Sola Christus

Inexpressible Joy

2008-12-02T16:34:00.001-06:00

In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ; and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls.

1 Peter 1: 6-9 (NAS)

It is now both a time of waiting and a time of joy. Advent is upon us as we commemorate the expectancy of Christ’s arrival as a mere infant, born to save our helpless race from the powers of sin and death. We are also waiting expectantly for Him to return that He might judge the quick and the dead and bring about the fullness of His Kingdom. And as we wait, we find ourselves living between two great joys: the arrival of salvation on this earth, and the completion of its promise. But as we linger, fulfilling the Lord’s plan for restoration here and now (and occasionally looking to the skies), we are said to be filled with the same joy that we both remember and await.

We meet trials of varying intensities and forms every day; these trials often knock us down, beat us up, steal our wallets, and leave us half-dead in the gutter. But when we are picked back up, still alive in the grace of God, we find our faiths strengthened, tested, and proven. And even as we bandage our cuts, soothe our sores, and splint our broken bones, we find ourselves still faithfully in love with a Savior whom we never saw during His short life, nor do we see Him now, nor have we seen His future return. We do not know the experiential joy that we both celebrate and expect. But our ever-fortified faith in a Savior full of love, grace, redemption, and resurrected, glorified life is miraculously filling us with those joys even as we are physically separate from them. We are saved by our faith in Christ, and in our salvation He miraculously offers us gloriously inexpressible joy. But thank God that on the last day, dressed in His righteousness and fully redeemed by His grace, we may finally experience with neither distraction nor separation the joy that comes in being exactly what He has always meant for us to be…His.

November 2, 2008

2008-11-03T16:58:00.002-06:00

This week’s recap of songs is posted in collaboration with other worship leaders on the “Sunday Setlists” blog carnival at fredmckinnon.com.

- Come Thou Fount (Robert Robinson, lyrics adapted by E. Margaret Clarkson, arrangement by Jacob Gehret and Paul Redel)
This is our call to worship, our initial plea that the Lord might set our hearts right in praising Him:

Come Thou Fount of every blessing
tune my heart to sing Thy praise
streams of mercy never ceasing
call for songs of loudest praise
teach me some melodious sonnet
sung by flaming tongues above
Praise His name, I’m fixed upon it
Name of God’s redeeming love

The arrangement includes an ample, hard-hitting yet melodic interlude between verses that we might have time to reflect on the truth and imagery of these verses before we sing them.

- That We Might Live (Waving Not Drowning)
After singing verses that proclaim the gospel, we come to the verse that proclaims our reason for coming together:

We are the church redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ
the body of faith, being transformed in heart and mind
blessing and glory and honor be to Him

After the song, we read Philippians 2:5-11:
Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made Himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

- Here I Am to Worship (Tim Hughes)
We play an arrangement of this song that begins in a relative minor, but switches to the major key when we reach the chorus. The minor seems to match the emotion of leaving behind rightful authority, goodness, and kingship in order to be rejected, beaten, and murdered. The switch to the major key seems to match our response to this beautiful truth: through Christ’s shed blood and resurrection on my behalf, my heart is transformed and enabled to worship Him as my Lord Who is both suffering and glorious.

- In the Shadow of the Glorious Cross (Rebecca Elliott, Brooks Ritter)
Before Communion, this is our song of confession and surety:

these crowns I’ve clenched with fisted hands
I cast them down before the throne
of Christ my God, the Worthy Lamb
Christ crucified, the great I AM

- Forever (Chris Tomlin)
This song, based on Psalm 136, implores us to give thanks to our Lord and recognize His goodness, faithfulness, strength, and grace in the power of His everlasting love. Read Psalm 136.

Musicians
Jake Gehret – Guitar and vocals
Susan Filer – vocals
Bob Ricchio – Bass
Scott Holverson – Guitar
Paul Betz – Drums

October 19, 2008

2008-10-20T15:26:00.002-05:00

This week’s recap of songs is posted in collaboration with other worship leaders on the “Sunday Setlists” blog carnival at fredmckinnon.com.

- Marvelous Light (Charlie Hall)
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
1 Peter 2:9

This is the first of three Charlie Hall songs we sang in the service (coincidentally). We have been called from darkness to light, sin to righteousness, death to life. By cross we are saved, and we recognize Jesus as the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

- All Creatures (St. Francis of Assisi)
Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord from the heavens;
praise him in the heights!
Praise him, all his angels;
praise him, all his hosts!

