HOLY HOLY HOLY
Call to Worship: Psalm 96
We ascribe to the Lord his value and worth, not because our recognition makes it any more or less true - not because God needs to be reminded of His own character, but because we forget these things are true. Let’s sing about the heart, character, and worth of our God:
PSALM 134 (BLESS THE LORD)
LAMB OF GOD
Sermon: Mark 15:1-39
Before sin was in the world, salvation was already present. God had sewn redemption and rescue into the story of humanity before the foundation of the world. And even into eternity - if you are a follower of Jesus - we will spend celebrating and worshiping in response to Christ’s completed work on the cross. Let’s put language to that reality as we sing together now. Would you stand if you’re able:
THANK YOU JESUS FOR THE BLOOD
ALL HAIL KING JESUS
Benediction
Jesus
9 January: Tuesday Refocus
“Teach me to listen, Holy Spirit, for your voice; in busyness and in boredom, in certainty and doubt, in noise and in silence. Teach me, Lord, to listen. Amen.” - John Veltri, SJ
Sheep recognize the voice of the Shepherd (John 10:27). In the whispers and the wind (1 Kings 19:11-13), in the busyness and the boredom, in the certainty and doubt, in the noise and the silence - our Shepherd is speaking and speaking through His Word, speaking through His Spirit, speaking through His people, speaking through creation.
“Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world (Hebrews 1:1-2).”
May the voice of the Good Shepherd ring unmistakably through our souls in 2024.
Speak Lord, your servant is listening. Amen.
Listening,
AB
2023 In Review
I love speaking with people about corporate worship. I love speaking with people working through a theology of worship, the practical realities of serving on a team, or with volunteers. I think that is why I write about worship - I love that we as followers of Jesus, and worshipers get to think through how we encourage and equip the saints to worship with beauty and truth. As 2023 draws to an end, I wanted to collect all of my Friday posts in one place. I hope these words have been helpful to you:
January 6: Worship With Your Heart
January 13: Worship With Your Soul
January 20: Worship With Your Strength
January 27: Worship With Your Mind
February 3: Musical Growth
February 10: Practical Growth
February 17: Leadership Growth
February 24: Spirit and Truth
March 3: Worship Leaders and Presence
March 10: Kenyan Reflections
March 17: Soundchecks
March 24: Head and Heart
March 31: Judging The Service
April 7: Good Friday
April 14: Every Resurrection Sunday
April 21: Lead Toward Need
April 28: Experience or Formation
May 26: Lead Like Yourself
June 2: Quotes [Part 3]
June 9: Budgeting Before Need
June 16: Leading In Different Cultures
June 23: Affirmations
June 30: Recommended Reading [Part 5]
July 7: Keeping Things Fresh
July 14: Engaging the Holidays
July 21: Don’t Jump Off A Bridge
July 28: Thoughts On Writing
August 4: Using In-Ear Monitors
August 11: Using Tracks
August 18: Trust In Worship
August 25: Scheduling A Team
September 1: Quotes [Part 4]
September 8: The Most Important Part of the Gathering
September 15: Choosing A Key
September 22: Questions To Consider
September 29: Connecting The Gathering
October 6: Teaching Concepts
October 13: Postures In Worship
October 20: Sound Standards
October 27: 21 Years Of Leading
November 3: The First Work
November 10: Advent Preparation
November 17: Reinventing The Wheel
November 24: Hidden Visibility
December 8: Participation vs Observation
December 15: Liturgical Resources
December 22: Recommended Reading [Part 6]
The First Work
Ready or not, Sunday is coming.
Whether you lead worship as a volunteer, bi-vocationally, or have been freed up to lead worship full-time, there are countless practical details that need to be handled before a Sunday service. I tend to be task-driven, so I find powering through a checklist quite satisfying. In fact, I even created a worship leader checklist you can download for free here. Yes, there are many things to do: set lists to build, teams to schedule, lyrics and sound to set up, planning meetings, follow up, and communication. But the longer I lead worship, the more I begin to be convinced that my first work in leading worship is not the tasks, but to become a person of prayer.
