"All I ever want to be is what You made me"

There have been moments when I could not face
Goliath on my own
And how could I forget we marched
Around our share of Jericho's?

But I will not be setting out
A fleece for you tonight
Just wanna know that everything will be alright

Oh great God be small enough to hear me now

~ Nichole Nordeman

Father, that I might be like an olive tree, thriving in Your house. I will always trust in Your unfailing love.

Psalm 52:8

I call.
You answer.
And you came to my rescue
And I want to be where You are.

In my life be lifted high
In my world be lifted high
In my love be lifted high

~ Hillsong United

Psalm 91

1 Those who live in the shelter of the Most High
will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
2 This I declare about the Lord:
He alone is my refuge, my place of safety;
he is my God, and I trust him.
3 For he will rescue you from every trap
and protect you from deadly disease.
4 He will cover you with his feathers.
He will shelter you with his wings.
His faithful promises are your armor and protection.

14 The Lord says, “I will rescue those who love me.
I will protect those who trust in my name.
15 When they call on me, I will answer;
I will be with them in trouble.
I will rescue and honor them.
16 I will reward them with a long life
and give them my salvation.”

Psalm 27:4

The one thing I ask of the Lord—

the thing I seek most—

is to live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life,

delighting in the Lord’s perfections

and meditating in his Temple.

Java Setlist - May 17th, 2009

This post is participating in the blog carnival over at Fred's. Checkout Sunday Setlists from worship leaders all over the world...

Human – God breathed

The Killers have a song out called ‘Human’. The meaning of the lyrics is hotly debated. This song has been playing in my head for a while. For me, God is speaking about love being a verb. He has breathed His Spirit into me. For a purpose.

“Are we human or are we dancer?
My sign is vital, my hands are cold”



Am I a marrionette - movement but no heartbeat, no blood flowing? or Am I human - dust with God-breathed life - as His child, filled with His Spirit?

ESV - ...then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature...

Black Eyed Peas are singing:

People killing people dying
Children hurtin you hear them crying
Can you practice what you preach
Would you turn the other cheek?
Father Father Father help us
Send some guidance from above
Cause people got me got me questioning
Where is the love?


A Tim Hughes' God of Justice:

We must go
live to feed the hungry
Stand beside the broken
We must go
Stepping forward
keep us from just singing
Move us into action
We must go

Fill us up and send us out Lord

…make me human again.



“Recently, I saw a group of people eagerly passing out snacks and hot cocoa on an Atlanta street. The group was dressed in a uniform of sorts that read “The Church Has Left the Building.”
Surprisingly, the church name wasn't on the shirt. No plug. No quotas being met. No guilt being given in the form of "we fed you now come visit us." That a church would simply want to serve—without any apparent effort to self-promote—is rare, indeed, in our culture today.
…

Too often it seems that professing Christians are more busy doing church rather than being the church to our communities. Of course, church is much more than a set of rituals. It isn't the performance of teachers, or musicians, or the pastor. Church is the life of Jesus on display through His people. The Church Has Left the Building - John Young on crosswalk.com

Is this me?

(I didn't use the quote in italics but it's part of what was driving the setlist for me.)

James 1:27 Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you.

Micah 6:8 The Lord has told you what is good, and this is what he requires of you: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.

Luke 4:18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free..."

John 14:12-14 “I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father. You can ask for anything in my name, and I will do it, so that the Son can bring glory to the Father. Yes, ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it!..."

Aaron Boyd - Bluetree, Belfast:
"Whilst on a short-term missions trip to Thailand, we played at the Climax Bar, which doubles as a brothel in the red-light district. I didn't know what to expect; you have a mixture of every emotion at once. When you see old men walking down the street with young girls, you want to go vigilante. But then you see the look in the girls' eyes and your heart breaks. Everything all rolled into one."

'Their band and a few other members of their church went on a mission trip to Pattaya, Thailand recently. In Pattaya, there are over 30,000 female prostitutes over the age of 18! (That is not counting the ones under 18, or even the male prostitutes there) While they were walking around the town, they walked into a local bar there called...."The Climax Club", which was looking ofr bands to play. They agreed to give it a try and asked how long the owner how long he wanted them to play. The owner said, "As long as your friends continues to buy cokes." So they ended up buying cokes for 2-3 hours.

So for over 2 hours this band sang Jesus over these prostitutes who had no idea what they were singing! All of the sudden this song "came down from heaven," as one of the band members recalls. Then spontaneously they started singing.'

The song was God of this City (Greater things).

