - honestly, this is my least favorite resurrection-themed song. However, we sang the chorus, beginning slowly and building into a powerful chorus of voices singing, "Hallelujah! Christ arose!" It was beautiful, uplifting, and focused our attention on the One for whom we were there. This was the first time I've loved singing this song -- it actually sounded the way I heard it in my head when I originally planned it for the service (an all-too-rare event).
• Revelation Song (key of D) - Jennie Lee Riddle, CCLI Song# 4447960, popularized by Kari Jobe - describes Revelation 5:11-12; the ultimate look at who Jesus is. An amazing musical description of the glory of Lamb Who was slain.
• Glorious (key of C) - by Brenton Brown and Paul Baloche, CCLI Song# 5548521, from Paul Baloche's newest album, Glorious. This is the third song from this CD that we've used for congregational singing. Sorta like Fee's albums in their musical accessibility.
• Before the Throne of God Above (key of D) - Charitie Lees Bancroft, Vikki Cook, CCLI Song# 2306412 - the version we do is from Spin360's volume 45 (links to MP3 audio clip), which is one of those musical arrangements which amazingly compliments the words of this phenomenal song. Unfortunately it's not available at Amazon.com or iTunes as far as I know.
• Because He Lives (key of G) - Bill and Gloria Gaither, CCLI Song# 16880 - this song, a favorite of many older people (and possibly some younger ones as well) was in the gym but not in the sanctuary service.
• Arise (key of E) - Don Moen and Paul Baloche, CCLI Song# 4032337 - the word "Arise" in this song is not used in reference to the resurrection of Christ, but in reference to God "arising" among His people as we sing to Him. Another one of those songs which has music that perfectly compliments the lyrics - more rare than you'd think.

It's always a privilege to join with those who sing and play out of the overflow of the worship they've brought with them to the assembly of believers.

This post is part of The Worship Community's Sunday Setlists (week 89), a really cool vehicle through which musicians and leaders can share the songs that their fellowships are singing from week to week.

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sunday's music - february 7, 2010

On Friday at one of our area schools, the unthinkable happened. A 9th grade student lost his life after having been shot by another student.

Today we opened the service with reflection on that, asking our people to pray for the family of the victim, the shooter, and the students, teachers and all who have been impacted by this. We made several adjustments to the service for this purpose, including the opening song...

God of This City (Boyd | Bleakley | Jordan | McCann | Kernaghan | Comfort) - I didn't ask anyone to stand for this song, but before we'd gotten very far into the song, people began to stand and lift their hands in worship as they sang. What a simple but powerful song, and absolutely perfect for this day.

It Is Well With My Soul (Spafford | Bliss, traditional) - A song that perfectly fit what we all needed to sing today. "Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say, 'It is well, it is well with my soul."

Shout to the North (Smith) - An old favorite. It's incredibly encouraging to the body of Christ.

Because He Lives (Gaither) - This song is embraced by so many people, young and old. It focuses on Christ as our hope.

We Will Hold On (Baloche) - We introduced this song, from Paul Baloche's latest CD, two weeks ago. I strongly urge you to buy this CD! Deceptively simple but deep lyrics. For instance, "We'll be tested by the blessings; with all the comforts of the world surrounding, we will not forget the Savior. We will hold one [to Your love]."

I truly did not want to stop playing or singing.

Ending the worship service, I had the tremendous privilege of baptizing Andy, my close friend and brother in Christ. This made my day.

What a fantastic morning!

This post is part of TheWorshipCommunity.com's Sunday Setlists blog carnival, the brainchild of Fred McKinnon. Most links above (the titles of the songs) go to ChristianBook.com's or Amazon.com's MP3 downloads or NetHymnal.org song pages.

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sunday's music - january 24, 2010

It has been a long time since I did a Sunday Setlists post, which is now hosted bt TheWorshipCommunity.com.. Too long. My time seems to have been partitioned in ways that don't work too well with blogging. Didn't want to miss this Sunday, though.