Be before do.
Be a worshiper before leading sung worship.
Be present with and to the Lord.
Serve in the secret place before a public space.
We serve out of who we are. We serve out of who we are becoming. In every area, our lives can be ruled by the tyranny of the urgent. How do we continue to choose the good portion even when our time is limited and our tasks are many?
My hope is that prayer increasingly feels more like an anchor instead of a detour to my week, my life, and my ministry responsibilities. I hope that for you as well.
29 October: Liturgy + Set List
BEFORE THE THRONE
Call to Worship: Psalm 27:7-13
When we gather, we behold the goodness of God in the land of the living. We see in part now what one day we will see in full, we behold the glory of the Father in the face of the Son. We see His goodness. Let’s sing to Him:
THE GREATNESS OF OUR GOD
ABIDE
Sermon: Mark 11:27-12:12
If you are here as a follower of Jesus, Scripture tells us ‘Your life his hidden with Christ in God.’ And one of the things that means is that when God looks at you - he sees Christ’s perfect obedience, Christ’s perfect righteousness, the song of delight the Father sings over the Son He sings over you, the eternal inheritance which rightfully belongs to Christ, Christ shares with you and me. I hope that makes us humble, grateful, and worshipful. Would you stand if you’re able, let’s sing together:
THERE IS A REDEEMER
LAMB OF GOD
Benediction
1 October: Liturgy + Set List
REJOICE
Call to Worship: Psalm 16:7-11
If you are here this morning as a follower of Christ, the fullness of joy and eternal pleasures are not just a future promise but a present reality in and through Christ. And so we are here to once again set the Lord ever before our eyes. We’re going to introduce a new song this morning that gives us a clearer picture of who Jesus is and what He has done…
NO BODY
HYMN OF HEAVEN
Sermon: Mark 10:17-31
We started our morning with a call from the last verse of Psalm 16, I want you to hear the first verse of Psalm 16 as well:
Psalm 16:1-6
If you are here as a follower of Christ, whether your life feels abundant or constricted - the boundary lines have fallen for your in pleasant places, and you have a beautiful inheritance - not an inheritance of earthly riches, but the inheritance of Jesus. Jesus is your inheritance. Let’s sing to him and about him…
GOODNESS OF GOD
BE THOU MY VISION
Benediction
Tuesday Refocus: July 11
“The grace of God means something like: ‘Here is your life. You might never have been, but you are, because the party wouldn’t have been complete without you. Here is the world. Beautiful and terrible things will happen. Don’t be afraid. I am with you.’” - Frederick Buechner
I heard a pastor once articulate grace as undeserved favor, in the face of deserved wrath. Every person on the planet is a recipient of God’s common grace - breath, relationships, beauty, all of these speak to God’s common grace. Those who have a relationship with God through Jesus are recipients of God’s saving grace - because grace is not just a thing, but a person. Christ embodies undeserved favor toward humanity, the face of the wrath our sins deserved (Romans 6:23). And every follower of Jesus is sustained, and perseveres not in our own effort - but through the sustaining grace of God.
In this world, beautiful and terrible things can, will, and do happen. But for followers of Jesus, we never need to be afraid because Christ became forsaken on the cross so that we might never be left or forsaken by Him (Isaiah 53, Hebrews 13:5).
Father, we thank you for the common, saving, and sustaining grace you give in the face of deserved wrath. May we be aware of this beauty in a new fresh way today, in the name of Jesus, amen.
