Category — .Worship

Part of the Sunday Setlist blog carnival over at TheWorshipCommunity.com – check it out!

I know, I’m late getting this posted.  Life happens sometimes

Before I get into the gory details, here is the list…

• All Because of Jesus
• Glorious (Baloche/Brown)
• Revelation Song
• Indescribable
• kids story
• We Are One/By Our Love (Mark Swayze Band)
• announcements
• message
• The Wonderful Cross
• communion
• Amazing Grace

We were missing quite a few people again this week, but had others back.  The bigger issue that we were facing, however, was that it was the first Sunday we used the in-ear monitors.

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek!

Yeah, it was scary.  Somehow, though, it all worked out (at least that’s what people in the congregation were telling me.  Phew!)  The perspective from the stage was a bit less glowing though!

There were a few lessons learned… one main one was that I should never EVER attempt to lead a song that is just “that much” too low for me.  Especially for a kids song.  Yes, I thought I knew this, of course, but I did it anyway.  ugh.

As you can see, this week it is much more of a worship confessional… I confess, it sucked (from my perspective) and I take full responsibility for making it more challenging for everyone.

The upside was that we as a band (albiet missing a few members) have played long enough without any monitors and together as a team that it all worked somehow.  Good job team!

Lesson 2 – when you know you are missing something on Wednesday that you will need on Sunday… make sure that you have it on Sunday!  Some of the extenders for the headphones were mono instead of sterio… and I confess that I still haven’t picked them up.  Yeah, I need to do that.  Tomorrow.  Because I hadn’t picked those up yet the vocals didn’t use their in-ears – and neither our sound guy or myself were aware of that until, oh, about the time the service was starting… too late to set up a wedge.

Lesson 3 – check all batteries BEFORE the service starts.  Voice recorders and wireless microphones.  Yep.  Oh, and a sound check on that wireless mic would be a good plan too (if only the worship leader could get her rehearsal done in time to do it…)

So yeah, it was one of those weekends.

How was yours?

Wow – today was powerful (for me anyway).  We had a smaller group than normal (down by 4 people/5 sounds) but the worship wasn’t missing anything!

Da Liszt:

• Rain It Down [G] Carlos Whittaker
• Blessed Be Your Name [G]  Matt Redman/Beth Redman
• Here I Am, Send Me [G] Martin Anderson
• Here Is Love [D] Steve Cook/Vikki Cook/Phillip Rees
• kids story
• Counting On God [D] Jared Anderson
• announcements
• message – guest speaker
• Doxology

This was our second week doing Rain It Down, and people are really starting to pick it up.  I took a minute or so to expound on it today to help people get a little more out of it, and I hope that people were more blessed by it.  It’s such a great song to sing when you are in the midst of something.  There is just something about reaching out to God while in the middle of the storms that is so… powerful.

We followed that up with Blessed Be Your Name, again pointing out that we need to praise God in the good and the bad times.  Then we moved into Here I Am, Send Me and Here Is Love recognizing what God went through to make us His own.

Personally with the storms of life, today was just what I needed.  A reminder that God is there.  A reminder that while God never said that He would take away all of our problems, He did promise that He would be right there beside us while we are going through them – that we don’t need to fear the storm, we just need to cling ever closer to Him through the storm.

On a musical note, however, I am seriously considering raising Rain It Down a step to A – the verses are just so low for me.    The original key is C, but I know that the rest of the vocalists would pitch a fit over singing it that high…

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As always, this is part of the Sunday Setlist blog carnival over at TheWorshipCommunity.com – head over to see what songs are being sung at churches all over the world.

How was your worship service this weekend?

Lent…

Growing up (in the church, I might add) I had never heard of this season.  Not once.  I remember the first time I ever heard of it – and of someone giving something up for it.  I was a sophmore in college – yeah, like I said, I had never heard of it.

So what is the big deal about this thing called Lent?

Well, recent study has shown me that there actually is a big deal about it… and it all comes down to the heart.

The season of Lent is a season of preparation – preparing your heart and mind for Easter.  The 40 day period was chosen (in part) due to the 40 day period that Jesus spent in the desert before beginning His earthly ministry.  There are also other periods of preperation lasting 40 days in the Bible – it rained for 40 days & 40 nights and created a flood to cleanse the world, Moses stayed on the mountain of God 40 days, the spies were sent into the promised land for 40 days, and Elijah travelled 40 days to reach the cave where he had his vision, just to name a few.

So how do we use this time?  We pray – or we should.  It is a time to truly look at our lives and see if there is anything holding us back from the best that God has for us.  The things that people “give up for Lent” are (usually) not bad things – they are good things, however they may find that these things hold them back from the better and best that God wants for them.  De-cluttering our lives and minds from these things and devoting extra time to prayer helps us to see this.

