New Song: Psalm 62

Time to ring in the new year!

I'm excited to be back with you this week as we celebrate our first service of 2009, and I want to do it with a new song.

It's called "Psalm 62," and amazingly, it is based off of the Psalm of the same name!

I love the words that resound with hope and resolve to trust God in the face of uncertainty, trials, and everything under the sun.

Here are the lyrics:

Verse 1

My soul finds rest in God alone
My rock and my salvation
A fortress strong against my foes
And I will not be shaken
Though lips may bless and hearts may curse
And lies like arrows pierce me
I'll fix my heart on righteousness
I'll look to Him who hears me

Chorus
O praise Him hallelujah
My Delight and my Reward
Everlasting never failing
My Redeemer my God

Verse 2
Find rest my soul in God alone
Amid the world's temptations
When evil seeks to take a hold
I'll cling to my salvation
Though riches come and riches go
Don't set your heart upon them
The fields of hope in which I sow
Are harvested in heaven

Bridge:
O praise Him O praise Him
Hallelujah hallelujah
O praise Him O praise Him
Hallelujah Hallelujah
O praise Him O praise Him
Hallelujah hallelujah

Verse 3

I'll set my gaze on God alone
And trust in Him completely
With ev'ry day pour out my soul
And He will prove His mercy
Though life is but a fleeting breath
A sigh too deep to measure
My King has crushed the curse of death
And I am His forever

This song was written by Aaron Keys and Stuart Townend, and I think it's one we'll really enjoy singing together as we reflect on it, and grasp its truth.

Here's how the song goes:

Preparing For Worship: December 28th, 2008

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas, and were able to spend time with family and friends, remembering the birth of the Savior!

Just a little info for this Sunday to help you prepare to come and worship together...

I am heading out to Mammoth tomorrow morning, so I won't be at church this weekend, but my brother will be leading worship in my stead, and I know it will be a great time.

Here's what's going on this Sunday:

The first song is the hymn "Praise To The Lord, The Almighty" and then Pastor Todd will come and welcome everyone and lead in prayer. We then get a chance to hear from Mallory Smith who is home from Germany for Christmas. She will give us an update on how she's doing, and how we can continue to pray for her as she begins the second half of the school year.

Then we'll sing some more as we think about God's love, his mercy, and his power in salvation. That he alone is "Mighty to Save" us from our sins, and that in his sovereignty he calls us to a saving knowledge of himself, and "Give[s] Us Clean Hands" and a pure heart.

Pastor Todd will come next and preach to us from Philippians 3:12-21 and teach us how we can make 2009 a year of spiritual growth.

Then we'll respond in worship by singing "Overwhelmed" and then close the service reminding ourselves of the gospel by singing "That's Why We Praise Him."

Hopefully you can get a chance to read the passage and refresh your memory on the songs so that you can come prepared to confidently and joyfully participate, and build up the body as we worship together.

That's what's going on; happy preparation!

Special Song from Christmas Sunday

Hi guys,

Sorry I didn't post a preparing for worship for this last week!

I did have some of you ask me about the song I sang after the sermon, and I wanted to post the info for it so you could get a hold of it if you wanted.

It's called "How He Loves" by John Mark McMillan

Here's a video of the song performed by Kim Walker of JesusCulture.org as I prefer this performance to McMillan's.

Preparing For Worship: December 14th, 2008

It's the most wonderful time of the year! Or so it's been said...

I found myself wondering again about the experience of the Christian vs. the non-Christian (similar to my musings on Thanksgiving), and what it is that makes it the "most wonderful time of the year" for each group.

To follow the rest of the line from the song I guess it's the "kids jingle-belling, and everyone telling you be of good cheer!" that makes Christmas great for the non-Christian...

To be sure, we've created quite a social and cultural spectacle to go with the secular Christmas season: shopping and presents are the top priority, although many strive to remember the "real" reasons" for Christmas: being with family and friends. Basically, it boils down to relationships I suppose; but they tend to leave out the most important relationship...

On a more practical level, kids are out of school for a few weeks, cold weather necessitates warm clothing and drinks, and lights on the house and the Christmas tree add a wonderful twinkle to the home.

It's all nice, and it's all fun. But that's about it: nice and fun.

For the Christian however, Christmas is the turning point of the history of the universe.

