Sunday Setlist / 6.10.12

Want to know about the Sunday service at Community Gospel Church in Bremen, IN? Here ya go...

THE SERVICE

Great is the Lord [Chris Brown]

       Announcements

       Offering

Our Great GOD [Casey Darnell]

All My Life [Libby Huirua / Mark De Jong / Wayne Huirua]

GOD of Justice [Tim Hughes]

       Message

The Church [Chris Brown / Mack Brock]

       Dismiss

Our Great GOD (Reprise)

THE TEAM

Jonathan Eckberg - guitar/vocal

Nick Hostetler - drums

Marc Hyde - bass

Beth Stemble - piano

Jess Yoder - vocal

Alli Hutchens - vocal

Cyndi Leamon - vocal

Sunday Setlist / 6.3.12

Here's how the morning went down at Community Gospel Church in Bremen, IN...

THE SERVICE

Our Great GOD [Casey Darnell]
     Video Announcements
     Missions Update & Offering
Forever [Chris Tomlin]
You Never Let Go [Matt Redman]
It Is Well With My Soul [Horatio Spafford]
     Message
Overcome [Jon Egan]
     Dismiss
Our Great GOD (Reprise)


THE TEAM

Jonathan Eckberg - guitar/vocals
Beth Stemble - piano
Nick Hostetler - drums
Marc Hyde - bass
Alli Hutchens - vocals
Cyndi Leamon - vocals


THE NOTES

Pastor Jordan was on vacation this week so we had a guest speaker fill our pulpit. Brandon Addison grew up in CGC and recently finished his seminary degree in California. Brandon shared an overview of the book of Ecclesiastes and focused on the fact that life according to the world is meaningless, as Solomon laments throughout the book, but life according to Christ is meaningful. It is only through our salvation in Christ that we can find any lasting peace in this life and move past the absurdity of this world.

With this in mind, our worship set focused on the eternity of our GOD. That because he is the GOD who reigns forever that we can always find our hope and peace in who He is and what He has done. It is through Christ and Christ alone that we may overcome the misery and aimlessness of what this life appears to offer.


THE SONGS


Our Great GOD - This is a new song, so we opened the service with it so that people would have a chance to hear it. We also closed the service with it to put it in people's ears one more time. We have actually played it as house music (from the CD) a few times over the past months so I think it felt a little familiar to a lot of people. I love the song and the message of the greatness and majesty of God. I've wanted to introduce it for a while, but haven't had the right time where it fit where we were going. Alli sang lead on this song because the lead guitar parts have an odd timing that I can't seem to make my fingers play while singing something else. It's always nice to have that flexibility within our team. Casey Darnell is a fantastic songwriter and worship leader. He's part of the team at Northpoint and his last album is a phenomenal album of corporate worship songs. I highly recommend checking out his stuff.
[album: Coming Alive - Casey Darnell]

Forever - In looking at the "big picture" of Ecclesiastes is seems to point to the fact that GOD reigns through all circumstances. A life lived apart from the will of GOD is a life lived in vanity, as Solomon says. Fortunately for the believer GOD is forever faithful, strong, and with us.
[album: The Noise We Make - Chris Tomlin]

You Never Let Go - The GOD who created the heavens and the earth, the GOD who reigns for all eternity, also covers us in his grace. As Paul prays over the thorn in his flesh in 2 Corinthians 12 he hears from the LORD, "My grace is sufficient for you." GOD's grace never let's us go. His peace and calms us through all the storms and struggle of this life and gives us meaning to our existence.
[album: Beautiful News - Matt Redman]

It Is Well With My Soul - This is maybe my all-time favorite hymn. In regards to the service it continued the thought of GOD's reign and our rest within it. As GOD's love and majesty exists throughout all of history and he remains sovereign over all we can rest in the knowledge that he maintains his mercy and justice over us. With this in mind we can find in him our comfort in every situation.
[Album: Ebenezar: A Collection of Hymns - Dave Hunt]

Overcome - Perfect ending to our service. The whole idea that Christ has already overcome Satan and our eternal standing is secure when we stand in light of that truth is phenomenal. Ecclesiastes walks through Solomon's struggle with materialism and a final resting in the justice of GOD, not in the thoughts and justice of our hearts and minds.
[album: Everyone Overcome - Desperation Band]


To see the ways that other brothers and sisters worshipped in song this week you can check out the sunday setlist at www.theworshipcommunity.com.

