3 guidelines to help prepare for worship by Stuart Townend

Preparing to Worship by Stuart Townend

Preparing for Worship 2012.09.16

This Sunday we are planning to sing...

• All Creatures of our God and King
• Oh for a thousand tongues to sing
• How great is Your faithfulness
• Shine into our night
• What a Savior (Sovereign Grace version)

This Sunday we begin our time together (as we often do) with a song that reminds us that we have come together on this day for the purpose of worshipping the Triune God by joining in together with all creation to sing His praise. Hence the title we give this part of the service "Call to Worship".

This week the song we have chosen is probably one of the oldest songs we sing here at SHF, "All Creatures of our God and King". This song was written around 1225 by Francis of Assisi.

If you do not recognize him from the picture above, you will surely recognize him as the concrete figure found in many of your yards...

A Thousand Amens (song and CD)

This week we are introducing a new song to our church... "A thousand amens." This song was written by Tim Timmons, and it just recently caught my ear in a new way when I heard it on a CD by The Falls Church Anglican. You can see and hear that church in the video below, with that particular song in the background.



Here is a link to the site where you can purchase this CD... hard copy or digital download, find chord charts for each song, read the story behind the album and much more.

I was introduced to this church as I began reading their worship leader's blog. It has proven to be one of the more useful resources for worship leading that I continually use. Thoughtful, thorough, Spirit led, practical, practical, practical... are just a few words that come to my mind when I am trying to describe his blog. Jamie Brown's blog can be found here... click here,

And you can find 3 of the songs on his blog as free downloads. Check it out.

Preparing for Worship 2012.08.12

This week we will be continuing our study of Colossians, as Dan brings us part 4. You can hear/download past sermons over on the side of this site under the heading "SHF sermon podcasts". 

The songs we plan to sing this week are...

• Cannons
• A thousand amens
• Come ye sinners (I will arise and go to Jesus)
• There is a fountain
• Because He lives

Preparing for Worship 2012.08.05

This week we will be continuing our study of Colossians, as Dan brings us part 3. You can hear/download past sermons over on the side of this site under the heading "SHF sermon podcasts". 

This Sunday we plan to sing...

• Agnus dei 
• Join all the glorious names 
• By Thy mercy
• How He loves 
• Nothing but the blood

We will be celebrating communion this Sunday. Here are a few thoughts on communion from the Worship Sourcebook...

 "The Lord’s Supper is... a

celebration and proclamation of

Jesus’ real, spiritual presence with

us, of the forgiveness offered to us

through Christ’s work on the cross,

and of the ongoing spiritual

nourishment he provides us. It is

also a celebration of the unity of Christ’s body,

 the church, as well as a

meal of hope, of anticipating the

heavenly feast of Christ’s coming

kingdom. The Lord’s Supper is linked

to nearly every aspect of the gospel!"

View the updated Worship Team schedule here.

Read more about what the Worship Sourcebook has to say about communion by clicking on the "Read More" link below... (also, check out other's Sunday setlist here)

SHF Liturgy 2012.07.22

Word

• Message:Hidden in Christ
• Text: Colossians 1:1-2
• Speaker: Dan Rolfe

Songs

• All creatures of our God and King (in D)
• Hosanna (Baloche) (in G)
• Fairest Lord Jesus (in E)
• How great is Your faithfulness (in Bb)
• 10,000 Reasons (in G)

See what others were doing today in worship over at the Worship Community's Sunday Setlist

What multitasking does to our brains

If you are a multi-tasker then stop what you are doing and read this article... really put everything else down and read this... What Multitasking Does To Our Brains

Worshipping with our whole person... body and soul

Zac Hicks reminds us that we are called to worship with both our body and soul. He also points to further resources on this topic.

Read his post here... Debunking a C. S. Lewis Quote-Myth and its Implications for Worship

Leading in worship when not "leading worship"

Kristen Gilles reminds us that we are still leading in worship even when we are not "leading worship".

The Worship Leader In The Pew: What To Do When Not On Stage

3 Quick Ways To Improve Your Communication, Writing or Worship Leading

Bobby Gilles shares 3 Quick Ways To Improve Your Communication, Writing or Worship Leading

1. Pray. This should be foundational to everything we do. Ask for God’s help and His blessing. If you’re a Christian, then the Holy Spirit is actually living inside of you. You couldn’t possibly have a better guide.

2. Learn from writers and communicators who are more gifted, more productive and more experienced than you are. Listen. Be a student. Always.

3. Mentor and advise those who are not yet operating at your level of skill or experience. Teach and inspire those who are not as productive as they should be. Encourage questions. This will sharpen your own skill and cause you to continuously think about why you do what you do.

Fighting sin with worship

Tony Reinke's post... "Fighting sin with worship", explains how the power of sin sneaks in varying parts of who we are, then becomes like a fire in our hearts that needs more and more fuel to burn. Then he proposes a powerful weapon against that fire... worship. Great post!

Fighting Sin With Worship

Mood swing

My pastor and his family thought it would be a good idea to share a picture comparison of my youngest daughter's drastic mood swings.

Freedom to rearrange

Jamie Brown's advice on tailoring songs arrangements to fit specific needs.

"...just because you heard a song a certain way on the recording, or just because your sheet music is written out a certain way, or just because you’ve always done it a certain way, you shouldn't feel like your hands are tied.

When you lead a song, you need to own the song. You might not own the copyright, but you need to own the structure of it. Take ownership of it."

Read the whole post here... Just Because That’s the Way They Recorded It…

Worship ideas for Psalm 119 and the 10 commandments

Bruce Benedict, from Christ the King, shares how they will be using the 10 Commandments as well as Psalm 119 this summer as they gather for worship.

Series on The 10 Commandments

Endomondo update

I have tried a ton of fitness tracking apps for Android. My favorite by far is Endomondo. If you own a smartphone (Android, iPhone or Blackberry)  and you exercise... you should consider the benefits of tracking your data... time, pace, speed, distance, gps route tracking, calories burned, etc...

Endomondo does this well and adds some social aspects for fun and accountability.

And if you already use Endomondo on an Android phone, make sure you get the latest update.

Meet the New Endomondo for Android

Being a guest worship leader

Zac Hicks shares 10 servant minded thoughts for when you get the opportunity to fill in for another worship leader.

Thoughts on Being a Guest Worship Leader

Singing what we believe

Bruce Benedict continues to encourage and spur me on to a more thoughtful and well rounded inspection of the music we sing.

Singing What We Believe – Calvin Seminar

Great youth group event

As a former youth pastor... I saw (and helped plan) many meaningless and unhelpful youth events. But this one is great. Good job guys.

A youth group’s Bible-reading project

SHF Liturgy 2012.07.08

At Your Name
What a Savior
Jesus, What a friend for sinners
Hosanna
Only You

Head over to "the worship community"  to see what others were singing today. 

Plumber's view of drain line

Ever wonder what the drain lines under your house look like?