Real Worship

We had a “guest” drummer this week. Our regular drummer (Andrew) was on his first of three weeks off.  Whenever that has happened in the past, I have had to cover – but not this time!  Conrad has been meeting and practising with us for a few months – as a bass player.  We gave him two weeks notice (during which time we’ve practised together, of course) and he stepped in and did a sterling job.  Welcome Conrad & well done – a valuable addition to the team!

We only got to sing four songs from the set list this week. These were:

• Your Grace Is Enough (Chris Tomlin) Mike
• Indescribable (Chris Tomlin) Mike
• Hallelujah (Jonas Myrin/Marty Sampson) Mike
• Everlasting One (Ali Loaker) Ali

I love what God is doing in our midst lately.  He’s beginning to train us to consistently expect and move in the demonstration of His miracle working power (and not just on Sundays either); and for that to become a natural and ordinary part of our normal Christian lives.

As part of that training, this weeks service began with Pastor Mark asking who needed healing.  There was no hype; no music playing; the hall was cold (the heating didn’t appear to be working); and numbers were down on normal.  Despite not having any of the normal “crutches” (please forgive the pun) to lean on, God still healed (for example, one lady who was struggling with asthma could breathe normally).

As you may imagine, it was easy and natural to launch into praise off the back of that.

Ali had prepared the set list this week and had chosen 8 songs with a view to select from the list as appropriate, depending on what which way the service went.  The songs we actually got to sing were:

• Set Me Free (Mike Ellis) Mike
• Lord You Are Good (Israel Houghton) Mike
• Be Thou My Vision (Eleanor Hull & Mary E. Byrne) Ali
• Be Lifted Up (Paul Oakley) Ali
• I Run to You (Ali Loaker) Teash

All of the songs were sung in the key of E, which meant that flowing from one to the other was easy.  I’ve said before that I find it seems to provide a far more stable platform for worship when songs are grouped together in the same key (where possible).

Both “Set Me Free” and “Lord You Are Good” are similar in feel and style; and both were sung with equal fervour and energy.

During “Be Thou My Vision”, Ali was operating in his “sweet spot” when part way through he began to  encourage the congregation to battle against the things that were opposing them.  It was like when General Maximus, William Wallace, or Aragorn gave those rousing speeches to their men just before leading them onto the field of battle.

“Be Lifted Up” was both intimate and passionate.  Teash (Leticia) sang Ali’s “I Run To You” really well; she led with confidence and it was probably the best I have heard her.

I’m glad to say that we learned from last Sunday’s lessons (see, “redemption church, stevenage, herts, 25/11/2007“). This week was absolutely amazing.

I led the whole of the worship today as Ali was recovering from a throat infection. We had deliberately changed the order of things around slightly. The plan was to have 2 songs, then straight into the teaching from Pastor Mark, followed by a time of worship. So, the “planned” set list was as follows:

• God of Wonders (Third Day)
• Indescribable* (Chris Tomlin)
• —(Word)—
• Who is there Like You (Ali Loaker)
• Facedown (Matt Redman)
• We Bow Down (Viola Graftstrom)
• More Than Words (Mike Ellis)

_______________________

• Your Grace is Enough (Chris Tomlin)

*New song this week

We were “in position” and ready to go a couple of minutes before start time. Pastor Mark started the service by praying while we played the chord progression to “God of Wonders” (slowed & stripped down).

We launched into the song proper and I could see people all across the hall actively entering God’s presence – to quote Charles Wesley, “lost in wonder, love and praise“. The fact that the second song was new this week did not seem to deter anyone from passionately praising God. The great thing about both of these songs is that they declare God’s greatness and firmly focus everyone’s attention on Him.

Pastor Mark spoke about the gospel being the power of God to salvation (Romans 1:16); and as he was still ending his sermon, God began to gently, quietly, but visibly demonstrate His healing power over individuals.

The band got back up on stage & began to play Ali’s, “Who is there like You” as others began to stream forward – receiving from and responding to God. That’s as far as we got with the planned set list.

We stuck with Ali’s song while people were receiving from God. It’s such a beautiful, anthemic, minor sounding song (chord progression in the verse is Am G/Am F D) which again, brings everyone’s attention to God, His greatness and ends up in the chorus crying out, “Holy, You are holy, You are holy Lord“.