Sunday Setlist / 5.20.12

A look at how we get down at Community Gospel Church in Bremen, IN...

THE SERVICE

Children of Your Promise [Jonathan Eckberg]

       Opening Challange

Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus [Helen Lemmel]

Come Ye Sinners [Joseph Hart]

Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus (reprise)

You Are So Good To Me [Don Chaffer/Lori Chaffer]

Your Grace is Enough [Matt Maher]

        Message

THE TEAM

Jonathan Eckberg - guitar/vocals

Nick Hostetler - drums

Randy Hepler - bass

Larry Ingle - vocals

Kay Smith - vocals

Staci Smith - vocals

Kevin Schmidt - audio

Vance Csaszar - video

NOTES

We decided to try something a little different with our schedule today. One of the things we, as a staff, have been considering over the past several months especially is how to integrate the entire service better. We strive to tie every aspect of the service into the theme of the message. Our goal is that, from the time people walk into the sanctuary until the time they walk out at the end of the service, the people are hearing one message. I think we've come to a point to where all of the elements are where they need to be (or at least headed in the right direction). Our new challenge is to bridge the elements and walk people through the service in a seamless manner.

With that in mind, we started this week with a shortened intro song. Then Pastor Jordan Muck offered a brief "challenge" that presented the concept of the morning and gave people a direction in thought before we launched into the worship set. We worked out transitions between songs in the set with some musical interludes and some scripture meditation and tried to work our schedule to take people on a journey that led them to the mornings message. 

I think it worked well. As with anything, we have some improving to do and there are many ways we can clean up the entire service, but I was pleased with how it turned out. The staff will now sit down and evaluate and tweak and we will continue to try to progress and build the service that makes the most of the time we have to spend with our church family every week.

The message this week was the the close of our 4-week series in 1 John 1 that examined Christian fellowship both with GOD and one another.

THE SONGS

Children of Your Promise - We introduced this song two weeks ago. It was written when we were discussing teaching a longer series in 1 John and it draws heavily from 1 John 3 and Hebrews 10. This is a song that turned out really well and I'm excited about using it a little more with our congregation and getting it recorded later this summer (working on some details, but we are hoping to do a recording project in late July/early August... I'll post some details when we get it all locked down).

Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus - We opened the main set with this song written by Helen Lemmel in 1922. The message today focused on admitting our own sin and confession. The act of confession begins with a forsaking (in a certain sense) of all that the world tells us is important and resting our eyes solely upon Christ as the things of earth fade from our hearts. When this becomes our focus we are renewed in knowledge according to the image of our Creator, able to put on love and bear together, forgiving as Christ forgave us, and stand united in Him (Colossians 3:10-14).

[album - This is Our God - Hillsong Live]

Come Ye Sinners - We use the updated version of this old hymn. I used this sandwiched between choruses of "Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus". The thought behind it is that we must recognize who Christ is in order to truly recognize our own sin. When we do that we can rest in the love and grace of Him who was sacrificed for us. We see that we are sinners who are weak and wounded, sick and sore. But it doesn't end there we can, as the lyrics say, "arise and go to Jesus". In doing so we gain an even greater understanding of love and grace and our affection and attentions (our eyes) should be drawn back to Jesus.
[album - 10,000 Charms - Robbie Seay Band]

You Are So Good to Me - As I've mentioned about this song before we rock this one out. It maintains the melody and all, but we give it a cool bluesy-rock vibe. It's a lot of fun to play. Between "Come Ye Sinners" and this song we had a time of scripture meditation that included Psalm 14:3 (acknowledgment of personal sin) and Romans 5:8-11 (redemption from that sin through Christ). "You Are So Good To Me" then is a song of celebration. It is a song that expresses the goodness and grace that we have received not because of what we have done, but because of what Christ did on our behalf.
[album - Waterdeep Worship - Waterdeep]

Your Grace is Enough - As we rest in the goodness of our father we realize that even in our natural sinful state we serve a god who is faithful and just and who gives his children everything they could need in this life. Even when we wrestle with our own sin we know that as the battle continues, the war is won - because His grace is enough.
[album - Arriving - Chris Tomlin]


To see what other churches are singing visit the sunday setlist at www.theworshipcommunity.com

Sunday Setlist / 5.13.12

Here's a look at how Community Gospel Church celebrated Mother's Day together...

