Throughout this series, we’ve been challenged about what it means to love up and to love out. One of the “truisms” that developed through the series is this: Love up is love out. Anything else is a lie. Simple and challenging all at the same time, but if we can catch this, it will transform us, our churches, and our communities.

It was a good conclusion to what has been a timely and meaningful series.

Here’s what we did together…

Our Service Flow:

Video: Dad’s Perfect Gift by the Skitzy Chicks

Welcome & Information

Meet & Greet

Glorious One (Fee)

When the Stars Burn Down (Lee/Riddle)

Offering

Your Presence Is Heaven to Me (Houghton/Massey)

Champion Moment: Serbia

Message

Lord, I Need You (Reeves/Stanfill/Maher/Nockels/Carson)

From the Inside Out (Houston)

Series Conclusion

Response

Video: The Point from Floodgate Productions

Close & Commission

Observations:

• We had a couple of songs we hadn’t done in a while…a long while. Lord, I Need You hadn’t been done since 2011, but was one that seemed to fit in the response time. It had also been a while since we had done When the Stars Burn Down. Both didn’t have the strongest participation, but we made sure to surround them with solid songs.
• The opening segment was focused on Christ as supreme and an opportunity to declare Him as 1^st place. We drew people in from the time of greeting and moved right into worshiping through singing.
• The end of the service ended up being a bit anti-climatic for us, but we probably wouldn’t do anything different if we did this service again. We wanted to take an intention step to conclude the series and bring some practical application to what love might look like lived up and out. Using 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 as a basis, our pastor gave some practical examples of love, and then we invited people to think about some ways they could live this out in the weeks to come. We then ended with the video, and sent people out to love.

Thanks for stopping by. I hope that your corporate time of gathering this past weekend was a time of challenge, celebration, connection, and commissioning as the body of Christ for the glory of our Lord.

To see what other communities did together, be sure to check out the other Sunday Setlists posted at TheWorshipCommunity.com.

This week, we looked at 1 John 4:7-21. John continues to stress what it means to live in love and the connection of love between God (the up) and others (the out). One doesn’t exist without the other. John isn’t just rehashing old content because he has nothing else to say, but is emphasizing this incredibly important principle.

And we aren’t left to figure this out on our own. Our self-sacrifice to God allows His love to take root in us, to be expressed to others, and to be what binds us together and identifies us. Remember when Jesus talked about how the world would know we were His disciples?

We also had the opportunity to celebrate communion today as a reminder and expression of God’s amazing love.

Here’s what we did together…

Our Service Flow:

Psalm 34:3

Happy Day (Cantelon/Hughes)

Meet & Greet

Genesis in 90 sec (or so)

Offering

Video: Great Commission Sunday (denomination related)

Focus on world work of denomination

Message

Glorious (Trent Smith)

Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone)  (Tomlin/Newton/Giglio)

We Fall Down (Tomlin)

Video: Communion Intro from Freebridge Media

Communion (see below)

Habakkuk 3:2-4, 18-19

The Stand (Houston)

Mighty to Save (Morgan/Fielding)

Close & Commission

Observations:

• This was our first week doing Glorious by Trent Smith. I had originally heard it while attending the Refuge Retreat back in March. It is a great song about Jesus Christ. We sang it as part of the package above (all of those songs we flowed through) and invited people to listen as the team sang. By the end, most were singing, and by the end of the bridge, some people were cheering. It’s a very easy song to catch on to. If you haven’t heard it yet, check it out here.
• We did communion a little differently in this service. We had placed our cross right at the front of the platform on the floor. We invited people to come up with a red piece of paper they had been given and write their name on the paper. They then pinned the paper with their name to the cross as a reminder of what Jesus had done for us. They could also write the name of someone they were in the process of sharing about Christ with and put that piece at the foot of the cross. Then they were able to take the bread and juice and share communion with a family or friends or else take it privately. During that time, the worship team played songs like How Deep the Father’s Love for Us and Jesus Paid It All. It was a great time. Many people were very much touched by the experience. I think part of the value was the active part of getting up and coming to receive.

• The service as a whole went very well. We had a huge number of technical and personal issues leading into the morning, including the last minute cancellation by our bass player, issues with mics and Avioms, running out of bulletins, and such. But everything pulled together, and in the end, people were able to celebrate Christ and be challenged with the Word. Not a bad way to spend a morning together.

How was your Sunday? I hope that Christ was amazingly proclaimed and that people were challenged with His Word.

To see what other communities did together, be sure to check out the other Sunday Setlists posted over at TheWorshipCommunity.com.

See you next time!

That’s certainly a loaded question, but one we looked at this past week in our ongoing journey through the book of 1 John in the Love: Up & Out series. In 1 John 3:11-24, John actually gives one of the answers to that question.