- We Will Hold On (Paul Baloche) - key of A - This is off of Paul Baloche's new CD, Glorious. I love when I listen to a new song and instantly think, "Wow, we've got to sing that one!" This was one of those songs. I can't recommend it enough. I have a couple of favorite lyric phrases:

We'll be tested by the blessing,
With all the comforts of the world surrounding.
We will not forget the Savior;
We will hold on.

And the second half of the chorus:

When the battle rages on,
When we fail to overcome,
In our weakness, Jesus, You make us strong,
We will hold on to Your love.

Open the Eyes of My Heart (Paul Baloche) - key of E - Maybe you've heard this one before? I actually listened to the original recording (or one of them) this week. I'd forgotten what it sounded like.

Holy, Holy, Holy (Reginald Heber | John Dykes) - key of E - In the older hymnals this was actually in the key of E. Nowadays it's in D most of the time, for good reason. Pretty high. The link goes to a simple version by Hillsong.

Desert Song (Brooke Fraser) - key of D - First time we've done this song, This was intended to be a solo piece (a one-shot), but I'm going to put this one into congregational rotation. Beautiful song.

New Doxology (Thomas Ken | Thomas Miller) - key of G - Excellent new verses and a new chorus, from Gateway Worship's Wake Up the World album..

Thoroughly enjoyed the privilege of worshipping with the believers at Wall Highway today!

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sunday's music - november 1, 2009

It's been quite some time since I participated in Fred McKinnon's Sunday Setlists Blog Carnival. It's good to be back!

I'd laid out the music for today's service a while back, long before I got the sermon topic and outline from our senior pastor. It was extra cool that he happened to be speaking on 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, and the focus of the music was the return of Christ and the beauty and awe of His holiness. Here's our list of music:

• Sing to the King (Charles Horne/Billy Foote) - key of E - It was Jan Owen who introduced me to this song several years ago. It's based on a hymn that was written in 1910, though the melody is completely different.
• Before the Throne of God Above (Charitie Bancroft) - key of D - I'd never known it, but this one was written 'way back in 1865, and apparently was first sung with the tune to "Sweet Hour of Prayer". The modern musical rendition is quite different, and in my opinion, delivers a far, far more accurate "feeling" than the older tune. You've really got to listen to this clip of the SPIN 360 version of this song from volume 45. Unbelievably powerful.
• Holy, Holy, Holy (traditional) - key of D - All about God. What better to sing about? This song paints fantastic visual imagery of God's holiness.
• Sanctuary (John Thompson/Randy Scruggs) - key of D/E - Continuing with the theme of God's throne, this song was a reminder that we are the body of Christ, and until the new Heaven and new Earth, we are His living place. (I didn't want to say "dwelling place")
• Glory to God Forever (Steve Fee/Vicky Beeching) - key of G - Not sure why I've waited so long for us to introduce this song. Sinple and with a slightly repetitive chorus, it doesn't bother me to repeat the words "Glory to God forever!" a bunch of times. (We should have played this one in the key of A, by the way. B, the original key, is slightly too high for large group singing and G was too low.) The link for this song goes to Amazom.com's $0.99 MP3 download. I encourage you to begin using this song as a vehicle for corporate worship.

The choir closed with a song with a Southern Gospel feel: "God Says You're Gonna Make It". Similar underlying theme to the congregational songs, with a tighter focus on standing firm because of the hope that we have.

It's an amazing privilege to be able to sing in worship to our Creator with those who know Him. It's always a huge prayer that those people who don't know Him but still attend services would respond as the Spirit draws them.

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Sunday's Music - July 26, 2009

It's a big week for Fred McKinnon's Sunday Setlists "blog carnival"! This is the one-year anniversary, and it's proven to be a fantastic way for those in music leadership to share what's going on in their church fellowships. Great work, Fred! Thanks for the opportunity to be a part of it!

In an effort to get this posted Monday, I'm going to forego links. You probably won't need them for this post, anyhow.