SERVICE

Counting On GOD

     Welcome & Announcements

     Welcoming of New Members & Child Dedication
     Offering

Marvelous Light [Charlie Hall]

GOD of Wonders [Marc Byrd/Steve Hindalong]

Let Us Shine [Jonathan Eckberg]

Mighty to Save (bridge only) [Ben Fielding/Reuben Morgan]

     Message

     Dismiss / Presentation of Roses

TEAM

Jonathan Eckberg - guitar/vocals

Beth Stemble - keys

Nick Hostetler - drums

Randy Hepler - bass

Cyndi Leamon - vocals

Alli Hutchens - vocals
Dale Graham - audio

Brent Wiseman - visual

NOTES

I feel like I'm starting to sound like a broken record, but we had an awesome day at CGC. So much cool stuff is happening at our church right now. Yesterdays morning we inducted 21 new members to our church family and did 9 child dedications. This comes on the heals of conducting 16 baptisms on March 11. On top of that we've got a few other big things that are coming in the next few month. This church is seeing GOD move in some incredible ways. He is awakening hearts and calling His church to action and the people of CGC are responding. I cannot tell you how excited I am for what GOD's going to do in this community over the next year, 5-years, 20-years, and on!

As for the message this week, we continued our study of 1 John 1. This week we looked at "Getting Back to the Fundamentals" in 1 John 1:5-7. In these verses John is talking about walking in the light and remaining true to our claim that we are in the light.

As we closed the service we had roses to give to all the women of our church in honor of Mother's Day.

SONGS

Counting On GOD - Our opener this week is such a fun song about the dependence of God and the joy that accompanies knowing that no matter what comes along He give enough strength for the day. I have been playing this song for years, but it's not one that I see moving out of the rotation anytime soon.
[album - Overcome - Desperation Band]

Marvelous Light - We kicked off the mains set with this song. It seemed like an obvious choice for a message about walking and remaining in the light. "Into marvelous light I'm running/out of darkness out of shame". Enough said.
[album - Flying into Daybreak - Charlie Hall]

GOD of Wonders - As we come to know the light and walk in that light I think our response must be an acknowledgment of all that GOD is and all that GOD does. This "standard" worship tune gets to that point. With the opening lines, "early in the morning/I will celebrate the light" it fit into the theme of walking in the light and coming out of darkness well. In retrospect, I probably could have (maybe should have) switched the order of these two songs. I think in terms of walking through the message of the morning this song should have been first and it should have been followed by Marvelous Light, but musically it made much more sense to flow from GOD of Wonders into the next song. I went back and forth with this for a while, but in the end I thought the message flowed well enough to make it justifiable. That's one of those areas that can, from time to time, create some tension for me: finding the balance between music and message. The message always comes first, but this seemed to be a situation where that could go either way, so my final decision came down to one of musicality.
[album - In the Company of Angels - Caedmon's Call]

Let Us Shine - I wrote this song as part of our 1P29C (1 Peter 2:9 Christian) series in Jan/Feb. It was a great fit for this mornings message. It talks about remaining in the light and being a representation of the true light as we walk through the world. I particularly like how the song ties together our churches vision statement ("to make Christ known near and far") in the second verse to the action of the chorus, "let us shine/we will overcome the darkness/by the light of Your great love // let us shine/be Your hope among the broken/be the light of Your great love". I always think of Exodus 34:29-35 when I sing this song. I think about how Moses encounters GOD and he leaves with his face shining. He has no control over it. GOD leaves his mark and everyone knows, without a doubt, who Moses serves. I hope my face shines.

Mighty to Save - Coming out of "Let Us Shine" we went straight to the bridge of this one, "shine your light and let the world see/we're singing for the glory of the risen king", and sang it a few times as a closing chorus-style refrain.
[album - Mighty to Save - Hillsong Live]


That's how we worshipped yesterday. To see how others worship and what songs our brothers and sisters are singing in other churches check out the Sunday Setlist at www.theworshipcommunity.com.

