17 September: Liturgy + Set List

• GRAVES INTO GARDENS

  Call to Worship: Romans 11:33-12:2

  All we do is give back to God what always has been His. We live in response to the mercy and grace of God by offering our lives as an act of worship. Part of what we do as we gather is reorient our lives around responding to the mercy and grace of God. Let’s do that together as we sing:

• ALL I HAVE IS CHRIST

• HOLY IS OUR GOD

  Sermon: Mark 10:1-12

  Scripture says that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Some of us have sin that is loud and obvious, all of us have sin that is subtle and subversive and deep in our hearts. As we continue in worship, we’re going to confess our sins to God and one another:

  Book of Common Prayer Corporate Confession

  Now that we have confessed our sins to God and one another, I want to give you a few moments of silence to consider and confess your own sins.

Brothers and sisters hear the good news: The Lord who loves you says in His word: Go and sin no more.

• HOLY FOREVER

• LAMB OF GOD

  Benediction

Choosing A Key

Choosing a key is a tricky business in this world of corporate sung worship. Trying to land on a key that allows men and women, young and old, competent and tone-deaf to sing out their praise to the Lord is nearly impossible. Like many things, you can likely find resources online that coach you through the key-to-key range that is best suited for congregational singing, but I am not a theory teacher, and this is not that post. Rather in this post, I want to offer a few points to consider when it comes to choosing a key:

1. What is comfortable for your range? Who is going to be leading this song? If something is out of range (low or high) for the vocalist who will be leading the song, it will automatically become more difficult for the congregation to follow along.

2. The original key. Many worship songs these days end up on the radio, which means they are likely pitched higher than even the worship artist would play or lead them live. Just because you can sing something in the original key doesn’t mean you have to. That being said, sometimes putting something in the original key can make it a lot easier for musicians and vocalists to learn their parts.

3. What else are you playing? A larger consideration for me in choosing a key to a song is the other songs surrounding it in the setlist. Now, this is not something I have to worry about as much using tracks and pads to smooth transitions, but I want to be able to move seamlessly from one song to another. As a guitar player this means thinking about things like - will I need to change a capo? Retune my guitar? If it is not in the exact same key, what are the transition chords I need to play to move me into the next song?

4. What key will be on the edge? Where can I pitch this song to encourage people to be right on the edge, and have to really sing out, but still be singable enough that they simply stop singing because it feels completely out of reach. I think about this with lighting in the worship gathering as well - I want it to be bright enough that people can see one another, but dark enough that they don’t feel exposed in their worship.

5. Consider the song. People will often give modern songs a hard time about the anthemic octave jump from one part to the next, but truthfully, if you sing a lot of hymns, the melody range can be just as significant. The only difference is that we have become familiar with these melodies in such a way we do not notice the jumps.

Ultimately, there is trial and error involved. One of the reasons I like Co-Leading, especially with men and women on the team, is that you can choose keys for a man to lead that will be comfortable for men, and choose keys for a woman to lead that will be comfortable for women. We need to be willing to serve our congregations, serve the song, and be willing to sacrifice some artistry - just because you can sing that high doesn’t mean this is the right place to make that known.

10 September: Liturgy + Set List

• ON CHRIST THE SOLID ROCK

  Call to Worship: Psalm 18:1-3

  If you are here this morning as a follower of Jesus, your life is held secure regardless of circumstances because your life is hidden with Christ in God. We sing to our Rock and our Redeemer about who Jesus is, and what He has done:

• WHAT YOU SAID

• LAMB OF GOD

  Sermon: Mark 9:33-50

  If you start early enough, work hard enough, and spend as much time, energy, and effort to pursue greatness in the world, you just might get there. But every follower of Jesus can be great in God’s kingdom and economy when we - through the power of the Holy Spirit - pursue true humility and deep discipleship. Following after our Servant King. Let’s sing to Him together - would you stand if you’re able:

• I STAND AMAZED

• GOD YOU’RE SO GOOD

  Benediction

3 September: Liturgy + Set List

• ALL CREATURES OF OUR GOD AND KING

  Call to Worship: Psalm 40:16-17

  When we gather, we gather to seek God. God is not hidden or hiding, He has revealed himself in his Word through His Son and in the gathering of His people. So let me encourage you - don’t just sing, seek. Seek the God who reveals Himself, who draws near to those who draw near to Him. Let’s sing about who Jesus is, what He has done, and who He has called us to be:

• ABIDE

• O PRAISE THE NAME (ANASTASIS)