We had a group (William Clayton and the Redeemed -- I highly recommend them) scheduled to play for the PM service, so I scheduled them to play a couple of songs in each morning service. Over the weekend I felt that I needed to pull a song out of our already-shortened list. I wanted to allow the group and Pastor Lee ample time during the service.

It was a head-to-head between "Mighty to Save" (Hillsong) and "Jesus Saves" (the traditional hymn). Personally, I wanted to do "Mighty to Save," but for some reason after I'd prayed quite a bit, I had no doubt that we needed to sing "Jesus Saves", so that's what we did. Here's our music from Sunday:

- Happy Day - Fee
- Jesus Saves - traditional
- Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone) - traditional/Chris Tomlin

Then William Clayton and the Redeemed led two songs (one in the second service) of massively celebratory praise. I can't begin to explain it with words. I have to admit that I was a little apprehensive in the days leading up to Sunday, because our membership is white by a massive percentage. I love black Gospel music, but wasn't sure that our people would embrace it as much as I do. My apprehension was totally unfounded. Those guys let it go! It was huge. What a morning!

I can't remember the last time I so freely celebrated God. It was unbelievably good to be with the Church yesterday.

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Sunday's Music - June 28, 2009

Welcome to Wall Highway's entry into Fred McKinnon's Sunday Setlists, week 49.

Our team today:
Nelson Lusk (my son!) on drums
Anna on keyboard and piano
Cameron on bass
Callie on vocals
Jordan on vocals
Phillip on vocals

Eric on acoustic guitar
Me on electric guitar and vocals

Today, I think the thing that stuck out most to me was not the music, but the message that our senior pastor, Lee Singley brought. I'm going to be posting a link to the podcast as soon as it's up. It was aimed right at the heart of the Church; no holds barred. Just what was needed.

Here's the worship team and choir contribution to corporate worship at Wall Highway today. I intentionally shortened the music service to allow Pastor Lee a little more time than usual, but the music still ran almost the same length as usual. Not sure how that happened. I was glad we weren't watching the clock today.

Worthy of Praises (Lynn Deshazo) - key of D - We've done this one for three Sundays to teach it to the congregation. Have a look at Revelation 4 and then sing this song. Beautiful and awe-inspiring.

Come Thou Fount, Come Thou King (Robert Robinson / Thomas Miller, as played by Gateway Worship) - key of D

At this point in the service our Jr. High pastor, Josh Harris, welcomed everyone. One of the announcements he made was for a play we're doing in September and having auditions for next week. Here's the promo video we showed today.

Your Grace Is Enough (Matt Maher) - key of E - In retrospect, I wish we'd played/sung this one in G. The key of E is widely singable, but I think that the energy of having it three half-steps higher would have allowed the message and emotion of the lyrics to come through more powerfully.

How Great is Our God / How Great Thou Art (Chris Tomlin / Stuart K Hine) - key of G - for so long I was against using this combo of songs, simply because everyone did it. Kinda narrow-minded of me. These two songs are so powerful because they allow us to speak about the creative power and majesty of the God who allows us to serve Him.

I left the services today extremely uplifted; it was one of those mornings where God rewarded our worship and love for Him by touching us in return.

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Sunday's Music - June 14, 2009

It's my pleasure to be able to share with you what we sang at Wall Highway this morning. 46 weeks ago Fred McKinnon kicked off a great way for those who lead music to be able to share what they're doing at their different fellowships. This is part of that continuing venture -- Sunday Setlists, week 47.

Our team today:
Dave on drums
Ryan on keyboard and piano
George on bass
Jessi on vocals
Jordan on vocals
Donnie on electric guitar
Me on acoustic guitar and vocals

Glory to the Lord (Lynn Deshazo) - key of C#m/Dm - If you don't know this slightly older song, you've really got to hit the link and buy it for a measley $0.99. I was at a concert when Don Moen played this song and it smacked me in the face, becoming one of my favorite corporate worship/praise songs ever, and it still is. I remember getting home from that concert and hunting the song down, finding it, and wondering why in the world anyone would write a piano-based song in C#m. Also, as I recall, years ago this was the first song in which we had a guitar solo at Wall Highway.