Sunday Setlist / 5.6.12

Check out the 10:10 am service at Community Gospel Church in Bremen, IN:


THE SERVICE

Children of Your Promise [Jonathan Eckberg]
     Welcome & Announcements / Offering
Holy Nation [Jordan Muck/Jonathan Eckberg]
Heirs [Muck/Eckberg]
Let Your Kingdom Reign [Chris Brown/Mack Brock]
      Message
The Intercession [Muck/Eckberg]
      Dismiss
Children of Your Promise [Eckberg]


THE TEAM

Jonathan Eckberg - guitar/vocal
Beth Stemble - keys
Jordan Muck - bass
Nick Hostetler - drums
Jess Yoder - vocal
Alli Hutchens - vocal
Cyndi Leamon - vocal
Mike Stemble - audio
Vance Csaszar - video


NOTES

This week we took a break from our series on 1 John and welcomed in a guest preacher. Dr Jeff Gill was with us today. Dr Gill is the Dean of Grace Theological Seminary. He was a Senior Pastor for 20 years in the state of Ohio. He is an incredibly gifted speaker who has a wealth of excellent experience to share. I had the privilege of taking a class with Dr Gill last spring and it has been one of the highlights of my seminary experience thus far. All that to say that we were very excited to have him share his biblical wisdom and scriptural insight with us.

Dr Gill spoke on 2 Corinthians 5:11-21 pointing out our roles as ambassadors of Christ. The emphasis was on the fact that an ambassador speaks for the one he represents. The ambassadors life is no longer his own. He went on to teach that we must find our identity and our passion in the message of the great exchange. Musically, we wound up doing a lot of original material this week. As we work towards this more and more with our people I try to set aside one week every two or three months where we do all (or almost all) original music. I think it gives people a good chance to sing and review the truths that have been taught over the past months.


THE SONGS

Children of Your Promise - We introduced this new song on Sunday. It's an upbeat number that draws heavily from Hebrews 10 and 1 John 3. It's a song about our proper response to GOD's movement in our lives. The verses speak to how He constantly at work and showing himself to be just and faithful. The chorus says, "We will be the children of Your promise / We will not give up our faith / We will be soldiers for Your glory / we will not shrink back / We'll never fade away". The bridge section the asks if we have in fact seen GOD move, then how could we ever possibly keep His message to ourselves?

Holy Nation - This song was written for the 1 Peter 2:9 series. When we were in that series we were without a drummer, so this week was the first time it has been worked out with a full band arrangement. It turned out REALLY cool. I used the electric and gave it a Toad the Wet Sprocket-esqu guitar fill to the verses (the more I think about it, the more I think I stole the guitar part from the song "Brother"). Nick gave it a solid grove and Jordan added a nice bass run to the bridge section. I liked this song when we wrote it, but I loved playing it this week.

Heirs - Jordan and I wrote this one for our last EP and have put some good mileage on it. It fit well with the message of the morning as it's a song about GOD's adoption of us and our new standing as co-heirs with Christ. This adoption gives us new life, the old is gone and the new has come (2 Cor 5:17). This new life offers us a new identity and new passions in the message of our father GOD through the work of Jesus Christ.
[album - Heirs - Until We're Kings]

Let Your Kingdom Reign - I felt like this song had a natural flow from "Heirs" as we sang of our new life as adopted children of GOD and builds off the new passions thru the message of truth. Our passion is that the kingdom of heaven would rule on the earth. GOD's kingdom will reign forever and we must simply do what He has called us to in order to represent that kingdom on earth. We do a lot of Elevation Worship tunes at CGC. In terms of contemporary worship I think you would be hard pressed to find a band that writes more singable and theologically sound material than these guys. That's why I love their stuff - and have for several years. They are musically interesting and skilled and they don't water down the gospel by oversimplifying things. That's what we're striving for in our original material. We want to be artistically accessible but we also want to keep the majesty of the scriptures and the levity of the gospel front-and-center. If you're in need of quality worship material that rocks out pick up their latest live album/dvd, For the Honor.
[album - God With Us - Elevation Worship]

The Intercession - This song fit perfectly with the message of the day (much better than I had even planned) so it was an appropriate response song. It was written for our series on Isaiah 53 and speaks of the message that has been received and our call to worship as a result of Christ being offered as the intercession for our transgressions. The bridge of the song points back to the great exchange (You saw the light of life / and you were satisfied / exchange of death for live / and we were justified) and really drove home Dr Gill's message.


To see how our brothers and sisters in other churches are worshipping you can check out the Sunday Setlist at www.theworshipcommunity.com.

