Here is the rundown of the March 18th service at Community Gospel Church...
THE SERVICE
Everything Glorious [david crowder]
Welcome/Announcements/Offering
Beautiful One [tim hughes]
Come Thou Fount [robert robinson]
Better is One Day [matt redman]
Lord You Have My Heart [martin smith]
Message
Communion
Potluck Dinner
THE TEAM
Jonathan Eckberg - guitar vocals
Randy Hepler - bass
Bethany Muck - piano/vocals
Larry Ingle - vocals
Staci Smith - vocals
Kay Smith - vocals
NOTES
This week was a stand-alone message where Pastor Jordan Muck was looking at the Shema and the verses of its application - Deuteronomy 6:4-9. The overall principle builds on verse 4 and speaks to the fact that this verse must be applied to our hearts, in our homes and in our lives. We closed the service with two-fold communion. We opened the tables for people to take communion with their families and then we had a potluck dinner. During the potluck we had last week's service playing on the projector so that anyone who missed seeing 16 of our brothers and sisters baptized could see what they missed out on.
You can download this weeks message here.
SONGS
Everything Glorious - This is one of the songs I used to do a lot, but we just recently introduced it at CGC. It's a great opening song. Upbeat, lots of fun, easy to catch on to, and will even get some people clapping. I don't usually worry about the flow of service when selecting our opening songs. Our people have become accustomed to the opening song being the marker of the start of service. It's what calls a lot of people in from the foyer into the sanctuary. With that being the case, I usually just make the opener a fun energetic song. It's also a great place to introduce new material. Most of our congregation doesn't engage in the opening song, they'll sing along if they know it, but it seems to be very passive.
[album: Remedy - David Crowder Band]
Beautiful One - As I said, the message covered the Shema and following verses of Deuteronomy 6. The very beginning of the focus on loving the Lord with all our hearts, with all our souls, and with all our might is to recognize who he is. This is one of those songs that expresses this very simply and very succinctly.
[album: When Silence Falls - Tim Hughes]
Come Thou Fount - One of my favorite hymns. We do a very traditional arrangement of it. Robert Robinson was 23 years old when he wrote this hymn. Some years later, after a backslide into a life of sin and debauchery, a broken and dejected Robinson climbed into a carriage with a woman who noticed the pain he was dealing with. The woman offered Robinson a short poem and told him that this poem had helped her in many difficult times. After reading the words Robinson, with tears in his eyes, said to her, "Madam, I am the poor unhappy man who wrote that hymn many years ago, and I would give a thousand worlds, if I had them, to enjoy the feelings I had then." The fact is that Robinson had forgotten who GOD is and he had failed to instill that truth in his heart, in his home, and in his life. "Prone to wander, Lord I feel it / Prone to leave the God I love / Here's my heart, O take and seal it / Seal it for they courts above". We are prone to go the direction of Robinson's later years, but we also have been given the opportunity, through Christ, to offer our hearts to GOD and be granted the gift of adoption into His family.
Better is One Day - This song from Psalm 84 continued our message of the acknowledging the truth of who GOD is and what that truly means. Larry lead this one and did a great job with it.
[album: Blessed Be Your Name - Matt Redman]
Lord You Have My Heart - I've been using this song in worship for nearly 15 years and it's still one of my favorites. It's all about offering the entirety of who we are to the GOD we serve and submitting ourselves as a sacrifice of praise. If you don't know of this song, look back in the vault (1997) and pick it up. It's worth your time.
[album: Cutting Edge - Delirious?]
To see how others worshipped on Sunday go to the worship community and check out the Sunday Setlist.
Monday, March 19, 2012
Monday, March 12, 2012
Sunday Setlist / 3.11.12
Here is what the morning service looked like at Community Gospel Church in Bremen, IN...
THE SERVICE
I Am New (Jonathan Eckberg)
Welcome, Announcements, and Offering
Welcome, Announcements, and Offering
Baptisms
EVERYTHING ELSE
This may have been the simplest service (in terms of schedule) I've ever been a part of, but it was INCREDIBLE! We had 16 people stand up in front of a packed house and make a public profession of their faith in Christ this morning. To hear the stories of surrender to GOD and the ways that the Spirit is moving in the lives of the people of CGC is phenomenal.
We opened the service by singing one song. Honestly, I wouldn't have minded passing on this but it seems that our congregation is conditioned to not come into the sanctuary until the opening song starts up. It's not a bad thing, that's just how we roll at CGC. So anyway, we opened with "I Am New" because it's one we've learned over the past few weeks and it just seemed fitting for the purpose of the day. From there we covered a few announcements and the offering before rolling right into the baptisms. We had borrowed a portable baptismal from our good friends at River Valley Church in Mishawaka so that we could conduct the service in the sanctuary (there is a baptismal in the churches "all purpose" room, but the setup in there is really awkward, so we really wanted to avoid using that one). We gave each person an opportunity to stand before the church and share their story with us and to explain their intentions in being baptized. Then we dunked them. The highlight of the day for me, without a doubt, was seeing fathers step up to baptize their children. I'm not a guy who cries that much, but when men of faith step up and be the spiritual leaders of their families in the way that GOD has called them to be and take responsibility for their children's spiritual growth... MAN! That got me. That's good stuff. Again, it was just such an awesome morning. GOD is moving in some cool ways at CGC right now and I'm so incredibly excited for how my brothers and sisters in the congregation are responding and will continue to respond over the course of the next few months and years.