Let the Praises Ring (Lincoln Brewster) - key of E - It's been a while since we sang this one. Too long.

It's Time for the Reign of God (Brian Doerksen / Steve Mitchinson) - key of E - Week three of this song that I "discovered" by looking at Randy Neufeld's Sunday Setlists a few months ago. We'll be using this one in regular rotation now that it's become very familiar. Powerful song!

Leaning on the Everlasting Arms (traditional) - key of G - This song contrasted our punyness with the majesty of God. It's the miraculous part -- the God we'd just sung about carries out His work here by using people. We are amazingly privileged. I mentioned Psalm 27 before we sang this song: "The LORD is my light and my salvation -- so why should I be afraid?"

Not to Us (Chris Tomlin / Jesse Reeves) - key of A - I'm not sure if I'm allowed to say that this song, too, is a favorite. But it is (I must have a few thousand favorites). If you haven't looked at these lyrics in a while, it's high time to do so.

Worthy of Praises (Lynn Deshazo) - key of D - Lynn Deshazo writes some of the most powerful songs out there. We played this one for the first time when we presented the Don Moen musical "Thank You, Lord" last year. We sang it as a Sanctuary Choir special today but we'll be putting it into regular rotation now. Unfortunately we had to do it without the pan flute-sounding instrument. Boooo!

SIDE NOTE: A few weeks ago I was extremely bummed, alarmed, and disappointed that people spontaneously stood for "God Bless the USA", when I rarely seemed to see the same reverence and awe for God during services. However, it dawned on me today (really, it's rather idiotic of me) that I never give our people a chance to sit during the music! They can't spontaneously stand! D'oh! I had them seated in the middle of the services today, and in neither service did they remain that way. It was beautiful!

FULL DISCLOSURE: In the early service, my voice went south long before the music was over. I've had a serious sinus infection type of condition since Friday. After we sat down in the first service, I posted this on Twitter: "Tweeting while @harrisjoshua is preaching from John 6. My voice is shot! Praying it wasn't a distraction during the music for this service." I was called down by a fellow Christ-loving tweep who chastised me for twittering during a service. She said that it might push people away from Christ. I disagree, particularly given the content of my tweet, but I understand what she's saying.

By the way, Josh was in the middle of his visual illustration using sardines and crackers. I was paying attention.

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Sunday's Music - May 31, 2009

Wow. I'm really behind on digging into my co-laborers' Sunday Setlists lately. Seems like I've either been busy or studying on a personal quest that I hope to be blogging about soon. I will remedy that tomorrow after getting some sun! Monday is my off-day. You guys will be working and I'll be soaking up rays. Heh heh...

That being said, here's what Sunday saw at Wall Highway.

Our team today:
John on drums
David on congas and percussion
Anna on keyboard and piano
George on bass
Christy (visit her blog here) on vocals
Callie (my lovely wife) on vocals
Josh on acoustic guitar and vocals
Me on electric guitar and vocals

We had slightly longer music time today, and I hope that we didn't leave Pastor Lee Singley too little time. I don't believe we did, because he hit the nail squarely on the head in the three minutes we left him. :-) Actually, we did well on time. We went for about 30 minutes.

The Pre-Teen choir opened the service with Stephen Curtis Chapman's Dive (my daughter had the solo on verse 2! Check out her blog here) and Audio Adrenaline's Big House. Fantastic group of kids, and great direction by director Doug!

It's Time for the Reign of God (Brian Doerksen / Steve Mitchinson) - key of E - Week two of this new song. The congregation seems to "own" this song as much as I do. Very powerful and energizing song about the kingdom of God and the purpose of the Church.

Lord, Reign in Me (Brenton Brown) - key of A - A personal favorite because of the lyrics. I always wonder if the melody is too simple, though, to communicate the sincerity of the words. Does that make any sense?

You Are God Alone (Not a God) (Billy Foote) - key of A/B - Not sure I can elaborate on this one past what the words say. Phenomenal.