Praise him, sun and moon,
praise him, all you shining stars!
Praise him, you highest heavens,
and you waters above the heavens!

Let them praise the name of the LORD!
For he commanded and they were created.

Psalm 148:1-5 (ESV)

The beautiful and ancient text of this song (based on the above psalm) implores all of God’s creation to do what it was meant to do: praise Him.

- In Christ Alone (Keith Getty, Stuart Townend)
This song eloquently proclaims the depths of the Gospel: Christ is everything we need (hope, comfort, refuge), He was divinity incarnate, we murdered Him in our sin, God’s justice is satisfied when Christ takes our burdens upon Himself, His resurrection defeated sin and death forever, and now we are alive to proclaim the coming fullness of the Kingdom of Heaven. Amen.

- Mystery (Charlie Hall)
Jesus is a mystery. We cannot fully understand His incarnation, His divinity, the power of His death and resurrection; still, that mystery is our hope:

Christ has died and
Christ is risen
And Christ will come again

At this point, Pastor Dennis Corley preached a message about the ways in which followers of Christ must meet governing authorities with respect and submission.

- Center (Charlie Hall, Matt Redman)
We are not the center of the universe, creation was not made for our glory, and we cannot hold our own existence together. We need Christ.

Musicians
Jake Gehret – Guitar and vocals
Courtney Osters - vocals
Dan Moreland – Bass
Don Henry – Guitar
Jeff Courtney - Guitar
Paul Betz – Drums

To Reconcile All Things

2008-10-08T15:43:00.003-05:00

And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.
Colossians 1:18-20 (TNIV)

This place is messed up. Sickness, death, poverty, loneliness, global warming, hatred, apathy, war….it was never supposed to be this way. When the world was created it was perfect; the world was not created with the inherent flaws we see now. In Genesis 3, however, sin entered the world through the rebellion of humanity and deeply blemished the Lord’s creation. We have tried to take what the Lord has made and make it revolve around us instead of Him. This is not the way the world was built; it was built to revolve around God, not us. As we continually and sinfully try to bend this world around ourselves, it becomes more apparent that we are trying to make it do something it was never meant to do.

This idea of how broken everything is extends to each one of us. I think that most of us can look in the mirror in the morning and admit that the images returning our gazes are perfect examples of imperfection. We can each recognize our own weaknesses, our own hurts, our own pasts, our own vulnerabilities, our own fears.

Yet there is still hope. Here is the gloriously wonderful thing about the Lord: even though He has made this perfect world and we have mired it in our rebellion, He has promised us that He is going to fix it all. That is what God does; He takes things that are broken and He fixes them. He takes people who are injured and He heals them. He takes things that are abused and He restores them. He takes rebels who have, in their sin, declared war on Him and He reconciles them. This is our great hope: that the God who created the universe so regrettably damaged by our sin will reconcile all things; He will take all that we see and restore it to the way it was meant to be. Our great hope is the new life of which Christ is the firstborn and in which He is supreme. Our great hope is the fulfillment of the peace which Jesus made in His death and His resurrection. Glory be to Him forever, amen.

October 5, 2008

2008-10-06T14:30:00.003-05:00

This week’s recap of songs is posted in collaboration with other worship leaders on the “Sunday Setlists” blog carnival at fredmckinnon.com.

- Happy Day (Ben Cantelon, Tim Hughes)
Together we begin our corporate worship by declaring that Jesus is alive, and He has changed us. We also recognize that our gathering is but a foretaste of the eternal praise we will one day be able to fully offer our Lord.

- Yahweh (U2)
Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy. When a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come, but when she has delivered the baby, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world. So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.
John 16:20-22 (ESV)

These words of Jesus will be echoed by Paul in Romans 8 when he writes that creation is groaning with the pains of childbirth for its redemption through Christ. Jesus here refers to His coming death and resurrection, and in His reference He tells His disciples that a birth of sorts is coming. In His death and resurrection, a new kingdom will come about. Like childbirth, there is pain and suffering involved with the coming of this restorative kingdom: the Messiah will be murdered, the earth will groan, the apostles will be persecuted, we will be purified through fire. Yet after the groans and the persecutions and the sears of purification, there is a joy to be found unlike any other; it is a joy so great that the distress it has wrought will be forgotten. It is the joy of a new kingdom, wholly restored by grace.