SONG
I Am New - This song was written for this last series and it was a perfect fit for our week of baptisms. For more info on this song you can check out the Sunday Setlists from the past couple of weeks.
To see how many of our other brothers and sisters worshipped today you can go to Sunday Setlist at www.theworshipcommunity.com.
SONG
I Am New - This song was written for this last series and it was a perfect fit for our week of baptisms. For more info on this song you can check out the Sunday Setlists from the past couple of weeks.
To see how many of our other brothers and sisters worshipped today you can go to Sunday Setlist at www.theworshipcommunity.com.
Monday, March 5, 2012
Sunday Setlist / 3.4.12
Want to know how we roll at Community Gospel Church? Here you go...
THE SERVICE
How Great Thou Art [Stuart K. Hine]
Welcome & Announcements
Offering // Missions Update: Jim Boerckel
Unchanging [Chris Tomlin]
I Am New [Jonathan Eckberg]
Majesty (Here I Am) [Stuart Gerrard/Martin Smith]
Message
Dismiss
THE TEAM
Jonathan Eckberg - guitar/vocals
Beth Stemble - piano
Jess Yoder - vocals
Alli Hutchens - vocals
Cyndi Leamon - vocals
Mike Stemble - audio
Vance Ceaszar - video
NOTES
While the schedule looks light this week, it was actually a very busy morning. We used our announcement time as a prep for our "See the Need, Meet the Need" projects. This is a week of service that our church is doing. We're asking everyone in the church to help out with a number of projects both at the church and in the community. It included everything from digging ditches (not even kidding), doing some spring cleaning for a mission for the homeless to moving furniture for one of our "senior saints." Then during our offering time we had one of our missionaries, Jim Boerckel, share about his work in/around a muslim community market in Michigan. Finally, we were rolling in our worship time and Pastor Jordan Muck had us sing through Majesty for a while longer (more on this below). All of this took extra time than normal so we actually ended up cutting everything after the message.
This week we closed out our "Three" series. It's been an excellent series as Pastor Jordan has walked us through Colossians 3:1-17. You can download the entire sermon series here.
THE SONGS
How Great Thou Art - We tend to follow the Paul Baloche version of this hymn. However, we have been without a drummer for the past several weeks, which forced us to "settle" the song a little bit. It still had a nice push to it, but it missed just a little "umph." I think it has been good for our team and our congregation to function without a drummer for this period in time, but I also hope to have someone filling that role in the near future.
[album: Our God Saves - Paul Baloche]
Unchanging - Chris Tomlin has done a lot of good stuff, but this may be one of my favorites of his. It's such a simple profession of faith in a GOD who is faithful, true to his promises, loving and gracious and a call to respond not only in spirit but with physical action (the raising of hands).
[album: Not to Us - Chris Tomlin]
I Am New - This week was the third week in a row that we've done this song as it has been the "theme song" for this series. People have really seemed to catch on to it and it's always special to hear people singing songs that are a reflection of what they are going through and experiencing as a church family. As I've mentioned before, we are moving in the direction of doing more and more original music. While that can be difficult for some people to understand why we don't just do all the songs that are on the radio, there is something special that happens when we sing praises to our GOD from a personal experience rather than someone else's.
Majesty (Here I Am) - Our congregation eats this song up. It's one of those songs that when we do it you can look out and see people giving themselves over in worship of a majestic GOD. Personally, the last line of this chorus punches me in the face every time we sing it: "Your grace has found me just as I am // Empty handed but alive in Your hands." Absolutely phenomenal. We were rolling in this song, so I added a couple extra choruses to the end. THEN, as we were finishing up Pastor Jordan came up and asked to keep singing it, so we kept worshipping our GOD as a family and it was an incredible experience. We probably sang through the chorus 8 more times.
***As a side note, I think this illustrates why we are attempting to do more music that is original to our community. We started using this song last year during our 7-week series on the parable of the prodigal son. Our congregation made a connection from this song to the series (which impacted our church deeply). As a result there is an authenticity in our worship that pours forth when we sing this particular song together. As we are working on original music we pray that GOD creates these bonds between music and message. And, that we will create songs that our congregation can hear and think, "this reminds me of what GOD has called us to from [insert sermon point here]." Music has to be more than a catchy melody with some good words (even beyond sound theological lyrics). There must be a lasting purpose to the songs we sing, just as the teaching of the word should not be listened to and then forgotten. All that we do in a gathering of the saints should point to an eternal end. End of worship sermon. :)
[album: World Service - Delirious?]
The only thing that was unfortunate about our service today is that since a number of elements ran longer than normal, it forced us to dump the response song to the sermon. While this is not a huge deal, I was really looking forward to doing the song. Alli Hutchens was going to lead us through "From the Inside Out" with Jess Yoder backing her up. I love doing that song and it would have worked really well in conjunction with the sermon. But, when the spirit moves, you just have to let go and let some of your desires slide. I am constantly humbled at how incredible it is to see GOD move in ways that look very different from how I intend.
