yesterday we participated in “one prayer,” a global initiative to promote unity in the church. in the month of june, thousands of churches are sharing messages via video - across denominations, styles, preferences, etc. we chose a message from andy stanley from northpoint church in alpharetta, ga.

prior to seeing the message video, i had already planned to bring back spencer karges’ song “hope” (spencer is our worship intern.) it was very cool when i was watching the message the theme of “hope and faith in God in the middle of uncertainty” was weaved throughout. i realized that spencer’s song would follow up the message very nicely. in fact, spencer and andy make a good team, even if they’ve never met.

“because of your love” is a new song by al gordon from the UK. al is part of the www.worshipcentral.org community along with a more well-known worship leader, tim hughes. as a band, we had a bit of a problem locking into the rhythm at the beginning of the song. made for an interesting start, but we settled in at the first chorus.

about a year ago, “your grace is enough” was one of our most upbeat, energetic songs. yesterday, following the first two, it almost felt slow in comparison.

yesterday was a great day. i planned the worship service to serve to gear us up for the baptism celebration in the afternoon. we started with two “up” songs that our crowd knows well and usually sing out.

it hit me at some point during the week leading up that our community was experiencing highs and lows simultaneously. we were having conversations with people who were taking the step to trust and follow jesus for the first time, others who were following through with baptism, and others that are still working through questions. these conversations really pump me up! at the same time, two of my coworkers in the office at church experienced the death in their families. so, we were walking through grief with them.

it really served as a reminder to me of all the different stories that people carry into our worship gatherings every week. we’re all singing the same songs, but from vastly different points-of-view and experiences. but that’s really where a lot of the power of corporate worship lies. if all of our experience with God is individual, we miss out on so much. reflecting on the same truths at the same time in a body of believers with various circumstances can be - should be - a unifying experience. i’ll be reflecting on this thought for awhile.

the baptism party itself went off very well. i thought we did a much better job logistically this time. thanks goes out especially to mara groegler, jenny rogers and nicole brady. they did a great job organizing and managing the event.

we look forward to getting better and better at celebrating baptisms in our community. this event was a good step forward in my opinion.

today was a great day. i was a bit concerned about breaking up the “flow” of worship with the father’s day song, but after going through it, i think the themes flowed rather nicely.

for those that are wondering, that was ian gratz singing the solo on the ben folds song. ian and his family moved here from california last year. i’m excited to have him as part of the team. besides being an easy person to hang with, ian brings a different vocal quality that will expand our stylistic range for solos and such…

things really got going with the one-two punch of “cannons” and “made to worship.” these songs bring out some of my favorite themes - the story of creation, the fall, redemption, and God’s purpose throughout it all of inviting humanity into the love relationship that existed among Father, Son and Spirit from before time.

jonathan spoke from matthew 7:13 and following. he did a great job of contextualizing jesus’ words here that have unfortunately been used too often to shut people out. i thought jBow also made a very plain and down to earth invitation for people to make a firm decision to follow jesus. many people are planning to be baptized next sunday in our big outdoor baptism celebration.

it was a great day.

chris mills started volunteering with the worship ministry at crosspointe in 2003. i believe he answered an ad in our weekly program looking for bass players. very soon after he started playing bass, as i started to get to know him more, i realized he had much more to offer.

sometime in 2004, i asked chris if he’d ever thought about leading worship. as i remember it, chris was surprised that i asked because he hadn’t really thought of it much. in fact, he said something to the effect that he thought that the worship leader role was reserved for the professionals like myself. the guys who get paid to do the job.

long story short, he started leading worship. subbing in for me here and there at the beginning. but we met together for coffee consistently, talking about the challenges of the job and celebrating together how God was stretching him and blessing our church through his gifts. in 2007, we were able to bring chris on part-time staff with the worship ministry.

i have loved seeing chris become such a mainstay of the crosspointe community. every once in awhile, we’ll meet someone new to the church who just assumes that chris must be the worship pastor. i love that.

let’s make this interactive so i don’t get bored. let me know the songs that are working for you and those that aren’t. and a “why” either way would be helpful too.

06.07.09

“Sing, Sing, Sing” by Chris Tomlin (CD “Passion Live: God of This City”)
“Beautiful One” by Tim Hughes (CD “When Silence Falls”)
connect
“Hope” by Spencer Karges (original, as yet unrecorded)
prayer
“Faithful” by Alex Nifong (recorded by Kristian Stanfill, CD “Northpoint Live: Louder than Creation”)

i was very proud of spencer today. one of the best parts of my job is to build into others with the mix of gifts and passions necessary to lead worship. it’s a joy to give him opportunities that i didn’t have at his age. i don’t think churches like crosspointe existed back then.

as fellow songwriters, spencer and i spend some semi-regular time sharing song ideas back and forth. when i heard the beginnings of “Hope”…mainly the bridge (”we’re not asking for the easy road, we just want hope”)….i knew instantly that it would be sung at crosspointe. i gave him a deadline and some ideas to flesh out the rest of the song. i think it turned out really well. it was fun developing the full band arrangement collaboratively with the band on thursday night.

jonathan’s message was challenging for me personally. is it bad that while listening to the message i was worrying about how much i worry?

lately my mind has been on the nature of God, redemption, judgement, and afterlife or “the age to come.”

here are some of the questions that my reading and reflection have brought me to these past couple days:

:: can God love anyone completely if he doesn’t completely love everyone?
:: are God’s judgement/wrath and his mercy at odds? and if so, what/who determines which wins out for each individual?
:: jesus commands us to love our enemies? what does it mean for God to love his enemies, or is it something he requires of us but not of himself?
:: many throughout history have died without hearing the name of jesus or his good news. do they get a free pass, or is there an opportunity to respond to him somehow after death?

as i’m reading back through these questions, i wonder if they come across as depressing. but actually, that’s not where i am. some of my previous assumptions are being challenged and i suspect that God is trying to stretch me and give me a broader hope.

i would love to hear any thoughts in the comments…

“let the praises ring” by lincoln brewster (cd “all to you…live”)
“salvation is here” by hillsong united (cd “look to you”)
—-welcome—-
“knowing you” by stephen claybrook (as yet unrecorded)
—-connect—-
“beautiful the blood” by steve fee (cd “burn for you”)
“god you reign” by lincoln brewster (cd “today is the day”)
—-prayer: skc—-
—-message: jBow—-

today was one of those simple days in terms of the format of the service. 30 minutes of music, 30 minutes of message. we like to change it up as much as possible, but other times it’s nice to simplify like today.

i had a first today — someone stopped me after first service and asked me if i would consider having an extended bass guitar solo sometime in worship. can’t say i’ve ever gotten that request before!

although, i HAVE been hearing traces of this coming from dan during soundchecks from time to time: