May 24: Tuesday Refocus

“We consider what we do in the way of Christian work as service, yet Jesus Christ calls service to be what we are to Him, not what we do for Him.” - Oswald Chambers

Doing for God will always be easier than being with God. That is because honoring God with our lips while having hearts that are far from Him is our default posture of heart (Matthew 15:8). The appearance of holiness is not as costly as giving ourselves to the slow, painful, sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit.

But as followers of Jesus, we are called to offer our bodies as a living sacrifice, a spiritual act of worship (Romans 12:1). As followers of Jesus, we are called to love the Lord our God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength (Matthew 22:37, Luke 10:27). Ours is a faith of internal, heart transformation that gives way to external change. Not moral behavior modification. It will always be easier to be a Pharisee than a disciple of the One who is gentle and lowly, the One who learned obedience, the One who came to serve rather than be served (Matthew 11:29, Hebrews 5:8, Matthew 20:28). 

Lord, may our service to you be surrender to the work of Your Spirit in us. Again and again. Amen.

Serving,

AB

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

Technology In The Gathering

Last week I wrote about what makes a good song.

Production is important in our corporate gatherings but it cannot be paramount. Technology is a beautiful tool, but a terrible master.

I love that we can project lyrics and see the faces of our brothers and sisters as we sing together. I love that we can use sound to amplify a room, instead of having to shout over one another. I love that lighting can illumine and focus our attention as we worship. I love that we can meet indoors at temperatures that are comfortable in the heat of Summer as well as the cold of Winter. Yes, technology is an incredible resource and tool. But technology can also have a mind of it’s own. Malfunctioning or breaking without warning in a moment. Does this mean we should avoid technology all together? Of course not. We receive and use technology in the corporate gathering as a gift of God.

In a similar way to what makes a good song - stripped down to all it’s simplicity - I think we should consider what makes the best use of technology in the corporate gathering. If our corporate worship is completely hindered or halted by a technology failure, is it worship that we are leading, or an experience?

Matt Redman shares the inspiration behind his song ‘Heart of Worship’ in this video. Maybe we do not need to remove the entire sound system from our church for a season, but perhaps it is always worth evaluating our use and reliance of technology as gift or god.

May 17: Tuesday Refocus

“Faith is a refusal to panic.” - Martyn Lloyd-Jones

One of my favorite writers has spoken regularly in the last several years about the free-falling anxiety, and fear that we are all experiencing being human these days. And why shouldn’t we panic? We are more aware than ever - some of us for the first time - of our deep vulnerabilities. Our inability to control our lives.

Why should the life of a follower of Jesus look any different? Faith.

“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1).” 

Faith is a gift, that is secure in the one who authors and completes our faith (Ephesians 2:8, Hebrews 12:1-3). It is faith that enables us in peace to lie down and sleep because it is the LORD that makes us dwell in safety (Psalm 4:8). It is faith in Christ that gives consolation to cheer the soul of the heart with many cares (Psalm 94:19). It is faith that we can believe God is who He says He is and will do what He says He will do.

Lord, like your apostles, we ask that you increase our faith. And that the natural outworking of our faith is trust and peace as we rest in You. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Learning,

AB

May 15: Liturgy + Set List

• DOXOLOGY|AMEN

Call to Worship: Psalm 150

One of the things I say often is that when we gather, we join worship that is already in progress. Scripture tells us that day and night around the throne of God, the saints and the angels, the living creatures and the elders are declaring God’s holiness and worth. Creation itself is responding in worship to its Creator. And when we gather we join the universal, global Church made up of people from every tribe, tongue, nation, and language - all those who have gone before us, and those who will come after us in responding to God. This morning we are going to learn a new song that is a reminder that we join worship already in progress, but also that as followers of Jesus we are called to live lives of daily worship.

• CHRIST BE MAGNIFIED

• EVER BE

Sermon: James 1:19-25

Communion Reflection Questions:

“...let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger…”
Jesus has spoken to us through His Word.
Take a moment to quiet your heart and mind.
Being quick to listen, invite His Holy Spirit to speak to you now.

“But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.”
How might the Holy Spirit be leading you to respond at this moment?
Repent of sin? Experience His comfort? Confess Jesus as Lord?
How might the Holy Spirit be leading you to live differently as you leave?

Communion

Last night in Buffalo, NY, a gunman opened fire in a grocery store intentionally trying to kill people who bear God's image in their black bodies. Jesus said that hating someone in your heart is as good as murdering them. You and I can be hearers of God’s Word and mourn and grieve the sin out there that causes people to pick up a gun and destroy the life of another. But to be hearers and doers of God’s Word is to mourn and grieve and uproot the sin in us - the sin that causes us to hate - which is as good as murder. We need the Holy Spirit, and the people of God deeply and desperately to be hearers as well as doers of God’s Word. Would you stand, let’s sing…

• HOW CAN IT BE

  Benediction

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.

May 10: Tuesday Refocus

“It is normal to feel restless as a child, lonely as a teenager, and frustrated by lack of intimacy as an adult; after all, we live insatiable desires of every kind, none of which will ever find complete fulfillment this side of eternity.”  - Ronald Rolheiser

Our desires are deep. And every desire is an arrow pointing toward the true longing and desire of every heart: a desire for God Himself. He is the source of every desire, and the One who has only to open His hand to “…satisfy the desire of every living thing (Psalm 145:16).” Our earthly desire should stir in us a desire to be awakened and satisfied with the likeness of God (Psalm 17:15).

“Whom have I in heaven but You? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” Psalm 73:25-26

Lord, may we be satisfied now, and always with You, and You alone. Amen.