Sunday Setlist / 4.29.12

Check out the 10:10 service at Community Gospel Church in Bremen, IN:


SERVICE

I'll Fly Away [Albert Brumley]
     Welcome & Announcements / Offering
We Are One [Dave Hunt / Julie Hunt]
Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee [Henry J. van Dyke]
Agnus Dei [Michael W. Smith]
Our God Reigns [Martin Smith] 
Agnus Dei (reprise)
      Message
For the Honor [Steven Furtick / Mack Brock / Chris Brown / Wade Joye]
      Dismiss


TEAM

Jonathan Eckberg - guitar/vocals
Larry Ingle - vocals
Jess Yoder - vocals
Allie Hutchens - vocals
Kevin Schmidt - sound
Jeff Hutchens - visual


NOTES

We gave our drummer this weekend off, so I decided to go a very different direction than our normal service. We went old-school - we simplified things and went with just a single guitar and vocals. Sometimes that change of pace is really refreshing. The theme of the day was the truth of the Gospel leading to fellowship with God and with other believers. Pastor Jordan Muck is beginning a study of 1 John and this week we looked at 1 John 1:1-4. If you're keeping up with the teaching at CGC, you can download all the sermons here.


SONGS

I'll Fly Away - I gotta be honest, this song had nothing to do with the flow of the message for the morning. With the line-up we had for worship it just seemed like we needed a good, old-fashioned, knee-slapping, jug-blowing tune to kick us off. Larry, Jess, and Allie did a phenomenal job and we had a lot of fun singing through this one.

We Are One - This is a great song that we haven't used in several months.  It speaks to the idea that we are all members of one body and that we are dependent upon one another.  I thought this went well with our theme of fellowship for the day. If you've read this blog more than once or twice, you've heard my praise of Dave Hunt. He's a fantastic worship leader and songwriter and, as always, I highly recommend you check him out.
[album - Shelter - Dave Hunt]

Agnus Dei - A major theme of John's throughout this epistle is the refuting of the false teachers of the day. In the opening verses of the letter he establishes that Jesus Christ is the real messiah and that he was a historical being. He points to the way he personally interacted with Jesus both before his death and after the resurrection. All of that proof goes to show the sovereignty of GOD and the fact that his truth endures throughout all time. Agnus Dei is a simple expression of GOD's holiness and sovereignty, that is his faithfulness.
[album - Worship - Michael W. Smith]

Our God Reigns - We us just the chorus of this song. It has a natural flow from Agnus Dei. Another very simple expression of the timelessness of GOD's truth and his reign. "Our God reigns / Our God reigns / Forever his kingdom reigns" We segued seamlessly from one to the other. After we had sung this chorus several times we went back and reprised Agnus Dei, singing through just the verse one more time.
[album - The Mission Bell - Delirious?]

For the Honor - Confession: we had no idea we were doing this song until, literally, 5 minutes before the service. I had another song picked out to close with and I just felt like it wasn't going to fit as well as I had initially thought. I mentioned it to Pastor Jordan and he said, "sing For the Honor". With no rehearsal or run through, we printed off the chord chart and walked into the service. I ended up doing the song by myself since the rest of the team didn't know it. By the time the message was finished and I played through the song it was obvious that that was the PERFECT song for the day. Definitely a "GOD-moment" where he brushes aside all your planning and the spirit guides you to a place that will connect with his people. Not the most comfortable move for me, but it pulled together nicely.
[album - For the Honor - Elevation Worship]

To see how brothers and sisters are worshipping in their home churches, check out the Sunday Setlist as www.theworshipcommunity.com.

Easter Sunday Setlist / 4.8.12

The Easter celebration at Community Gospel Church in Bremen, IN, looked a little something like this...

SERVICE

Intro Music
     Welcome & Announcements/Offering
     Children's Choir
     Video
Jesus Paid it All [Alex Nifong/Elvina M. Hall/John Thomas Grape]
     Message
The Intercession [Jordan Muck/Jonathan Eckberg]
Happy Day [Tim Hughes/Ben Cantelon]
How Great Thou Art [Stuart K. Hine]
     Dismiss


TEAM

Jonathan Eckberg - guitar/vocals
Beth Stemble - piano
Nick Hostetler - drums
Randy Hepler - bass
Jess Yoder - vocals
Kevin Schmidt - audio
Jeff Hutchens - visual