By the end of the ministry there was only enough time for one more song and Pastor Sandra leaned forward and suggested we sing Chris Tomlin’s, “How Great Is Our God“. This was so appropriate; and wow, the song totally flew! Everyone was giving everything they had, as they sang with all their hearts, with hands lifted and faces lit up.

Mark 16:20 says that “the disciples went everywhere preaching, the Master working right with them, validating the Message with indisputable evidence.” (MSG). Another translation says with “miraculous signs following” (MKJV).

When God said that He wanted our Sunday morning service to be a “shop window”, I didn’t realize it at the time, but He meant for everyone to be able to “taste and see that the Lord is good” (Psalm 34:8) and to be able to “tell…what you have seen and heard; that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the gospel is proclaimed to the poor.” (Luke 7:22)

Wow, what a rollercoaster ride!

There were a lot of good learning experiences this week.

Ali was at the helm. He had chosen 6 songs for the set list, but we only got to do 4 of them. The songs that made it through were:

• Lifesong* (Casting Crowns) Ali
• Kingdom Come (Mike Ellis) Mike
• King of Glory* (Chris Tomlin) Mike
  
• Hallelujah (Jonas Myrin/Marty Sampson) Mike

*these songs were new this week

Everything appeared to be “going to plan” until the end of the second song. Remember what I was saying last week about God & the Senior Pastors having full liberty to step in at any point and change things? Well they did.

God had specifically told Pastor Mark that He wanted to demonstrate His miracle working power early on in the service – without any “hype” or “warming up”, or having to wait until the end of the service. God wanted us to learn to accept the demonstration of signs & wonders as freely as we do the forgiveness of sin (after all, we have no power of our own to provide or deliver any part of God’s great free gift of salvation); and to expect it during the service as normal as giving the notices.

So, without any “atmosphere” to speak of and out of nothing but sheer obedience to God’s word, Pastor Mark stepped in and gave an “alter call” – asking for all who wanted to receive from God to step out from there seats and come to the front of the hall. Virtually all of the congregation came forward!

This was where the “fun” (& the learning) began. As Pastor Mark began laying hands on people, we played the chords to Ali’s, “Your Love is a Burning Flame” and God started to move in power. With the numbers of people involved, we were there for quite some time. There was a flow of people being ministered to, testimony & exhortation – all the while we were playing. The challenge for us in that situation is being able to know how to flow with the ministry i.e. how to continue to “lead” the congregation in worship while there is ministry happening without cutting across it.

However, instead of “taking the bull by the horns” and actively leading the worship during this time, we chose to wait and watch (lesson No 1 – don’t stop “leading” during ministry times). This created a vacuum which Pastor Sandra filled (as is her prerogative as Senior Pastor). What I hadn’t seen coming was the offense that I found myself battling with throughout this time (lesson No 2 – don’t be intimidated, put off, distracted, or affected either by the atmosphere or by what you can see going on around you). There were also practical lessons to learn about communication & the logistics of making such times “work”.

There was an obvious strategic attack of the enemy to try and divide us by getting us to be offended. In talking with the other band members, every one had similar battles. The good news is that god used what the enemy had intended for harm & turned it around for good (Rom. 8:28).

We had a training evening on Monday where I was teaching about the power of praise. We looked at the fact that the worship team is often at the forefront of battle (especially on a Sunday morning) – from the story of King Jehoshaphat in 2 Chron. 20. We talked specifically about what happened on Sunday and saw how we need to arrive prepared, having made a decision to take the pathway of praise into the presence of Almighty God; and how we need to cover each other. We spent time worshiping and had a totally awesome time!

Don’t you just love how God is so Good? Even though Sunday seemed more like a war zone at times, people were healed and set free – they encountered God in a very powerful way and were changed by that encounter; and He even used the mistakes we made to teach us and cause us to grow stronger as a team – closer to each other & closer to Him.

I was “at the helm” again this week and led the whole of the worship service as Ali was on a weekend away with his wife.  The set list looked like this:

• Set Me Free (Mike Ellis)
• Lord You Are Good (Israel Houghton)
• God Of Wonders (Third Day version)
• Be Lifted Up (Paul Oakley)
• Lord You Have My Heart (Delirious)
• Amazing Love (Newsboys)

We are deliberately changing the style of our Sunday mornings – shortening the service, tightening up the whole “presentation”, sticking to set song arrangements, making the transition between song/prayer, or song/offering more “slick”.