I Stand Amazed in the Presence (Traditional) - key of E - In reflection of the songs we'd sung to this point, we closed our congregational music with the chorus to this hymn. I rather regret that we didn't sing the first verse and the fourth verse, in particular.

Your Grace Still Amazes Me (Connie Harrington / Shawn Craig) - key of C - The Sanctuary Choir special music; Christy had the first verse with Josh backing her up. The choir did an unbelievable (in a good way) job technically, and their worship was contagious.

During the offering, our drama team, UpStage, headed by @jejily (Twitter user name) and Susan, presented an original choreographed interpretive movement piece to Nicole Nordiman's Holy. Beautiful! Kaitlyn, a recently-graduated senior, was the vocalist.

It was a great day! And if Dr. Robby Newton gives me permission, I hope to post the slides from his teaching in the PM service: "Evangelism 2.0 - Why Your Friends Aren't Into Your Faith". Sobering stuff. And @dasnoopy (Twitter user name) led music in the PM. He is definitely a natural; he's a worshipper off stage and he's a great vocalist (and one of our drummers).

This is, once again, part of the inimitable Fred McKinnon's brainchild, Sunday Setlists. This is week 45!

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Sunday's Music - May 24, 2009

Always interested in your feedback on new Sunday Setlists banners. This week's is a take-off on my Twitter page theme. Fred McKinnon is using one of them this week at the Mother of All Sunday Setlists Posts! Woo! I feel slightly famous.

I was excited and a little apprehensive about Sunday's music. We introduced a new (to us) song that I found thanks to Randy Neufeld's blog -- "It's Time for the Reign of God". Powerful song; incredible lyrics and a tune that is instantly and intuitively singable. But we did "We're Marching to Zion", which I've loved as we've sort of resurrected it over the past year, but I think it's time to pull it out of rotation for a while. I felt like it might be getting less worshipful and more old by now.

Here's music from our Sunday services at Wall Highway:

God Bless the USA (Lee Greenwood) - key of Db - Yes, key of Db (every guitarist's favorite key, I'm sure). I took it to Thursday night's rehearsal in Eb, but for the sake of the soloist's range (the singer was Kaitlyn -- wonderful voice!) we dropped it a whole step. Kaitlyn's dad Steve played trumpet on the song.

I still question my wisdom in including this song in a worship service. I am very deliberate about not praising a country in a meeting where we're focusing on God the Father. People stood to their feet in both services near the end of the song. While it's done on occasion, it's rare that people stand in reverence to God during a song (usually that's because I've already got them standing). That didn't give me a warm fuzzy.

It's Time for the Reign of God (Brian Doerksen / Steve Mitchinson) - key of E - if you lead music at your fellowship of believers and you're not using this song, it needs to be the next one you bring in.

We're Marching to Zion (Isaac Watts / Robert Lowry) - key of E - Like I mentioned above, I love this song, but I believe it's time to retire it. I was super-energized about it when we revitalized it a year or so ago.

I Exalt Thee (Pete Sanchez) - key of E - A time-honored chorus, with good reason. Simple words that immediately enable believers to speak/sing to God from a position of lowliness. (Link goes to a phenomenal piano arrangement.)

I Need You More (Lindell Cooley / Bruce Haynes) - key of D/E - This was the first time we'd sung this one at Wall Highway. Similar to I Exalt Thee, its lyrics offer a simple and accessible corporate prayer.

I played electric guitar yesterday in services for the first time (as far as I can remember). Loved it! I'm not a lead player, but that's not what was called for yesterday. Played my Ibanez Talman (mine's like this, only it's black). Bought it used for $200. One of the best investments I've made other than a Gibson Les Paul Studio the year they came out (new for $600 -- sold it for the same, unfortunately, and wish I still had it).

This is, once again, part of the inimitable Fred McKinnon's brainchild, Sunday Setlists. This is week 44!

