Monday, February 28, 2011

Sunday Setlist Feb. 27

There is Power in the Blood/Victory in Jesus (chorus) - G
Victory Chant - G/Ab/A

Offeratory:Amazing Grace Blues (Disciple version)

From the Inside Out -A
You Are My King (Amazing Love) -D
Spirit of the Living God -G
Breathe -G

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The first few songs dealt with the theme of the sermon: overcoming temptation and spiritual struggles. Taken from the story of Jesus' temptation beginning in Mark 1:12-13. This was also the first week that we played "From the Inside Out." We worked on arrangements for a month or so, and finally got it where it fit our team (because we're not the Hillsong team!)

The Praise Team is starting preliminary plans for our Palm Sunday All-music service. We did this last year, and it was fantastic. The goal is to achieve a longer, deeper time of worship…not interrupted by anything. Once the congregation experiences that, we hope it will be easier for them to recall that during our "normal" music services.



http://www.theworshipcommunity.com/sunday-setlists-136/

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Links!!

Thought I would share a few links today:

These types of videos are becoming more and more popular since it's so easy to capture something on video these days. My buddies and I used to make movies and video ourselves playing basketball… maybe I should try and get those converted and become a YouTube sensation!!







One of the Oscar nominated documentarys this year is called "Exit Through the Gift Shop." It is the story of a guy who started following street artists, but became more interesting that the subjects. It's available on Netflix's streaming service.




Finally, the whole reason the Internet was invented:

Monday, February 14, 2011

Sunday Setlist Feb. 13

FAMILY OF GOD--F
PRAISE THE LORD-F/G
VICTORY IN JESUS-G

OFFERTORY--Victory in Jesus (instrumental)

AWESOME GOD-Dm
I EXALT THEE-F
WHEN I LOOK-Bb
LORD, BE GLORIFIED-Bb/C

GFC celebrated it's 20th anniversary on Sunday. So, we decided it would be neat to turn back the clock and worship with some of the songs that were sung back in the day. This was the first time for the praise team to perform a few of these, so there was a lot of laughs at practice while we fought our way through them.

Thankfully, our church congregation doesn't depend on our talents to motivate them to worship. From the first song, they were all into it and I could feel the love. Once or twice, I removed my earbud to hear everyone powerfully singing "We Exalt Thee!!" It never gets old.

One thing that struck me about the songs is how well they reflect the beliefs and mindset of our church. The first one, "Family of God" is a wonderful representation of GFC's attitude. The other songs are focused directly on God's greatness and our response to it. GFC has done a wonderful job of living up to it's mission.

As I stated last time, I feel blessed to be part of something that started when I was 12 and living 150 miles away in Arlington. The slide show and videos show how far this church has come in an area where you can find much larger churches. Words can't express how excited I am to be a part of the next 20 years.


http://www.theworshipcommunity.com/sunday-setlists-134/

Monday, February 7, 2011

Sunday Setlist 2/6/11

Have Thine Own Way Lord Ab/Bb
In the Secret F
Offeratory-Praise Adonai
All Praise and Honor G
To Him Who Sits on the Throne C
Awesome in This Place F/G

This Sunday was the first of a two-part look at the past, present, and future of Grace Fellowship Church in Flint. What amazes me is that this church was founded when I was 12 years old, but here I am 20 years (and about 150 miles) later. Not that I'm a cornerstone of the church or that they would collapse without me, but I like to think that He knew that one day I'd pass through there with a guitar in my hand and that it would be a big part of my life two decades later.

Next Sunday, we hit rewind back to my 7th grade days and play the songs that were played back in the beginnings of GFC Flint.


http://www.theworshipcommunity.com/sunday-setlists-133/

Saturday, February 5, 2011

Don't Become Dinner

To paraphrase 1 Peter 5:8: " Satan is a lion, seeking who he can devour."

Have you ever watched some of those animal shows on The Discovery Channel? They'll show a pack of caribou or something just hanging out, eatin' some grass. Then, all of the sudden, they'll cut to a shot of a cheetah slowly creeping up, stalking it's prey. And then, BAM, he's off, chasing the pack. His strategy is to single out one of them, separate it from the group where there is no support, no strength in numbers, no one to help the hunted. We all know how the story ends.

This is one tactic of the devil. He seeks to separate you, isolate you from those who can give you support. Makes you think you're the only one who deals with problems and sin. Before long, you think you're the only one who struggles with lust, financial problems, family struggles, doubt, etc.

How can you keep from becoming dinner? Stay close to the pack.

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Exodus & Leviticus Law---what's the point for us now?


I started a Bible reading plan on my iPhone at the beginning of the year. It's a free app called "Holy Bible." I know, real creative, huh? This particular one is made by youVersion . It's far and away the best Bible app out there. More translations than you can imagine and many, many Bible reading plans. It's also available for the Blackberry and Droid, or you can just do it all on the website.


This year I stared the plan to "Read the Bible in 90 days." That means you cover a lot of ground in 1 day, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. If you were reading any other book, would you just read 1 or 2 pages a day? Probably not.


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So, I was rockin' and rollin' thru the familiar stories of Genesis and then Moses & Pharoah and the Exodus from Egypt. Then I got to the parts after the Ten Commandments. All of a sudden, my eyes began to cross. Chapter after chapter after chapter of God's extremely detailed instructions to Moses about building the tabernacle, sacrifices, cleanliness, etc. Then, once you get through God telling Moses what to do, it starts in with descriptions of how they do it!


In the back of my mind, I kept telling myself, "this is in the Bible for a reason, it's as important now as it was thousands of years ago..." but I was struggling to stay interested. I started thinking maybe I should've started with the New Testament. I kept reading, knowing that one day I'd get to something that mattered to me or that I could use in my life today. Then, in that way that God does, something leaped off the page (or iPhone screen) at me....


Leviticus 11:45
"For I am the LORD who brought you up from the land of Egypt to be your God; thus you shall be holy, for I am holy.'"


It all became clear at that moment. These weren't just instructions that God wanted His people to follow back then. This was God demanding that they recognize His holiness and respond accordingly. It was necessary for the animals that were sacrificed to be pure. It was vital that Aaron and his sons understood Who they were dealing with when they entered the Tabernacle. They needed to present themselves a certain way so that God would accept their offerings and forgive their sins.


These principles still apply today. Obviously we don't sacrifice animals or burn incense, but Paul tells us in Romans 12:1 that we are to:


"...present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. "


It may be thousands of years later, but it's still the same process. We are still presenting sacrifices to God, only now we are doing it with the way we live our lives.

In those same chapters about offering sacrifices, God gives instructions on what to do with unacceptable sacrifices and the parts of the animals that were not pure. Using the same logic as before, wouldn't the same happen to us when the time comes if the sacrifice of our lives was not acceptable to Him? Would we be discarded, deemed unworthy, or excluded from spending eternity with Him?