7 July: Liturgy + Set List

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  • GRACE ALONE

    Good morning and welcome to worship with us on this Lord’s Day, and this family worship weekend. A special welcome to all of our elementary students who are joining us in the auditorium today! This part of our service is called the Call to Worship - not because worship begins when we start singing, or begins when we walk through the doors, but because every person on the planet is worshiping all the time. But because of sin, we worship - give our attention and our love - to things that are not really worthy of our attention and our love. And we have a call to worship to be reminded that it is only God that is worthy of our attention and our love. Let’s hear God call us to worship from his Word:

    Call to Worship: Psalm 61:1-5

    Did you hear that? Fear your name. There are so many things in the world that can cause us fear and make us worried. But God says, there is only one person we should fear - and that is Him. Not because He is scary or mean, but because He is so big, and he is in control of everything. And when we fear God - when we recognize that he is the only one worthy of our worship - we do not have to be afraid of anything or anyone else. Let’s sing together:

  • A MIGHTY FORTRESS

  • BUILD MY LIFE

    Sermon: 1 Peter 2:4-8

    Above my desk there is a quote from an author I love that says: ‘I am one in whom Christ dwells and delights. I live in the strong and unshakeable kingdom of God. The kingdom is not in trouble, and neither am I (James Bryan Smith).” If you are here this morning that is true of you as well - God, through His spirit dwells in you. And when Christ returns God’s presence will not just dwell uniquely in the midst of His people, but will dwell among His people in a real and obvious way. So let’s set out attention toward that day as we sing…

  • KING OF KINGS

  • COME THOU FOUNT

    Benediction

The Influences Of History

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One of the clarifying realities I was able to articulate from reading Worship and the World to Come (Glenn Packiam) is that my own history both in church and beyond have shaped my theological convictions. I think this kind of recognition allows me to loosely hold my own preferences, to be less defensive, and more charitable toward brothers and sisters whose history has also shaped their theological convictions.

But history also shapes the modern Church.

Our church is in the process of affirming a new statement of faith, and to that end, our elders have preached through the various tenets of the proposed statement of faith. Much of the conversation we have as a staff team around secondary issues - is how the church has historically wrestled and resolved their own questions. This can be a comfort: Christians have believed, celebrated, and affirmed these specific truths for generations. Smarter Christians than me have given their lives to read, study, embody, and articulate these truths. But this can also become an excuse: Christians have believed, celebrated, and affirmed these specific truths for generations. Therefore we can rest in their understanding rather than grapple with our own.

Hear me, I am speaking of second-tier issues. I make no claim that we should diverge from the historic church in orders of first importance. Those truths which all followers of Jesus - regardless of denomination - must hold in true faith and that would be defined as historically orthodox. I am speaking of second-tier issues - those things which brothers and sisters can hold loosely with a variety of conviction and expression, and still be in fellowship with one another.

Similarly to acknowledging that no one is neutral, and that everyone carries their own preferences, when we can acknowledge the visible and invisible ways history has shaped us, our people, our denomination, and our churches, we can honor that which is worthy of honor, and we can lean into the sanctifying work of semper reformanda.

2 July: Tuesday Refocus

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In 2024 so much of our lives are mediated through a screen: computers, smartphones, and social media. Perhaps this is not all bad, but one of the functions of the digital age seems to be the ease with which we stay vigilant: looking for people and opportunities for correction, condemnation, or cancellation. But followers of Jesus are called to something other than this kind of disembodied disintegration:

“And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” - Colossians 3:15-17

We are called to live:

…with Christ’s peace ruling our hearts, recognizing our identity as one body. 

…with thankfulness.

…with Christ’s Word living so deeply in our hearts that it overflows in teaching, wisdom, and song.

…with everything we do aimed toward the glory of God and thankfulness to God.

May this paradigm be increasingly true in our lives - in person and online.

Spirit, we need your help to grow these things in our lives, would you work deeply in the people of God to that end? Amen and amen.

Amen,

AB

30 June: Liturgy & Set List

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  • GOOD GOD

    Call to Worship: Psalm 19

    So many aspects of our lives are lived on autopilot. We make so many decisions every day, it would be too much for our brains to consciously consider every factor. Like getting in the car, driving to a location and thinking for a moment ‘how did I get here?’ We can so easily do that when we arrive at church on a Sunday morning. Present in our body but not in heart or mind. We walk through the doors with no expectation no anticipation that God is speaking to us through His Word by His Spirit among His people. Can I encourage you, do not allow your heart to be on autopilot as you are here, ask the Spirit to help you be present to the God who is speaking and to His people as we gather. Let’s sing…