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Sunday's Music - May 17, 2009

Today was Graduates' Day at Wall Highway. I made the mistake of telling a couple of people during the week that "the seniors will be leading the music," and the response was typically something like, "So all hymns?"

If you're a friend of mine and I've been at a service like this when you graduated, please forgive me when I say that today was, hands down, the best service of its kind I've ever participated in. The best way to describe it is to say that it honored our graduates but it entirely showcased God. And I mean "showcased" in the sense of "tremendously glorified".

My fellow servant Jake Woods (and soon-to-be-summer intern) led the music, playing electric (he didn't use his Flying V today) with Sarah T. on vocals and acoustic, Zack N. on drums (I didn't even know he played, and he was phenomenal!), and the lone non-senior, Cameron D., on bass.

(Jake has a blog, so I think it's kosher to reveal his last name)

When I looked at the order of service, which the seniors and teachers planned, I made a mental note that it looked a little fragmented. That is, there was a lot going on; start-and-stop, things like that. I'm not one who thinks that we have to have a smooth, perfect script for "worship" to happen, but I thought that today might be distractingly choppy. I was wrong. It was incredible to be there.

This post is really about music, but I have to commend the seniors. In each service a senior stood on stage, with a screen behind them showing about 30 Scripture references, and for four minutes, people in the congregation were asked to randomly call out a reference, and the senior would say the verse (Megan C in the first service and Sarah T in the second). It was amazing. This is truly what it means to hide God's Word in our hearts; to write His commands on the doorposts of our hearts. I was shamed at myself and proud of those girls. I can't help thinking that hundreds of others had the same reaction, too.

On to the music; short song list today.

He Reigns (Peter Furler / Steve Taylor) - key of E - I remember the first Sunday we did this one. I'd recently started leading and was paranoid that this song would be over the top and I'd be fired. :-)

Not To Us (Chris Tomlin) - key of A - An all-time favorite. Not many songs directly describe why in the world we live, breathe, sing, etc. like this one does.

Take Me In (Dave Browning) - key of E - In how many posts can I legally say the phrase "one of my favorites"? Interesting fact: though this song was made popular by Kutless a few years ago on their "Strong Tower" CD, it's actually a relatively ancient song as far as contemporary music goes. It was written in 1987!

Sarah T sang the commitment/response song. I'd forgotten about this one...

Came to My Rescue (Marty Sampson / Joel Davies / Dylan Thomas) - key of C - A beautiful, awe-inspiring prayer.

Interested in knowing how your Sunday went! Today's post is part of Fred McKinnon's Sunday Setlists Blog Carnival. This is week 43.

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Sunday's Music - May 10, 2009

I've missed a whopping two Sundays of contributions to Fred McKinnon's Sunday Setlist blog carnival. Here's my jump back in, on week #42!

Both the 9:30 and 11:00 services were opened with baptism (appropriately, children being baptized!). Our children's choirs followed with two songs - "I Can Do All Things" and "This is My Father's World".

I need to digress first and note that our 48-channel Soundcraft board was dead when we arrived this morning. The whole team adjusted quickly; we prepared to go acoustic (drummer on congas, instruments turned down, etc.) while our sound man on rotation, Mark Wensyel, took care of dropping in our old Mackie 24-channel board in its place. Amazingly, we stayed on schedule! Our band rehearsal went great and the children's choirs were able to rehearse, as well. I'd be surprised if anyone other than those of us who were on hand early had a clue that we'd had a major system tweak.

The message was brought just after the children's choirs; we placed the music after the sermon for a change. I loved it this way. The invitation/response time was opened with Melissa, one of our sopranos, singing "Jesus, Lover of My Soul". This is a bit more spartan than usual, but here are the songs that we had the privilege of presenting (a little 90's feeling -- I loved it).

Jesus, Lover of My Soul (It's All About You) (Paul Oakley) - key of Bb

Let the River Flow (Darrel Evans) - key of E

I Could Sing of Your Love Forever (Martin Smith) - key of E

Let Everything that Has Breath (Matt Redman) - key of E

We intermissed (is that a word?) here to present gifts to three mothers in each service: the oldest mother, the mother with the most children present, and the mother with the youngest child. To send our people out to be the Church for the week, we closed with...