- At the Foot of the Cross (Joe Day)
As a church (a bride of Christ), our freedom, our justification, our life, and our hope all emanate from the foot of the cross. Because of this beautiful and glorious fact, we must joyously sing of His grace.

- How Deep the Father’s Love (Stuart Townend)
This was our communion song. Rich in imagery, theology, and emotion, each verse allows us to express joy, sorrow, repentance, and hope:

how deep the Father’s love for us, how vast beyond all measure
that He should give his only Son to make a wretch His treasure
how great the pain of searing loss, the Father turns His face away
as wounds which mar the Chosen One bring many sons to glory

- Lead On O King Eternal (Peter Scholtes)
In Ephesians 6:12, Paul writes, “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” We battle the forces of evil, hate, and apathy in the name and power of Christ, but our battle is not one of violence or judgment:

For not with swords loud clashing, nor roll of stirring drums
But with deeds of love and mercy Thy heavenly kingdom comes

We stand against the very nature of the world we are in, fighting injustice with mercy, hate with love, discrimination with acceptance, and entropy with restoration.

Musicians
Jake Gehret – Guitar and vocals
Bob Ricchio – Keyboards
Nick Hansen – Bass
Scott Holverson – Guitar
Tony Rodriguez – Drums

The Light of God's Creation

2008-10-01T12:34:00.001-05:00

For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.
2 Corinthians 4:6-7 (ESV)

When God was creating the world, His first proclamation was “Let light shine out of darkness.” But this is not the only time He will proclaim those words; in fact, this phrase is a common theme in the Lord’s creation processes. When He decided that this present creation must pass away and the process of bringing about a perfect new world must begin, He sent Jesus Christ (who called Himself the Light of the World) into the darkness of a world given over to sin. He looked upon the dim hopelessness of this broken creation, and in Mary’s womb He declared “Let Light shine out of darkness.” On a grand scale, His proclamation of Light has changed (and is changing) the entire universe as we know it.

The same principle is true as God creates on a smaller scale. Paul writes that if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. For that new creation to come about, God makes the exact same decree as before; He sees the deepest corners of our dark, self-serving hearts and says “Let light shine out of darkness.” The light of the knowledge of the glory of God then burns in supernatural brilliance, leading us to salvation within His mercy and illuminating the path in our pursuit of a dark heart’s regeneration.

Within the plain, unimpressive jars of clay that we call our bodies, a Light is emanating. This Light underscores the ordinariness of the jars, and yet because of its own all-surpassing beauty, somehow makes the jars beautiful as well. With the fiery light of grace and life burning inside our humble broken bodies and moving us to extraordinarily grace-filled action, He is showing Himself to be all the more glorious.

September 28, 2008

2008-09-30T15:08:00.000-05:00

This week’s recap of songs is posted in collaboration with other worship leaders on the “Sunday Setlists” blog carnival at fredmckinnon.com.

- How Great Thou Art (Stuart K. Hine)
Our great God created an immense universe which we are still struggling to comprehend. He also gave His Son as a propitiation for our sins, a sacrifice we can scarcely take in. In the end, He will redeem our broken existence, bringing about a perfect existence which we can hardly yet conceive. He is powerful, merciful, and redemptive beyond our understanding; how great Thou art!

- Shelter Me (Buddy and Julie Miller)
For the weary and broken, there is no comfort or refuge apart from our Lord, and the only way we can take shelter in Him is through the blood of Jesus.

- Wholly Yours (David Crowder Band)
In this song, we sing the full gospel: we are depraved, the perfect and holy Christ died that we might be saved and redeemed, and His indwelling Spirit sanctifies us and makes us holy. Through this beautiful process, we belong to Christ, wholly His.

- Center (Charlie Hall, Matt Redman)
As our communion song, “Center” implores us to fix our eyes on Jesus; though He is the Creator and Sustainer of all things, He made Himself nothing and died that we might become the righteousness of God.

- They’ll Know We Are Christians (Peter Scholtes)
In John 13, Jesus says that the world will recognize His disciples by how they love people. As a benediction, we sing an encouragement to each other that we may be one body that works together in love.