Satisfied,

AB

8 May: Liturgy + Set List

• 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

Dynamics

I have had the opportunity to lead in many different settings. Large churches, and small churches. Higher church liturgy, and lower church spontaneity. I have served with professional musicians, and those who had only recently picked up an instrument. One of the things that I have observed as having the biggest impact on the quality of the musical production regardless of the location or skill level is the intentionality of dynamics.

I believe that it is not what we play or sing, but what we do not play or sing that makes the dynamic difference.

A musician will play. A vocalist will sing. What I have noticed among worship teams is that people often feel confused, or not useful if they do not play and sing from the very start to the very end of a song.

As worship leaders, we need to be able to coach our teams to understand how to lead in silence as much as in their playing. Our teams can lead in their silence by learning to lead off the platform, but also in their presence and posture when it is not their ‘part.’ Encourage your team to sing along, be at worship, listen intentionally as the worship leader guides and directs the congregation. I have often felt more intentionally led by musicians and vocalists leading in their silences than by the primary worship leader.

But what about leading in our playing and singing? How do we create movement, tension and release, builds and drops, particularly for those churches who are serving with smaller, or less experienced teams? Percentages. One of the sound guys at my church was a band director in a former career. He started suggesting to me that instead of saying ‘build and drop,’ or ‘big and quiet,’ or even using the classical musical terms, we started coaching our team in percentages. If we want the bridge to be the loudest part of the song, that would be 90% or 100%, and the chorus being the second loudest part of the song would need to be in the 70% to 80% range. If we are looking to incorporate a dynamic drop without going completely acapella, maybe the band goes to 10%. This kind of language has been so helpful for our team in being able to identify the higher dynamics in contrast to the lower dynamics both within a song, but also across the setlist.

If you’re struggling with every song sounding the same, and no movement in dynamic range, try using percentages as a way to lead your team to listen for dynamics. Much of this will begin with the worship leader thoughtfully and intentionally leading the team through rehearsal. Here are some ideas on how to run a rehearsal.

May 3: Tuesday Refocus

“The more bored you are with the things of God, the more vulnerable you will be when difficulty comes.” - Jared C. Wilson

Apathy is easy. 

It requires no work, no effort, no surrender.

Only indifference. 
But wonder is cultivated by the heart that burns within from encountering Christ (Luke 24:32).

It grows as we taste and see that the Lord is good (Psalm 34:8).

It is awakened as the morning when we are satisfied with the steadfast love of God (Psalm 90:14).

Treasuring Christ anchors us in the immovable character of God, rather than our circumstances (Hebrews 13:8, James 1:17).

Spirit, awaken our hearts to see, know, delight, and obey Jesus. In Your power, and in the name of Christ we pray, amen.

Treasuring,

AB

Competition

Have you ever felt envious or jealous of someone else’s gifts?

Perhaps they seemed to naturally possess that for which you had to labor?

Or do they exude a confidence and charisma that easily engaged the congregation when they served?

Maybe they had more visible, prominent, or frequent opportunities to lead?

We are prone to comparison. Especially when roles are visible, and gifts are similar. Just because we are followers of Jesus, does not mean that we are free from the trap of comparison and competition. Just because we seek to employ the gifts that God has given for His glory and the good of His people does not mean that our motives are always God-honoring and pure.

If jealousy or envy has surprised or saddened you as they ran hot through your body, you are not alone. Whether serving in the same church, city, or across the internet, we are all tempted to compete by comparison. In the parable of the talents we see that in God’s kindness, providence, and grace, some of us have been given little, and others much. But each is called to invest our talents ‘according to his ability’ (Matthew 25:15). Here are some ways that I am attempting to shepherd my own heart in those moments:

Thank God. For the individual with whom I feel jealous. For their gifts. Their skill. The way that they are using their God-given gifts, and the way that reveals the generosity, and beauty of our Creator.

Confess. To God and to others the natural inclination of my heart is to devalue that which is entrusted to me, to covet what is not.

Practice Gratitude. In confession, I realize that I do not value what God has given. In practicing gratitude, I learn to value what God has given.

Pray. For those with whom I feel jealous, and for myself. All we do is give back to God what always has been His. May we be open-handed toward the one who gives and takes away.

How about you? What are the ways God is teaching you to celebrate the gifts, skills, talent, and opportunities of others? What are the ways that you are learning to grow in contentment, and practicing gratitude for the talents God has entrusted to you?

Two books that I have found so helpful in putting language to the kind of Jesus-follower and leader I want to be are The Prisoner in the Third Cell, and A Tale of Three Kings, both by Gene Edwards. If this short post resonated with you, and you’d like to dig deeper, I highly recommend these books to you.

April 26: Tuesday Refocus

“All joy comes through encountering beauty. The richest is found in Christ.” - Mike Reeves

Joy is more than happiness. Beauty is more than beholding. It is in the presence of God that we encounter beauty and experience joy. “Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God shines forth… (Psalm 50:2)” as more beautiful, because, “splendor and majesty are before Him; strength and beauty are in His sanctuary (Psalm 96:6).”

We can only encounter this beauty because Christ became as one who “…had no form or majesty that we should look at Him, and no beauty that we should desire Him… (Isaiah 53:3).” We can only experience this joy because Christ “…for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God (Hebrews 12:2).” Now we can declare with the Psalmist “…in Your presence, there is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore (Psalm 16:11).”

“One thing I have asked fo the LORD, that I will seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD al the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to inquire in His temple (Psalm 27:4).” Amen.

Encountering,

AB