Liturgy

What Makes A Good Song

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“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.

8 May: Liturgy + Set List

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  • GOD SO LOVED

    Call to Worship

    Parent Commissioning

  • GRAVES INTO GARDENS

  • LORD, I NEED YOU

    Sermon: James 1:12-18

    If you are here this morning sitting in a trial if you are here this morning aware of how you have been lured away and enticed to sin from your distorted desires if you are here this morning sitting in the consequences of your own brokenness, let all of those things be to you an invitation to return to the Lord. Return to the Shepherd and Overseer of your soul, our good and gracious God. Let’s stand and sing in response to God’s Word preached:

  • COME THOU FOUNT

April 17: Liturgy + Set List

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  • HOUSE OF THE LORD

Call to Worship: Luke 24:1-6

Corporate Reading:

LEADER: Alleluia! Christ is risen. ALL: He is risen indeed. Alleluia!

L: Praise the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. A: He has given us new life and hope,
He has raised Jesus from the dead.

L: God has claimed us as His own.
A: He has brought us out of darkness. He has made us light to the world,

L: Alleluia! Christ is risen.
A: He is risen indeed, Alleluia!

[From the Worship Sourcebook, based on 1 Peter 3:3-5]

  • CHRIST THE LORD IS RISEN TODAY

  • KING OF KINGS

Sermon: Acts 13:36-41

Whatever stage of life you may be in - committed follower of Jesus, or you don’t believe anything said or sung this morning, or anywhere in between - our only hope in life and death for everyone one of us, a risen Christ. Let’s respond to who God’s Word preached with our songs and lives, would you stand and sing:

  • IN CHRIST ALONE

  • LIVING HOPE

Benediction

April 15: Liturgy + Set List

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Enter in Silence [Isaiah 53:3-7, Matthew 26:26-29, Matthew 27:28-31, Mark 15:33-34]

Welcome and Corporate Confession:

Merciful God, We confess that we have sinned against You in thought, word, and deed, By what we have done, and by what we have left undone. We have not loved You with our whole heart and mind and strength. We have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. In Your mercy forgive what we have been, help us amend what we are, And direct what we shall be, So that we may delight in your will and walk in Your ways, To the glory of Your holy name. Through Christ, our Lord. Amen. [Book of Common Prayer]

  • WHEN I SURVEY THE WONDROUS CROSS

  • KING OF KINGS

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 Prayer]

Individual Confession: Psalm 51:1-3

  • NOTHING BUT THE BLOOD

    Sermon

  • MAUNDY THURSDAY HYMN

Corporate Confession Based on Psalm 51:

ALL:
Have mercy on us, O God according to Your steadfast love and abundant mercy. We confess we have committed overt and secret sins against You. We’ve done evil in Your sight and our sin is always before us. We’ve tried to right our own wrongs in pride but our guilt causes our heads to hang low.

LEADER:
For those who hide themselves in the work of Christ, our High Priest, you’ve been give a broken spirit, a contrite heart. Your transgressions are blotted out. Your iniquities cleansed. You’ve been washed whiter than snow. In Christ, you can know joy and your broken bones rejoice! God renews our spirit and creates in us a clean heart. Because God’s renewing power, we can sing aloud of His power and goodness.

Communion

  • HOW CAN IT BE

  • IS HE WORTHY

    Final Word, John 19:30, when ready, people leave in silence

  • JESUS PAID IT ALL

10 April: Liturgy + Set List

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  • GOD SO LOVED

    Call To Worship: Zechariah 9:9

    Welcome to the 6th and final Sunday in the season of Lent, Palm Sunday. Palm Sunday is a day full of contradictions: It is a celebration of Christ’s arrival, while sorrow knowing that He is on His way to the cross, shouts of celebration at Christ’s arrival which days later become shouts of ‘Crucify Him!’ It is the God of the universe riding humbly on a donkey, it is the God of the universe taking the punishment for the sin that we deserve so that we can have the life Christ deserved. Every person in this room is a person of contradictions. And as we continue in worship we to be honest with God, ourselves, and one another. Would you take a moment to read the prayer on the screen before we confess this prayer together? Let’s confess our sins to God and one another:

    Corporate Confession:

Jesus, our Lord, we shout hosannas to praise You.

With eager hands, we place our cloaks and palms on the path before You.

