Sunday Setlist – 08/31/08

This post is apart of the Sunday Setlists blog carnival – click the link to see more worship setlists!

Firstly, I want to draw your attention to Simon, who still needs a sponsor via Compassion, and is just too adorable to leave waiting any longer!

Both services were great today and I feel like God encouraged and spoke to many. It was a bit bittersweet though with today being our senior pastor’s last Sunday. Both groups in their respective services seemed more laid back than usual, and even more awake! I almost slept through early service because I didn’t wake up with my alarm, and I have to be there to lead the music–oops! Luckily God woke me up in time and I scurried out the door to make it just prior to sound check time.

Early service:

• Choir: Come Just As You Are (Joseph Sabolick)
• Calvary Covers It All (Mrs. Walter G. Taylor)
• Still (Reuben Morgan)
• It Is Well With My Soul (Horatio Spafford/Philip Bliss)
• Choir: Lord of My Life (Lanny Allen)
• Make Us One (Carol Cymbala)

Contemporary service:

• Hosanna (Paul Baloche/Brenton Brown)
• I Will Not Forget (Brenton Brown)
• Unchanging (Chris Tomlin)
• Give Us Clean Hands (Charlie Hall)
• Consuming Fire (Tim Hughes)
• The Steadfast Love (Edith McNeill)
• Great Is Thy Faithfulness (Thomas Chisholm/William Runyan)

Filed under: Christian, Worship, Worship Leading , blended, choir, Christian, Christianity, Church, classic worship, contemporary, contemporary worship style, God, high church, hymns, lead worshipers, leading worship, organ, piano, praise band, praise team, setlists, songs, sunday, Sunday Setlists, traditional, traditional worship style, Worship, worship confessional, Worship Leading, worship ministry, worship setlist, worship setlists, worship team

Compassion Friday

EDIT: Simon has been sponsored! Search for other children in need.

Meet Simon, an eight year old boy living in Kenya, Africa, who has been waiting for over six months for a sponsor. For $32/month & through your letters, you can show God’s love to him via Compassion International. Here is more about Simon:

Simon lives with his father and his mother. His duties at home include gathering firewood and cleaning. There are 6 children in the family. His father is sometimes employed as a farmer and his mother is sometimes employed as a farmer.

Soccer, hide-and-seek and running are Simon’s favorite activities. In primary school his performance is above average and he also regularly attends church activities.

Your love and support will help Simon to receive the assistance he needs to develop his potential. Please pray for him.

This child lives in an AIDS affected area. In Africa, the disease has impacted the entire continent, creating a generation of orphans and vulnerable children. God can use you to help ease the pain of a child in desperate need. (from Compassion.com)

Sponsor Simon now! If he’s already been sponsored, search for other children in need.
(Only click “Select this Child” on Compassion’s site if you are going to sponsor.)

You can also help by donating to the Global Food Crisis Fund.

Note: I am NOT affliated with Compassion International, other than through sponsoring a child myself, and hoping to see more sponsored in Jesus’ name!

Filed under: Christian, Compassion, God's Word , africa, boy in need, charity, child in need, children in need, children living in poverty, Christ's love, Christian, Christianity, Christians, Church, Compassion, Compassion Friday, compassion international, contribute, contribution, do your part, giving, God's Kingdom, God's love, helping those in need, hide-n-seek, kenya, needy child, needy children, nonprofit, nonprofits, poor, poverty, running, school, seek first, simon, soccer, sponsor, sponsorship, waiting

Sunday Setlist – 08/24/08

This post is apart of the Sunday Setlists blog carnival – click the link to see more worship setlists!

This week we added organ to the usual choir/piano lineup at early service, something we’re going to do every fourth Sunday of the month, so we got kind of “high church-ish” on everyone this morning!

Early service:

• He Is Exalted (Paris)
• Come, Thou Almighty King (De Giardini/possibly Wesley)
• All Creatures of Our God and King (Assisi/Draper)
• Holy, Holy, Holy (Dykes/Heber)
• O Worship the King (Grant/Haydn; choral arrangement by R. Sterling w/praise chorus by Chris Tomlin)

Contemporary service:

• Open Up the Gates (Seeley)
• We Will Worship Him (Brown)
• Open the Eyes of My Heart (Baloche)
• I Receive (Buffam)
• Better Is One Day (Redman)
• Here I Am to Worship (Hughes)

Today was a moving service for me personally and for others as well, but I still have this growing frustration that some don’t quite understand what worship is about or why we take part in worshiping through music as a congregation. But here’s the big disclaimer: That doesn’t mean this is true–my perception could be totally wrong! I pray that God will open my eyes to the things unseen in that regard, and that I wouldn’t be guided by any feeling or perception that is not of Him, but by trust in God and the desire to do His will alone.