Higher Ground (Johnson Oatman) - key of G - You need to visit the link for the author there for one of my favorite comparison photos.

How was your Mothers Day?

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Sunday's Music - April 12, 2009 - Resurrection Sunday!

I think that Fred McKinnon summed up today's services perfectly in one short phrase in his post today: "Today people all over the world celebrated the biggest victory of Christian faith - that our God is alive. Death could not hold Him. The grave couldn’t contain Him."

Big team this morning! Three services (9:30, 11:00 sanctuary and 11:00 gym) -- our main team and choir led in each, and Josh W. and my lovely wife Callie opened the 11:00 gym service and closed the 11:00 sanctuary service. Our team this week (in addition to the choir):

Phillip T. - tenor vocal / lead vocal on "I Will Rise"
Jessi Y. - soprano vocal
Jordan C. - alto vocal
Dave B. - drums
Chris G. - bass
Shirley H. - percussion
Megan T. - piano
Anna P. - keyboards
Mark W./Lee F. - audio
Darryl D./Sean T./Jason M. - video/lighting
Me - lead vocal / acoustic guitar
Lee (our senior pastor) - the Word
Josh W. - vocals / acoustic guitar (separate team)
Callie L. - vocal (separate team)

Our music:

I Will Rise (Chris Tomlin / Louie Giglio / Jesse Reeves / Matt Maher) - key of G - Phillip Thompson sang this song beautifully. The choir stood to its feet when it sprung into the "And I hear the voice of many angels sing" part; very effective in conveying the sense of the majesty of God and our corporate worship of Him. I just wish that part had gone on longer. People had barely begun standing to their feet in the congregation when it was over. Thanks to Fred McKinnon and many, many others for recommending this song.

Arise (Don Moen / Paul Baloche) - key of E/F - Most guys absolutely have to sing a Chris Tomlin song every Sunday. For me it'd have to be Don Moen and/or Paul Baloche. This is not a song about the resurrection, but about lifting our praises to God.

Celebrate Jesus / Jesus Is Alive medley (Gary Oliver / Ron Kenoly, not Hillsong -- hence no Amazon link) - key of G/Eb - Sad as it is to say, though I love them, I believe we'll be retiring these songs now. They seem to be showing their age. (Age is not necessarily a bad thing.)

Christ the Lord is Risen Today (Charles Wesley / Dean Lusk) - key of A - The traditional hymn (possibly my favorite traditional hymn about the resurrection), with a chorus I wrote and am still thinking it could have had more theological depth. Musically I thought it worked well to help the song breathe, and lyrically I wanted us to be able to sing vertically to God.

Amazing Love (You Are My King) (Billy Foote) - key of D - I don't know if this song needs much written about it.

The band, vocal team, and choir played and sang phenomenally well. It was a blessing to be with the body of Christ to worship together today.

How did things go at your worship meeting?

This post is part of Fred McKinnon's Sunday Setlists blog carnival, week 38 (I still do not like calling these things "setlists). Links for songs typically go to Amazon.com, where you can purchase the MP3 for $0.99.

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Sunday's Music - March 29, 2009

Welcome to EGBFD's entry into Fred McKinnon's Sunday Setlists blog carnival, week 36. Links for songs typically go to Amazon.com, where you can purchase the MP3 for $0.99 (usually).

Our team on rotation this week:
Me - vocals / acoustic guitar
Tom - tenor vocal
Jessi - soprano vocal
Jordan - alto vocal
John - drums
Chris - bass
Shirley - percussion
Megan - piano
Mark - audio
Darryl - video/lighting
Lee (our senior pastor) - the Word

Our music:

If We Are the Body (Mark Hall) - key of G - Today was the official dedication of our newly-remodeled preschool building, and I thought that this song was perfect to open such a service. It focused attention on the fact that our lives, our buildings, and everything we sometimes call our own are just tools to be used to serve God by serving others. Tom Parker sang the lead vocal and I got to do the girlishly-high background vocal.