Yet, Lord, we confess that the mouths that seek to praise You often deny or defy You.

And we confess that the hands that seek to serve you often become fists. Lord, hear us as we confess.

Assurance of Pardon - Hear the Good News:

Hosanna to the Son of David! 

Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!

For Christ came into the world not to condemn the world,

But that the world through Him should be saved.

Therefore, be imitators of God, as beloved children.

And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us,

A fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

Hosanna! Amen!

From the Worship Sourcebook based on Matthew 21:8-9, John 3:17, Ephesians 5:1-2

  • GRACE ALONE

  • THIS IS AMAZING GRACE

    Sermon: Joshua 23-24

    Choose this day whom you will serve is not a choice for one moment of one day, it is a choice made every moment of every day. But Scripture tells us that no one chooses God. Our choosing this day whom we will serve this day whom you will serve is only a response to how God in Christ has first served us. Let’s respond to our God together:

  • GOD WITH US

  • RAISE UP THE CROWN (ALL HAIL THE POWER)

    Benediction

Preparing for Holy Week

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We mark days that have marked us. This is why our calendars are filled with holidays celebrating where we have been, how far we have come, and who we’d like to be. As followers of Jesus, the two most significant days on the Church calendar are Christmas and Easter. These are days that change the course of history, and humanity. Quite literally splitting time into two halves - before Christ, and in the Year of our Lord.

We mark the days that have marked us, and we mark the days which have marked history. Following the Church Calendar with its seasons and holidays build meaning and transcendence into our lives. Rather than trying to pack all our meaning and celebration on a single day, the seasons allow us to build anticipation, expectation, and excitement as we approach these holy days. The reflection of Lent gives way to the blip of celebration on Palm Sunday, the days set apart of Holy Week, the gore of Good Friday, the quiet of Holy Saturday, and the triumph of Christ over Satan, sin, and death on Resurrection Sunday.

Holy Week preparation is important practically as well as spiritually. Maybe this year, preparation during Holy Week looks like spending time in the Gospels each day from Palm Sunday through Resurrection Sunday. I have found this overview and timeline from ESV on the Harmony of the Events of Holy Week to be so helpful.

Here is a quick glance:

Friday/Saturday: Jesus arrives in Bethany, is anointed by Mary, and the crowds come to see

Palm Sunday: The triumphal entry

Monday: Jesus curses the fig tree, cleanses the temple, and returns to Bethany

Tuesday: Disciples see the withered fig tree, temple controversies in Jerusalem, Olivet Discourse and return to Bethany

Wednesday: Jesus continues daily temple teachings, Sanhedrin plot to kill Jesus, Begin passover preparation

Maundy Thursday: Passover Meal/Last Supper, Upper Room Discourse, Jesus prays in Gethsemane

Good Friday: Betrayal and arrest, Jewish trial, before Annas, before Caiaphas and part of the Sanhedrin, before full Sanhedrin, Roman trials, before Pilate, before Herod, before Pilate, Crucifixion, Burial

Holy Saturday: Silence, rest on the Sabbatha

Resurrection Sunday: Empty tomb witnesses, and Resurrection appearances

3 April: Liturgy + Set List

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  • YES AND AMEN

Welcome to this fifth Sunday of Lent. Let’s hear God call us to worship through His Word:

Call to Worship: Psalm 50

My hope and prayer in this season of Lent are that we are awakened afresh and anew to the deep darkness of our own sin and brokenness, and awakened afresh and anew to the glory of God and His grace and kindness toward us in and through the work of Jesus. Because of what Christ has done for you, you are adopted into the family of God, with God as your Father. If you are here this morning as a follower of Christ, God is not apathetic or indifferent toward you, He is not distant or an acquaintance, you are an adopted and redeemed child of God. Not only has God reconciled Himself to us through Christ, but he has also reconciled us one to another. We were once enemies of God, we were once enemies of one another, now we are a part of the new family of God. Let’s celebrate those truths as brothers and sisters this morning.

  • IS HE WORTHY

  • MY JESUS I LOVE THEE

Sermon: Joshua 22

If we truly grasped the depth to which Christ descended to redeem us from our sin, how quick we would be to confess our sin to God, and to one another. How quick we would be to pursue one another in our wandering and sin, and walk together toward repentance and faith. All sin is first and foremost against God, but we also sin against one another. Your spiritual stuff is my spiritual stuff, my spiritual stuff is your spiritual stuff because we belong together as the family of God. So let’s practice our repentance and faith together, would you stand as we confess our sin to God and to one another.

