Sunday Setlist 3-1-09

Part of FredMcKinnon.com’s Sunday Setlist/Confessional carnival.

Where to start…

This morning went very well – even without considering the discovery I just made… I woke up (again) with a massive head cold and sore throat, so I took some Tylenol Sinus – unfortunately I seem to have taken the nighttime kind! Sheesh! No wonder I felt so loopy all morning.

The song list:

• Hosanna (Praise is Rising) [F]
• The Solid Rock [D]
• It Is You [A]
• Only You [G]
• kids message
• Everyday [Ab]
• announcements
• message
• Take My Life [D]
• Communion

We had Pastor Chris’s daughter singing with us today, since she is here visiting. So, most of the vocalists got the week off – it was just Art, Jessica and myself singing (although I wasn’t sure I would be doing much singing before I got there! But God always provides what we need when we need it.)

Hosanna is a great song for getting people up and moving, singing and worshiping. We have tried it in every key from D to G… I prefer G, but in deference to the guys we did it in F (they prefer E). We followed that up with The Solid Rock (the updated version…) and It Is You by the Newsboys.

It Is You is such a great song – it calls out what we are supposed to be doing while we worship, and is a great reminder to everyone. IT is God – and only God – who deserves our worship and praise and adoration. It is God who is Holy, and it is God whose name we can call on in times of trouble – no one else can come through for us. And I got to sing a bit of harmony (yay!)

Since Jessica was with us, we sang Only You (by Andy Park), which is a song that she used to lead a lot and everyone loves. We have only done it I think 2-3 times since I joined the team a year ago, so it’s a mostly new song for me… but everyone else knows and loves it. Since she was leading I got to sing harmony again – double yay! We may have to pull that song back into rotation again – the words are (again) a great reminder of the God we worship. Only God can fill the deepest longings of our hearts and bring new life – no matter what we try to fill that God-shaped hole with, nothing else will do… only God.

Our scrolls topic this week is Time, and the passage is Luke 8: 4-15 – the parable of the sower.  Mrs. J. spoke on how we are called to plant seeds in the lives of those around us – and passed out a pumpkin seed to each child as a reminder.

We then sang Everyday, because that is how often we are to live our lives for God – every single day.  I love the motions Jenifer has added to that song, and the kids really get into it (even if some people joke that it’s a song that never ends!)

The message was also about Time, and while Pastor Chris used the passage in Luke 8, and John 8:58, the bulk of the sermon was based on Ephesians 6:10-17 – the Armor of God.

We need to take the time to equip ourselves with the armor of God so that we can go out there and face down the enemy.  Sot hat we can go out there and share the love of God with a world that is dying.

Have you ever noticed how many references to time are also references to money?  Spend your time, invest your time, budget your time, etc.  Time is our most precious commodity – we can never get any more, and we really will never know just how much we have until it’s gone… and by then, it’s too late to redeem any wasted time.

How are you using your time?  Are you investing it in eternity, or are you squandering it on the present, on the chaff that will be burnt up?  I know that this message hit home with me this week.  Eric & I spent quite a while last night talking about how to free up more of my time to do the things that I need to do… and how to get out of the things that are taking up my time and my thoughts that are no longer where my focus needs to lie.

We went into communion with the song Take My Life (as updated by Chris Tomlin) which really spoke to me in relation to the message.  We need to give God everything – our lives, our time, our money, our lips, our songs, our intellect… everything.  It is a song that has been humbling me for the past week as I have been thinking about it, and it’s calling me to the next level – something that isn’t always fun, but is necessary.  Just like a butterfly working it’s way out of a chrysalis, when we work our way through the trials that God places before us we come out stronger on the other side – strong enough to fly.  But, like that butterfly, if we don’t go through the difficulty… well, flying just isn’t an option.  We won’t be strong enough.*

*can’t take credit for the illustration – Chris used it today, although I had just read it last week at some point as well.

We then took communion as a body to finish out the service, with the reminder that Jesus blood was poured out for us… that God took the time to live a perfect life and die a horrible death so that we could be with Him for all of time… in fact, outside of time.  The bible says that He is body was broken before the foundations of time because God exists outside of time… it is an eternal present (something that we simply cannot comprehend!)

So, that was our service, how was yours?

On a side note, I think I will make sure that I look more closely at the box of decongestant before I take one next time… having to hold onto a music stand so I don’t fall over is not good.  And passing out for a Sunday afternoon nap isn’t always the most restful way… not when it’s drug-induced!  The effects are still very much being felt, so I’m calling it a day.  Have a great week!