  • BETTER IS ONE DAY/FACEDOWN

  • I SHALL NOT WANT

    Read Psalm 119:9-16

    May it be true for you and for me. As we have heard God speak to us by His Word, let’s respond with words of dependence upon Him. Would you stand if you’re able…

    Sermon: 1 Peter 1:22-2:3

  • LORD, I NEED YOU

  • BE THOU MY VISION

    Benediction

Recommended Reading [Part 7]

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These are the most recent books I’ve finished that speak to our shared tasks as worship leaders, but also to the aim and direction of our worship hearts as Christ followers. I hope they will serve and encourage you in your journey:

Reformed Worship - Jonty Rhodes

I come from a reformed tradition, and this book has been helpful in articulating the truths that shape the design and intention behind worship in general - and corporate worship specifically. But even if your background or current ministry experience is different - this short book is worth your time.

On Worship - H.B. Charles Jr.

I love a book with short chapters! While I was reading this book, I had it on hand all the time - because rather than scrolling my phone during spare minutes, I would read a chapter or two. I also appreciated that H.B. has broken this book into three sections: Understanding Worship, Participating in Worship, and Leading Worship.

Worship And the World To Come - Glenn Packiam

This book was fascinating - although a bit academic because of the doctoral-level research this book required. Packiam explores ‘Christian Hope in Contemporary Worship,’ looking at various traditions, song choices, language, and styles to help worship leaders and pastors better articulate a fully-formed vision of Christian hope in our lives, songs, and services.

Land of My Sojourn - Mike Cosper

The local church is beautiful and brutal. It does not take long to see and experience firsthand the ongoing sanctification when you commit yourself to the local expression of faith. This means we will be hurt, but we will also be healed. Mike uses his own story and experience to give language - to clear a path - for those who are trying to navigate their way through pain and grief as we seek to be obedient to Jesus.

Recommended Reading - Part 1 | Recommended Reading - Part 2 | Recommended Reading - Part 3

Recommended Reading - Part 4 | Recommended Reading - Part 5 | Recommended Reading - Part 6

25 June: Tuesday Refocus

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“Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.” - Colossians 3:12-14

How am I dressing my heart and life? Although as a follower of Jesus, we know that the Holy Spirit must work in us for the truths of Colossians 3 to be not just true externally but internally (Philippians 2:13), there also seems to be a sense that we can choose what we put on - how we choose to interact with brothers and sisters.

When we celebrate communion we come back to the table, back to the place where we are reminded what God in Christ has accomplished for us. We come face to face with those who have wounded us and whom we have wounded. We forgive as we have been forgiven (Ephesians 4:32). We see how God has destroyed the dividing wall of hostility between God and man. We put on the clothes of those who work to bring down the divisions between brothers and sisters (Ephesians 2:14).

Father, may these things be true of us. Amen and amen.

Amen,

AB

Disentangling Preferences

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I have preferences.

You have preferences.

The people we lead and serve have preferences.

That is not good or bad, it just is.

But often we don’t realize how significantly our preferences shape what we desire until something doesn’t go the way of our, well, preferences.

Whether it is over song, style, volume, liturgy, or aesthetic, how might we avoid starting another ‘worship war’ in our own churches? Here are a few things to consider:

Acknowledge that we all have preferences. You, me, our team, our church, our leaders - we can celebrate, honor, and acknowledge without being dismissive or condescending towards those preferences which are different.

Realize that no one is neutral. All of us have been shaped in our lives and faith by countless influences - these are places of deep memory and impact.

Develop a philosophy of worship. Our corporate gatherings matter, and we should take seriously the songs we sing and the way our gatherings form our people. That is why I want every aspect of the gathering to be intentionally shaped. But an unexpected benefit of intentionality is that it allows us to articulate a deeper truth to our people if/when there is pushback. Why do we do the things that we do? Our own leadership will be easily swayed if there isn’t something of significance anchoring the decisions we make on and off the platform.

Use preferences as an opportunity to fight for greater unity. We can consider one another more highly than we consider ourselves when we choose to die to our preferences, for the sake of a brother or sisters preference.

Identify my own preferences. More than just acknowledging that preferences exist - what are my preferences? If I was the only person I needed to consider, how would that shape the liturgy and flow of a service I built? How would it impact the style of songs - and the specific songs I choose? What elements would I include weekly? This is an exercise I need to do regularly so that I am able to disentangle my preferences from Gospel. To help me appreciate that I am a servant to the Lord and His people in a specific context, at a specific place in time. My job is not to make little versions of myself - to enforce my own preferences on a people. My job is not to make people more like themselves - to allow their preferences to dictate all that we do. No, my job is to help create a space where people can become more like Jesus.

What would you add?