Filed under: Christian, Worship, Worship Leading , blended, choir, Christian, Christianity, Church, contemporary, God, high church, hymns, lead worshipers, leading worship, organ, piano, praise band, praise team, setlists, songs, sunday, Sunday Setlists, traditional, Worship, worship confessional, Worship Leading, worship ministry, worship setlist, worship setlists, worship team

Compassion Friday

EDIT: Agnes has been sponsored!   Search for other children in need here.

Meet Agnes, a 7-year old girl, who is an orphan living with her grandparents in Kenya. For $32/month & through your letters, you can show God’s love to this young girl via Compassion International. Is God prompting you to sponsor Agnes?

Agnes lives with her grandfather and her grandmother. Her duties at home include cleaning. Her grandfather is sometimes employed as a farmer and her grandmother is sometimes employed as a farmer.

As part of Compassion’s ministry, Agnes participates in church activities. She is also in primary school where her performance is average. Playing ball games is her favorite activity.

Please remember Agnes in your prayers. Your love and support will help her to receive the assistance she needs to grow and develop.

This child lives in an AIDS affected area. In Africa, the disease has impacted the entire continent, creating a generation of orphans and vulnerable children. God can use you to help ease the pain of a child in desperate need. (from Compassion.com)

Sponsor Agnes now, or search for other children in need.
(Only click “Select this Child” on Compassion’s site if you are going to sponsor.)

Note: I am NOT affliated with Compassion International, other than through sponsoring a child myself, and hoping to see more sponsored in Jesus’ name!

Filed under: Christian, Compassion, God's Word , africa, agnes, ball games, charity, child in need, children in need, children living in poverty, Christ's love, Christian, Christianity, Christians, Church, Compassion, Compassion Friday, compassion international, contribute, contribution, do your part, games, giving, God's Kingdom, God's love, helping those in need, kenya, needy child, needy children, nonprofit, nonprofits, poor, poverty, seek first, sponsor, sponsorship, waiting

Cool Productivity Boosters

I recently discovered two free programs to boost productivity and for keeping up with projects and ideas.

The first is a web-based mind-mapping software called MindMeister. Great way to brainstorm ideas, plan details and throw your ideas onto a drawing board of sorts. You can also use it to collaborate with others involved in project planning.

The second is GTD software. GTD = Getting Things Done. I needed something that would allow subtasks, with a design that worked well also. It’s not the GTD applications that some like, but it’s exactly what I needed: GTDTiddlyWiki, which is stored on your computer and is used offline. For quick access, I added a link to its index file in Firefox’s bookmark bar. A little to learn for “coding” – !’s for list titles, *’s for bullet points, for example, but worth it!

Both are free, useful applications for those who need such, not to mention they are cross-platform for you non-Mac users. By the way, if you haven’t yet done so, upgrade to the faster, less memory using Firefox 3!

Filed under: Christian , brainstorming, computers, desktop software, drawing board, FF3, firefox, firefox 3, free downloads, free software, getting things done, gtd, GTDTiddlyWiki, ideas, Mac, mindmapping, MindMeister, PC, planning, software, tech, technology, TiddlyWiki, web-based software

Sunday Setlist – 08/17/08

Joining the Sunday Setlist blog carnival for the second week in a row. Here’s what we did at our church today.

Early service:

• Firm Foundation (Harvill/Gordon)
• The Solid Rock (Mote/Bradbury)
• The Church’s One Foundation (Benedict/Stone)
• Be Unto Your Name (Sadler/DeShazo)
• Doxology (Ken/Bourgeois)
• Rise Up, O Church (Men) of God (Merrill/Walter)

Contemporary service:

• I Am Free (Egan)
• Your Grace Is Enough (Maher)
• Hallelujah (Your Love Is Amazing) (Brown/Doerksen)
• Let It Rise (Davis)
• Mighty To Save (Hillsong)
• Only Hope – solo by one of our youth (Switchfoot)
• In Christ Alone (Getty/Townend)

Today was a great day of worshiping God! (Cliche sounding, but true!) I love when God does something different than we might expect, having a “set” order of service and all. Of course, He can change that!

God used today to do just that in even a seemingly small way. I felt led to speak during the Response time after the day’s message at our early service (a time when I normally wouldn’t). We couldn’t just sing Rise Up, O Church (Men) of God with the current transitions and struggles our church is facing without truly focusing on exactly what we are singing, and God used this coupled with a message about the Church to speak that to us today.

In sum, I felt God was asking us to grow in determination that we will intentionally rise up as a church , despite the challenges we’ve faced and continue to face. We have to be determined to rise up as the Body of Christ, filled with the power and strength that can only come from God!

My prayer is that all the things God was speaking to us as a church was truly heard in all our hearts today.

