Real Worship

Stevenage (am)

It was family service and we changed things about a bit in Stevenage this week.  We started with the following songs:

• Good Morning (Phil & Heather Joel) Mike
• Lord You Are Good (Israel Houghton) Teash
• Be Lifted Up (Paul Oakley) Ali

Good Morning is the first track from Phil Joel’s “Deliberate Kids” CD.  The children abslutely love this song; it’s so much fun.  Even some of the adults wern’t able to resist the urge to tap their toes, clap their hands, or even shake their hips in a general, “lets twist again”-type fashion!

After the first song, Rachel stood up & said that God wanted to remind us that His banner over us was love (Song of Solomon 2:4), which turned out to be a really fitting encouragement.

The theme this week was about growing through the storm.  Five people stood up in turn and each spoke; either about storms which they’ve experienced personally and through which they’ve known God’s sustaining presence and grown as a result; or about what they believe God to be saying to us concerning what we do during storms (either try to protect ourselves from them, or turn to Him).

During one particularly poignant testimony, one of the ladies quoted the following scripture, which aptly summarised what God was saying through the service:

¹⁷ Though the fig tree may not blossom,
Nor fruit be on the vines;
Though the labor of the olive may fail,
And the fields yield no food;
Though the flock may be cut off from the fold,
And there be no herd in the stalls—
¹⁸ Yet I will rejoice in the LORD,
I will joy in the God of my salvation.
¹⁹ The LORD God is my strength;
He will make my feet like deer’s feet,
And He will make me walk on my high hills.

To the Chief Musician. With my stringed instruments. (Habakkuk 3:17-19, New King James Version)

We closed the service with 2 songs:

• Your Spirit Moves Me (Mike Ellis) Mike
• Blessed Be Your Name (Matt Redman) Ali

The first song is brooding in style; it’s purpose was to facilitate a time of reflection, concerning following the leading of the Holy Spirit.  The second song brought a very appropriate end to our time together – celebrating God, no matter what the circumstance!

Exeter (pm)

We had a great time in Exeter this week.  Right from the outset, there was a buoyancy to the worship, as we offered wholehearted devotion.  We sang the following songs to start:

• Open The Eyes Of My Heart (Paul Baloche)
• Be Lifted Up (Paul Oakley)
• Here I Am To Worship (Tim Hughes)
• I Exalt Thee (Pete Sanchez Jr)
• Lord You Have My Heart (Martin Smith)

We were in the key of E (capo 2 D) throughout.  As normal, the worship doesn’t end when the song does; the music carries on, accompanied by the heartfelt cries & impassioned prayers & praise of those present.  During one particular time of extended worship (after, “Be Lifted Up”), one of the ladies was praying aloud; I can’t remember exactly what she was praying, but it caused me to change the song we were to sing next.

“Here I Am To Worship” was originally further down the list, but the lyric  fitted so well with what she had just prayed.  We spent a while repeating the chorus (venturing once into the bridge); we didn’t sing the verses, but rather carried on playing the chorus progression, alternating between the lyric & improvised worship.

We flowed from that into the anthemic, “I Exalt Thee” before quietly starting, “Lord You Have My Heart”.  Though it started quietly, it most certainly didn’t finish that way!  The song culminated in us repeating the the chorus:

I will praise You Lord

I will sing of love come down

And as You show Your face

We’ll see Your glory here

We could not only have continued, but also “kicked it up a notch” at that point.  Instead, Mark spoke to us about being “storm proof” – a word that was partly inspired by the lady who testified in Stevenage in the morning (who quoted the verses from Habakkuk).

At the end of his preach, we had a time of prayer, asking God to help us, so that when we hit a storm, our main concern would be that people see Jesus.  While we were praying, I played the following song (which we went on to sing to finish):

• The More I Seek You (Zach Neese)

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This post can also be found in the “Sunday Setlists” blog carnival at FredMcKinnon.com