Sermon: Mark 9:14-32

Scripture tells us, that faith is a gift. So let me encourage you, the right response to God’s Word preached this morning is not: ‘I know what I’ll do, I’ll go and have more faith.’ You and I are incapable of drumming up faith in our own strength. And that is a bit offensive to our American sensibilities of wanting to try harder, do better, and pull ourselves up by our own bootstraps. The failure to pray is an admission of our own pride and attempts and self-sufficiency. And I don’t want to leave this moment and say, ‘Go pray out there, but let’s pray right here and now.‘ Maybe that prayer needs to be a confession of sin, maybe that prayer for you needs to be silence as you listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit speaking to you, maybe that is a prayer that looks less like words and more like action as you walk in obedience to God as you are sent this morning. But let’s take a few moments to pray individually, and then we will use the words of these next songs to pray corporately.

• ONLY A HOLY GOD

• RAISE UP THE CROWN (ALL HAIL THE POWER)

  Benediction

Quotes [Part 4]

I like to spread out my ‘quotes’ posts - but these were too good to hold on to for much longer!

WINFIELD BEVINS

“In many ways, worship is theology in motion.”

JOHN ELDREDGE

“Modern worship bands not only need to be extraordinarily talented musicians, young, and beautiful, but their live events employ multimedia to keep your attention as well. Now church service compete with concert-level staging, lighting, special effects, and films. The terrible, unspoken assumption creeping in is this: if you’re going to find God, if you’re going to have more of God, it’s going to come through some amazing experience, something totally wild and over the top. Or we think that once we have God, the proof will be an over-the-top life. Not true. So unhelpful, and immensely unkind. This expectation actually makes those deeper experiences of God seem inaccessible for most of us.”

OSWALD CHAMBERS

“We have the idea that we can dedicate our gifts to God. However, you cannot dedicate what is not yours. There is actually only one thing you can dedicate to God, and that is your right to yourself. If you will give God your right to yourself, He will make a holy experiment out of you - and His experiments always succeed.”

ROBERT E. WEBBER

“Worship does God’s story! In worship, we remember God’s story in the past and anticipate God’s story in the future.”

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

27 August: Liturgy + Set List

• HOLY HOLY HOLY

  Call to Worship: Psalm 99

• GRACE ALONE

• HOLY IS OUR GOD

  When God reveals a little more of his holiness, we become increasingly aware of our own sin and brokenness. As we sing and respond to the holiness of God, I want to give you a few moments to invite the Holy Spirit to reveal areas of your own heart and life in which you need to confess to God, repent of your sin, turn to Christ, and then together we will pray a prayer of confession.

  Let’s pray this together:

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.

Brothers and sisters, hear the good news: God does not treat you as your sins deserve - praise the Lord. Amen, you may have a seat.

Sermon: Mark 9:2-13

The Lord’s Supper

The Apostles’ Creed

• ALL HAIL KING JESUS

Benediction

13 August: Liturgy + Set List

• BEFORE THE THRONE

  Call to Worship: Psalm 96

  This is why we gather - not to respond to songs or sermons, but to respond to the God who has revealed Himself. Revealed Himself in His Word, in His creation, and through His Son, Jesus. We are here to respond to the wonderful works and majesty of God - let’s sing together:

• THE GREATNESS OF OUR GOD

• HOLY FOREVER

  Sermon: Titus 1:5-9

  Elder Ordination

• CHRIST BE MAGNIFIED

  Benediction

6 August: Liturgy + Set List

• REJOICE

  Call to Worship: Psalm 17:15

  We live in a world that says ‘If I had just a little bit more, I would be satisfied. A little bit more money, a little bit more time, circumstances that we’re just a little different, a few more vacations, then I would have enough.’ If you are here this morning as a follower of Jesus, my hope and prayer are that you would behold the glory of God in the face of Jesus, and be fully, completely, and eternally satisfied. Let’s sing to him:

• ALL I HAVE IS CHRIST

• ABIDE/I’VE WITNESSED IT

  Because of Jesus, the invitation of God is always to cease from striving and rest and abide in the person and work of Christ. And as we prepare for a new academic school year many teachers, staff, students, and parents feel the opposite pull of rest. And as we continue in worship we are going to pray for the new school year - and we will specifically name the four local schools we support as missions partners at Life Church. If you don’t fall into one of those categories, if you are here this morning as a follower of Christ, God has sovereignly placed you in a time and place and given you a responsibility to love, serve, and live on mission within your community. Let’s pray this together:

Almighty God, by your gift alone we come to wisdom and true understanding. Look with favor, we pray on our universities, colleges, and schools, especially: Salisbury High, Isenberg Elementary, Koontz Elementary, and Overton Elementary, that knowledge may be increased among us, and wholesome learning flourish and abound. Bless those who teach and those who learn; and grant that in humility of heart they may ever look to you, the fountain of all wisdom; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Occasional Prayers, For schools, colleges, and universities

The Book of Common Prayer

Sermon: Exodus 20:17

Scripture says eternity is written on every human heart. You and I will never find satisfaction for our eternal souls looking to temporary, or created things. Let’s fix our desire, affection, and attention on the person and work of Christ as we sing. Would you stand if you’re able:

• A THOUSAND HALLELUJAHS

• BE THOU MY VISION

  Benediction

30 July: Liturgy + Set List

• ALL CREATURES OF OUR GOD AND KING

  Call to Worship: Psalm 19:8-14

  This is my hope and prayer for you and me this morning - that our words and our hearts would be aligned. That we would sing of the things we have seen - that God is great, good, and kind. Let’s sing together:

• GOD YOU’RE SO GOOD

• KING OF KINGS

  Sermon: Exodus 20:16

  God created the world by His word - and sustains it by the Word of His power. When you and I speak, it is one of the most obvious ways we display that we bear the image of God. Scripture tells us that the power of life and death is in the tongue, and confronts us with the reality that we use the same mouth to bless God and curse our brother. All words - those spoken aloud, and those uttered only in the quiet of our hearts and minds - all come from the overflow of our hearts. You and I do not merely need better control over our tongues, we need new hearts. And as we continue in worship we are going to use our words to confess our sin to God and one another, would you stand if you’re able:

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]

• ONLY A HOLY GOD

• RAISE UP THE CROWN (ALL HAIL THE POWER)

  Benediction

23 July: Liturgy + Set List

• PROMISES

  Call to Worship: Psalm 36:5-9

  One of the lies we are tempted to believe is that everything hangs on us. That we feast on the abundance of our own house. That we feast on the abundance of our own effort, labor, and work. And one of the reasons it is essential to make gathering with the people of God a weekly habit is because God in his kindness uses His Word, His Spirit, and His people to confront and expose the lies that we believe, and the lies that we live. We gather this morning acknowledging that in God there is no lack, no need, and He invites His people to feast on the abundance of His house, and drink from the river of God’s delights. He is good, and generous, and kind. Let’s sing to him together…

• GOODNESS OF GOD

• I SHALL NOT WANT

  Sermon: Exodus 20:14

  The Apostles’ Creed

  Communion

• NOTHING BUT THE BLOOD

  Benediction

Engaging the Holidays

where I serve, is how we appropriately engage, and speak to cultural holidays… or not.

Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, the 4th of July, Memorial Day, the list is endless…

From my observation, many churches fall into one of two categories - all in, or completely ignore. The churches that are all, adapt and orient their service around acknowledging and celebrating these particular holidays. They change their songs to fit, tailor a sermon to match, and have decor and announcements that are designed to highlight the holiday. Those in the completely ignore category don’t acknowledge anything - and apart from the cultural reminders - endcaps at every store, and themed emails from every online retailer, no one would even realize it was a holiday.

Personally, I lean more toward the latter than the former. But I believe there are at least two significant reasons why our people can benefit from acknowledging holidays in our corporate gatherings:

First, when we acknowledge current events or cultural holidays, it is a chance to reframe people’s identity and understanding around the person and work of Christ. To shape their minds, hearts, and affections Scripturally, rather than culturally. To rightly situate the values of the world inside the values of the Kingdom of God.

Second, Scripture tells us to remember. And we are people prone to forget. We should celebrate, but we should also lament. We should rejoice but also grieve. Let’s use cultural holidays to acknowledge not just the joys, but also the sorrows of living in a broken world, as we point our people toward the deeper, truer, eternal hope of Christ.

9 July: Liturgy + Set List

• REJOICE

  Call to Worship: Psalm 19:1-6

  Scripture tells us ‘…out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks.’ So often people believe faith, or religion is about doing the right things and avoiding the wrong things. But the truth our actions and behaviors flow from our hearts. And here, the Psalmist beholds the glory of God in creation, and from His heart flows this final verse:

  “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
      be acceptable in your sight,
      O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.”

  This is my hope and prayer for you and me this morning - that we would behold the glory of God, and from our hearts would flow worship and obedience in all of life. Let’s sing:

• THE GREATNESS OF OUR GOD

• ALL HAIL KING JESUS

  Sermon: Exodus 20:13

• HYMN OF HEAVEN

• COME THOU FOUNT

  Benediction