NOTES

What a crazy morning!  We, as a staff and the church as a whole, have spent a lot of time an energy planning and praying over this week's service for the past few months.  Pastor Jordan Muck was stoked to preach.  Our Director of Ministry and Operations, Cyndi Leamon, had just come home from vacation and was excited about how things had come together for the service.  Well... things don't always go as we plan.  At about 9:00 on Saturday night Pastor Jordan took his wife to the hospital, as she was in labor.  At that point my wife and I headed out to their house to stay with their two year old daughter.  I woke up at 5:00am to a text that they had not had the child yet and that we was not likely to be in church.  So I went to the church early to do some last minute sermon prep (I had prepped a good bit already because we knew that this was a possibility).  After a little work I called Cyndi to update her on the situation and she had returned from vacation with the flu and despite her best efforts she couldn't even get out of bed.  All of this was compounded by the fact that Both Pastor Jordan and Cyndi were on the worship team this week!

The outcome of all of the insanity was that we had our other bass player, Randy Hepler step up and fill in for us on, literally, no notice.  Jess Yoder stepped up and filled a lot of vocal space all on her own.  Nick and Beth were awesome, as always.  And I had the honor and privilege of preaching the Word on Easter Sunday.  As planned, we took a step out of our series on Isaiah 53 this week to look at John 6:28-35.  The entire sermon revolved around the idea that we respond to Christ's call with one of three types of belief: inherited, intellectual, or intimate.  To dowload the audio from today's message (along with past messages) click here.

The thing I was reminded of today was that GOD is going to do his work regardless of the situation.  I think it is important for us to give our best efforts, to plan and prepare meticulously, and to be ready to move when GOD says, "Go."  But at the end of the day, whether our plans succeed or fail, have very little impact on whether His plan will succeed.  The only thing that matters is that we surrender to him and not get in the way of His work through the Spirit.  We missed some of our church family today, but GOD is cool.  He had everything the way HE planned it.

One more note: Congratulations to Pastor Jordan and Bethany Muck.  Gianna Lynn Muck was born at 4:19pm on Sunday, April 8.  She was 7 lbs 5 oz and 21.5 inches long.  It was a rough couple of days for mom and dad but everyone is healthy and doing well!


SONGS

Jesus Paid it All - Another one of my favorite songs to play.  We came out of a video that was a modern day representation of how Christ took on our iniquities and and the pain of death so that we might be reborn as sons and daughters of the kingdom.  As the video ended we went straight into "Jesus Paid it All".  Then as the third verse started up we cut to a video of all of the baptisms from our service several weeks ago.  It was really cool.  Cyndi Leamon put in a ton of time fitting the video together a couple weeks ago.  Once we hit the loud build-up/tag of the song it started clipping through the people rising up out of the water.  It worked out perfectly - it was an extremely emotional moment to sing, "O Praise the one who paid my debt // And raised this life up from the dead" and see the joy on people's faces as rise up out of the baptismal.
[album: Hello - Kristian Stanfill]

The Intercession - With the message revolving around true belief in Jesus Christ and in the message that he spoke, I liked the way this song worked those themes together with an attitude of celebration.  The first line of both verses says, "The message has been recieved // and we have believed in you".  A great fit to begin our celebration set.

Happy Day - We hadn't done this song in quite a while.  I think when I got to the church it was one that had been overused a bit, so I layed off of it (even though I love singing it).  It's another great rocking song about "the greatest day in history // death is beaten, you have rescued me".
[album:  We Shine - Fee]

How Great Thou Art - We've done this one a lot lately, but was a great song to close out an awesome morning.
[album: Our God Saves - Paul Baloche]


To see how other churches around the country worshipped this week check out the Sunday Setlist.  You can find it at www.theworshipcommunity.com.

Sunday Setlist / 4.1.12

Here's how we roll at Community Gospel Church in Bremen, IN:

SERVICE

The Intercession [Jordan Muck/Jonathan Eckberg]

         Welcome & Announcements

         Offering

Everlasting God [Brenton Brown/Ken Riley]

Holy is the Lord [Chris Tomlin/Louie Giglio]

Overcome [John Egan]

          Message

The Intercession [Muck/Eckberg]

THE TEAM

Jonathan Eckberg - guitar/vocals

Nick Hostetler - drums

Beth Stemble - keys

Randy Hepler - bass

Tim Heckaman - vocals

Kevin Schmidt - audio

Vance Csaszar - visual 

NOTES

This week was the second in our series "The 'I AM' in Isaiah", a study of Isaiah 53.  In this series we are looking at the prophecies of the work and crucifixion of Jesus in the suffering servant of Isaiah.  It's  a great study as we lead toward Easter Sunday and the celebration of the redemptive work of our Savior.  This week focused on the price Christ paid in taking on the weight of internal sin, external sin, and the fallen world around us.  To hear this message along with last week's introduction to the series click here. 