18 June: Tuesday Refocus

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“Faithful are the wounds of a friend; profuse are the kisses of an enemy.” - Proverbs 27:6

Every person has been wounded in relationship. This is a part of life in a fallen world: necessary things intended for our good and flourishing have been distorted and warped by sin. I believe it is not the wound of a friend that leaves a scar, but the unwillingness to be so committed to those we love that we are willing to speak the truth in love and walk alongside one another for the long haul that leaves us grieved and groaning.

Faithful are the wounds of a friend. Faithful.

“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.” John 15:12-15

Father, in your grace, would you make us the kinds of friends who are faithful in our wounds, amen.

Amen,

AB

16 June: Liturgy + Set List

  • FOREVER NOW A CROWN

    Call to Worship

  • CREATOR

  • ALL HAIL KING JESUS/I LOVE YOU LORD

There are three persons in one God: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. And of all of those titles, perhaps the one that can feel most complicated to us is Father. Because part of living in a fallen and broken world is that even the things intended for our good and flourishing - like fathers - have been distorted, warped, and broken by sin. But if you are here this morning as a follower of Jesus, you have a Heavenly Father who has never been distorted, warped, or broken by sin. And so as we continue in worship, I am going to read a prayer that shows some of the heart and character of our Father that we see in Scripture:

God, You are our Father

We are the sheep of Your pasture

The work of Your hand

You have loved us with an everlasting love

You have welcomed us into Your family

We are Your dearly loved children

Nothing can separate us from Your love

You discipline those You love

Your anger is for a moment,

But Your favor lasts a lifetime

You have called us by name, we are Yours

You know us for You have made us

You have shown us Your love in sending Your Son

Nothing is hidden from You

You quiet us with Your love

And You delight over us with singing

You comfort us in our distress

You are the giver of every good and perfect gift

No good thing do you withhold

See what kind of love the Father has given

That we should be called children of God,

And so we are

From Is 64:8, Ps 100:3, Ephesians 5:1, Heb 31:3, Eph 1:5, Rom 8:38-39, Pr 3:12, Ps 30:5, Is 43:1, Rom 4:8, Heb 4:13, Zeph 3:17, Ps 86:7, Jam 1:17, Ps 84:11, 1 Jn 3:1

Sermon: 1 Peter 1:10-12

If you are here this morning as a follower of Jesus, you will never move on or past the cross. We only ever move deeper into our understanding of what God has accomplished through Christ. We only ever grow in our awareness of our need for a Savior, and deeper in our affection for Christ. Let’s ask the Holy Spirit to lift our eyes to behold the our suffering servant Savior, would you stand if you’re able…

  • SON OF SUFFERING

  • GOD, YOU’RE SO GOOD

    Benediction

Whose Face Are You Looking For

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For better (and sometimes worse) as worship leaders, we have the best seat in the house: looking out on our brothers and sisters in Christ as they sing to God and to one another the truths that animate our faith.

We see the faces of those we love, and those we find hard to love. We see the joys and sorrows of stories shared and burdens borne together as the people of God. These are the interactions as a worship leader that fuel our own worship and devotion, that unite our hearts to fear God’s name and unite our hearts to His people.

But from our vantage point, we can also see those who look like the live-action version of the flat-eye emoji.

Arms crossed.

Scowl.

Refuse to sing.

Staring through you.

Those are the faces that have made me want to stop mid-song and sentence and say “You know I can see you, right?”

And why do they always seem to sit in the front row? Ha!

While I am conscious of the fact that I am leading the people of God, when those faces fall into view, I have to intentionally remind myself: whose face am I looking for here?

Whose face do I desire to see?

Whose gaze is on me - not just on my external activity, but down to the ground of my being, who sees me, knows me, loves me, through and through?

In these moments I am tempted toward fixation: what do I need to do to make that person change their face or posture? I am tempted toward spiral: why do they hate me?

But rather than fixate or spiral, I am learning to pray with the Psalmist:

“You have said, “Seek my face.” My heart says to you, “Your face, LORD, do I seek.”” Psalm 27:8

11 June: Tuesday Refocus

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“The friendship of the LORD is for those who fear him, and he makes known to them his covenant.” - Psalm 25:14

Fear may not seem like a solid foundation for friendship, but Scripture tells us: “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.” Proverbs 9:10

In the original Hebrew, this text reads, “The secret of the LORD is for those who fear him…” To be friends - to know him deeply, and intimately - is to rightly recognize, to stand in awe of who He is and what He has done. To see that, “Our God is in the heaven; he does all that he pleases.” Psalm 115:3

But this is not a one-way friendship: God makes known His covenant to those who fear Him. He makes known His heart and character, He makes Himself known.

Father, thank you for all the ways you have revealed yourself. May we see and fear you rightly, and walk closely with you, in Christ’s name, amen.

Amen,

AB