What a great morning!
To see what brothers and sisters in other churches were singing this week check out the Sunday Setlist at www.theworshipcommunity.com.
THE SERVICE
How Great Thou Art [Stuart K. Hine]
Welcome & Announcements
Offering // Missions Update: Jim Boerckel
Unchanging [Chris Tomlin]
I Am New [Jonathan Eckberg]
Majesty (Here I Am) [Stuart Gerrard/Martin Smith]
Message
Dismiss
THE TEAM
Jonathan Eckberg - guitar/vocals
Beth Stemble - piano
Jess Yoder - vocals
Alli Hutchens - vocals
Cyndi Leamon - vocals
Mike Stemble - audio
Vance Ceaszar - video
NOTES
While the schedule looks light this week, it was actually a very busy morning. We used our announcement time as a prep for our "See the Need, Meet the Need" projects. This is a week of service that our church is doing. We're asking everyone in the church to help out with a number of projects both at the church and in the community. It included everything from digging ditches (not even kidding), doing some spring cleaning for a mission for the homeless to moving furniture for one of our "senior saints." Then during our offering time we had one of our missionaries, Jim Boerckel, share about his work in/around a muslim community market in Michigan. Finally, we were rolling in our worship time and Pastor Jordan Muck had us sing through Majesty for a while longer (more on this below). All of this took extra time than normal so we actually ended up cutting everything after the message.
This week we closed out our "Three" series. It's been an excellent series as Pastor Jordan has walked us through Colossians 3:1-17. You can download the entire sermon series here.
THE SONGS
How Great Thou Art - We tend to follow the Paul Baloche version of this hymn. However, we have been without a drummer for the past several weeks, which forced us to "settle" the song a little bit. It still had a nice push to it, but it missed just a little "umph." I think it has been good for our team and our congregation to function without a drummer for this period in time, but I also hope to have someone filling that role in the near future.
[album: Our God Saves - Paul Baloche]
Unchanging - Chris Tomlin has done a lot of good stuff, but this may be one of my favorites of his. It's such a simple profession of faith in a GOD who is faithful, true to his promises, loving and gracious and a call to respond not only in spirit but with physical action (the raising of hands).
[album: Not to Us - Chris Tomlin]
I Am New - This week was the third week in a row that we've done this song as it has been the "theme song" for this series. People have really seemed to catch on to it and it's always special to hear people singing songs that are a reflection of what they are going through and experiencing as a church family. As I've mentioned before, we are moving in the direction of doing more and more original music. While that can be difficult for some people to understand why we don't just do all the songs that are on the radio, there is something special that happens when we sing praises to our GOD from a personal experience rather than someone else's.
Majesty (Here I Am) - Our congregation eats this song up. It's one of those songs that when we do it you can look out and see people giving themselves over in worship of a majestic GOD. Personally, the last line of this chorus punches me in the face every time we sing it: "Your grace has found me just as I am // Empty handed but alive in Your hands." Absolutely phenomenal. We were rolling in this song, so I added a couple extra choruses to the end. THEN, as we were finishing up Pastor Jordan came up and asked to keep singing it, so we kept worshipping our GOD as a family and it was an incredible experience. We probably sang through the chorus 8 more times.
***As a side note, I think this illustrates why we are attempting to do more music that is original to our community. We started using this song last year during our 7-week series on the parable of the prodigal son. Our congregation made a connection from this song to the series (which impacted our church deeply). As a result there is an authenticity in our worship that pours forth when we sing this particular song together. As we are working on original music we pray that GOD creates these bonds between music and message. And, that we will create songs that our congregation can hear and think, "this reminds me of what GOD has called us to from [insert sermon point here]." Music has to be more than a catchy melody with some good words (even beyond sound theological lyrics). There must be a lasting purpose to the songs we sing, just as the teaching of the word should not be listened to and then forgotten. All that we do in a gathering of the saints should point to an eternal end. End of worship sermon. :)
[album: World Service - Delirious?]
The only thing that was unfortunate about our service today is that since a number of elements ran longer than normal, it forced us to dump the response song to the sermon. While this is not a huge deal, I was really looking forward to doing the song. Alli Hutchens was going to lead us through "From the Inside Out" with Jess Yoder backing her up. I love doing that song and it would have worked really well in conjunction with the sermon. But, when the spirit moves, you just have to let go and let some of your desires slide. I am constantly humbled at how incredible it is to see GOD move in ways that look very different from how I intend.
What a great morning!
To see what brothers and sisters in other churches were singing this week check out the Sunday Setlist at www.theworshipcommunity.com.
Monday, February 27, 2012
Sunday Setlist / 2.26.12
Here's how we celebrated the day at Community Gospel Church...
