Preparing For Worship: July 3rd, 2011

We're looking forward to having you join us at Crossroads this Sunday for an amazing morning of worship with God's gathered church. When I put it that way, doesn't it sound so much better than say...going out of town for the holiday weekend? ;)

Check out this week's songs for worship below. Draw your attention especially to the two songs we'll be doing from the 1960s as part of our "Decades Worship" series over the month of July. This series is meant to remind us of the legacy modern worship, and to appreciate the songs and songwriters that have paved the way for worship music as we know it. If you were alive in the 60s, hopefully these tunes will ring familiar...if you weren't alive in the 60s (I wasn't born until 1983!), let's appreciate the history of the contemporary worship song, and how it began with songs like these!

Call To Worship
From The Inside Out
(I like doing this song as an opener because it is both confessional ["a thousand times I've failed; still your mercy remains..."] and declarative of God's glory. We adapt the style to add energy and dynamics that help bring the focus into worship.)

Decades Worship: The 1960s
I'm Gonna Sing, I'm Gonna Shout
(This song has stuck around, and can be found on a lot of kids worship projects. A simple gospel tune that declares God's praise, and our hope of eternity with him in heaven. You'll have to find the track titled "04. DaveRandy Im Gonna Sing" on the media player)
Reach Out To Jesus
(by Ralph Carmichael, one of the trailblazers of contemporary Christian music, performed by "The King," Elvis Presley!)

Worship Singing (during communion and close of the service)
Jesus Messiah
(a great song for communion, reminding us of the great exchange Paul talks about in 2 Corinthians when Christ became our sin that we might become his righteousness!)
Jesus Paid It All
(a hymn for the ages, with the addition of the ending chorus: O praise the one who paid my debt and raised this life up from the dead. A great way to end the service!)