Musicians
Jake Gehret – Guitar and vocals
Bob Ricchio – Keyboards
Dan Moreland – Bass
Scott Holverson – Guitar
James Bruebach – Guitar
Nathan Ellison – Drums

September 21, 2008

2008-09-22T12:36:00.001-05:00

This week’s recap of songs is posted in collaboration with other worship leaders on the “Sunday Setlists” blog carnival at fredmckinnon.com.

- The Glory of God (Joe Day)
As an opening song, “The Glory of God” orients our hearts around the Lord’s infinite perfection. There is nothing we can offer Him that was not first given to us; all we can do is proclaim the glory of the Creator, Sustainer, and Savior of the universe.

- Ancient Skies (Michael Gungor and Michael Rossback)
This song is based on Psalm 68 in which the writer proclaims, “Sing to God, O kingdoms of the earth, sing praise to the Lord, to him who rides the ancient skies above, who thunders with mighty voice.” We can only sing the praises of a God so powerful and incomparable.

- You Have Stirred My Soul (Robbie Seay)
This song is an indie-rock masterpiece of ambience and dissonance. At the same time, it is lyrically beautiful because it details the Gospel: nothing we do can impress God or make Him transform our broken hearts, but by His grace and His sacrifice on the cross, He brings us back to life and redeems us:

You have stirred my soul
not by my own deeds
but Your sacrifice,
it has made me whole

- Nothing But the Blood (Matt Redman)
This was our song of communion. For all of our effort and all of our passion and all of our sacrifice, we still cannot earn righteousness before the Lord. In fact, the prophet Isaiah writes that our semblances of righteousness are like “filthy rags” (Isaiah 64:6). If we are to be made right again, God Himself must somehow impute righteousness to us. In His gracious and loving mercy, He became man and took our burdens upon Himself, bearing the sin and wrath we had earned while giving us His own righteousness. Only through the broken body and shed blood of Jesus can we be forgiven and restored, once again made friends of God who may confidently approach His throne in worship.

- One (Jacob Gehret)
After his sermon about our need for relationships and inter-dependence, Pastor Dennis Corley had the congregation link arms and sing a short plea for unity:

Lord as You are one
Father, Spirit, Son
Won’t You make us one
Held fast in Your love

Musicians
Jake Gehret – Guitar and vocals
Susan Filer – vocals
Bob Ricchio – Keyboards
James Bruebach – Bass
Jeff Courtney – Guitar
Rodney Taylor – Guitar
Paul Betz – Drums

When He Returns

2008-09-17T14:57:00.006-05:00

Title: When He Returns
Album: Slow Train Coming

The iron hand, it ain't no match for the iron rod
The strongest wall will crumble and fall to a mighty God
For all those who have eyes and all those who have ears
It is only He who can reduce me to tears
Don't you cry and don't you die and don't you burn
For like a thief in the night, He'll replace wrong with right
When He returns

Truth is an arrow and the gate is narrow that it passes through
He unleashed His power at an unknown hour that no one knew
How long can I listen to the lies of prejudice?
How long can I stay drunk on fear out in the wilderness?
Can I cast it aside, all this loyalty and this pride?
Will I ever learn that there'll be no peace, that the war won't cease
Until He returns?

Surrender your crown on this blood-stained ground, take off your mask
He sees your deeds, He knows your needs even before you ask
How long can you falsify and deny what is real
How long can you hate yourself for the weakness you conceal
Of every earthly plan that be known to man, He is unconcerned
He's got plans of His own to set up His throne
When He returns

Copyright ©1979 Special Rider Music

In the last installment of “The Theology of Dylan,” we discussed the brokenness and depravity of this world from which we need rescuing. The answer to this great problem of sin is Jesus, Who by His death and resurrection defeated sin and death. Because of the power of Jesus’ death and resurrection, we are finally able to be saved and redeemed from our brokenness and the brokenness of this world. This is the nature of our God: He takes what is broken and flawed, and He fixes and restores it. In fact, Paul writes in Romans 8 that all of creation is groaning for this restoration to be made complete. Dylan writes, however, that the redemption of all things will not be complete until Christ returns. Tim Keller says it this way: “Jesus insisted that his return will be with such power that the very material world and universe will be purged of all decay and brokenness. All will be healed and all might-have-beens will be.” One day, Jesus will return to put an end to prejudice, falsehood, fear, pride, and war; He will replace it with His holy perfection. We end with John’s description of the final restoration in Christ:

Then I saw "a new heaven and a new earth," for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Look! God's dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 'He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death' or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making everything new!" Then he said, "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true” (Revelation 21:1-5).

