After a long winter hiatus, we’re going to be meeting tomorrow, Sunday, February 21, at 9:30pm in room D3 in the PAC.

Come spend time away from school work and the like, and use the opportunity to praise God!

Also, next week (December 4th) will be the last echô of the year.

-km

¹Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. ²Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. ³For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. ⁴When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

¹⁵Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. ¹⁶Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. ¹⁷And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

This challenges us to live in light of the fact that we have died to our old selves and should now live focused on “things above”, something that can be very hard to do with all of the distractions the world throws at us.

Song List

Come and Listen by David Crowder Band

A call to worship, helping us focus and think about all of the things Christ has done for us, and inviting us to share it with others.

You Said by Hillsong

The chorus of this song can be hard to sing, because it is such a convicting call:

You said, “Ask and I’ll give the nations to you”
Oh Lord, that’s the cry of my heart!

It should be our prayer that all the earth would know our God!

Tear Down the Walls by Hillsong United

You Hold Me Now by Hillsong

Before the Throne of God Above by Sojourn

When the Tears Fall by Tim Hughes

This song is a reminder that God is truly with us through the hard times, and our earthly circumstances don’t change the fact that He is our Savior.

How Deep the Father’s Love For Us by Stuart Townend

It Is Well traditional

Beautiful by Phil Wickham

“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly
… as you sing psalms, hymns
and spiritual songs
with gratitude in your hearts to God.”

Colossians 3:16

A Gathering Song by Eric Yeldell

For the Beauty of the Earth by Daniel Dabney

Center by Charlie Hall

This song is a response to God’s grace and mercy in our lives, we call out to Him, saying “Christ, be the center of our lives, be the place we fix our eyes“.

Lead Me to the Cross by Hillsong United

There is a Fountain traditional

Tear Down the Walls by Hillsong United

Soon by Hillsong United

How Deep the Father’s Love for Us by Stuart Townend

In Christ Alone by Keith Getty

“How great is the love
the Father has lavished on us,
that we should be called
children of God!
And that is what we are!”

1 John 3:1

The Bible contains over 400 references to singing and 50 direct commands to sing. We’re commanded twice in the New Testament to sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs (Ephesians 5:19; Colossians 3:16).

Why does God command us not only to praise him, but tosing praises to him?

We can begin by realizing that God himself sings (Zephaniah 3:17). Jesus sang hymns with his disciples. Ephesians 5 tells us that one of the fruits of being filled with the Spirit is singing. So we worship a triune God who sings, and he wants us to be like him.

How does music relate to words?

Some Christians think music supercedes the word, both in its significance and effect. Others think that music undermines the word. But God himself wants them together. He gave us music to serve to word. How music does this is the theme of this message.

Three Ways Singing Serves the Word

1) Singing can help us remember words.

Ever notice how easy it is to recall the words of songs you haven’t heard for 20 years? We store literally hundreds, even thousands of songs in our memory vaults. Music has an unusual mnemonic power. We remember patterns in music much better than patterns in words alone. Rhyme, meter and song are the most powerful mnemonic devices. They govern and restrict the way we say words and the time it takes to say them. Notice in Deuteronomy 31 that God uses music to help his people remember his words.

Implications

1. In the church we should use effective melodies, that is, melodies that people are able to remember and that they want to remember. And both familiar and new melodies have their place among the people of God. Some great hymn lyrics have been ruined by new melodies and others have been revived by it.

2. We should sing words God wants us to remember. It matters not only that we sing but also what we sing. Colossians 3:16 – It is the word of Christ, the gospel, that should dwell in us richly as we sing. The largest portion of our singing content should be the truths that we are responding to, not just words about the effect that truth has on us. Also, the lyrics of our songs should reflect the broad themes of Scripture. Ask yourself, If the teaching of our church was limited to the songs we sing, what would our people know?

3. We should seek to memorize songs. Don’t be too dependant upon screens or hymnbooks.

Lord, Let Your Glory Fall by Matt Redman

Rain Down by Delirious?

For The Beauty of the Earth by Daniel Dabney

A great reminder of God’s presence in our lives:

Hallelujah, the presence of God is near!
Hallelujah, Your dwelling among us here!