One of the ways we can know is by how we feel and respond toward our brothers and sisters. Do we love or do we hate? Cain hated his brother Abel, and the love of God was not in him. Hate is a powerful emotion, but love is stronger, especially when it comes to the love of God at work in and through us.

So, one of the ways we know is by love – and not just walking around saying “I love you, man” but by the actuality of love lived out in action in relationship. This is the truth and this is the command John would have us to embrace.

How are you doing?

Here’s what we did together…

Our Service Flow:

Welcome // Isaiah 40:28-31

Everlasting God (Brown/Riley)

You are So Good to Me (Pasley/Chaffer/Pasley)

The Heart of Worship (Redman)

Prayer for one another

Cornerstone (Mote/Liljero/Myrin/Morgan/Bradbury)

Meet & Greet

Genesis in 90sec.

Offering w/ Giving Update

Video: Lindsay from Deidox

Message // 1 John 3:11-24

Selah Moment

Ephesians 1:4-7

Presence (Furler/Taylor/Hughes)

Close & Commission

Observations:

• This journey through 1 John has been timely and very good in the life of our church. Even as we decided to do this series months and months ago, it’s great how so many of the themes are playing out at just the right time. Pretty cool…
• It was a good morning. We are beginning to see the shift into summer mode, which is a mixed bag. But we are also seeing people hungry and excited for what’s next in the life of the church.
• For our prayer time for one another, we invited people who had a need, either for themselves or someone they knew, to simply stand. Then we invited people to gather around them and pray for the need – whether it was expressed or unspoken. I think it is good to be able to do elements like this that allow opportunity for people to engage together and for one another.
• We’ve been struggling a little bit with time these last number of weeks. While we only have one service, so there isn’t the constraint of turning things over for another service, we also want to be respectful. We want to be flexible without taking advantage of people’s trust. So, we’re working on some scheduling and time elements to try and get a better handle on what’s going on and where the  big time bloaters are appearing.

Thanks for stopping by. I hope that the Spirit of God empowered your expressions of worship toward Christ Jesus for the glory of the Father this past week.

To see what other communities did together, be sure to check out other Sunday Setlists posted over at TheWorshipCommunity.com.

That was our focus this past Sunday as we continued the Love: Up & Out series through 1 John. It has been a great journey so far unpackaging these timeless truths. 1 John 2:28-3:10 not only reminds us of who we are in God’s sight, but how we are to live as a result of that identity. So often we get confused and forget who we are.

It was a full Sunday, and a joy to be together celebrating Christ, the cross, and the living out of that.

Here’s what we did together…

Our Service Flow:

Special Countdown: Kid President Open Letter to Moms

Welcome // Psalm 29:1-2

God You Reign (Brewster/Fieldes)

Forever Reign (Ingram/Morgan)

Psalm 9:7-10

Meet & Greet

Genesis in 90 seconds

Offering/Prayer

Majesty (Smith/Garrard)

Message: 1 John 2:28-3:10

Sharing

Drama

Transition: Romans 5:6-11

How He Loves (McMillan)

Prayer/Confession: Psalm 24:3-6)

Stronger (Fielding/Morgan)

Romans 8:12-17

Beautiful (Wickham)

Close & Commission

Observations:

• It was a full morning. Instead of having a specific Mother’s Day focused service, we weaved that thread into the service. Obviously, the countdown as a light-hearted kick off. Although it did create a bit of an awkward transition moment…
• We had the kids in the service today, too. The drama after the message was done by a group of kids (we call them KidsWAM), and focused on how parents show their love for kids and for God by how they care for us – even if it means they aren’t always buying us presents.
• Our primary moment for moms came through the sharing time after the message. We celebrated the example of moms by inviting people to share stories of moms (or grandmas) who have lived selflessly and in pursuit of the purity and righteousness of Christ. That was pretty neat.
• The ending segment was designed as a time to respond to what we’ve heard in acknowledging God’s love for us and how our lives aren’t always lived in the fullness and purity of Christ. The idea was to pull out some of the themes of the passage. In theory, the flow looked good, but I’m not so sure that it worked out as well. I think that the songs, while strong, may not have been as familiar to the congregation, which limited full engagement. We’re also still struggling with time factor, too.

And a bonus observation…

• Still learning the dynamic balance between leading people through an experience and not talking too much in this context. Sometimes it seems to be a constantly moving target. Want to make sure we’re giving clear permission, and don’t want to assume people automatically know what they are supposed to do. Didn’t do so well with that balance today…

Overall, though, it was a privilege to be able to gather together and celebrate Christ and the life that He not only calls, but equips, us to live for the furtherance of the kingdom of God.

To see what other communities did together, be sure to check out the other Sunday Setlists over at TheWorshipCommunity.com.