September 7, 2008

2008-09-07T19:04:00.000-05:00

This week’s recap of songs is posted in collaboration with other worship leaders on the “Sunday Setlists” blog carnival at fredmckinnon.com.

- Shelter Me (Buddy and Julie Miller)
The Millers have written an excellent swampy psalm, dense in both Biblical allusion and southern groove. Scripture is ripe with calls for God’s protection, asking that He give us “shelter in His wings” (Psalm 36:7, 61:4, 91:4). The song poignantly takes this plea to our moment of most pressing need: on the day of judgment, those of us who are in Christ can call on His victory over sin and death and find shelter in our Lord’s merciful, blood-stained wings (1 Corinthians 15:54-57).

- That We Might Live (Waving Not Drowning)
This song is an orthodox creed in musical form. In singing it, we boldly proclaim our deficiency in righteousness and our inability to save ourselves. We then detail our belief in a God Who became man and lovingly died in place of His rebellious creations. Finally, we sing of His resurrection and the life and sanctification He brings to His bride (the church). Between all of these we sing the triumphant chorus:

He died that we might live
and He lives that we might die
to our idols, to our sins, and to ourselves

- In the Shadow of the Glorious Cross (Rebecca Elliott, Brooks Ritter)
From the masterful writers at Sojourn Church in Louisville, “In the Shadow of the Glorious Cross” expresses our desire as followers of Christ to cast aside our doubts, fears, and idols in favor of picking up the cross of our Savior, finding life and sustenance in His grace alone.

- What Love Is (Joel Lindsey, Allen Schwamb)
This song (based on 1 John 3) was written by our friends at The Journey in beautiful St. Louis, Missouri. Our arrangement adds a bit of soul-drenched organ and a kickin’ break between the chorus and verse. Followers of Christ know what love looks like: it is laying down one’s life in the interest of others. If we believe in the name of Jesus and are made alive by the indwelling Holy Spirit, we ought to be like Christ in laying down our lives for our brothers and sisters.

- Happy Day (Ben Cantelon, Tim Hughes)
With a fast tempo and driving guitars, “Happy Day” is a great celebratory song for the resurrection of our Savior. In His death, our sins are gone; in His resurrection, we are redeemed.

Musicians
Jake Gehret – Guitar and vocals
Anne McClane – vocals
Bob Ricchio – Keyboards and vocals
Ben Baumann – Bass
Scott Holverson – Guitar
Paul Betz – Drums

The Theology of Dylan: Everything is Broken

2008-09-05T14:31:00.009-05:00

His songs and lyrics impacted have impacted every generation they have come in contact with. He is a man of mystery, and yet he is a living legend. In a new series, we will study and meditate upon the lyrics of the great Bob Dylan and relate them to the complex, beautiful, and mystical teachings of scripture. Our first installment takes a look at "Everything is Broken."

Title: Everything is Broken
Album: Oh Mercy

Broken lines, broken strings,
Broken threads, broken springs,
Broken idols, broken heads,
People sleeping in broken beds
Ain't no use jiving, ain't no use joking
Everything is broken

Broken bottles, broken plates,
Broken switches, broken gates,
Broken dishes, broken parts,
Streets are filled with broken hearts
Broken words never meant to be spoken,
Everything is broken.

Seem like every time you stop and turn around
Something else just hit the ground

Broken cutters, broken saws,
Broken buckles, broken laws,
Broken bodies, broken bones,
Broken voices on broken phones
Take a deep breath, feel like you're chokin',
Everything is broken

Every time you leave and go off someplace
Things fall to pieces in my face

Broken hands on broken ploughs,
Broken treaties, broken vows,
Broken pipes, broken tools,
People bending broken rules
Hound dog howling, bull frog croaking,
Everything is broken