So why fasting?

Well, fasting is very biblical.  Jesus said “When you fast…” not “if”.  God calls us to fast on occasion to draw our focus to Him.  Again, removing something from our lives can help us have a greater appreciation for it when it returns.  Ash Wednesday is traditionally a day of fasting, as are the 6 Fridays in Lent.  Sundays, however, are excluded from Lent, as they are a day of celebration for what God has done, namely conquering the grave and bringing us salvation.

This season helps re-align our focus – feeling the pangs of hunger and not allowing yourself to partake of something you enjoy for a short season helps us to focus in on our need – our need for God’s grace and the salvation that Jesus brought through the cross.

Taking the time that you would usually spend eating or watching tv or whatever your “thing” is that you give up for a season is beneficial in that you will draw closer to God – and that is never a bad thing!

I have never taken part in Lent before, however this year I will be.  I will have days that I fast, days that I spend that extra time in prayer, and I will be giving up something that is fun – but not a necessity to life.  And I will be spending that 20-30 minutes a day (or longer) that I used to spend on that and giving it to God.  After all, I’m sure He has a better use for it that I was putting it to!

I’m looking forward to this time – to the opportunity to walk through a period of suffering with Jesus, to draw closer to Him, and to more deeply appreciate the celebration of Easter.

How about you?  Is Lent a part of your life?  If not, is it something you have ever considered?

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Yep, it’s that gushy, pink-and-red holiday that’s all about luuuv.  ugh.  *grin*

But on a happier note, we had a great morning at Falcon Ridge Fellowship today!  We led All Because of Jesus for the third week, and we debuted another new song today – one that I was really excited about.

We had almost everyone there this morning – we were missing our usual bass player, but David switched over and played today so the sound was great.  The best part though?  I got to sit in the congregation and take communion with Eric… and that hasn’t happened in a looooooong time.

Anywho, here’s the setlist:

• Rain It Down [G] Carlos Whittaker
• All Because Of Jesus [G] Steve Fee
  
• Glorious [Bb] Brenton Brown/Paul Baloche
• You Never Let Go [F] Matt Redman/Beth Redman
• kids storytime
• Glorious [G] Chris Tomlin/Jesse Reeves…
• announcements
• Message
• You Gave Your Life Away [E] Kathryn Scott / Paul Baloche
• Communion message
• My Chains Are Gone – chorus only

We introduced @loswhit‘s new single Rain It Down this morning, and the band was sooooo excited to do it.  It is such a fun song to sing and play, and (hopefully) that enthusiasm was contagious.  I had posted on my FB age a couple of weeks ago that we would be doing it & everyone should download it, and (fortunately) a few had done that and already knew it.  However since I know that a few will be asking where to find it I’m posting the link again – if you want to download it, head over to iTunes here.

All Because of Jesus is a great tune too, and we have a lot of fun with it.  They play it quite a bit on the local christian station up here, so most people already knew it – helpul when your teaching something new. It’s great to see most of the congregation singing along when you’ve recently introduced a song to them.   Baloche’s Glorious is like that too – people connected with that one almost immediately, and it quickly became one of the favorite songs.  I think Glorious and Here I am, Send Me are our two most requested songs.  Having both Glorious’s on the list today was a little confusing, but it worked out great.

Well, I’m off – Eric is taking me shopping for something sparkly and we have to drop the girls off at a friend’s first, (well, after we finish grouting the rest of the tile – soooooo romantic!)  so I’ll catch you later!

As always, this is part of the Sunday Setlist bloggy carnival over at TheWorshipCommunity.com – check it out!

So, how was your service this weekend?  Any songs you loved?  Any you loved, well, not so much?

Ever have one of those sets where you just can’t not worship?  It was like that for me yesterday.  1 brand new song, and 3 songs that we hadn’t done for a while but were great old friends.  You know, the kind that you don’t have to worry about where you go next because you know the song so well that it just comes out.

And I almost missed it.

M has had some kind of cold/flu bug for about 10 days now and I seem to have caught it on Friday night.  I spent Saturday in bed (as much as I could anyway) so that I would be abe to make it to church this weekend.  And I did make it, but it was rather touch-and-go for a bit.  The biggest problem was the sore throat that came & went.  It was gone Sunday morning, but the voice still wasn’t all there.

BUT

I am so thankful for the truth on the lyrics we sang in Baloche’s Hosanna – “when we see You, we find strength to face the day.  And in Your presence all our fears are washed away”  That was so true for me yesterday!  He gave me the strength to face the day yesterday, and I am so thankful!

Anywho, here’s the list:

• All Because Of Jesus [F]
• Hosanna (Praise Is Rising) [F]
• It Is You [A]
• Enough [F]
• kids story
• Love The Lord [D]
• message
• Lord You Have My Heart [D]
• Communion
• Doxology

All Because Of Jesus was brand new for us this weekend, but people were joining in pretty quickly.  We did it in F, however the verse was still a bit low for me (since I was sick).  I’m thinking about trying it out in G next week… or maybe A.  We’ll see how high I can convince them to go

Chris ended up leading It Is You & Enough – which was great because that meant I got to sing harmony – yay!  We haven’t done either of those songs in months and I really missed them.  It was just a morning of truly singing out praises to God and truths about Him & sending them back to Him.

We stayed very simple on Lord You Have My Heart – just 2 vocals, an acoustic and a djembe.  We sang it over the congregation while the bread and grape juice were passed out for communion and asked people to take the time to prepare their hearts and minds for the Lord’s Table.  Then Wayne shared a message about taking in Jesus’ flesh & blood into our bodies as a symbol of taking Him into ourselves.  It was pretty powerful.

After the service the girls decided that they were going to a friend’s house – and then informed all 4 parents involved!  It’s always fun when they try to do that.  Fortunately for them it worked this time!  They left with their friend and Eric & I actually got to have a date!  Honestly it was almost surreal.  He’s been out of town or pulling 14-hour days at the sales meeting for 2 weeks now, so we haven’t even seen each other at all except for last Tuesday evening.  It was so nice to get to go to lunch just with him.  We really need to do that more often…

All in all it was a great weekend – despite being sick.  Today, however, this bug seems to have pulled in the reserves and in attacking again.  Oh well, not much going on now

How was your service?

*This is part of the Sunday Setlist Bloggy Carnival over at TheWorshipCommunity.com – see what songs are being led all over the world!

I was bouncing around the blog-o-sphere tonight and happened upon a post that Carlos Whittaker did a while back asking 2 simple questions…

• When does a worship leader really botch it for you?
• What is the biggest gripe you have about something a Sunday worship leader does?

There were LOTS of responses – most of them contradicting each other, ironically – but one of them encapsulated it for me.  A gent named Rick tossed this comment into the mix, and I wanted to share it.  I also want to ponder it myself for a bit.  Here is what he said:

I hate it when my worship leader…
-has to remind Christians that corporate worship is a mandate from God.

-has to risk being a cheerleader because the people that claim to love God exhibit no sense of joy when singing about Him.

-has to burn the first song because 75% of the congregation is late, talking in the lobby, perfecting their coffee, or sleep walking instead of enthusiastically taking advantage of celebrating our Savior with like-hearted people.

-has to endure darts of personal preference from hundreds of individuals who have lost sight of what Sunday worship time is prescribed by God to be.

-is treated as a thoughtless hire rather than a divinely appointed servant.

-is expected to never get nervous but be humble,
execute notes and lyrics without flaw while avoiding performance and being vulnerable,
make no effort to teach or guide but don’t be a juke box, and stay traditional and contemporary,
all while burying, birthing and resurrecting songs appropriately.

I’m sure that’s easy to do!

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This also comes on the heels of seeing one of my fellow worship leading mom’s getting roasted by a “friend” on her facebook wall because she gets “paid too much just to sing on sundays, most people volenteer their time for that.”

Is this really where the Modern Church has gotten to?  Are we really that consumer-minded?  Are we that angry and judgemental?

The true question should be “what is it that helps draw you into the presence of God?” or “is there a way that your local worship leader can help you shake off the baggage you brought with you so that you can truly worship God?”

As a worship leader, these are the questions that I would love to have answered!  I want to know if there is something that I can do to help you enter the throne room of your Saviour and King.  How can I help you feel released?  How can I get out of your way and create an environment where there isn’t anything to distract you from living out your sacrifice of praise of an Almighty God?

Don’t get me wrong – I totally get why Carlos asked the questions, and I do appreciate some of the responses.  There are things that I do that would drive some of his readers insane (and I’ll be working on some of them – but not all of them!).

To be the person that God has called to stand up in front of His church and lead them is a daunting task.  To be the person that is responsible for getting a list of songs together that:

1. The congregation knows
2. Relates to the pastor’s message
3. The band plays/sings well
4. Has a natural “flow”

well, that is a hard thing some weeks!  And we do it every. single. week.

Yes, there are times that it all comes together in such an amazing way that there is no doubt that God had His hand in it… but there are also weeks that I look at the passage we will be studying (and the supporting passages) and I draw a huge blank for days.