THE SERVICE
Heirs [Jordan Muck/Jonathan Eckberg]
Welcome & Announcements
All Creatures of Our God and King [Francis of Assisi]
Holy Nation [Muck/Eckberg]
I Am New [Eckberg]
Message
Let Us Shine [Eckberg]
Mighty to Save [Ben Fielding/Reuben Morgan]
THE TEAM
Jonathan Eckberg - guitar/vocals
Larry Ingle - vocals
Alli Hutchens - vocals
Jess Yoder - vocals
Kevin Schmidt - audio
Perri Hepler - visual
NOTES
This week marked week number 3 of our current series, "Three". In this series Pastor Jordan Muck is preaching through Colossians 3:1-17. Todays message was the first of two weeks that focus on verses 13-17 - on our renewal and the things that God calls us to cloth ourselves with. This week we looked at compassion, kindness, humility and meekness.
THE SONGS
Heirs - Pastor Jordan and I wrote this song a couple years ago and released it on the Until We're Kings EP called by the same name.
[album - Heirs - Until We're Kings]
All Creatures of Our God and King - I love this hymn. We do an arrangement similar to the David Crowder Band version (and also use the "Alleluia" tag from that version). I like this version because it maintains the same structure as the traditional hymn but also gives it a fresh feel. Jess let this one on vocals and did a fantastic job. I love moments when I get to move into a supporting role and just worship alongside our congregation without being "on". It's a beautiful thing.
[album - Passion: Hymns Ancient and Modern - David Crowder Band]
Holy Nation - We used this song as the theme song to our previous series, "1P29C". The series talks about how we are called to be a royal priesthood, a chosen race, a people of God's own choosing and a holy nation. The song walks through the verse. I hope that this song points our people back to that series and back to that reminder of who God has called us to be, not only as individuals but as the Church. The function within the set was to move from an acknowledgment of who God is and of his sovereignty ("All Creatures...") into an acceptance of who we are made to be in him ("Holy Nation" into "I Am New").
I Am New - We introduced this last week as the theme to the current series, "Three". In the progression of Colossians 3:1-17 teaches us to set our hearts and our mind on the things above where Christ, who is our life and who is returning, is seated at the right hand of God. Then it gives us a list of the worldly traits and desires that we must deny. The rest of the verses tell us how we are to act as the holy nation, whom God has chosen, as those who have been raised with Christ, as those who are made new in him. This song draws our attention to that process and is, hopefully, a celebration of the fact that Christ has rescued us from who we once were - lost apart from him - to we can be through his love.
Let Us Shine - Another song that came out of the "1P29C" series. This is a call to let Christ's light shine through us. To be lighthouses that break through the darkness and present the glory of who God is to those around us.
Mighty to Save - One of our church's favorite songs. "Shine a light and let the whole world see // We're singing for the glory of the risen King Jesus" As we were rehearsing on Thursday night Alli summed it up well when she said, "You can't not worship in this song!" Amen, Alli. Amen.
[album - Mighty to Save - Hillsong Live]
To see what songs our brothers and sisters in worshipped to in their congregations please visit the Sunday Setlist at www.theworshipcommunity.com.
THE SERVICE
Heirs [Jordan Muck/Jonathan Eckberg]
Welcome & Announcements
All Creatures of Our God and King [Francis of Assisi]
Holy Nation [Muck/Eckberg]
I Am New [Eckberg]
Message
Let Us Shine [Eckberg]
Mighty to Save [Ben Fielding/Reuben Morgan]
THE TEAM
Jonathan Eckberg - guitar/vocals
Larry Ingle - vocals
Alli Hutchens - vocals
Jess Yoder - vocals
Kevin Schmidt - audio
Perri Hepler - visual
NOTES
This week marked week number 3 of our current series, "Three". In this series Pastor Jordan Muck is preaching through Colossians 3:1-17. Todays message was the first of two weeks that focus on verses 13-17 - on our renewal and the things that God calls us to cloth ourselves with. This week we looked at compassion, kindness, humility and meekness.
THE SONGS
Heirs - Pastor Jordan and I wrote this song a couple years ago and released it on the Until We're Kings EP called by the same name.
[album - Heirs - Until We're Kings]
All Creatures of Our God and King - I love this hymn. We do an arrangement similar to the David Crowder Band version (and also use the "Alleluia" tag from that version). I like this version because it maintains the same structure as the traditional hymn but also gives it a fresh feel. Jess let this one on vocals and did a fantastic job. I love moments when I get to move into a supporting role and just worship alongside our congregation without being "on". It's a beautiful thing.
[album - Passion: Hymns Ancient and Modern - David Crowder Band]
Holy Nation - We used this song as the theme song to our previous series, "1P29C". The series talks about how we are called to be a royal priesthood, a chosen race, a people of God's own choosing and a holy nation. The song walks through the verse. I hope that this song points our people back to that series and back to that reminder of who God has called us to be, not only as individuals but as the Church. The function within the set was to move from an acknowledgment of who God is and of his sovereignty ("All Creatures...") into an acceptance of who we are made to be in him ("Holy Nation" into "I Am New").