Corporate Confession:

Almighty God, we confess how hard it is to be Your people. You have called us to be the church, to continue the mission of Jesus Christ to our lonely and confused world. Yet we acknowledge we are more apathetic than active, isolated than involved, callous than compassionate, obstinate than obedient, legalistic than loving.

Gracious Lord, have mercy upon us and forgive our sins. Remove the obstacles preventing us from being Your representatives to a broken world. Awaken our hearts to the promised gift of your indwelling Spirit. This we pray in Jesus’ powerful name. Amen.

[From the Worship Sourcebook]

Brothers and sisters, family of God, hear the good news: there is nothing that can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Let your brothers and sisters in Christ be living markers of God’s faithfulness and redemptive work to you as His people.

  • COME THOU FOUNT

  • LION AND THE LAMB

Benediction: Romans 15:13

March 27: Liturgy + Set List

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  • PRAISE TO THE LORD, THE ALMIGHTY/GOOD GOOD FATHER

    Welcome to this fourth Sunday of Lent. In a world that values personal rights and freedoms above all, in a world that encourages you to pursue your own happiness above all, in a world that says ‘if you can afford it, do not deny yourself any pleasure…’ there is perhaps nothing you or I will do this week that is more counter-cultural, more counter-formative than gathering with the people of God. It is when we gather with the people of God that we learn to treasure Christ above our individual rights and freedoms. It is when we gather with the people of God that we learn to grow together rather than seek our own happiness. It is when we gather with the people of God that we learn to live on mission to the glory of God instead of chasing after temporary pleasures. And this is really the invitation of the season of Lent as well, to be invited into a practice that is counter-formative to the way of the world. To starve the flesh, with all of its selfishness, pride, and preferences, to fast from pleasures, so that we may feast on the goodness, grace, mercy, and love of Christ in a unique way in this season. As followers of Jesus we are called to live counter to the way of the world, and that begins when we gather. And we hope that these songs being slow and quiet the last several weeks have served in some small way as visible and audible reminders of the counter-cultural way we are called to live as followers of Jesus. Let’s hear God call us to worship through His word:

  • Call to Worship: Psalm 40:5

  • WAYMAKER

  • BEFORE THE THRONE

    Sermon: Joshua 15-21

  • ON CHRIST THE SOLID ROCK

    Corporate Confession:

    Merciful God,
    We confess that we have sinned against You in thought, word, and deed, By what we have done, and by what we have left undone.

    We have not loved You with our whole heart and mind and strength. We have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. Merciful God,
    We confess that we have sinned against You in thought, word, and deed, By what we have done, and by what we have left undone.

    We have not loved You with our whole heart and mind and strength. We have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. (Book of Common Prayer)

    Brothers and sisters, hear the good news: He remembers your sins no more. His mercy is greater than your ability to sin.

  • HIS MERCY IS MORE

  • Benediction

20 March: Liturgy + Set List

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  • 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)

3 March: Matthew 16:24-28

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MATTHEW 16:24-28

"Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul? For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay each person according to what he has done. Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”

READ. MEDITATE. PRAY. CONTEMPLATE.

To download the full devotional, click here.

February 13: Liturgy + Set List

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  • BEFORE THE THRONE

    Call to Worship: Psalm 24

    Let there be no mistake, we gather to lift our eyes to the King of Glory. The One who made and sustains all things, who has pursued us with His goodness and mercy. Let’s sing together:

  • GOODNESS OF GOD

  • IN CHRIST ALONE

    Sermon: Joshua 5:13-6:27

    If we were honest, each of us desire to be our own king. And more than that, each of use desire all of the benefits of living in God’s kingdom while remaining king of our own lives. We want God’s justice enacted on those who have wronged us. We want to receive God’s goodness, kindness, grace, love, mercy and forgiveness, but we don’t want Jesus to be our King. Because if Jesus is king it means that you are not. Jesus is a king who disrobes himself of glory and majesty, steps into our world to pursue treasonous and rebellious sinners like you and me. Jesus is king and that is good news for you and me. Let’s sing:

  • GOD WITH US

  • REVIVE US AGAIN