Setlist

Walk-in: CD track - God of Justice
Announcements & Prayer
God He Reigns - offering
*share the drive behind the set - see above*
Awesome God - chorus only (MW Smith)
God of this City - went in at 'There is no one like our God'
The splendour of the King - chorus and bridge only - How great is our God / Name above all Names
God of Justice vid - I was hoping to teach this one and sing it with the congregation, but our practice on Thursday was a bit hijacked by some other issues. Note to self: do not talk church during worship practice.

Coffee

Sermon series - Holy Spirit - Rev. Roy Newton - S.H.A.P.E.

{{You breathe in me / And I'm alive /
By the power of your holiness / You breathe in me / And you revive / Feelings in
my soul / That I had laid to rest /

I used to be/ So sensitive / To the light
that leads / To where you are / Now I've acquired / These callouses / With the
darkness of / A cold and jaded heart

So breathe in me / I need you now /
I've never felt so dead within / So breathe in me / Maybe somehow / You can
breathe new life / In me again}}

Sunday Setlists - May 3rd, 2009

Probably last one into Fred's Sunday Setlists for this week. ;)

Walk-in: Jesus, Messiah

For who You are - *offering*

Announcements & Prayer

Challenge - don't sing the words if you are not ready to say them. We're singing a lot of things tonight:

'Lord, You have my heart and I will search for Yours'
'Let me be to You a sacrifice'
'I will worship You with all of my heart, mind and strength. '
'I want more love, power, faith and passion – more of You'
'I pour out my life'
'What can I do but offer my heart completely to You'
'I give my life to declare Your promise'
'I’ll stand with my arms high and my heart abandoned, my soul surrendered to You.'
'All I am is Yours.'

The Stand

Prayer

Once Again

Lord, You have my heart

Open prayer – for who YOU are

More love, more power

Coffee

Sermon – John Harding – Gift of Tongues

Sunday Setlist - April 26th, 2009

Worship leaders all over the world share as part of Fred McKinnon's Sunday Setlists. Check it out!

AM

Walk-in: I have a Maker (a reprise from the family service with CD backing)
Blessed be Your Name *offering*
Announcements
Reading
God will make a way
Be still and know – prayer ministry
The Lord’s my Shepherd
Sermon – Donovan Holmes

PM

Walk-in: God of this City – praying it over our church and JBay
Desert Song
Announcements & Prayer
Poem – Even when my heart is torn
Blessed be Your Name - *offering*
Testimony time
Welcome in this Place – ministry time
Mighty to Save
Coffee – play ‘Even when my heart is torn…’
Sermon - Brad Jones

Apologies for the lack of comments this time. I'm snowed...

Sunday Setlist - March 29th, 2009

This entry is sharing with worship leaders all over the world as part of Fred McKinnon's Sunday Setlists. Do yourself a favour...

Morning Service

Announcements

Testimony

Praise my soul the King of Heaven (first and last read as a poem)

Praise to the Lord, the Almighty (one, two and six - I picked up the pace on this one but confused some of the folks a bit...in retrospect I will consider slowing it again for the next time I use this wonderful hymn)

Jesus, Messiah

Jesus, Name Above All Names

Let your living water (starting with chorus Jesus...)

More love, More power (starting with I will worship You after instrumental More love...)

As we lift up our hands (read as a prayer from As we to Only you.)

Sermon - Cries from the Cross (My God, my God, why have You abandoned me?)

As the person doing the announcements was late for the service, I had to do some quick reshuffling - I know you've been-there-done-that - and I did the first poem and the first song before the testimony and then we moved on to announcements. The downside of that was that I felt I'd lost the congregation completely until Jesus, Name above all names. There was a disconnect and I just couldn't breach it. I slowed the songs from Jesus, Name above all names as I sensed them connecting and just went back to choruses where possible. I long for the nuts and bolts of corporate worship NOT to be a distraction from the presence of the living God. This continues to be the cry of my heart.

Family service setlist - March 22nd AM

For the Sunday Setlist Carnival over at FredMcKinnon.com. I have used many of their ideas in different situations and have been inspired to other ideas through reading their creative thoughts and their passion for their churches and for worship that keeps God at the centre.

Our church is still being introduced to this level of cross-generational worship. The previous time that I led it, I made sure that I used relevant hymns. Our congregation, like most, responds well to wooing and very badly to revolution. This time I used fairly well known choruses and I asked the Sunday School to minister to the congregation by singing to them and through two teens who gave testimonies.

We used CD's for all the songs.

Come, Now is the Time to Worship

Item - He Knows my Name - Sunday School children
Jesus loves me - a capella

Testimonies - Teen Sunday School class

Children's Talk - The Perfect Fit for Running the Race - Pastor Donovan Holmes

Psalm 8 - I read this from a powerpoint where I had highlighted verse 2 for the congregation to read with me. It is the Sunday School verse for the year.