Our three children's choirs sang at this point in the service. I've really grown to appreciate our kids' choirs and their leadership team. They are less about performance than they are in leading our people in worship when they sing. While they can be cute, their singing is never a showcase to see the children "perform."

Thank You Lord (Don Moen / Paul Baloche) - key of F/G - Again, very appropriate to sing on the day we dedicate something to God. This song is always uplifting to me.

Did You Feel the Mountains Tremble? (Martin Smith) - key of C - I believe this is my most favorite song to sing with the body of believers. I've posted about it twice and will probably post it for the third time after this. I love this song! So powerful. It's a song that can seem strange when you're singing through it if you don't pay attention to what you're singing (hopefully that never happens in a worship service!)

Just As I Am (Charlotte Elliott / William Bradbury - traditional) - key of Db - We sang this at the time of commitment and invitation. The steps at the front of the stage were full in both services! (This link will take you to nethymnal.org, since this is a public domain song and there's not definitive arrangement. We did it with guitar and piano.)

Everlasting God (Brenton Brown / Ken Riley) - key of A - Instrumentally, we do this song as a sort of hybrid between Tomlin's slow version and Lincoln Brewster's fantastic, high-energy version -- Brewster's instrumental sound and Tomlin's arrangement. It was a great way to close the service and encourage people as they move into the coming week.

How did things go at your worship meeting?

"Sunday Setlists" is a worship leader community blogging effort that allows us to read about what other fellowships are singing each week. It's fascinating to see the variety of music being sung, and it's a great way of discovering new music that can be used congregationally. It also helps when I've been doubtful about whether or not a song would "work" congregationally and I'm able to see that other fellowships have embraced it (like Chris Tomlin's "I Will Rise," for instance -- listen for that one on Easter at Wall Highway).

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Sunday Setlists - March 22, 2009

Welcome to EGBFD's entry into Fred McKinnon's Sunday Setlists blog carnival, week 35! (The graphic above is so last week...)

No hiccups or problems today! Yeah! Drummer Dave, though, called me last night letting me know he'd sprained his kick drum ankle, so drummer John came to the rescue and contributed his gifts perfectly. I love my team!

I'll get this out of the way: I broke down this week and did the ol' one-two combo; that trusty worship leader medley that is all-inclusive, offendng no one, that will allow you to definitively say, "We have a blended servce!"

At the beginning of the services I opened verbally with a welcome to guests (in the second service revealing the secret of why we say "guest" instead of "visitor" - the latter mentally coveys "outsider") and offered a sermonette on prayer. That is, if you say you're going to pray for someone, do it. I'm not sure how many families and people our church body has promised to pray for on the day they join or publicly announce their new relationship with Christ, and I shudder to think of how often we may not have followed through with it as a church body.

How Great is Our God/How Great Thou Art (Chris Tomlin / Jesse Reeves / Ed Cash, Stuart K. Hine) - key of G - I don't think that we've done this particular medley in the five or six years I've been in leadership at Wall Highway. That's because I'm stubborn and haven't wanted to be a conformist. However, I have to admit that it absolutely focused everything on our great God right from the start. Great!

You Are Holy (Prince of Peace) (Marc Imboden) - key of G - One of the more wordy songs in existence. No worries, though. Singing that many names of God is fantastic! We were going to do this one with the Integrity iWorship MPEG video (with click track for the drummer), but due to the last-minute switch in drummers, we did it with "regular" lyric projection.

God is Great (Marty Sampson) - key of A - Slightly little high after the previous marathon lyric set, but it really built on the previous focus of our attention and song.

Spirit of the Living God (Daniel Iverson / Lowell Alexander) - key of D - While "traditional," this one's still under copyright, so it's technically not what most people would officially call "traditional," I suppose. It allowed us to ask God for the one Gift we always so desperately need.

It was a phenomenal day to sing and worship and hear the Word with a bunch of family members!

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