Sunday Setlist: Hearing Voices

Over the past three weeks here at Maiden Lane we have been journeying through a sermon series dealing with the issue of prayer.  We have received challenges in three key areas in our lives as believers.  We have been called to be prayer powerfully for our families, to prayer powerfully for our church and the church at large, and finally to prayer powerfully for the nation.  We have looked to God’s Word for help in knowing what to prayer for in each of these vital areas.  Regarding prayer, God’s Word has much to teach us about the “How” of prayer. Often times this “how'” is limited to our speaking to God.  In reality prayer is a two-way street of conversation.  Certainly we speak and God listens but there is also the importance of God’s speaking and our listening.

This coming Sunday we will celebrate with our many high school and college graduates.  As these young people transition to a new season of life what voices will they allow to speak into their lives and guide them forward?  Pastor Tim Riley, our student ministries pastor, will be sharing a message titled “The Voice”.  His message will touch upon themes linked to the importance of our listening to God and how and what He speaks to His children.  Here are some thoughts regarding the songs we will use in worship this week.

• Everlasting God- Brown & Riley
• Open Up the Heavens-Rozier, McDonald, Ingram, Andrews & Garrard, 
• Give Me Faith- Brown, Gatch, Brock & Joye
• Here’s My Heart- Tomlin, Ingram & Giglio
• No One Higher- Balltzglier, Condrey & Fee

The opening song of worship takes its text from the writing of the prophet Isaiah.  The prophet reminds us that those “who wait on the Lord” will renew their strength.  When it come to hearing the voice of God we must learn how to wait.  So many times in life we say that we long to hear Him speak but the truth is God can hardly get in a word edge-wise.  We have left no space for Him to speak.  If we are to hear God speak into our lives then we must make room for Him to do so. The word ‘wait” here implies an eager expectancy which I pray marks our hearts when we gather to worship.

Open Up the Heavens continues this idea of expectancy.  The song calls out “open up the heavens, we want to see You”.  The concept of expectancy is so vital to hearing God speak.  Perhaps there have been times where we said that we longed for God to speak into a situation but when it came right down to it we didn’t really believe that He would or wanted to do so.  It is hard to ask for something if you don’t believe that the person your asking is either listening or will respond. Anyone every been guilty of think “God is too busy to care about my issues?  Surely He has more important things to do.”  Those words reveal little expectancy that we will hear the voice of God.

The next two songs dig even deeper into this theme of hearing God’s voice.  Give Me Faith reveals another issue that often interferes with our hearing. The song chorus says “Give me faith to trust what You say, that Your good and Your love is great”.  It is hard to listen to someone when you lack trust in their character or their advice.  When we are captured by and convinced of the goodness and unbreakable love of God it deepens our faith and trust in the voice of God when He speaks to us.  God delights to give the gift of faith graciously to His children but we must realize and confess our need for increased faith.  We must cry out with the words found in the gospels, “Lord I believe, help my unbelief”.  Here’s My Heart sings of this act of surrender.  “Here’s my heart Lord, speak what is true”. These words also hint at one other important element when it comes to hearing the voice of God.  We must come with the intent to be obedient to whatever God speaks to us.  In order to hear the voice of God we must listen with the not only holy expectation but also with holy intention.  It is my prayer that as we gather for worship on Sunday, that these song words will give expression to the desire of every heart that gives them.

We conclude our time together with a song that speaks of the greatness of our God.  “There is no one higher than our God, there is no one greater than You.”  When one needs an answer it is always best to go to one who possesses lots of knowledge on the subject.  If you had a question regarding your health would you rather consult an actual doctor or just someone who plays one on TV?  There is not a single question in all of life were God is not the highest authority.  He is the author of life and the Lord of all the universe.  He is the source for all that we need and so we worship Him with these final words “Lord we stand amazed in Your presence.  Astounded by Your mercy and love.  Our hands are lifted high in surrender.  Your grace for me is always enough.  There is no one higher than our God, there is no one greater than You.  Let my life forever praise the glory of Your name. There is no one higher than You.”

Telling God’s Story in Worship: Sunday Setlist

Every week when the church gathers for worship we tell a story.  Whether we are consciously aware of it or not the elements that make up each service order have the ability to tell that story.  So what story is being told when we gather?  When we gather for worship we should tell God’s Story. The elements we choose on any given Sunday or over the course of many Sundays determine how much or how little of that Story is told.  Those elements also determine how accurately we tell it.  There is an old Latin phrase Lex Orandi, Lex Credendi which refers to the relationship between worship and belief.  In common language one could say that our worship shapes our believing.  If that is indeed true, which I believe it is, then how or what we tell of God’s Story is critical to our faith.