You have taught children and infants to tell of
your strength, silencing your enemies and all who oppose you.

I could sing of Your love Forever (Over the Mountains)
Holy is the Lord (It's Rising Up All Around)

Read from Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty

We Fall Down - offering

Sermon - What kind of family are we? - Pastor Donovan Holmes

It was a great service, filled with freedom and joy and stuff that just makes sense. Praise be to our heavenly Father!

Next time - flags and/or ribbons!

Just jump, sweetheart. I'll catch you.

Anne Jackson - author of Mad Church Disease www.flowerdust.net. Some Twitter notes from re:create.

‘I was so busy doing things for God that I had forgotten about being with Him.’

The question that changed everything for Anne - ‘Is serving in this church interfering with your communion with Christ?’

‘If you are not operating in God’s strength, you are being lied to. You are not fine.’

‘If you are in one of those places where you communion with Christ is being sacrificed, you must leave. Losing your relationship with God is not worth it.’

‘God is your provider. Your job has never been your provision.’

‘God didn’t say love ministry, love your job, love what you do. He said love me.’

Next question that struck Anne - ‘Are you living within the integrity of your conscience?’

‘What does being obedient look like to you? Are you doing that?’

‘Does it look like I’m struggling with stuff? Maybe not. But I am. And someone has to be the one to go first to give someone the gift of going second.’

‘Some of you are in a very healthy place, spiritually. It is your responsibility to help carry the burdens of those who are struggling.’

‘It would be completely irresponsible of us to let hurting, broken people in ministry continue to be broken.’

‘It’s time for us ... to carry the burdens of others. We have walls to break through but we’ve got to break through them.’

Challenging is too shy a word.

one thing needful

Luke 10:38-42

As Jesus and the disciples continued on their way to Jerusalem, they came to a certain village where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. Her sister, Mary, sat at the Lord’s feet, listening to what he taught. But Martha was distracted by the big dinner she was preparing. She came to Jesus and said, “Lord, doesn’t it seem unfair to you that my sister just sits here while I do all the work? Tell her to come and help me.”
But the Lord said to her, “My dear Martha, you are worried and upset over all these details! 42 There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her.”

God's talking to me about this. I do a lot of talking. And a lot of doing. Jesus said that there was one thing needful - to sit at his feet and listen to what He teaches. In my life as it stands at the moment, this means allowing more quiet time for just listening to Him. Putting aside the distractions; the worry and upset over all the details.

How about you?

approachable and available

When we came to JBay, it was my desire that I would be approachable and available for God to use me in the life of our church and our community. I'm thinking about this at the moment and whether I'm still true to my heart's hope. What do these two characteristics look like to you?

Sunday Setlist - Java 22nd February 2009

This post is participating in the Sunday Setlist carnival at FredMckinnon.com. Click and GO

http://www.fredmckinnon.com/myblog/2009/02/22/sunday-setlists-31/

Find me in the River

Desert Song - led by Jana Bougas (it's nice to have a bit of continuity from one week to the next. Last week this was a new song and I wanted the congregation to have a chance to get their teeth into it. We did it a lot slower this week and I think they're getting it. Great song. Will become a favourite, I'm sure)

Consuming Fire (was also a new song two weeks back although I did not realise that they didn't know it. As we're going to be staying with the Holy Spirit theme for the next 21 weeks or so, it fitted and I did a reprise.)

Turn your eyes upon Jesus (I wanted a space for them to just close their eyes and sing well known, simple words and just focus on God, to still and quiet their souls before Him)

Let your living water (Jimmy Swaggart) / Hungry / chorus for LYLW Jesus...Jesus / So I'll wait for You (from Hungry)

For me, it was a disasterous evening. You know those times when it all plays perfectly in your head, you know where God's going with it and then, on the night, you don't put yourself across well or you're not concentrating or WHATEVER and it just falls into an undignified heap. I hate those times.

Pastor Don preached on intimacy with God, and broken intimacy. It was a great sermon, gentle and pointed at the same time. Pitch-perfect. He's particularly gifted for this type of preaching. God seems to have given him the ability to put his words right into the wound and gently push - Here? Is this where it hurts? Let God heal it. Here. Now.

He worked from the story of Jesus with the woman at the well and used examples of different kinds of hugs to get us into the intimacy thinking. His crossover was perfect - timing and wording went right to the heart of the matter with a loving delicacy that revealed his deep love and concern for his congregation. The woman at the well needed a hug. The deep kind. That heals.