We are continued our journey through the book of 1 John and the Love: Up & Out series with 1 John 2:7-14 this week. While connected, we explored two distinct themes in this passage. As a result, we chose to approach the service flow with a split sermon approach. The first part dealt with the idea of “if we claim” as in, if we claim to live in the light, but don’t live that way, then we need to be asking some serious questions. The second part dealt with what the reality of victory in Christ means for us.

The common thread was that until we deal with the reality of our relationships both vertically (with God) and horizontally (with others) we cannot share in the victorious life available through Christ. A hard word, but one that is significant.

Here’s what we did together…

Our Service Flow:

Welcome/1 Chronicles 16:23-25

You are the Light (Fee)

Announcements

Meet & Greet

Offering

Celebrate & Champion: Kid’s Summer Camp

Message, Part 1: 1 John 2:7-11

Cornerstone (Myrin/Morgan/Liljero/Bradbury)

Moment of Listening, Prayer, and Selah

Psalm 118

At Your Name (Hughes/Wickham)

Your Name (Baloche/Packiam)

Message, Part 2: 1 John 2:12-14

Victor’s Crown (Zschech/Houghton/Jobe)

Our God (Redman/Myrin/Tomlin/Reeves)

Close & Commission

Observations:

• It was a good morning together. The message, though challenging at times, was received well. The congregation responded with listening and worship. We had the opportunity to celebrate Christ and the cross, and it was a joy to do so together.
• We may end up retiring the song You are the Light. While it has a good message, it just doesn’t seem to be connecting with people. That happens sometimes.
• On the other hand, At Your Name was well received and engaged with. We had sung it the previous week as a live pre-service song. This week, we moved out of the prayer/Selah time by singing the 1^st verse and chorus and then repeating that with the invitation to join.  I had also posted a YouTube of the song on our Facebook Group. People really connected with it.
• The only “it didn’t go so well” moment was with our offering and celebrate & champion element. The celebrate & champion was supposed to happen while the offering was being collected. I’ve got to take responsibility for that with not communicating clearly about that flow with the person who was doing that element. As a result, we had a few moments of dead space while the offering was being collected. It wasn’t incredibly awkward, and fortunately, it didn’t take long to collect the offering. Guess I will need to do a little better making sure everyone is on the same page.

Thanks for stopping by. My the worship we experienced together drive the worship we live this week.

To see what other communities did together, be sure to check out the other Sunday Setlists posted over at TheWorshipCommunity.com.

In on ongoing journey through the book of 1 John and our series Love: Up & Out we looked at 1 John 2:1-6 this weekend. In these few verses, there are some deep truths and concepts.

• Jesus is our Advocate before God – not because of what we’ve done or not done, but because of what He has done.
• Jesus is our propitiation – a big word that means Jesus has turned away the wrath of God from us because He became an offering.

And because of these truths, our response is to abide in Him and to walk as He walked. To live as Jesus lived. To be the image of Christ in this world. Great promises, great truths, and great reasons to worship together.

Here’s what we did together…

Our Service Flow:

Pre-Service Song: At Your Name (Wickham/Hughes)

Welcome/Scripture: Psalm 103:1-5

Beautiful One (Hughes)

Glorious One (Fee)

You Are So Good to Me (Pasley/Chaffer/Pasley)

Ephesians 3:12

Meet & Greet

Prayer

Video: Before the Throne of God Above from iWorship

How He Loves (McMillan)

Psalm 25:4-10

Offering

Info & Announcements

Message

Video: Presence from Dan Stevers

At the Cross (Zschech/Morgan)

From the Inside Out (Houston)

Close & Commission

Observations:

• It was an interesting morning. There were some good points, and some things that didn’t go so well. We also had a really low attendance, but it was a good time of being together as God’s people.
• The opening set, while thematically worked, didn’t work out as well in musical flow. I made some assumptions about some things, and didn’t give as much attention to keys, and so there were a few awkward transitions.
• The middle section seemed to work well. I encouraged folks as they were meeting and greeting to actually find out what’s happening in each other’s lives and then to take a moment to pray for one another. We then had an elder come up and lead in prayer, and he used the Lord’s Prayer and made a great connection. Then with the video, How He Loves, and the passage from Psalms, it was a special moment.
• It didn’t work to do our announcements during the collection of the offering – for many reasons. And I knew it probably wouldn’t work going into it, but didn’t want to break the flow of the opening segments. We’re still working out how to incorporate that element, how much to do as part of that element, and how not to make it totally awkward. I’m open to suggestions if you have any.
• It was a good message, and the end helped us to remember and celebrate the truth. The second video, Presence, is another great video from Dan Stevers and worked really well. If you’re not familiar with his stuff and haven’t used it, you should check it out.

Thanks for stopping by. May you live a life of worship this week in light of (and because of) Christ who is our Advocate and propitiation before God.

