GRACE ALONE
Good morning and welcome to worship with us on this Lord’s Day, and this family worship weekend. A special welcome to all of our elementary students who are joining us in the auditorium today! This part of our service is called the Call to Worship - not because worship begins when we start singing, or begins when we walk through the doors, but because every person on the planet is worshiping all the time. But because of sin, we worship - give our attention and our love - to things that are not really worthy of our attention and our love. And we have a call to worship to be reminded that it is only God that is worthy of our attention and our love. Let’s hear God call us to worship from his Word:
Call to Worship: Psalm 61:1-5
Did you hear that? Fear your name. There are so many things in the world that can cause us fear and make us worried. But God says, there is only one person we should fear - and that is Him. Not because He is scary or mean, but because He is so big, and he is in control of everything. And when we fear God - when we recognize that he is the only one worthy of our worship - we do not have to be afraid of anything or anyone else. Let’s sing together:
A MIGHTY FORTRESS
BUILD MY LIFE
Sermon: 1 Peter 2:4-8
Above my desk there is a quote from an author I love that says: ‘I am one in whom Christ dwells and delights. I live in the strong and unshakeable kingdom of God. The kingdom is not in trouble, and neither am I (James Bryan Smith).” If you are here this morning that is true of you as well - God, through His spirit dwells in you. And when Christ returns God’s presence will not just dwell uniquely in the midst of His people, but will dwell among His people in a real and obvious way. So let’s set out attention toward that day as we sing…
KING OF KINGS
COME THOU FOUNT
Benediction
Worship Songs
Using Tracks
For a long time, I was against using tracks.
Not for any justifiable reason, mainly because I didn’t like being told what to do. And it felt like tracks could potentially determine the structure, style, and progression of a song I appreciated the flexibility of being able to change key or tempo to suit the setlist. But more than that, using tracks felt like lying or cheating - creating something that you were not actually able to reproduce with your given team.
You are likely familiar with tracks, but if not, they are pre-recorded elements that play along underneath the live band. They are often called backing tracks, loops, or simply tracks. They are not necessarily meant to replace instruments, but to enhance and compliment your team, as well as fill in musical holes. This is not a post about the technical side of setting up tracks - there are resources available with far more detail and skill than I could offer in that department. This is not even a post about selling you on using tracks, they are likely not right for every team and every church. What I hope to offer in this post is how to consider and implement tracks if you, like me, had never used them before.
Over the last 18 months, our church has been incorporating tracks into almost every song. And it has surprised me how much I have enjoyed using them. Like most things, there is a learning curve, and it has taken me some time to find the rhythm which works best for our team and our church, but overall, I am really happy with the decision to be using them regularly. There is far more flexibility in use than I had anticipated, and the fuller sound and the opportunity to introduce songs I would not have considered because of the way the production supported the song has outweighed my fear about tracks as lying or cheating.
Using in-ears.
If you are going to be using tracks, at least one person will have to be using in-ears. Because tracks are being played back with a click track (metronome to keep you in tempo and time), at least one person (usually the drummer or worship leader) needs to be able to hear the tempo to follow the track. And because you usually don’t want the congregation to hear a click track along with the song, the best application of tracks is with in-ear monitors. Tracks are just audio being played back, and therefore are not reacting dynamically to the live musicians - they are not slowing down or speeding up based on what other people are playing. You hit play on a track, and you’re into the song.
Start with a click track.
Before you invest a lot of time, energy, money, or effort into backing tracks, start with a click track. Backing tracks will include cues that will count into each part of a song. This is a significant adjustment. So starting with a standard click track will help the team get comfortable with hearing something in their ears apart from one another. It is also fairly low risk - if the team gets off the click, they just need to keep playing until they can find the pocket again - and generally, the congregation won’t be able to tell.
Start small.
Try adding a track to one song in the setlist. How does the team like using the track? Does the sound person feel equipped to be able to mix the song well? Does this feel like something that will work well in your context and with your congregation?
Like many things, there can be a temptation with tracks to go over the top and overboard very quickly. But a good song is a good song is a good song. My encouragement is to let the track complement the song, not overwhelm the song. As worship leaders, we want to utilize technology to enhance and adorn our worship gathering, but never to become the center of the gathering.