Grace,
AB
18 December: Liturgy + Set List
HARK THE HERALD ANGELS SING
Call to Worship: Zechariah 13:1, Psalm 87:1-3, 7
Advent is a season of longing, and something about this season highlights for me how many of the longings and desires of my heart go unfulfilled on this side of eternity. But every desire should be an arrow that points us to the source of our greatest desire: God Himself. As we sing these Advent and Christmas songs that speak to our longings, we can be honest with God and with one another, as we look to Jesus the One who is the fulfillment of our deepest longings. Let’s sing…
COME THOU LONG-EXPECTED JESUS | JESUS WHAT A FRIEND FOR SINNERS
I SHALL NOT WANT
Reading: Luke 2:8-21
Sermon: John 4:1-24
Scripture tells us that no one seeks God. If you are here this morning as a follower of Jesus, you are not following Jesus because you went looking for Jesus, rather, like the woman at the well, you were searching for life, hope, and fulfillment on your own when Jesus moved toward you. He is the One that we adore because He has revealed himself to us. Would you stand if you’re able, let’s sing…
O COME ALL YE FAITHFUL
JOY TO THE WORLD (UNSPEAKABLE JOY)
Reading: John 7:37-39
Advent Candle Lighting/Benediction
November 22: Tuesday Refocus
“Jesus transforms our hearts by service, not by power.” - Tim Keller
The weeks of Thanksgiving into the season of Advent are an opportunity for followers of Jesus to remember once more, “What do you have that you did not receive?” (1 Corinthians 4:7). All is gift. All is grace.
The arrival of Christ into our world was not marked by power.
It was marked by service. Because, “Even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many (Matthew 20:28).”
Christ transforms our hearts because He has first served us by emptying himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men, humbling himself, and becoming obedient to the point of death (Philippians 2:7-8). Christ transforms our hearts once more when we seek to serve others as Christ has first served us.
Lord, may this upcoming Advent season be a time of heart transformation as we see how You have first loved and served us. Amen.
In service,
AB
November 8: Tuesday Refocus
“If you want a spiritual life, you must unify your life. A life is either all spiritual or not at all.” - Thomas Merton
We are people of divided time,
half-hearted affection,
scattered attention,
and distorted desires.
If we are to love the Lord our God with all of our hearts, soul, mind, and strength (Luke 10:27), our lives must echo the prayers of the Psalmist:
“Teach me your ways, O LORD, that I may walk in your truth; unite my heart to fear your name.” - Psalm 86:11
A spiritual life is a life that is ever seeking to learn from the Master.
A spiritual life walks in God’s truth, not our own truth.
A spiritual life is a unified life because all of life is spiritual.
A spiritual life lives in fear, and awe of God, rather than man.
Lord, unite these fragmented pieces of our lives for Your glory and our good, and the good of the world. Amen.
Unifying,
AB
July 26: Tuesday Refocus
“By my calm courage, people shall this day recognize that I’ve been with Jesus.” - E. Stanley Jones
Each of us is worried and troubled about many things (Luke 10:41). But each of us can choose the good portion, the one necessary thing - to be with Jesus (Luke 10:42). It is in being with Jesus that the troubles of the world are choked by the presence and provision of God. It is in beholding His glory that we are transformed from one degree of glory to another (2 Corinthians 3:18).
A transformed heart leads to a transformed life. A life continually resting in the presence of Christ, is a life of rest, peace, and blessing to others. May it be so for you today.
Lord, may we rest in who you are and what you have done. May our lives be transformed from the inside out, bringing rest, peace, and blessing to others. In Christ’s name, amen.
Resting,
AB
July 19: Tuesday Refocus
“The intellect makes the prayer, but the feeling makes the cry.” - Martin Luther
Without love, our words are a noisy gong or clanging cymbal (1 Corinthians 13:1). We can possess prophetic powers, understanding of all mysteries and knowledge, have faith to remove mountains, we can give away our every possession, and deliver our bodies to be burned, and all of it is meaningless without love (1 Corinthians 13:2-3).
A prayer without heart is simply a monologue.
Lord may our lives be prayers be filled with truth and love. Attention and affection. Intellect and feeling. Amen and amen.
Amen,
AB