Our team was unique this week.  It was Nick's first week on drums for us.  It's been great to work with him and bring him into the fold of our ministry.  He's a great drummer with an awesome heart for what's happening at CGC.  It brings me great joy to have a beat back in our worship!  We also had Tim step in and sing with us and he did an awesome job as well.  All three of our vocalists were out this week (two on family vacations and one recovering from a surgery earlier in the week).  While we definitely missed them and can't wait to have them back next week, it was a great opportunity for Tim to get involved in what we are doing on Sunday mornings.

SONGS

The Intercession - The song was written for this series and all the lyrics are based off the verses of Isaiah 53.  Pastor Jordan actually put together a majority of this song as he was preparing the messages several weeks back.  Then we spent a morning working through the material he had and rounding the song into shape.  Finally I spent a couple weeks fine-tuning thing.  It has turned out to be a really interesting song.  There are a lot of intertwining parts that keep it together from start to finish.  Pastor Jordan did a great job with the foundations of this one.  We played this one twice today.  We did it once as the opener - to give people a feel for the song and let them hear it.  Then we used it as the response to the message.  In the response time I started with the chorus so the congregation would know what was coming and then we kicked off the song.

Everlasting God - We used this one as the opener to our main worship set.  I always enjoy this song.  The theme of our God being one who is with us in all things and our defender in our hours of need made sense with today's message.  The God who provides redemption for his sheep never leaves them to the dangers of the world.
[album: Everlasting GOD - Brenton Brown]

Holy is the Lord - Another "standard" worship song that fell in line with today's theme.  As I studied the verse of Isaiah 53 I was struck by the fact that only in acknowledging the holiness - the perfect nature that is all together separate from the fallen world - of God can the true weight of Christ's taking on of my iniquities (Isa. 53:4) come into perspective.
[album: Arriving - Chris Tomlin]

Overcome - This song by the Desperation Band has become one of my favorites over the past few years.  The bridge kicks my butt everytime (from Rev. 12:11), "And we will overcome // By the blood of the lamb and the word of our testimony // Everyone overcome".  A tremendous anthem of how, when we surrender ourselves to the Holy GOD, we will be victorious over sin and death and all of Satan's power.  Victory won by the the blood of the lamb and we are strengthened to stand against the Accuser when we acknowledge who Christ is and the meaning of His sacrifice.
[album: Everyone Overcome - Desperation Band]


To see the songs used in worship by our brothers and sisters from all over the place, check out the Sunday Setlist at www.theworshipcommunity.com.

Sunday Setlist / 3.18.12

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.

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

        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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

Sunday Setlist / 1.29.12

Here's a look at the 10:10 service at Community Gospel Church in Bremen, IN:

THE SET:
When I think about the Lord (james huey)
          Welcome & Announcements
          Offering
Blessed Be Your Name (matt redman/beth redman)
Holy Nation (jordan muck/jonathan eckberg)
          Reflection // Meditation
May The Words of My Mouth (tim hughes)
          Message
          Communion
          Dismiss


THE TEAM:
Jonathan Eckberg - vocals/guitar
Beth Stemble - piano
Larry Ingle - vocals
Alli Hutchens - vocals
Kay Smith - vocals
Dale Gramm - audio
Perri Helpler - visual


NOTES:
This was the final week in our 1P29C (that is, 1 Peter 2:9 Christian) series.  It was such a great morning of worship and fellowship.  We took communion as a family which was phenomenal.  Pastor Jordan left the communion table "open" after the service to allow families to bring their children up and teach them what communion is all about.  We have an amazing children's ministry, but the downside to that is that we don't have many younger children in the service.  So by doing what we did, it allowed parents to decide if their child had accepted Christ and was at an age where he/she could understand and legitimately engage in the sacraments.  It was a cool experience to see a few of our families teaching their children about the beauty of communion.  I think, in a child's mind, it transforms the act from "snack time" to the deep and meaningful experience that it is supposed to be.  Awesome.

