WEEKEND REVIEW - NOVEMBER 13, 2011

Instrumental Prelude: Glory To God Forever [A]
Call to Worship: Lamentations 3:22-23
Your Love Never Fails [G]
Mighty To Save [A]
Congregational Reading: Psalm 67
Never Once [B]

Announcements
Missionary Update Videos

Message - John & Bonnie Nystrom
World Missions Focus - "Why Does God Bless Us?"

I Surrender All [D]

WEEKEND REVIEW - OCTOBER 30, 2011

This past weekend was an exciting one in the life of our church. Something special happened during the worship yesterday. I suppose the energy level in the room and excitement over coming together as a church to build and expand was part of it. But the Holy Spirit was definitely alive and well, and the congregation sang and clapped LOUD as we closed the service with "Our God." It was definitely a mountaintop experience for me in my journey as a worship leader.

Instrumental Prelude: Famous One [E]
Call to Worship: Philippians 4:4
Here For You [C]
Revelation Song [F]

Announcements
Growing Together faith stories

Special: Never Once [B] - tied this song into the journey our church has been on, and how there have been scars, struggles, and rough patches on the way, but God has been with us and has been FAITHFUL every step of the way.

Message - Dave Corlew
Growing Together In Praise - "The Power of Joy"

Communion / turn in Commitment Cards
During Communion as people came forward: How Deep the Father's Love For Us [E]

God Is Able [Bb]
Our God [Bb]

WEEKEND REVIEW - OCTOBER 23, 2011

Yesterday I had the opportunity to just attend church, be a part of the congregation, and be led in worship by my friend Matt Ross. As much as I love leading worship, I also love the occasional week where I'm not on stage at all, but rather sitting with my wife and taking everything in. I think weekends like this are good for me for three reasons:

1) It reminds me that it's not about me. The church doesn't need me in order to worship Jesus. Jesus doesn't need me to lead people in worship to Him. Rather, I am privileged to play a small role in facilitating worship from week to week, and God in His goodness and kindness chooses to use me to that end.

2) Every leader needs to also be led by others. Yesterday I had the opportunity to sit under Matt's leadership, and to learn from him. One of the things Matt does well is give leadership away. Here's what I mean: Matt had another band member start almost every song in the set, and he also gave Melissa (the other vocalist) places to lead the song where he stopped singing or backed off the mic. I do this sometimes, but probably not as often as I could (or should) when I'm leading.

3) It allows me to connect one-on-one with more people. On weeks when I am leading or in the band, I have to be watching the clock before services to make sure I'm on stage in time for the prelude. After the service, by the time I get off stage and make my way back to the lobby, many people have already left, especially first-time visitors. Sometimes it kills me to see people's faces during worship for several months before I ever get a chance to meet them and learn their name (although as our church continues to grow I recognize that this is a reality). This past weekend I had the opportunity to meet some newer people, and also to connect more with people I usually only see in passing or from the stage.

I would encourage every worship leader to plan in weekends at least once every couple months where you can simply attend your church and not be leading. At the same time, I recognize that for some this is nearly impossible to do.

I'm thankful that my pastor allows me the opportunity to do this every so often, and I am also thankful for other capable leaders in our church who step up and lead when asked.

Here's the set that Matt planned:

Instrumental Prelude: Give Us Clean Hands [G]
Call to Worship: Psalm 98:4
Blessed Be Your Name [G]
Nothing But the Blood (Redman) [A] ->
right into Because of Your Love (Wickham) [A]
Announcements
Growing Together faith story
Announce Kids & Youth GT Commitment Totals
GT Video



Message - Dave Corlew
Growing Together In Giving - "Becoming Good Givers"

How Marvelous (I Stand Amazed) [G]

WEEKEND REVIEW #23 - AUGUST 14, 2011

Powerful services yesterday. Occasionally we will use a video call to worship, like we did this week. We had the band play underneath it (instead of using the pre-recorded audio on the video), and went right into Here For You.

Instrumental Prelude: Hosanna (G)

Call to Worship video: Psalm 95



-Here For You (C)
I love how we were talking about the church in Sardis, and how they had a reputation for being alive, but Jesus said they were DEAD (Revelation 3:1). Brought a freshness to singing, "Let what's dead come to life!"

-One Thing Remains (Bb)
We taught this song yesterday. I set it up by reading Ephesians 3:16-19 and then explaining:
"We want to teach you a new song that focuses on the love of Christ for us, and that is rooted in these verses from Ephesians 3. It talks about how strong Christ’s love is for us, how it is constant, and is always with us. No matter how many times we’ve sinned against God, His love is always there to comfort us, strengthen us, and change us."

-Glory To God Forever (Bb)
Welcome / Announcements - Chris
-Speak To Us (C)
Message - Dave - Revelation 3:1-6 [listen here]
Offering
-You Alone Can Rescue (B)
Benediction: 2 Corinthians 13:14

WEEKEND REVIEW #22 - AUGUST 7, 2011

Yesterday was Brion Kendzora's last Sunday leading worship at ACC. Brion and his wife Annette are leaving in a few weeks for missionary training school for the next two years to prepare to do missions in a tribal community and share the love of Christ with them. I have been privileged to work with Brion and have him serve in our worship ministry over the past three years. It has been neat to see Brion grow as a worship leader and musician over that time.

Since I wasn't on worship team yesterday, I had the opportunity to sit back and take in the service from a fresh perspective - something I only get to do a handful of times throughout the year.

Instrumental Prelude: Blessed Be Your Name (G)
-Famous One (E)
-Lord Most High (E)
-Your Love Never Fails (F)
Welcome / Announcements - Jamie
-In Christ Alone (D)
Message - Dave - Revelation 2:18-29 - [listen here]
Offering
-Center (E)

WEEKEND REVIEW #21 - JULY 31, 2011

This past Sunday we celebrated communion together as a church. My goal was to focus most of the song set on the cross. We also did an acoustic set w/ strings! Cello and viola, to be specific. I am trying to incorporate strings every so often, and am thankful that we have some very talented string players in our church, along with a few gifted arrangers that have helped in writing out the parts.

We had the congregation come forward and serve each other communion, and I feel it worked especially well this time around. People seemed engaged and eager to serve one another. A beautiful picture of the church being the church. During communion, we sang The Wonderful Cross, the powerful Isaac Watts hymn with modern chorus penned by Chris Tomlin & JD Walt.

Instrumental Prelude: Lead Me to the Cross (G)
Welcome / Announcements / Call to Worship - Psalm 108:1-4
-Hosanna / Praise Is Rising (G)
-Because of Your Love (A)
Message: Revelation 2:12-17
Offering
-On the Cross (G)
Communion Intro - Dave
-The Wonderful Cross (D) - during communion
Closing Prayer:
"Lord, as we remember your death together through the taking of communion, we also remember your resurrection, which empowers us to live a changed life. As we go from this place, may we live to glorify You. Just as Christ gave His life for us, so we give ourselves to You, to be used as You see fit. We pray it in the strong name of Jesus, Amen."

WEEKEND REVIEW #20 - AUGUST 15, 2010

Yesterday in church we used a video concept that I have wanted to utilize / create for some time: a scripture video with the text creatively displayed over background images and narrated aloud. I initially got this idea from the opening video of WorshipGod 08, and thought it was a great way to use scripture and video together.

The scripture we used was Psalm 57:7-10 and Psalm 100:1-5. We placed the video immediately after the bridge of How Great Is Your Faithfulness, had the piano continue playing softly underneath, and then went back into the chorus twice to end the song. The theme of these two particular Psalms of responding in song to God's love and faithfulness fit well with the song, and provided a creative venue to portray the scripture.

The service shaped up like this:

Instrumental Prelude: Come Christians Join To Sing (G)
Welcome & Announcements - Allison
One Hit Wonders song intro - David
-I'll Be There For You (G)
Call to Worship - Psalm 33:1-5
-Unchanging (G)
Reflection on God's faithfulness and unchanging nature
-How Great Is Your Faithfulness (A) w/ scripture video
-Glory To God Forever (A)
Message: 2 John - Matt Myers
Offering
-How Great Is the Love (Bb)
Closing prayer

Below is the scripture video we used.

WEEKEND REVIEW #19 - MAY 23, 2010

Yesterday we had a guest speaker at our church, Justin Laib, who is a friend of Dave's. Justin spoke on learning to rest in God from Matthew 11:28-30, both in the sense of observing a weekly Sabbath, and also in the sense of laying our burdens down and trusting God to carry them. It's always a mixed bag when planning a service with a guest speaker, because every speaker has their own style. But Justin did a great job in our context.

While planning the songs, I was looking through our repertoire and couldn't find a single song that touched on the theme of rest. That's when I remembered a song I heard about a year ago called "My Soul Finds Rest (Psalm 62)" written by Aaron Keyes and Stuart Townend. The song fit the theme well, and is also one I would like to sing again in the future at our church because of its deep theological content and singable melody. The only slightly funky aspect of the song is that the verses are in 5/4 and the chorus is in 3/4 - but that just makes it all the more fun to play!

Here's how the service shaped up:

Instrumental Prelude: Unchanging (G)
Welcome & Announcements - Elissa
Call to Worship-Responsive Reading: Psalm 100
-How Great Thou Art (B)
Time of silence for confession of sin / prayer
-Jesus Messiah (A)
-Glory To God Forever (A)
-We Fall Down (D->E) - We also had Isaiah 6:1-3 read in the middle of this song just before we hit the key change
Message: "I Can't Breathe" - Justin
Offering
-My Soul Finds Rest-Psalm 62 (C)
Benediction: Ephesians 3:20-21

WEEKEND REVIEW #18: EASTER!

Easter Sunday was one giant celebration as we sang and shouted about the one thing worth getting excited about: the fact that Jesus has beaten death and is alive!

Here's what we did:

Instrumental Prelude: Happy Day (C)
-Christ the Lord is Risen Today (C) - procession of the Christ candle
Welcome / Passing of the Peace ("He is risen ... He is risen indeed!") - Dave
-God Is Alive (B)
-You Have Saved Us (A)
Message: 1 Corinthians 15:12-19 - Dave
Offering / kids hand out jelly beans
-Jesus Messiah (A)
Spirit promo video & series preview - Dave
-Amazing Grace / My Chains Are Gone (F)
Benediction - Scott
"Now may the risen and reigning Christ, who has broken every chain and set you free, shine brightly in your lives and give you strength through His Holy Spirit to live for Him this day. Amen."

Bringing in the lit candle during the first song tied in what we did on Good Friday and illustrated Christ's resurrection in a powerful way.

We decided to give the children a part in the service by having them hand out a jelly bean craft they had made, immediately after the offering was collected. We've found it's always a win for us when we involve the kids in the service. We also purposely began and ended the service with hymns that we new most everyone would be familiar with - which I think was also a plus for all the visitors that were present. Overall, it was a great Sunday.

WEEKEND REVIEW #17: GOOD FRIDAY

Another Easter has come and gone ... it is finished ... He is risen! And now I can exhale, breathe a sigh of relief, and praise God for all He did in and through our Holy Week services this year. For our Good Friday service this year, we did a Tenebrae service that has been practiced by the church for centuries. Tenebrae means "darkness" or "shadows", and it consists of several readings from the gospels that lead up to the death of Christ on the cross. After each reading, there is a congregational response, and then a candle is extinguished. The responses we used consisted of songs, congregational readings, and taking communion. After each candle is extinguished, the lighting in the room gets progressively darker until the last candle is blown out, and then the room is complete darkness. After sitting in silence and darkness for a minute or two, the people are dismissed in silence. We used a simplified band (acoustic guitar, piano, bass, and two vocalists), and had two readers (Karah and Mike) who alternated readings back and forth. Here's what our service looked like:

Piano Prelude
Greeting: Leader: "The light has come into the world, and the world loved darkness rather than light."
Congregation: “God sent his Son into the world not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.”
Leader: “Lift up your hearts.”
Congregation: “We lift them up to the Lord.”
Here I Am To Worship (E)
Tenebrae Introduction / Explanation (Dave)
Reading 1: Luke 22:1-6 (Karah)
Response: Jesus Paid It All - w/o bridge (B)
Reading 2: Mark 14:12-25 (Mike)
Response: Communion
Reading 3: Mark 14:43-49 (Karah)
Response: Nothing But the Blood (D)
Reading 4: Mark 14:50, 66-72 (Mike)
Response: Reader: "You also were with that Nazarene Jesus."
Congregation: "I never knew Him."
Reading 5: Matthew 27:11-18, 21-26 (Karah)
Response: By His Wounds (G)
Reading 6: Matthew 27:27-37 (Mike)
Response: How Deep the Father's Love For Us (E)
Reading 7: Mark 15:33-34, 37-39 (Karah)
Response: Darkness and leave in silence

It was a powerful service where we remembered the death of Christ on the cross and the anguish He experienced on the cross. Mike and Karah did outstanding with the readings, as did our musicians (Jim, Elissa, and Karen) - I am so blessed to work with a great team of creative, artistic, talented, people!

Easter Sunday review coming next...

WEEKEND REVIEW #16 - FEBRUARY 21, 2010

This past Sunday we mixed it up a little with our band members - Brion Kendzora, one of our worship leaders and guitarists, played drums for the first time. He did a great job! And one of our high school students, Kevin Kerr, played electric guitar. Kevin has been developing his guitar skills over the past year or so, and is a very skilled musician - he also did a great job. I love seeing how these guys have been improving and developing their skills as musicians and as worship leaders!

Here's what we did:

Instrumental Prelude: Unchanging (G)
-Welcome/Announcements
Recite Apostle's Creed
-Everlasting God (A)
-You Have Saved Us (A) - new Baloche song - we taught this one the week previous, and when we did it this past Sunday, I noticed our congregation picked it up and ran with it - people actually clapped through the whole song too!
-From the Inside Out (C) - I connected this song with our theme from the previous week of transformation from the inside out (Romans 12:2). We also created space in the middle of the song for people to reflect and pray for continued transformation in their lives.
Message - Romans 12:3-8 - Dave
Serving Video (see below)

Offering
-Glory To God Forever (A) - this song has already become a staple in our worship repertoire and one that our congregation loves to sing out on. We started it with the bridge ("Take my life and let it be ...") to connect to the theme of using our unique gifts to serve God.
Benediction: Prayer from Ignatius - "Teach us, good Lord, to serve You as You deserve; to give and not to count the cost; to fight and not to heed the wounds; to toil and not to seek for rest; to labor and not to ask for any reward, except that of knowing that we do Your will; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen."

WEEKEND REVIEW #15 - JANUARY 24, 2010

Yesterday we celebrated communion together as a church. We typically do this once a month, and our "normal" way of doing it is to have one of our pastors or elders transition into and explain the significance of communion, tie it into that day's message, give thanks for the bread, have the ushers distribute the bread, and each person holds onto it until everyone is served, and then we take it together. Then we do the same with the juice. This is how we did it yesterday, and it is always a significant part of our services when we spend time confessing our sins to the Lord and giving thanks for Christ's death on the cross. We also vary up the way we serve communion from time to time, because we believe each method can be instructive in different ways, and it also keeps communion from becoming too routine. The other ways we have celebrated it include: having everyone come forward and serve each other, having all of our pastors and elders at the front serving the congregation, or giving an extended period of time for confession of sin and where people can come up when they are ready and receive the elements. I would be interested to hear how communion is administered at your church, and if you have tried anything different from the "norm" that has worked well. Feel free to leave a comment.

Anyway, here's what the services looked like:

Instrumental Prelude: Here I Am To Worship (E)
Announcements
-Jesus Saves (B)
-Revelation Song (F)
Message: "Preparing For the Inevitable" - Pastor Dave
-Soon (D) - great song from Brooke Fraser and Hillsong that tied in with our series on end times
Transition to communion - Dave
Instrumental: Give Us Clean Hands (G) - during passing of bread
Beautiful Jesus (A) - during passing of juice
Closing Prayer & Dismissal

WEEKEND REVIEW #14 - AUGUST 30, 2009

We had a great time worshiping the Lord this past Sunday at ACC. It was the last Sunday in our Proverbs: Rumble Strips Series, and we celebrated communion together. Here's what we did:

Instrumental Prelude: He Is Exalted (G) -an oldie but a goodie!
Welcome | Announcements - Allison
Recite Apostle's Creed
-Blessed Be Your Name (B)
-It Is Well (B)
Message: "Loose Lips" - Dave
Offering
-Psalm 19 - May the Words of My Mouth (D)
Communion - Allan

-Jesus, Thank You (A) - great song From Pat Sczebel and the folks at Sovereign Grace. Check out the lyrics below.

-Mighty To Save (A)
Benediction: Psalm 19:14

We're also in the process of adding some musicians to our worship team. Pray for God's leading on this in the coming weeks! I'm excited!

WEEKEND REVIEW #13 - July 26, 2009

OK, so the last few weeks have been crazy ... I was on vacation for a week right after the 4th of July, then came home and got sick, then took a modular class at Trinity from Monday-Friday from 8:00-4:30 that completely consumed my life for a week. So I'm finally back to "normal" this week. I know, I know ... it's no excuse for not blogging in a month!

Anyways, Part 2 of the Gear Post is coming soon.

Now to review this past Sunday ... anyone involved in worship planning on a regular basis knows that summer is CRAZY in terms of scheduling and service layouts being different. Pastors take extended vacation or Sabbaticals, so there is often a great deal of flexibility required in working with guest speakers, associate pastors, etc. who may have a different teaching style, or who may preach a much shorter or WAY longer sermon than you're used to. Another factor in summer is often band members being on vacation, and having to either strip down to an acoustic set or bring in some guest musicians. So the challenge becomes keeping consistency with the normal "feel" of your service when you have different or less people involved. Well, this past Sunday we had an altogether different kind of service than normal, but it seemed that people really appreciated the change of pace. Here are some factors that were different:

1) We gave the band a week off and I led solo from my acoustic.
2) In place of a sermon, we gave the time to our youth mission team who had just returned from South Dakota. Chris shared about seeing God's faithfulness through his own life and throughout the week, we watched a slideshow from the trip, and four students were interviewed about what they learned on the trip.
3) We celebrated communion together, but instead of having the ushers serve it via passing down each row, we instructed people to come forward and serve each other. (So Dave would serve the first person, then that person would step up and serve the next person, and so on, and so on)

We're still thinking through whether it was wise to alter so many factors on one Sunday, but I think one benefit is that it was a break from routine and a great opportunity for our congregation to see how God is working in the lives of our students!

The service order shaped up like this:

Welcome | Announcements - Michelle
-One Way (B)
Congregational Reading: Psalm 100:1-5
-Blessed Be Your Name (A)
Lessons Learned: God's Faithfulness - Chris
-You Never Let Go (B)
-Jesus Paid It All (B) - 1st service only
Offering | Mission Trip Slideshow
Student Interviews
Communion - Dave

Weekend Review #12 - June 14, 2009

We did a couple more songs than usual this morning, which was fun. Here's what we did:

Call to Worship: Psalm 34: 1-10 (the three of us vocalists split up the passage and we each read a few verses)
-All Because of Jesus (A)
-Jesus Saves (B) by Tim Hughes (teach)
Announcements (Jamie)
-A Mighty Fortress Is Our God (C)
Part 1 Message: Dave
-You Are My King (D)
-Lord, Be Glorified (D)
Part 2 Message: Dave
Offering
-From the Inside Out (C)
Closing prayer

Overall, I feel like we had a good balance of old and new songs this morning. It was also great to play with a full band again this weekend!

Weekend Review #11 - June 7, 2009

We did more of an acoustic set this weekend with piano, synth, acoustic guitar, bass, and djembe/shakers. We also started things off a bit differently by observing a moment of silence right after announcements and before we did any singing. Silence can be scary for worship leaders ... especially when it equals "awkward transition time between songs." But when prefaced and explained effectively, I believe it can be a powerful tool in preparing one's heart and mind for worship. And that's what we were aiming for by placing it at the beginning of the service.

-You Never Let Go (B) - instrumental prelude
Announcements - Chris
Moment of silence
-Here I Am To Worship (E)
-Hosanna / Praise Is Rising (G)
Comment as a bridge between songs (Referenced the line "You are the God who saves us", and explained how we are saved through Christ's sacrifice, specifically his blood. Ephesians 2:13)
-Nothing But the Blood (B) - Matt Redman
Video: "Spirit"
-Consuming Fire (G)
Message: "The Holy Spirit" - Dave
Offering
-I Need Thee Every Hour (G) - Jars of Clay arrangement
Benediction: 2 Corinthians 13:14

Here's the video we used:

Weekend Service Review #7 - March 22, 2009

Yesterday was a powerful time of worshipping the Lord at ACC. It was also one where we made a last-minute change to the set list, which doesn't happen too often.

As my wife and I were looking over Dave's sermon notes on Saturday, we realized that he quoted all three verses of the hymn "What A Friend We Have In Jesus" to emphasize a point he was making about prayer. So our thought was "Helloooooo ... why aren't we doing this song tomorrow?!?!"

We ended up swapping out another song to do What A Friend, and I couldn't have been happier about the switch. So here's what we did:

-Prelude: Your Grace Is Enough (G) by Chris Tomlin
-Welcome / call to worship (Philippians 4:4)
-Hosanna / Praise Is Rising (G) by Brenton Brown & Paul Baloche
Transition to new song - comment about glory
-Glory To God Forever (A) by Steve Fee & Vicky Beeching
Prayer
Message Part 1 - Dave
-What A Friend We Have In Jesus (E) hymn by Joseph Scriven
-Adoration (G) by Brenton Brown
-Jesus Messiah (A) by Chris Tomlin
Message Part 2 - Dave
Offering & announcements - Chris
Benediction - Romans 15:13 - Chris
(Upward highlight video as people dismissed)

You'll notice that we also tried something new this week at the end. Instead of a closing song during the offering, we had Chris give announcements and share a recap of the Upward season, and then dismiss people while the Upward video played. This worked out particularly well this weekend because all of the announcements had an immediate action step associated with them right after the service (ie. buy your Seder tickets in the lobby, attend the Welcome Lunch starting in 10 minutes, etc.)

By the way, I am loving the new Steve Fee song we did this weekend. Thanks, Steve, for posting the how-to video and chord charts on your web site!

Weekend Service Review #6 - March 15, 2009

It was a good day on Sunday. We originally planned on doing just one song up front and three in the middle package, but as I was thinking about the order over the weekend I realized that it can be hard to focus on worshiping the Lord if you only have one song to do it in at a time. Let me explain: when we gather as the church for worship, there are often a thousand other thoughts going through our heads and hearts, and often it takes a few songs before we can really start to focus on worshiping the Lord and soaking up the songs we're singing. I noticed this in myself when I visited a church a few weeks back, and I found myself thinking about the tempo, instrumentation, environment I was in, the weather outside, etc. etc. etc. It wasn't until about the third song that I started to consciously bring my thoughts and emotions together and truly engage with the lyrics we were singing.

So that is a bit of the reasoning why we moved "Jesus Paid It All" up to the opening package this past Sunday. Here's what the service looked like after the change:

Instrumental Prelude: Sing to the King (E) by Billy Foote
Welcome & announcements
-Happy Day (B) by Tim Hughes
-Jesus Paid It All (B) - hymn w/ chorus by Alex Nifong
Holy Week Preview - Dave
Part 1 Message - Dave
-From the Inside Out (C) by Joel Houston
(Comment about giving God control of our lives - transition into Center)
-Center (E) by Charlie Hall
Part 2 Message - Dave
-In Christ Alone (E) by Keith Getty & Stuart Townend
Benediction - Philippians 4:1

Oh ... and in case you were wondering, here's what our service order looks like on paper (click on the image to blow it up):

Weekend Service Review #4 - March 1, 2009

Today Dave preached a great message from Philippians 2:12-18 on living out our salvation and shining the light of Christ in a dark world. One of the primary application points I took away was to stop complaining and start counting the blessings the Lord has given to me. This was definitely a message I needed to hear.

I've had a request from a few people to include the name of the artist or songwriter of each song listed on these reviews, so here it is:

-Happy Day (B) by Tim Hughes - instrumental prelude
Welcome - Chris
-All Because of Jesus (A) by Steve Fee
-One Way (B) by Joel Houston / Hillsong
(Message intro with skit by Mike Malek)
Message Part 1 - Dave
-Jesus Messiah (A) by Chris Tomlin
Scripture Reading: Psalm 148:1-13
-All Creatures of Our God and King (D) - David Crowder arrangement
Message Part 2 - Dave
-Special: Shine (G) by Matt Redman
Benediction - Ephesians 3:20-21

I was happy with how the special reaffirmed the main points of the passage and really hit home for a lot of people. Below is a video of Matt Redman singing the song at the close of Passion '07 in Atlanta, with lyrics included. Those of you that were there will remember how they raised up those huge banners with the names of cities around the world, along with the names of hundreds of colleges and universities, to symbolize sending out and setting our hearts toward the Passion World Tour that was to follow.

Weekend Service Review #3 - February 22, 2009

This morning we were in Philippians 2:1-11 - one of my favorite passages in scripture that is often referred to as the kenosis passage or the "humiliation of Christ." Here's what we did:

-Forever (G) - instrumental prelude
Welcome
-Everlasting God (A)
Dramatic Reading - Philippians 2:1-11
Message intro - video clip from Hitch
Message Part 1 - Dave
Communion
-Mighty Is the Power of the Cross (E) - communion special
Message Part 2 - Dave
-May the Mind of Christ My Savior (D) w/ new chorus
-Adoration (G)
Benediction - Jude 24-25

I really liked the dramatic reading of this morning's Scripture passage - it set up the message nicely and definitely brought out the text in a fresh way. Hopefully we will be able to do more dramatic readings like this in future weeks - maybe at least 1 per series?