Worship with Community Gospel Church in Bremen, IN:
THE SERVICE:
Opening Song - How Marvelous (F) [Charles H. Gabriel]
Welcome and Announcements
Offering
Heirs (G) [Muck/Eckberg]
Drama - The Prodigal Song
Majesty (Here I Stand) (Bb) [Garrard/Smith]
Message
Majesty (Here I Stand) (Bb) [Garrard/Smith]
THE BAND:
Jonathan David Eckberg - guitar/vocals
Larry Ingle - vocals
Jackie Lacher - vocals
Sharon Nafrady - vocals
Larry Ingle - vocals
Sean Norris - drums
Randy Hepler - bass
Jordan Muck - guitar
Beth Stemble - piano
Mike Stemble - sound
Jeff Hutchens - video
NOTES:
We were really light on music this week. We are kicking off a new series that's based on the Tim Keller book, "Prodigal God". It is an examination of the Parable of the Prodigal Son. We're calling it: Finding Your Place at the Table. If today was any indication of what will happen in the coming weeks, then I KNOW it's going to be tremendous series as Pastor Mike Fanning absolutely knocked it out of the park with his sermon today (Way to be Pastor Mike!). To start off this new series we had a dramatic telling (some would call it a skit or a play) of the parable. We threw this right in the middle of the worship set, so it replaced a couple of songs out of our usual time-frame.
THE SONGS:
How Marvelous, How Wonderful - This is an old hymn that has been reworked. We stay fairly true to the melody line and all the changes, but the feel is totally different from the original. The version we use is an upbeat song that rolls straight through. There's nothing fancy about it, but it comes across really well.
Heirs - This is the title track from the Until We're Kings album. As I was thinking about the prodigal son and music to go a long with the series, this song came to mind right away. It's a song about our adoption into GOD's family. It talks about our complete dependence upon our Father and what our response to that should and must be. It fits really well with the return of the lost son.
Majesty (Here I Stand) - I changed my mind on using this song at the last moment. I had another song picked out a couple of weeks ago, but the other day as I was going through the music before practice I just felt like the song I had picked wasn't right. I can't tell you what it was (actually, I can, it was the Holy Spirit), but I just all of the sudden didn't feel the other song was a good fit. So I frantically rifled through my music trying to figure out what we were going to do and this is where I landed. I love the last line of the chorus, "Your grace has found me just as I am / Empty handed but alive in your hands". Such a cool expression of the end of the prodigal son parable. A father who takes both sons right where they are and accepts them if they would only come back to the table. Love it.
To see what your brothers and sisters are singing in their home churches this week check out the Sunday Setlist at www.theworshipcommunity.com.
Thanks for the post. Curious about "Majesty." I've used the song a couple times in the past but not so much as a participation song, as it's a bit difficult to sing. But I absolutely love it. -Matt
ReplyDeleteHey Matt. Yeah, the range is a bit wide for my taste in worship songs. It can be difficult for the average person to cover. We drop the key to Bb - the lowest note in the pre-chorus seems to be about all I can do handle - I think the original is in D (could even be E or F, I don't remember). Again, not what I would prefer, but lyrically it worked so well that I don't mind stretching people a little bit vocally. There always has to be a balance in what you're doing (between lyrics and music), but for me, when in doubt, the lyric ALWAYS wins out.
ReplyDeleteYeah, sometimes I stress "singability" too much. If a song is good enough and people like it, it won't much matter whether the average person can sing it. I always think of Jerry Maguire when he sings "Free Falling" in the car. That's the average person. Who cares if it's hard if they like it?
ReplyDeleteMatt, I think it's important to stress singability (honestly, I think I stress it too little sometimes). There's a healthy tension to be had between singability and theology. I love the Jerry Maguire point! A lot of truth there. Thanks.
ReplyDelete