Musically, the set list was "older" than a typical week for us.  The only song that was written after 2001 is the one we wrote for this series!  I could't care less about when a song was written.  If it's a good song with solid theology and it fits the movement of the service and the message of the day then I'm game.  It doesn't matter to me if it's a 70's praise chorus, a hymn, or an original song - the main point is does it move us where God is leading.


When I Think About the Lord - this is a song I've done for years.  I've never really known who wrote it (I had to look it up before I posted this).  It's a song I learned from Dave Hunt in my time attending Rolling Hills Community Church in Nashville, TN.  I love the simplicity of this song.  "When I think about the Lord // It makes me wanna shout // Hallelujah, thank you Jesus // Lord You're worthy of all the glory // and all the honor and all the praise"

Blessed Be Your Name - While this is a song that is greatly overdone among church circles.  However, on the occasions that we do break it out I'm reminded as to the reasons WHY it is overdone.  It's just a great song.  I don't think I even need to comment on this one.

Holy Nation - I mentioned last week that this was a song written specifically for this series.  That means that, of course, we had to do it this week.  People have really caught on to it and I hope it creates an avenue for people to link back to the messages of this series.

May the Words of My Mouth - This is one of my favorite "personal" worship songs.  When I'm sitting at home with my guitar worshipping, chances are that this song will be played.  It's a great song about the joy we have in abandoning all this world tells us we need and being fulfilled in committing to follow wherever God leads - and doing so for no other reason that he calls us to do so.


To learn more about Community Gospel Church please visit cgccommunity.com.

Sunday Setlist / 1.22.12

Holy Cow!

Welcome back to me, I guess, huh?  It's been a crazy last 12 months.  In that span I: started a new job at CGC, started into seminary on a full-time basis, got engaged, got married, and a bunch of other stuff happened.  All that is simply my way of saying that I've had a lot on my plate and, therefore, have not blogged at all.

But I'm back!

So, without further ado, here's what went down at CGC on January 22, 2012

WORSHIP LEADERS:
Jonathan Eckberg - guitar/vocals
Beth Stemble - piano
Larry Ingle - vocals
Alli Hutchens - vocals
Kay Smith - vocals


SETLIST:
Everything Glorious (david crowder)
      Welcome
      Offering
Marvelous Light (charlie hall)
Heirs (jordan muck/jonathan eckberg)
Holy Nation (muck/eckberg)
When I Survey the Wondrous Cross
      Message
Let us Shine (eckberg)


NOTES:
We are currently operating without a drummer.  A year ago we had two drummers in the church and due to different circumstances we are currently drummerless.  While I would prefer to have a full band behind us, it has been a nice change to dial everything back and approach the sets from a fresh perspective.  However, if you are a drummer in the South Bend area looking for a church to plug into then I've got a spot for ya! :)

We are in the 3rd week of our "1P29C" series.  This is a four week study of 1 Peter 2:9.  The past two weeks our focus has been on the believer as the "Chosen People" and the "Royal Priesthood".  This week we stepped into the believer as the "Holy Nation".

Everything Glorious - One of my favorite Crowder worship tunes.  Just a good recognition of the greatness of God and the fact that he makes everything glorious and we are his... so what does that make us?  (hint:  transitive property states that if A = B, and B = C, then A = C).  David Crowder is crazy smart.  He's the only worship leader I know that incorporates mathematic equations into his songs.

Marvelous Light - Much of the message for this week focused on the imagery of light.  So this standard was kind of a no-brainer.  It's a great upbeat kick-off to the set.

Heirs - this is a song that Pastor Jordan and I wrote a couple years ago that was released on our Until We're Kings album, "Heirs", last October.

Holy Nation - I wrote this song for this series.  Each line of the verse corresponds to a sermon topic from one of the weeks.  We've been singing it for the past few weeks and are using it as a theme song, of sorts for the entire series.

When I Survey the Wondrous Cross - one of my favorite hymns.

Let Us Shine - Pastor Jordan closed the service with a quote from D.L. Moody that says, "Lighthouses blow no horns, they just shine."  We are called to be the light of the world and to reflect the glory of Christ to those around us.  As I was searching for a suitable closing song to encompass the message I couldn't come up with anything that fit as well as I wanted.  So I decided it would be easier just to write a song.  I used a number of points from the sermon and it turned out really well.