So, as we gather at Maiden Lane on Sunday May 18th how will we tell the story.  One of the ways God’s Upper Story will be told is through the lower stories of the fourteen folks who will make a public confession of faith then step into the water to be baptized.  While each person’s story is different they all represent the story of God’s grace.  Their baptisms demonstrate the death of the old nature, identifying with the death of Christ on the cross, their old life buried beneath the waters and then raised up in the newness of life in Christ.

• What a Savior– Jones
• Amazing Grace (my chains are gone)– Tomlin, Newton & Giglio
• There’s Something About that Name-Gaither
• No Sweeter Name– Jobe
• Hungry– Scott
• One Pure and Holy Passion– Altrogge
• Lord I Need You– Nockels, Carson, Maher, Reeves & Stanfill
• Give Us Clean Hands– Hall

God’s Story will also be told in part through the songs we sing this Sunday.  The above list represents part of the arc of God’s Story for every believer.  We begin by singing of Christ work on the cross and His amazing grace and mercy He has shown.  We will sing the name of Jesus, the one whose name is above every name.  As we continue to sing we move beyond the redemptive work of Jesus our savior and begin to sing of His sanctifying work.  Hungry and One Pure and Holy Passion do more than just sing of our salvation but speak of the call to discipleship.  As the Jesus and Apostle Paul proclaimed, we must die daily as we take up our cross to follow Christ. The path of discipleship, a vital part of God’s Story is one of surrender and requires us to trust not in ourselves but in Christ alone.  Every Sunday and in truth every day of our lives we must confess Lord I Need You, every hour I need You.  We must remain yielded to Him if we are to be the generation that seeks His face.

May we not only tells the story well but may we personally and corporately engage with the Story as we worship this week. 

The Power of Prayer (Family): Sunday Setlist

This week marks a return to writing after a few weeks off during the Easter season.  This Sunday also marks the start of a new preaching series here at Maiden Lane entitled “The Power of Prayer”.  Our first week will focus on a call to pray powerfully for our family.  I am very excited about this series and believe that prayer is essential not only to the individual journey of faith but for our families.  Oswald Chambers once said, “We tend to use prayer as a last resort, but God wants it to be our first line of defense. We pray when there’s nothing else we can do, but God wants us to pray before we do anything at all.” If we are to see lasting change in family relationships whether with our spouses, with our children or with our extended family it must begin with seeking the Lord in prayer.

With that little bit of a backdrop here is our Sunday setlist:

• Our God Saves- Baloche & Brown
• Blessed Be Your Name- Redman & Redman
• God is Able- Fielding & Morgan
• Great is Thy Faithfulness- Chisholm & Runyon
• The Family Payer Song -Chapman

The opening lyric of Our God Saves serves as a call to worship and a reminder of why it is we gather together each week.  We are gathering to worship our God who exists in three distinct and inseparable persons.  The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.  When we meet together it is for the purpose of lifting up His name and to cry out afresh for the work of His grace and mercy in our lives.

Beyond that initial call to worship the first four songs of our worship gathering share a common overarching theme which is very important when we consider the practice of prayer.  As Christ-followers we believe that prayer allows us to converse and commune with the God of all creation.  However, this would be a meaningless pursuit if the God we serve was in fact not listening or was incapable of hearing, responding or powerless to provide.  As we sing these songs we will declare the greatness and faithfulness of the God to whom we sing.  The lyrics of the songs reflect the truths we find in God’s Word.  He is a God who has promised to never leave us or forsake.  He is the God whose mercies are new every morning.  His ways are higher than our ways and His thoughts higher than our thoughts.  He is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all we ask or think.  The very same power than was exerted in raising Christ from grave is available to us as His children.  In light of His greatness and steadfast love we lift our voices to sing His praise.  it is also in light of His greatness and steadfast love that we have boldness to come to Him in prayer knowing that He sees, knows and is delights to show Himself strong to those whose hearts are completely his.

The Family Prayer Song serves as our sung response to the Word for the day.  Its lyric echoes the Old Testament text “as for me and my house we will serve the Lord”.  The song calls us to a fresh commitment that or families will live in light of God’s Truth and for His glory.  Oh that we as God’s people would set such an example for our world today.  There are so many broken and hurting families in our world today.  Many try and pursue a fix and some sadly just abandon their family and try and start over with someone else.  May our lives demonstrate the only lasting and true change that is found in Christ alone.