Copyright ©1989 Special Rider Music

In the song “Everything is Broken,” Dylan adeptly deals with one of the first issues of faith that a follower of Christ must confront. While at first the song seems to be a simple exercise in wordplay, a second look reveals that the song describes the present fallen state of this world and the depravity in which we live. Scripture says that when Adam and Eve brought sin into the world (Genesis 3), everything changed. The universe was no longer perfect, no longer the way that God desired for it to be. We as humans became disconnected from God and disconnected from each other. We began to worship ourselves and enslave ourselves to aspects of creation. We became, in a word, broken. As we see the sickness, death, war, and hate that surround us, we can see that this world is still not as the Lord meant for it to be. Paul writes in Romans 8 that all of creation “groans” to be set free from this “futility” and brokenness (as do we who are in Christ). Everything (ourselves included) is truly broken by sin and must be somehow restored. In our next edition of “The Theology of Dylan,” we will read Bob’s poetic rendering of what that restoration looks like; here’s a hint….it’s Jesus.

Music From the Church

2008-08-25T20:26:00.016-05:00

Photo by Anne McClane

On Saturday night, North Point's own Jacob Gehret and the Junkyard Choir performed at Flatlander's Restaurant and Brewery in Lincolnshire, playing original music in order to point toward the beauty of the Lord and the creativity of the Creator. Harold Best (one of my favorite thinkers and author of Unceasing Worship) explains the way in which followers of Christ are to interact with the world at large (outside the church): "If it's true that culture is an interface between what people do and what people make, then...it is the church's responsibility to engage with culture in a transforming, radical, and redeeming way." As we go about our trades, engaging culture with what we make, we are to do so Christianly, which is to say that we are to pursue excellence, humility, and servanthood. He goes on to explain the way musicians from the church should engage culture: "Music from the church: this is where the Christian artist goes out into culture as a rampant, outspoken, prophetic invader." With whatever degree of ability we have as artists, we are to engage our audiences with the greatest amount of creativity and quality we can employ. This may mean radical innovation; it may mean taking up "a current style and bringing it to finer flower;" it may mean anonymously (yet excellently) going about whatever task we have been given. No matter the shape our creation takes, we are above all to offer ourselves and our creativity to the Lord as fragrant, living sacrifices made righteous in Christ.

August 24, 2008

2008-08-24T20:24:00.007-05:00

This week’s recap of songs is posted in collaboration with other worship leaders on the “Sunday Setlists” blog carnival at fredmckinnon.com.

A guest band, 38 Acres, led our time of musical worship this week, playing a mix of familiar and original songs of praise:

- Not to Us (Chris Tomlin, Jesse Reeves)
The chorus lyrics come directly from Psalm 115, which says, “Not to us, o Lord, not to us, but to Your name give glory, for the sake of Your steadfast love and Your faithfulness!” This song is a wonderful way to open corporate worship, setting the focus squarely on the Object of our praise (and away from our tendencies toward self-adulation). James writes that every good and perfect gift comes from the Father; anything praiseworthy is His (not ours), so we offer all of our praise to Him alone.

- All Because of Jesus (Steve Fee)
Although this song’s grammar and logical progression of thought sometimes leave much to be desired, the line that the song is built around could not be more true:

It’s all because of Jesus I’m alive

- Your Grace is Enough (Matt Maher)
Matt Maher’s song is inspired by the Lord’s words to the apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 12: “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” While we in a fallen world endure thorns, pains, trials, and tribulations, the grace of our loving and sovereign God will sustain us and will one day make all things right again. A greater comfort cannot be known.

- Unto My King (38 Acres)

- Hallelujah (James Bruebach)
Sometimes we need songs of praise that simply proclaim “hallelujah,” which translates “praise the Lord.”

Musicians
David Parker – Guitar and vocals
Michelle Parker – Bass and vocals
James Bruebach – Guitar and vocals
Paul Betz - Drums

August 17, 2008

2008-08-17T20:31:00.004-05:00

This week’s recap of songs is posted in collaboration with other worship leaders on the “Sunday Setlists” blog carnival at fredmckinnon.com.