7 August: Liturgy + Set List
PRAISE TO THE LORD THE ALMIGHTY-GOOD GOOD FATHER
Call To Worship: Psalm 17:15
One of the things we confess as we gather is that we are far too easily satisfied. We are satisfied with created things more than our Creator. The truth is we need God’s help to love God. We need God’s help to see God as the source of our life and joy, rather than a means to our life and our joy. So let’s pray that as we gather and sing today that God would help us to see and treasure Him together:
GREAT ARE YOU LORD
God is the giver of life and salvation. One of the things that we can wrongly believe as followers of Jesus is that we only need Jesus for our salvation. But we need Jesus every moment of every day as the One who saves us, keeps us, sustains us, and grows us up into maturity. This morning we’re going to teach you a new song that gives language to the ongoing work of Christ in our lives. Let’s sing together:
YET NOT I BUT THROUGH CHRIST IN ME
Sermon: Colossians 1:24-29
If you want a deep, rich, mature life, you will not always have an easy and comfortable life. If you want a deep, rich, and mature faith - a deep walk with the Lord - you will not have an easy and comfortable faith. But as followers of Jesus we know that when we lose our lives, we find our lives. When we die to ourselves, we live to Christ. So we can treasure Christ more than ourselves. We can grow together rather than isolate and withdrawal. We can live on God’s mission rather than our own mission because we being made mature and complete in Christ. Let’s stand and celebrate what Christ has done for us as His people…
LIVING HOPE
Benediction
Addressing Chaos
Not long ago, one of our friends experiencing homelessness interrupted our worship gathering while our pastor was preaching. It brought the gathering to a stop, and he had to be escorted outside the building, where they received care, counsel, and prayer. We don’t plan for this kind of interruption, so it makes them all the more difficult to know how to address them in real-time. What can we do when chaos threatens to completely derail our corporate gathering?
Pray. Prayer communicates dependence and acknowledges our needs both to ourselves and to God. We need supernatural wisdom and discernment - always - but in a unique way in these moments about how to lead ourselves, and those we serve through these types of interruptions.
Ignore. Sometimes the best thing to do is nothing at all. If we can manage our way through without having to address distractions or interruptions head-on, we may be able to tune out some of the noise.
Engage. Our friend experiencing homelessness did just make a loud statement but was trying to engage in conversation with our pastor - while our pastor was preaching. If ignoring the interruption will not solve the issue on its own, it’s time to engage.
Enlist help. In moments of chaos, it can be hard to think clearly, it can be incredibly disorienting. Are there other people whom you can call to action to step in, and help settle a chaotic situation?
Speak to reality. People need to be shepherded, always, but especially through seasons or situations that are confusing and disorienting. How can you use words to guide people through uncertainty?
Move forward. Is it best to wrap up for the day? Or to move into a different piece of the service than planned? Don’t freeze, just move forward.
I hope that you will not experience chaotic interruptions to your corporate worship gathering that you have to determine how to manage. But the truth is because we are human, even if we do not have chaotic interruptions outwardly, inwardly, our lives are full of chaotic interruptions, even when we are leading worship. May we pray, ignore, engage, enlist help, speak to the reality, and move forward with much grace towards ourselves and others.
May 22: Liturgy + Set List
HOUSE OF THE LORD
Call to Worship: Psalm 86:1-7
It is a gift of Grace to the people of God that God has spoken to us through His Word. And not just that but that He desires to speak to us through His Spirit as we gather around His Word. He has spoken, He is speaking, but He is also the God who listens and hears. He invites us to pour out our hearts as we seek to respond to His Word preached. Let’s stand and sing in response to God’s Word:
GRACE ALONE
CHRIST BE MAGNIFIED
Sermon: Ezekiel 37:1-14
The grass withers and the flower fades, but the Word of the Lord endures forever. The heavens will pass away, and the earth will pass away but the Word of the Lord endures forever. Why would we seek to anchor our lives to anything other than the immovable, enduring, eternal Word of God? Let’s stand and respond together:
ON CHRIST THE SOLID ROCK
HIS MERCY IS MORE
What Makes A Good Song
“A good song is a good song is a good song.”
I heard Steve say that countless times. Steve is one of the best musicians with whom I have ever served, a professional musician who had toured and been a roadie. When Steve spoke about music, I listened.
When it came to what made a good song, he would repeat, “A good song is a good song is a good song.” He would explain that no matter what you took away from a song if it was truly a good song, the melody and lyrics could stand on their own. A good song should be able to communicate and move you with just a vocal, or just a guitar, or just a piano. A good song was only enhanced by adding all of the other flourishes of production and instrumentation.
On the other hand, a bad song was a song that only made sense with all of the flourishes of production and instrumentation.
I think about this concept often when I am choosing new music, and trying to determine if a particular song will work in my specific context. Is this song great because of the professional musicians who have recorded these parts? Is this a good song because of the emotion of being recorded in a stadium? Is this a good song because the production is creative, artistic, and compelling?
Or is this a good song because it is theologically rich, poetically written, and able to be sung acapella around a hospital bed as easily as with a full band, and full congregation?
There are many things to consider when choosing new songs for your local congregation. But a good song is a good song is a good song, and should always be able to stand on it’s own.
20 March: Liturgy + Set List
GREAT THINGS
Call to Worship: Psalm 77:11-15
Maybe you are here this morning, and along with the Psalmist, are ready to recount the deeds of the Lord. Maybe you are here this morning feeling like you have been slighted by God. The reality for every follower of Jesus is that, one, God has not given us that which we rightly deserve - which is death - the punishment for our sins. And two, that God has given us Himself. Wherever you may be this morning, you and I have many reasons to be glad. Let’s sing these truths together:
10,000 REASONS (BLESS THE LORD)/JIREH
Can I let you in on a worship leader secret? We don’t pick songs that we like to sing. We choose songs week to week which will hopefully help us respond to God as He teaches us through His Word. And at a higher level, we choose songs to sing that will hopefully form our minds and our hearts. Shape our knowledge and our affections of who God is, what He has done, and who He has called us to be. Over the last few weeks, you may have noticed that our songs have been slower, the teams have been smaller and we have not had drums - all of that is on purpose. This is the third week of Lent, a time where we remember, reflect, and repent as we ready our hearts for Easter Sunday. And we wanted to make space for that remembrance, reflection, and repentance through our gathered time together. One other element we are incorporating weekly is a corporate confession of sin, where we confess our sins to God and to one another. Let’s do that together now:
Corporate Confession:
Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. Lord, have mercy and save Your people whom You bought with Your own blood. Do not turn away from us because of our sins. Remember us according to Your steadfast love, and Your gracious work for Your people. Deliver us that we may enjoy the benefits of Your chosen ones, and share in the joy of Your people, and join Your inheritance in giving praise. Amen. (Adapted from Seed Grains of Prayer, 1914)
Assurance of Pardon: Ephesians 1:11-14
I SHALL NOT WANT
Sermon: Joshua 13-14
Communion
I STAND AMAZED (HOW MARVELOUS)
Songs of Devotion, Songs of Corporate Worship
Corporate worship is an industry. With worship leaders, songwriters, and churches releasing new music to radio, going on tour, and selling tens of thousands of records. With the rise of an industry, there is also something of a hybrid - the worship artist. A blend of contemporary christian music sensibilities, corporate worship production, and singer-songwriter confessionals. For me, artists such as United, Maverick City Music, and several Bethel artists would fall into this category. Much of this music I enjoy, and find personally beneficial. But something that gives me pause is how undiscerning worship leaders can be about introducing - what I would call - songs of personal devotion - into the corporate worship space.
I do not believe that there is anything wrong or heretical about singing songs of personal devotion in the corporate gathering. Songs of personal devotion like, ‘I Love You Lord,’ and, ‘Give Me Jesus,’ have their place in the life of the Church. And clearly we see in the Psalms (the song and prayer book of the people of God) very personal pleas, confessions, prayers and celebrations from the Psalmist - intended for corporate use. What I am primarily contending for here is best practice - bringing songs to the congregation that will serve the people well in the corporate gathering and daily life.
Here are some filters for consideration when a song connects with you personally, or is being suggested by someone in the congregation, as to whether it may fall into a category of corporate worship, or personal devotion:
True.
Everything we put in the mouths of our congregations should be true. Not just truth adjacent, but true true. Can you trace every concept, idea, and even lyric back to Scripture? The lyrics should reveal what God has first revealed to be true of Himself - His heart, and His character. The content of the song should also be universally true for the life of every believer - not just telling a story of personal experience. An example of this kind of song of personal devotion is a song like ‘Talking to Jesus’ from Brandon Lake - ‘Grandma used to pray out loud by her bed every night. To me it sounded like mumbling like she was out of her mind. She said, ‘Boy, this kind of praying is what saved my life you outta try it sometime,’ and now I know she was right.’ - Clearly, this is a lyric that is personally meaningfully, but not necessarily universally true.
We Over Me.
Corporate sung worship is corporate. Don’t get me wrong, I am not a fan of changing all personal pronouns in corporate worship songs to plural pronouns (I have known of churches who have done this), but our corporate worship songs should be filled with more ‘we’s than ‘me’s.
Accessible.
Melodies and lyrics should be accessible to the congregation. Songs that contain multiple parts lyrically or melodically can make learning and ‘entering into that song’ difficult for the average congregation. Choose lyrics that are poetic, thoughtful, unique and unfold with meaning the more they are sung, absolutely! But will what you are singing make sense without any explanation, or if someone walks in halfway through a song? Songs of personal devotion can often have compelling melodies, that change from verse to verse, or never come back to repeat specific parts - this can be especially difficult to teach, let alone grasp in the corporate worship gathering.
Regardless of whether a song leans more corporate worship, or personal devotion, choosing songs for your congregation should be something done with a critical ear, and a discerning heart. One that is familiar with your congregation specifically - what do they need to sing right now? What will we need to sing a year from now? What songs will they need to sing over their crying baby in the evening? What songs will they need to sing in celebration of the care and provision of God? What songs will they need to sing around the gravesite? Whatever songs we choose, may they be ones that are good, beautiful and true.