My last time leading worship before my sabbatical. My last time getting to the church for 8:00. My last time feeling the quiet anticipation of the Hub before people arrive. My last early morning coffee with the setup teams.
And yet I'm not sure it's sunk in yet.
Still, it was a really a special kind of morning for me. I had a kind of excitement beyond how I usually feel.
We were looking at the third part of 1 Peter in our series. Looking particularly at how Peter was writing to a church in/about to be in serious persecution.
I am constantly amazed at God's ability to bring together a theme through the individual preparation of people, simply by inspiring them. God is good.
So I tried something that I haven't used before; I followed Psalm 95 and choose songs to follow what it says. I found it really easy to do and the result was not something I would necessarily have thought of.
I also loved the fact that some of my family were there (other than the usual.) There is something humbling about leading your own family in worship and song.
So this is the last Worship Confessional for a while. My sabbatical is over in November by which time I have no idea where I'll be!
God, it's over to you.
Set List:
I Lay My Life Down (One Way) - Jonathan Douglass & Joel Houston
Oh Our Lord & King - Alan Rose
Give Thanks To The Lord - Chris Tomlin
Your Voice Is - Vicky Beeching
Sovereign Lord - Martyn Layzell
The Cross Has Said It All - Matt Redman
We Bow Down - Viola Grafstrom
There Must Be More Than This - Tim Hughes
There Is A Day - Nathan Fellingham
(Yes, that really is a lot of songs!)
What's up w/calling songs by their first line instead of their title (e.g. "Give Thanks to the Lord" and "I Lay My Life Down")? Is that a British thing?
ReplyDeleteMakes it easier to find in a song book!
ReplyDeleteBy the way Phil, absolutely loved what you did with The cross has said it all, I couldn't quite work out if that was a planned thing or if it just happened, but either way, it have a great new/different feel to the words. Brilliant!
I would have to second that! It worked really well! It was really interesting watching people's reactions to it too - lots of intrigued smiles all round.
ReplyDeleteHope these next few months are a blessed time for you and the family
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Jeff, not a British thing, it's just how oit is on my music. It's also easier for the tech team using Easy Worship.
ReplyDeleteDave and Em, Thank you. As a church we really blitz through that song. As a band we laugh about the bass line, put our heads down, miss the chords in the bridge and see each other in the end. I was hoping that, by playing it with a more chilled out way, we'd get back to the great lyrics.
Phil it is not with in man to direct his steps. So over to God? He is already directing them…the bit that is hard for us is the trusting part…trusting he is directing us in the hurt and troubled times. Trusting him when he says this is the way walk init and it means uprooting job or home. You’ll be fine as you have made the first step and that is you do trust him.
ReplyDeleteThanks Martin. If trusting God like this was too hard for me, we wouldn't be working together though!
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