Filed under: Christian, Worship, Worship Leading , blended, choir, Christian, Christianity, Church, contemporary, God, hymns, lead worshipers, leading worship, praise band, praise team, songs, Sunday Setlists, traditional, Worship, worship confessional, Worship Leading, worship ministry, worship setlist, worship team

Compassion Friday

EDIT: Marlon has been sponsored! Click to see other children in need of sponsors.

Meet Marlon, a 15-year old boy in El Salvador, who has been waiting for over six months for a sponsor. For $32/month & through your letters, you can show God’s love to him via Compassion International. Is God prompting you to sponsor Marlon?

Marlon lives with his father and his mother. At home, duties include gardening, making beds and running errands. His father is sometimes employed as a laborer and his mother maintains the home. There are 2 children in the family.

As part of Compassion’s ministry, Marlon participates in church activities and Bible class. He is also in middle school where his performance is average. Soccer, bicycling and playing group games are his favorite activities.

Please remember Marlon in your prayers. Your love and support will help him to receive the assistance he needs to grow and develop. ( from Compassion.com)

Sponsor Marlon now, or search for other children in need.

Note: I am NOT affliated with Compassion International, except through sponsoring a child myself, and hoping to see more sponsored in Jesus’ name!

Filed under: Christian, Compassion, God's Word , bicycling, central america, charity, child in need, children in need, children living in poverty, Christ's love, Christian, Church, Compassion, Compassion Friday, compassion international, contribute, contribution, do your part, el salvador, games, giving, God's Kingdom, God's love, helping those in need, marlon, needy child, needy children, poor, poverty, seek first, soccer, sponsor, sponsorship, waiting

In the Creative Mood…

I woke up this morning wanting to do something creative. It amazes me how God has made us in such a way, and in that way we reflect His image as He made us — after all, He is the ultimate Creative, our Creator!

I’ve been in a creative mood more often than not lately, but it usually has to be put aside to take care of other responsibilities. Creativity on a timetable… Hmm.

How do you deal when you’re in the mood to be creative but can’t quite do anything about it?

Filed under: Christian , artists, arts, artsy, crafts, crafty, create, creative, creative time, Creator, Life, Music, musicians, time

Sunday Setlist – 08/10/08

Eh, why not? Jumping on the bandwagon with everyone else to participate in “Sunday Setlists” started by Fred a few weeks back.

Our early service is traditional though somewhat blended in style. The setlist:

• Come Into His Presence (Baird)
• We Will Glorify (Paris)
• We All Bow Down (LeBlanc)
• Without Him (Lefevre)
• Revive Us Again (Park)
• Wonderful Maker (Redman/Tomlin)
• Pass It On (Kaiser)

At our second (contemporary) service, I sang some vocals and played Irish whistle. The songs:

• Rock of Ages (Rita Baloche)
• Stir In Me (Proctor)
• Sing To The King (Foote/Horne)
• I Bow Down (Engle)
• Hosanna (Brooke Fraser)
• Ancient Words (DeShazo)

Both services were wonderful, and even though myself and our other worship leader plan each service’s music separately, God continually uses us as He weaves the same themes between both groups even beyond the week’s message topic. I really feel God is preparing us for change, revival, refreshing.

Today’s focus was on the power of the Gospel and growing our passion for Jesus and sharing the Good News!

Filed under: Worship, Worship Leading , blended, choir, Christ, Christian, Church, contemporary, God, Holy Spirit, jesus, leading worship, praise band, praise team, setlist, songs, sunday, sunday setlist, traditional, Worship, Worship Arts, worship leaders, Worship Leading, worship ministry, worship music, worship songs

Compassion Friday

EDIT: Heaven and Naomi have been sponsored! Click to see other children in need of sponsors.

I’m going to take a step of faith today that God will spread His light through the earth through us! Meet both Naomi and Heaven, who have been waiting for over six months for sponsors. Let these girls know that you care and that God loves them by sponsoring them through Compassion International.

Five year old Naomi lives in Ghana with her mother and 3 siblings.
Naomi likes to sing, jump rope and go running. Meet Naomi:

Ten year old Heaven lives in the aids-affected country of Ethiopia with her mother and 5 siblings. Heaven likes to play volleyball and group games. Meet Heaven:

In a home with only one parent and 3-5 children, what a blessing you will be for these girls and their families! (More of this information is on their Compassion.com pages.)

To sponsor one or both of these girls, click on their names: Heaven / Naomi. If they have already been sponsored, click here to search for other children in need.

Note: In case you wonder, I am NOT affliated with Compassion in any way, except that I sponsor a child myself and want to see more children sponsored in Jesus’ Name!

Filed under: Christian, Compassion, God's Word , africa, aids-affected countries, charity, child in need, children in need, Christ's love, Christian, Compassion, Compassion Friday, compassion international, contribute, contribution, do your part, ethiopia, ghana, giving, God's Kingdom, God's love, heaven, helping those in need, naomi, needy child, needy children, poor, poverty, seek first, sponsor, sponsorship, waiting