To see what other communities did together, be sure to check out the other Sunday Setlists over at TheWorshipCommunity.com.

This week we remembered that God is light. That we are to walk in the light, both in our fellowship with God and with one another (don’t forget the two are intrinsically related), and then looked at how sin breaks us being in the light and why confession is the only answer.

Confession and sin isn’t about what I think is right or wrong, but is all about what God says is right or wrong in His Word. We then come together around these common truths. Because God is light, we can clearly see where our sin is and acknowledge it through confession to experience the forgiveness and cleansing of Christ.

We did some things with the concept of confession and communion as part of this service. Here’s what we did together…

Our Service Flow:

Welcome/Announcements

Celebrate & Champion: Walk for Life

1 Timothy 1:15-17

Your Great Name (Nordhoff/Neale)

Here I Am to Worship (Hughes)

Psalm 51

Selah moment

Confession (see below)

Offering

Jesus, Lord of Heaven (Wickham)

Video: Light Shines from Journey Box Media

Message

Communion

w/ How Deep the Father’s Love for Us (Townend)

Prayer

Victor’s Crown (Zschech/Houghton/Jobe)

You Are My King (Foote)

The Stand (Houston)

Close & Commission

Observations:

• It was a great service and great opportunity to be together. Even with the deepness of the topic in relation to sin and confession, people were engaged and open to what God was saying and reminding us of.
• To weave the element of confession in more significantly, after our first few songs and the reading of Psalm 51, I explained briefly about confession, and then invited people to be quiet before the Lord and ask for Him to reveal areas in their life they needed to confess. They then were invited to anonymously write those things down on the piece of paper they had been provided with. Afterward, as we collected the offering, we also asked them to place the paper in the offering plate as a physical acknowledgement of these sins before God.
• Then, as we moved from the message into communion, we read a representative selection of the sins out loud. The idea was to reinforce that, just as what is and isn’t sin is based on a standard common to us all, the forgiveness of these sins through the blood of Jesus (the symbolism of communion) is common to all who confess and receive Christ. It was a great reminder and example of what Christ did for us and what we again remember celebrate every time we do communion.
• As we moved through communion, and then into the songs and prayer at the end, it was refreshing to see people responding to and owning the truths we had just focused on. Our service went a little long, but no one seemed to mind as we celebrated Christ’s defeat of sin and the cleaning and forgiveness that comes through Him.

There were a few minor hiccups in the morning, but nothing that became a deterrent to people hearing and responding to the truth of God. It was an honor to gather and worship with the Body of Christ on this day. I hope that the same was true for you.

To see what other communities did together today, be sure to check out the other Sunday Setlists posted at TheWorshipCommunity.com.

We began with 1 John 1:1-4 this week to kick things off. We looked at how Jesus had a priority of relationships, that we need (and were created for) relationships, and how when our relationships are right, we find joy, especially the joy of the Lord. It’s not easy having right relationships, though. When we’re not right with God, we can’t be right with each other – but that’s a topic for another day…

It was a good beginning to the series, and we’re excited to be moving through this short, but challenging book.

Here’s what we did together…

Our Service Flow:

Praise Adonai (Baloche)

Scripture: Psalm 113:1-5

Announcements

Celebrate/Champion: New Joyful Hearts ministry for ladies 50+

Meet & Greet

Video: Jesus Is from eleven72

Cornerstone (Mote/Liljero/Myrin/Morgan/Bradbury)

Lord of Lords (Ligertwood)

Moment & Scripture

Holy Is the Lord (Tomlin/Giglio)

Psalm 148:13

Offering

Missionary Video & Prayer

Message

Forever Reign (Ingram/Morgan)

Prayer

You’re Beautiful (Wickham)

Close & Commission

Thoughts:

• While our attendance was significantly lower than last week…(I’ll let you think about that one for a moment), it was a good morning. Our focus was to both have opportunity to sing the Gospel and also to remember the eternality of Christ. Along the way, we ended up having numerous opportunities for prayer – some intentional and some that just happened.
• We’re starting the shift to a rotation schedule for our worship team and also scheduling a month at a time. We’ve added some new members to the team recently. Always a good thing. We’ve also got one of our vocalists out on maternity leave.
• The end of the service was definitely one of those God-things. The songs we had prepared were great expressions and responses. This was the first time we had done You’re Beautiful in a main service. We had used it for an evening thing about a month ago, and I’m told they had sung it in the way past. It was a good moment.
• I still feel a little of that post-Easter numbness. I feel like I should be saying more, but I just don’t have anything right now. So, I’ll stop rambling.

I hope that your time of corporate gathering was a wonderful opportunity to worship as the people of God in spirit and truth and that the Lord was honored through what happened.

To see what other communities did together, be sure to check out the other Sunday Setlists as TheWorshipCommunity.com. See you next week!