I Am New - We introduced this last week as the theme to the current series, "Three". In the progression of Colossians 3:1-17 teaches us to set our hearts and our mind on the things above where Christ, who is our life and who is returning, is seated at the right hand of God. Then it gives us a list of the worldly traits and desires that we must deny. The rest of the verses tell us how we are to act as the holy nation, whom God has chosen, as those who have been raised with Christ, as those who are made new in him. This song draws our attention to that process and is, hopefully, a celebration of the fact that Christ has rescued us from who we once were - lost apart from him - to we can be through his love.
Let Us Shine - Another song that came out of the "1P29C" series. This is a call to let Christ's light shine through us. To be lighthouses that break through the darkness and present the glory of who God is to those around us.
Mighty to Save - One of our church's favorite songs. "Shine a light and let the whole world see // We're singing for the glory of the risen King Jesus" As we were rehearsing on Thursday night Alli summed it up well when she said, "You can't not worship in this song!" Amen, Alli. Amen.
[album - Mighty to Save - Hillsong Live]
To see what songs our brothers and sisters in worshipped to in their congregations please visit the Sunday Setlist at www.theworshipcommunity.com.
Monday, February 20, 2012
Sunday Setlist / 2.19.12
Here's what went down at Community Gospel Church this week...
THE SERVICE:
I Am New [Jonathan Eckberg]
Welcome/Announcements
Offering
When I Think About the Lord [James Huey]
Take My Life (Holiness) [Scott Underwood]
Like An Avalanche [Joel Houston/Dylan Thomas]
Take My Life and Let it Be [Francis Havergal/Cesar Malan/H.A. Hendon]
Message
I Am New [Eckberg]
THE TEAM:
Jonathan Eckberg - guitar/vocals
Randy Hepler - bass
Staci Smith - vocals
Larry Ingle - vocals
Dale Gramm - audio
Jeff Hutchens - visual
THE NOTES:
This was week number two of the "Three" series, a study of Colossians 3:1-17. Pastor Jordan preached verses 5-11, discussing the things we are called to put aside and the spiritual disciplines that lead us forward in those areas. We also introduced our new theme song for the series.
THE SONGS:
I Am New - This is a new song that touches on the themes of each of the four weeks of our Colossians study. It's got a simple chorus that people picked up quickly and easily. We did this as the opener because we intended to use it as our closing song and wanted to give folks a chance to hear it once before singing along. So far we've received a good response on it. I'll look forward to hearing what people think.
When I Think About the Lord - We introduced this song to our congregation a few weeks ago and we are now starting to work it into the rotation of songs. NOTE: I am yet to find a version of this song the way we do it. The way Huey does it is very slow and contemplative. The Shane and Shane version is a medium tempo song. I picked this song up from Dave Hunt when I was in Nashville and he did a more rocked out version (in my iTunes search I ran across a recording by Caleb Carruth which is similar to the version I learned from Dave). We actually pick the tempo up even more and make it a song of celebration.
[album - When I Think About the Lord - James Huey]
[album - Pages - Shane & Shane]
[album - Darkness Falls - Caleb Carruth]
Take My Life (Holiness) - This is one of those "old standard" worship choruses. We take it and rework it a little bit. It becomes an uptempo, almost bluesy-style tune. By switching the feel of it up we are able to allow people to connect with the plea of forming, transforming, and conforming of our hearts, minds, and will to that of God. There is a wonderful theme in this song, but the traditional arrangement seems pretty well played out. Again, we don't do anything dramatic with it - we maintain the exact melody and chord structure - we just dress it up in a slightly different package to tie into our people.
[album - Take My Life - Vineyard Voices: The Worship Leader Series]
Like An Avalanche - We've been doing this Hillsong United tune for the past year and it's a song that the congregation has really latched on to. Sometimes you introduce songs that you really think are good and you really think work for where the people are, but they just never work out and people never start singing them. Fortunately, this song caught on well. A lot of our people seem to get into this song pretty deeply.
[album - Aftermath - Hillsong United]
Take My Life and Let it Be - we do this song very true to the traditional chorus. Our intent was to have our piano player lead this one, but she was knocked out with the flu on Sunday morning. So Larry and Staci stepped up and led it. They did a phenomenal job.
I Am New - I took an extra minute or so after the message to teach the song to the congregation and to actually walk them through it just a little bit. I did this so that as we continue to sing it in the coming weeks they will be able to feel the full weight of what we are moving towards and the tie to the messages.
So that was our morning. To see what others around the country are singing please head over to the Sunday setlists at: theworshipcommunity.com.
THE SERVICE:
I Am New [Jonathan Eckberg]
Welcome/Announcements
Offering
When I Think About the Lord [James Huey]
Take My Life (Holiness) [Scott Underwood]
Like An Avalanche [Joel Houston/Dylan Thomas]
Take My Life and Let it Be [Francis Havergal/Cesar Malan/H.A. Hendon]
Message
I Am New [Eckberg]
THE TEAM:
Jonathan Eckberg - guitar/vocals
Randy Hepler - bass
Staci Smith - vocals
Larry Ingle - vocals
Dale Gramm - audio
Jeff Hutchens - visual
THE NOTES:
This was week number two of the "Three" series, a study of Colossians 3:1-17. Pastor Jordan preached verses 5-11, discussing the things we are called to put aside and the spiritual disciplines that lead us forward in those areas. We also introduced our new theme song for the series.