Then you add in the hours of practice, set-up & tear down, the creating of charts (in multiple keys), the time spend seaking out new music to add to your church’s repitoire, building relationships with the members of the band and making sure they are growing spiritually… and the list goes on and on.  Oh, and having the guts to get up in front of you each week and blowing it as often as not (even when you may never know) – mixing up words or chord progressions or sounding like an idiot when you lose your train of thought.

I’m human.  Your worship leader, worship pastor, director of music, etc – they are only human too.  We fail, we get nervous, we have things that come up in our lives that reduce the time we have to prepare. The unexpected happens.

BUT

We serve a God that gives each of us a second chance – you, me and even your worship leader.

Next time your worship leader does or says something that bugs you – and I’m sure they will – take a step back and try to see the why in it.  Why does it bug you?  Is it something that needs to be addressed spiritually or theologically?  Is there something that hints at hipocracy in their lives?  Or are you just grumpy today?

Are we coming to church to be entertained, or are we coming to worship the Saviour of our souls in unity and community with a body of believers?

Just some things to think about.

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**I’m not saying that ALL churches are this way, I’m just making a generalization based on the fact that nearly 200 people chimed in and over 80% of the comments had a negative slant.  Help us out – tell us how we can help rather than throw us under the bus. If you really want to see the negativity (from both sides, unfortunately,) just google “I hate when my worship leader” – ugh.

** 2nd disclaimer – I’m not trying to cast angry comments back, but rather to help the general church-attendee to see that there may be more to it than meets the eye.  I really do want comments and feedback – I want to help make your corporate worship experience as seemless and God-honoring as I can!  I also want you and I to be able to worship together, side by side.  After all, that is the point of corporate worship!

This is part of the Sunday Setlist bloggy carnival over at The WorshipCommunity.com – check it out!

It was a fun morning today – and one that I almost didn’t make it to.  Sick kids can make things more interesting from time to time!

I did make it in, however, and I am so glad I did!  We had a sweet time of worship this morning, and it was great to see so many really entering in.

Here’s the list:

• Come, Now Is The Time To Worship
• Not To Us
• Here I Am, Send Me
• All I Have
• kids storytime
• I Am Free
• announcements
• message
• Amazing Grace

We had a full crew this morning and it was great to have everyone there.  It was a little chilly since the boiler had gone out, but they got that working and it started warming up.  Hopefully we got a good recording this week (last week’s experiment didn’t, unfortunately) so I will get that posted as soon as it’s ready.

What happened at your church this weekend?

Ever have one of those days where you’re “on” but you just aren’t feeling it?  Let me clarify… feeling the worship, yes, feeling the Spirit, yes!  But physically… well, you just aren’t at 100% (or even 75% for that matter!)

Yeah, that was me today.

I’ve been dragging for about a week (I even took a 3 hour nap the other day and still felt tired).  And I had a headache for most of yesterday which was a big sign that something is UP.  Add that to the low-grade fever I’m sure I was running off-and-on all morning and I think it’s safe to say I’m coming down with something.

Oh fraptious day.

BUT – and that’s always a big one – God is strong when we are weak!  And (especially today) I’m so thankful for that truth!

Oh, and the other benefit today?  Chris was leading most of the songs – which was really helpful when my voice threatened to stop working!

So, the list…

• Glorious (Baloche/Brown)
• God Of Wonders
• Agnus Dei
• Sweetly Broken
• kids storytime – Miracles
• Everything To God
• announcements
• message
• Communion
• Come Just As You Are
• I Love You Lord

It was a great setlist!  All songs that our congregation really seem to connect with, and we had a sweet time of worship.  We were down by a few instruments today so a couple of the songs were missing the fill that is usually played by the 2nd electric (he was playing bass today) and I missed them, but overall it sounded great.  I think we are starting to get this sound thing figured out for the most part.

We changed up Sweetly Broken today just a bit, but wow, what a difference it made!  It’s one of those songs that we love, but it has always felt a little “off”.  With the changes that Chris made though, it really felt great.  All that was missing on that one was the other guitar… it was so nice to be able to just sing the background vocals and not worry about it falling apart (not that any of us ever worry about that happening, right?)

The other high point?  I Love You Lord.  We did it simply with 3 of us singing in 3-part harmony acapella, and it really finished out the service on a great note.  I love it when that happens!

So, what happened in your service? Or, if you were part of ours, what are your thoughts? I’d love to hear about it!

**This is part of the Sunday Setlist bloggy carnival over at TheWorshipCommunity.com – take a look at that songs are being sung at churches all over the world! **