Before the Throne of God Above by Sojourn

Messiah by Phil Wickham

Jesus Paid it All by Kristian Stanfill

See His Love by Tim Hughes

Break Free by Hillsong United

Solution by Hillsong United

You Hold Me Now by Hillsong

We sang a tag from the end of this song that just repeats part of the Lord’s Prayer, saying “Your Kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven”.

The Time is Now by Phil Wickham

From the Inside Out by Hillsong United

Stronger by Hillsong

‘Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus traditional

Nothing But the Blood traditional

Jesus’ Blood by Delirious?

This song simply states the Jesus’ Blood completely covers our sin, and will never fail us as it cleanses us and brings us into a relationship with God.

The First and the Last by Hillsong

I Will Exalt You by Hillsong

I Have Decided To Follow Jesus traditional

Savior, I Will Follow Thee by Daniel Dabney

Extol by Daniel Dabney

Living For Your Glory by Tim Hughes

Before the Throne of God Above by Shane & Shane

“Sing to God, sing praises to His name;
Lift up a song for Him who rides through the deserts,
Whose name is the LORD, and exult before Him.
A father of the fatherless and a judge for the widows,
Is God in His holy habitation.”

Psalm 68:4-5

The First and the Last is a proclamation of God’s greatness.  The title and theme of the song focuses on Christ’s nature; how He is our Hope and our Salvation, and how He encompasses all things.  What does it mean that He is the “First and the Last”?  In a oft-quoted passage in Revelation, Jesus says that He is the “Beginning and the End”.  Colossians 1:15-17 also covers some of this: “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. ¹⁶For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. ¹⁷He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.”  John talks about how the Word (referring to Jesus) was (or existed) in the beginning, and we see in Revelation that He will be until the end of time and beyond.

One of the great things about this song is its praise-response form.  It recognizes God as our salvation and then it praises Him and gives Him glory for it, while prompting us to ask for His guidance in our lives.  He is completely “worthy of all the praise” we can give Him.

The song is from Hillsong’s new worship CD, “Faith + Hope + Love“.

The First and the Last

You are the First and the Last
Beginning and the End
The promise of One who’s to come
The future is in Your hands
Calling the light with all the Earth we will sing

You are the Author of love
Our freedom is in Your name
Embracing the cross there for us
Brought us to life again
Calling the love with all we are let us sing

God our Hope and our Salvation
Worthy of all the praise
Be our light everlasting
Great is Your name
Jesus the First and the Last

Show us the way of Your love
Lead us towards the truth
Stir up the fire in us
To live out this life for you
Calling Your name Jesus forever we’ll sing

Every heart every nation will hear the sound
As the light breaks through the darkness and Your name rings loud
Every distant horizon will meet as one
Singing holy is Your name We sing holy is Your name.

You are the First and the Last. You are
You’re the Alpha and Omega the Beginning and the End
Our salvation, You bring freedom, God Your grace it knows no end
You’re the name above all names, the Lamb that was Slain You are.
The First and the Last.

A Gathering Song by Eric Yeldell

The First and the Last by Hillsong

All Creatures of Our God and King traditional

This is one of my favorite hymns because it is a simple call for Creation to praise the Creator. David Crowder has a great arrangement of this song.

In Christ Alone by Keith Getty

Revelation Song by Gateway Worship

Jesus Paid It All by Kristian Stanfill

We can never praise God enough for His unfailing love for us. “O Praise the One who paid my debt, and raised this life up from the dead!” is so powerful when we realize every time we sin just how enormous of a debt that we owe.

Came to My Rescue by Hillsong United

None But Jesus by Hillsong United

God of Justice by Tim Hughes

The challenge of this song is piercing:

We must go,
live to feed the hungry
stand beside the broken;
we must go!

God calls us all to live as “missionaries” in the sense that our lives should always be redirecting the attention from us to Him.  Furthermore, we need to develop a desire to be filled with passion for those who do not know Him.  The tag of this song is our prayer:

Fill us up, send us out,
Fill us up, send us out Lord.

Center by Charlie Hall

“I will praise you as long as I live,
and in your name I will lift up my hands.”

Psalm 63:4