THE SONGS:
I Am New - This is a new song that touches on the themes of each of the four weeks of our Colossians study. It's got a simple chorus that people picked up quickly and easily. We did this as the opener because we intended to use it as our closing song and wanted to give folks a chance to hear it once before singing along. So far we've received a good response on it. I'll look forward to hearing what people think.
When I Think About the Lord - We introduced this song to our congregation a few weeks ago and we are now starting to work it into the rotation of songs. NOTE: I am yet to find a version of this song the way we do it. The way Huey does it is very slow and contemplative. The Shane and Shane version is a medium tempo song. I picked this song up from Dave Hunt when I was in Nashville and he did a more rocked out version (in my iTunes search I ran across a recording by Caleb Carruth which is similar to the version I learned from Dave). We actually pick the tempo up even more and make it a song of celebration.
[album - When I Think About the Lord - James Huey]
[album - Pages - Shane & Shane]
[album - Darkness Falls - Caleb Carruth]
Take My Life (Holiness) - This is one of those "old standard" worship choruses. We take it and rework it a little bit. It becomes an uptempo, almost bluesy-style tune. By switching the feel of it up we are able to allow people to connect with the plea of forming, transforming, and conforming of our hearts, minds, and will to that of God. There is a wonderful theme in this song, but the traditional arrangement seems pretty well played out. Again, we don't do anything dramatic with it - we maintain the exact melody and chord structure - we just dress it up in a slightly different package to tie into our people.
[album - Take My Life - Vineyard Voices: The Worship Leader Series]
Like An Avalanche - We've been doing this Hillsong United tune for the past year and it's a song that the congregation has really latched on to. Sometimes you introduce songs that you really think are good and you really think work for where the people are, but they just never work out and people never start singing them. Fortunately, this song caught on well. A lot of our people seem to get into this song pretty deeply.
[album - Aftermath - Hillsong United]
Take My Life and Let it Be - we do this song very true to the traditional chorus. Our intent was to have our piano player lead this one, but she was knocked out with the flu on Sunday morning. So Larry and Staci stepped up and led it. They did a phenomenal job.
I Am New - I took an extra minute or so after the message to teach the song to the congregation and to actually walk them through it just a little bit. I did this so that as we continue to sing it in the coming weeks they will be able to feel the full weight of what we are moving towards and the tie to the messages.
So that was our morning. To see what others around the country are singing please head over to the Sunday setlists at: theworshipcommunity.com.
Monday, February 13, 2012
Sunday Setlist // 2.12.12
Take a look at what happened at Community Gospel Church this weekend...
THE SERVICE:
Glory to God Forever [Steve Fee]
Welcome // Announcements
Offering
Glory to Your Name [Dave Hunt]
Once Again [Matt Redman]
Our God [Chris Tomlin/Jason Reeves/Matt Redman/Jonas Myrin]
Consuming Fire [Tim Hughes]
Message
Arms that Hold the Universe [Steve Fee]
THE TEAM:
Jonathan Eckberg - guitar/vocals
Beth Stemble - piano
Cyndi Leamon - vocals
Alli Hutchens - vocals
Mike Stemble - audio
Brent Wiseman - visual
THE NOTES:
This week we kicked off a new series that Pastor Jordan Muck is preaching called, "Three". This is a four-week study of Colossians 3:1-17. It should be an exciting study on the heart of our actions as believers. Week one looked at the first three verses and discussed the setting of our hearts on things above, the fixing of our minds on the things above, and the security that is found in Christ.
THE SONGS:
Glory to God Forever - This is a great song. It's very simple and holds a wealth of theological truth to it. I love opening with this one. It has really good energy to it and our people have always grabbed a strong hold of it.
[album: Hope Rising - Fee]
Glory to Your Name - I have talked about this song many times in the past. It is by a phenomenal worship leader named Dave Hunt. He lead at the church I attended when I lived in Nashville, TN. Dave is simply one of the most genuine and humble worship leaders I have ever encountered. This is one of his songs that I love!
[album: Shattered - Dave Hunt]
Once Again - This is another older song that I love. It has a tremendous focus on the cross and and the humility, gratitude, and response that simply must flow from the observation of it. I do have to note though, that I always change one word of the song. The bridge goes like this: "Thank you for the cross // Thank you for the cross // Thank you for the cross, my friend". I've never been comfortable with the word friend there. I understand what Matt Redman is trying to communicate, but in my mind (if nowhere else) it seems to diminish the power of the act of sacrifice that took place there. So whenever I have done this song I always change the word "friend" to "king". Some might feel this is unnecessary or "nit-picking", but it's one of those things that I feel a conviction about so I change it.
[album: The Friendship and the Fear - Matt Redman]
Our God - Everybody knows this song. I probably don't need to talk much about it. I would have no problem doing a whole service where we sing just the bridge to this one.
[album: And If Our God is For Us - Chris Tomlin]
Consuming Fire - I felt like this was a great song to end the set with this week since the focus on the message was on the centering of ourselves on things above and not on this earth.