God became flesh and dwelt among us, fulfilling prophecies centuries old of the coming Messiah! We now had a way to be freed from the bondage of sin, and be restored to a right relationship with our Creator! Christmas is the prime example of God's mercy and grace, and his love for us.

Interesting to think about; I'll ramble more next week...

-A quick note- Since you are probably familiar with many of the carols, I picked some pretty interesting videos mostly for your enjoyment, as well as to remind you of words and melody...

This Sunday we're singing CAROLS! We're going to start with a couple of carols that talk about the longing and expectation that God's people had for their Messiah to come: "Come Thou Long Expected Jesus"and "O Come, O Come Emmanuel."

Pastor Todd will then come and lead in prayer and welcome, after which we'll continue singing with some carols that talk about the greeting and proclamation offered by the angels on the night Christ was born: "Angels We Have Heard On High" and "Hark The Herald Angels Sing."

Then Pastor Todd will come and preach part three of his four part series called "Unwrapping the Gift" from the passage John 1:14.

After this, we'll sing another carol: "What Child Is This?" which realizes the magnitude of the gift that we've been given in Christ Jesus.

We'll close the service with a song that talks about what this babe of Bethlehem came to do. He came to be our hope, and indeed it's "In Christ Alone" that our hope is found.

(by the way, this video is one of the best performances of this song I've heard! The good thing about having a megachurch like Joel Osteen's is having Israel Houghton as a worship leader, and a HUGE worship team with a full orchestra and choir!)

So that's what's going on; happy preparation!

Newsweek: The Religious Case For Gay Marriage

"No matter what one thinks about gay rights—for, against or somewhere in between —this conservative resort to biblical authority is the worst kind of fundamentalism,"

"Given the history of the making of the Scriptures and the millennia of critical attention scholars and others have given to the stories and injunctions that come to us in the Hebrew Bible and the Christian New Testament, to argue that something is so because it is in the Bible is more than intellectually bankrupt—it is unserious, and unworthy of the great Judeo-Christian tradition."

This is part of the editorial statement from Jon Meacham following an article entitled "Gay Marriage: Our Mutual Joy."

This is where the whole Prop 8/Homosexual marriage thing is headed: To do away with the authority of the Bible. The media is trying with all its might to dismiss the Bible as a book of inspirational ideas, and if/when the day comes that they do, we better be ready for a healthy dose of persecution. Persecution that we have thankfully been spared from thus far by living in a country with freedom of religion.

Albert Mohler disects this article further on his blog. I'd encourage you to read it HERE. Living for the glory of God means holding to his Word as our ultimate authority, and that means not backing down from blatant attacks like the one in this article.

Preparing For Worship: December 7th, 2008

The restfulness of the Thanksgiving holiday last week overcame me as I didn't get a chance to post a "Preparing for worship" for last week; please accept my humble apology!

So, to make up for it, here is this week's "Preparing for worship" a whole day early! Please, save your applause for when I can hear it :)

Here's what's going on this Sunday (can you believe it's the first Sunday in December???)

We'll start with that great, upbeat, triumphant song "Let God Arise" which should help get the blood flowing, and wake us up to the glory of the God we serve!

Pastor Todd will come and lead in prayer and welcome visitors. Then we'll get to see another short video on the ministry of the Union Rescue Mission, as we prepare to go and minister there on Dec. 19th. Be sure to sign up at the special table in the lobby (you can't miss it; it's surrounded by lots of shoes!).

We'll continue singing and we'll start to look ahead to celebrating communion together by singing songs that talk about that precious blood of Jesus, and the saving work it accomplished for us on the cross: "Nothing But The Blood of Jesus" and "Mighty to Save."

(I like that the video for Mighty to Save is for a similar purpose as my blog! I may have to start making videos myself...)

Pastor Todd will share the second of his four part series called "Unwrapping the Gift;" this week focusing on John 1:1-5 (click and read!!).

As we consider what it meant for "the Light" to come and shine among the darkness, we'll celebrate the Lord's supper together, and remind ourselves of his blood shed, and his body broken for us, that we might enter into a new covenant with him for our salvation.

We'll sing "Marvelous Light" as we pass the communion elements together, and savor that moment when God's kindness brought us out of death through his Son.

We'll close with the new song "I Have a Hope" we learned last week. It'll still be new for many of you, so be sure to take a look and a listen as you prepare. Put it on in the background while you do other stuff around the house, or at the office. You'll notice the difference!

That's what's going on; happy preparation!