This week saw a mass exodus of drummers to jobs, vacations, and tours. Thus, an acoustic set was planned for the corporate musical section of North Point’s Sunday services, which included the following songs:

How Great Thou Art (Stuart K. Hine)
This hymn is a fantastic opener, beginning our time of collective worship by declaring en masse the greatness of our God. It includes praises for creation, justification, and the coming restoration. On a side note, we sing a slightly altered lyric in the third verse (as suggested by N.T. Wright):

when Christ shall come, with shout of acclamation,
and heal this world, what joy shall fill my heart

While the original line “and take me home” subtly encourages escapist theology, “and heal this world” takes joy in the fact that the Lord will one day fulfill the restoration for which we presently labor, joining together a new heaven and new earth (bringing home to us).

The Glory of God (Joe Day)
The anthemic chorus of this song is the same declaration proclaimed around the throne of the Lord in Revelation 7:

praise and glory and wisdom and thanks
and honor and power and strength
be to our God forever and ever and ever, amen

A reading of Colossians 1:15-17 followed this song.

Center (Charlie Hall, Matt Redman)
This song is directly based on the hymn of Colossian 1, one of the most intense, unknowable, beautiful passages in scripture. Christ makes the invisible God visible; all things were made in Him, all things were made for Him, and all things are held together by Him (how ridiculously awesome is that?). The essence of the song seems to be a plea: “Jesus, never let us forget those amazing truths or act as if they are untrue; we wrap our lives around Your life.”

It is Well (Horatio Spafford, Philip Bliss)
This famous hymn was written by Horatio Spafford after his livelihood was destroyed in the great Chicago Fire and four of his children died in tragic accidents. In his grief, Spafford was graced with the clarity to still make Christ his only portion and prize. Even in the midst of suffering, his faith in Jesus compelled him to write of an assurance that both softens and excites my heart:

my sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought
my sin, not in part but the whole
is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more
praise the Lord, praise the Lord, o my soul

The Foot of the Cross (Joe Day)
This song is the perfect combination of rich theology and classic country waltz (two things I love and pray that the rest of the world loves as well). Over time, our church family has really taken to this song. The beautifully crafted verses are as follows:

at the foot of the cross there’s salvation
by the blood of a pure sacrifice
by the body broken for you and for me
by the love of our Lord Jesus Christ

a Father you are to the hopeless
strength you are to the weak
all our sin becomes perfected in you
at the foot of the cross we are free

at the foot of the cross we find freedom
in the death of ourselves there is life
by Your mercy we’re free to live in the Kingdom
by the love of our Lord Jesus Christ

in the end we will walk in Your glory
in the end unveiled as a bride
all these glorious things are gifts from the King
at the foot of the cross where it starts

Then, between verses the response builds up as if our hearts cannot hold it back:

o Father we love to sing of your grace…
to sing out Your praise

Musicians
Jake Gehret – Guitar and vocals
Bob Ricchio – Guitar and vocals
James Bruebach - Guitar

Victory Through Our Lord Jesus

2008-08-15T16:40:00.001-05:00

For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: "Death has been swallowed up in victory."
"Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?"
The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

1 Corinthians 15:53-58

Jesus Christ is alive and is standing victoriously over sin and death. An end is assured, a salvation is promised, a mission is given. The end of which we are assured is the end of the mortal, the perishable. The salvation promised is found in the immortal, the imperishable, the impotence of death for those who are in Christ. Paul does not stop there, however. He immediately connects our salvation with its intended results: the mission is in the purpose given to our lives; it is the calling to become an active participant in His mending of a world mired in sin and its influence. Because of Christ, we can “give [ourselves] fully to the work of the Lord” and know that our “labor in the Lord is not in vain.”

The freedom from sin and death that are found in our Savior must move us to action. The Lord is in this process of miraculously restoring His creation, and we are part of that restoration. But the process does not end simply with the Lord saving us and transforming our hearts; no, He desires for us to be faithfully involved in the rest of His restoration movement. He proclaims that we are saved from sin and death, and now we must be about the work of the Father. As our hearts are changed and our mission realized, our conversations and relationships should begin to look more like this:

“The tomb is empty; would you like a hot meal?”
“The tomb is empty, can I spend some time with you?”
“The tomb is empty; do you need a place to stay?”
“The tomb is empty; what can I do for you?”

And from our part in this restoration, we must not be swayed nor moved. We must firmly, painfully, and confidently run our course, fully given over to this glorious calling until the day on which “death shall be swallowed up for ever, and millions of voices, after the long silence of the grave, shall burst out at once into that triumphant song, O death, where is thy sting? O hades, where is thy victory?” (Wesley).