[album: When Silence Falls - Tim Hughes]
The Arms that Hold the Universe - It was a Steve Fee kind of morning. This was our closing song. Jordan talked to me early in the week about doing this one after the message, so I worked it up. We didn't really have time to learn it as a team so I played it solo.
[album: Hope Rising - Fee]
For more information on Community Gospel Church please visit us at:
www.cgccommunity.com
or on facebook at:
http://www.facebook.com/cgccommunity
To see what other brothers and sisters are singing visit the sunday setlist at www.theworshipcommunity.com.
THE SERVICE:
Glory to God Forever [Steve Fee]
Welcome // Announcements
Offering
Glory to Your Name [Dave Hunt]
Once Again [Matt Redman]
Our God [Chris Tomlin/Jason Reeves/Matt Redman/Jonas Myrin]
Consuming Fire [Tim Hughes]
Message
Arms that Hold the Universe [Steve Fee]
THE TEAM:
Jonathan Eckberg - guitar/vocals
Beth Stemble - piano
Cyndi Leamon - vocals
Alli Hutchens - vocals
Mike Stemble - audio
Brent Wiseman - visual
THE NOTES:
This week we kicked off a new series that Pastor Jordan Muck is preaching called, "Three". This is a four-week study of Colossians 3:1-17. It should be an exciting study on the heart of our actions as believers. Week one looked at the first three verses and discussed the setting of our hearts on things above, the fixing of our minds on the things above, and the security that is found in Christ.
THE SONGS:
Glory to God Forever - This is a great song. It's very simple and holds a wealth of theological truth to it. I love opening with this one. It has really good energy to it and our people have always grabbed a strong hold of it.
[album: Hope Rising - Fee]
Glory to Your Name - I have talked about this song many times in the past. It is by a phenomenal worship leader named Dave Hunt. He lead at the church I attended when I lived in Nashville, TN. Dave is simply one of the most genuine and humble worship leaders I have ever encountered. This is one of his songs that I love!
[album: Shattered - Dave Hunt]
Once Again - This is another older song that I love. It has a tremendous focus on the cross and and the humility, gratitude, and response that simply must flow from the observation of it. I do have to note though, that I always change one word of the song. The bridge goes like this: "Thank you for the cross // Thank you for the cross // Thank you for the cross, my friend". I've never been comfortable with the word friend there. I understand what Matt Redman is trying to communicate, but in my mind (if nowhere else) it seems to diminish the power of the act of sacrifice that took place there. So whenever I have done this song I always change the word "friend" to "king". Some might feel this is unnecessary or "nit-picking", but it's one of those things that I feel a conviction about so I change it.
[album: The Friendship and the Fear - Matt Redman]
Our God - Everybody knows this song. I probably don't need to talk much about it. I would have no problem doing a whole service where we sing just the bridge to this one.
[album: And If Our God is For Us - Chris Tomlin]
Consuming Fire - I felt like this was a great song to end the set with this week since the focus on the message was on the centering of ourselves on things above and not on this earth.
[album: When Silence Falls - Tim Hughes]
The Arms that Hold the Universe - It was a Steve Fee kind of morning. This was our closing song. Jordan talked to me early in the week about doing this one after the message, so I worked it up. We didn't really have time to learn it as a team so I played it solo.
[album: Hope Rising - Fee]
For more information on Community Gospel Church please visit us at:
www.cgccommunity.com
or on facebook at:
http://www.facebook.com/cgccommunity
To see what other brothers and sisters are singing visit the sunday setlist at www.theworshipcommunity.com.
Monday, February 6, 2012
Sunday Setlist / 2.5.12
What did Sunday morning look like at Community Gospel Church? Check it out...
THE SERVICE:
I Sing the Mighty Power of God (E) [Watts // arr. Jonathan Eckberg)
Welcome/Announcements/Prayer for Students at Kalahari
Offering
Great is the Lord (G) [Chris Brown]
Hallelujah To My King (E) [Paul Baloche//Brenton Brown]
You Never Let Go (G) [Matt Redman//Beth Redman]
The Church (C) [Chris Brown//Matt Brock]
Message - Del
Dismiss
THE TEAM:
Jonathan Eckberg - guitar/vocals
Beth Stemble - piano
Cyndi Leamon - vocals
Jessica Yoder - vocals
Alli Hutchens - vocals
Kevin Schmidt - audio
Vance Czesar - visual
NOTES:
With Pastor Jordan at the Kalahari conference with the Velocity crew we were fortunate enough to have a good friend of CGC bringing us the Word this week. Del Fehsenfeld, of Life Action Ministries, taught on a Jacobs statement from Genesis 28:16 where he states, "Surely the LORD is in this place, and I was not aware of it." Just a great message of God's presence and work constantly surrounding us.
I Sing the Mighty Power of God - A few years ago I took the words to this Isaac Watts hymn and updated the melody for it and added a simple "chorus" section. I've recorded this song for a couple of albums, but it never seemed to fit the overall feel -- I'm still hoping to do a record at some point with this song on it. I love the words of this song and praise for the creator God who "formed the creatures with his word//and then pronounced them good". The third verse is a great reminder of how God makes himself known to the whole world through his creation (Rom. 1:20). This is excellent theology which is astounding when you consider that in 1715 Isaac Watts included this song in a hymnbook for children!
Great is the Lord - One of my favorite worship bands out right now is Elevation Worship. All of their stuff is very clean, theologically sound, singable, and purposive. They write for specific sermon series' and events in their church. It serves as a model, in those areas, that we are emulating with our approach at CGC. Part of our reasoning for slowly working toward a more "original music" approach is to have our people singing songs about OUR experiences with the Lord. To praise Him not only for what he does globally, but for what he is doing in our midst. I think this adds a great deal of depth to our times as a congregation. That's an aside that has nothing to do with this song! This is a song that serves as a general call to worship.
[album: Elevation Worship - God With Us]
Hallelujah To My King - Paul Baloche is one of the guys out there that writes a lot of really good theology. This is a tremendous song of the grace and forgiveness of God that is poured out on His children through the name of Jesus Christ. If you're looking for a really powerful song of gratitude for the love of our savior then you should check this song out.
[album: Paul Baloche - Our God Saves]
You Never Let Go - We added this song late in the week and it turned out to be a good choice as it flowed with the message nicely. One of the hardest things for me as a worship leader is to construct worship sets when I don't know the preacher and I don't know the topic. I like to flow from the start of the worship set to the end and have a seamless move into the message. So I feel very fortunate that today's set, and this song in particular, worked with Pastor Del's message.
[album: Matt Redman - Beautiful News]
The Church - This is another Elevation Worship tune. I've always loved it as a call to action. The bridge kicks my but every time: "Fill our hearts with Your compassion // Let our love be active here // Fill our hearts with Your compassion // Let our love be real". Love it.
[album: Elevation Worship - Kingdom Come]
That's it. See you next week!
THE SERVICE:
I Sing the Mighty Power of God (E) [Watts // arr. Jonathan Eckberg)
Welcome/Announcements/Prayer for Students at Kalahari
Offering
Great is the Lord (G) [Chris Brown]
Hallelujah To My King (E) [Paul Baloche//Brenton Brown]
You Never Let Go (G) [Matt Redman//Beth Redman]
The Church (C) [Chris Brown//Matt Brock]
Message - Del
Dismiss
THE TEAM:
Jonathan Eckberg - guitar/vocals
Beth Stemble - piano
Cyndi Leamon - vocals
Jessica Yoder - vocals
Alli Hutchens - vocals
Kevin Schmidt - audio
Vance Czesar - visual
NOTES:
With Pastor Jordan at the Kalahari conference with the Velocity crew we were fortunate enough to have a good friend of CGC bringing us the Word this week. Del Fehsenfeld, of Life Action Ministries, taught on a Jacobs statement from Genesis 28:16 where he states, "Surely the LORD is in this place, and I was not aware of it." Just a great message of God's presence and work constantly surrounding us.
I Sing the Mighty Power of God - A few years ago I took the words to this Isaac Watts hymn and updated the melody for it and added a simple "chorus" section. I've recorded this song for a couple of albums, but it never seemed to fit the overall feel -- I'm still hoping to do a record at some point with this song on it. I love the words of this song and praise for the creator God who "formed the creatures with his word//and then pronounced them good". The third verse is a great reminder of how God makes himself known to the whole world through his creation (Rom. 1:20). This is excellent theology which is astounding when you consider that in 1715 Isaac Watts included this song in a hymnbook for children!
Great is the Lord - One of my favorite worship bands out right now is Elevation Worship. All of their stuff is very clean, theologically sound, singable, and purposive. They write for specific sermon series' and events in their church. It serves as a model, in those areas, that we are emulating with our approach at CGC. Part of our reasoning for slowly working toward a more "original music" approach is to have our people singing songs about OUR experiences with the Lord. To praise Him not only for what he does globally, but for what he is doing in our midst. I think this adds a great deal of depth to our times as a congregation. That's an aside that has nothing to do with this song! This is a song that serves as a general call to worship.
[album: Elevation Worship - God With Us]
Hallelujah To My King - Paul Baloche is one of the guys out there that writes a lot of really good theology. This is a tremendous song of the grace and forgiveness of God that is poured out on His children through the name of Jesus Christ. If you're looking for a really powerful song of gratitude for the love of our savior then you should check this song out.
[album: Paul Baloche - Our God Saves]
You Never Let Go - We added this song late in the week and it turned out to be a good choice as it flowed with the message nicely. One of the hardest things for me as a worship leader is to construct worship sets when I don't know the preacher and I don't know the topic. I like to flow from the start of the worship set to the end and have a seamless move into the message. So I feel very fortunate that today's set, and this song in particular, worked with Pastor Del's message.
[album: Matt Redman - Beautiful News]
The Church - This is another Elevation Worship tune. I've always loved it as a call to action. The bridge kicks my but every time: "Fill our hearts with Your compassion // Let our love be active here // Fill our hearts with Your compassion // Let our love be real". Love it.
[album: Elevation Worship - Kingdom Come]
That's it. See you next week!
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