God (and the senior pastors) still reserve the right to wade in and mess completely with the plan, but the intention is to stick to the plan.  The thinking behind these changes is to make Sunday morning our “shop window” for all – believers or not (to be the access point to the life of Redemption Church).  Of course, we also have other meetings that cater for other groups and are pitched at different levels.

Though the style of the presentation may have changed, the power and the passion of the content is in no way compromised.  In fact, if anything – it is intensifying, as more of the congregation are choosing to make better use of the time that is available and are actively participating in worship sooner; not allowing themselves the “luxury” of “warming up”.  What we’re also finding is that God doesn’t seem to be in any way put off by either the style or the length of the service.  As I said in a previous post, He is actively seeking those who worship Him “in spirit and in truth” (John 4:23).

I was prompted again to read from Isaiah 12:4-6 (declaring the greatness of God in our midst) to start the service this week.  I can’t seem to get away from the truth that as we praise the almighty creator of the universe, we enter into His presence; and as we bring all that we have to the table, He brings all that He has – what a deal!!

We serve a truly awesome God!  And for those who came to church this week in need of healing, guess what He brought to the table.  God is good!  He is alive and well and at work in the lives of ordinary people – thank you God!

Apologies for the late posting – yes, it has been 6 days since we had church, but there are 2 very good reasons why I’ve taken so long to write this post:

1. I have been really busy;
2. It’s taken me this long to recover and to try and understand what happened.

I had a coffee with our Senior Pastor yesterday (actually I had hot chocolate & he had water, but we met in a coffee shop). During the meeting I specifically asked him about Sunday’s service & he helped me clarify my thoughts.

I had woken up at 5am on Sunday (unintentionally) and had decided to pray & study rather than go back to sleep. I spent 2 hours with God and had a totally awesome time! I knew that as a result, something had shifted on the inside of me, in my thinking (I came out of that prayer time a different person). I had also prayed specifically for the morning’s service and felt “pumped” about what I expected to happen.

Have you ever had one of those service’s where things didn’t go quite as you expected…?

Right from the start it felt like I was wading through a thick, heavy fog (even from before the service had started when I was encouraging the team as we prayed together). The whole of the worship service felt like a constant battle. In fact, it has taken me until today to “recover” to the place where my predominant thoughts of the service weren’t clouded in heaviness.

Whether the cause of the opposition was warfare (from demonic forces), or people’s choice not to engage & enter God’s presence is largely irrelevant (though I believe it to be a mix of both – usually the latter caused by the former).

The facts are that there were people who did meet with God; there were times of extended free worship. Lives were impacted and changed; and after the word, people responded to a call to receive the baptism in the Holy Spirit (to be filled with the Holy Spirit in power).

Incidentally, one thing I need to be aware of is that I don’t (and absolutely cannot) “earn” the right to enter God’s presence, just because I had spent time praying (I don’t believe I was thinking that, but it’s a worthwhile “check”). Although, if everyone who came to church on a Sunday had deliberately purposed in their hearts to worship and had spent time with God before the service, then I know that would have a radical impact on the way things go - more about that in another post.

The Bible says, “no weapon that is formed against us shall prosper” (Isa. 54:17) and goes on to say, “…If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Rom. 8:31).

The enemy might come to try and intimidate and say things like, “give up now”, or “it’s too hard”. Well, the enemy is “a liar and the Father of all lies“ (Jn. 8:44).

It’s interesting to me that even as I write this I am battling tiredness; yet the moment I decide to stop writing I am instantaneously energized. The bible says that “the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak” (Mat. 26:41).

So, whether I’m facing down the lies of the enemy, or the carnal sin nature, none of that changes the truth that God is good and His word is true; “God is not a man that He should lie” (Num. 23:19); He always has been and always will be, He is the beginning and the end (Rev. 21:6); all things were made by him and are held together by the power of His word (Jn. 1:1-3, Heb. 1:2-3).

God is soooo for us! Blessed be the Name of the Lord!! That just makes me want to echo the words of King David, “I will bless the Lord at all times” (Ps. 34:1); and “My heart is fixed oh God, my heart is fixed; I will sing and give praise” (Ps. 57:7) (emphasis added).

The set list this week looked like this:

• Lord You Are Good (Israel Houghton) Mike
• Your Grace Is Enough (Chris Tomlin) Mike
• More Than Words (Mike Ellis) Mike
• More Than Life (Hillsong United) Ali
• Your Blood (Ali Loaker) Ali
• Everlasting One (Ali Loaker) Ali

I am so glad that God isn’t put off or distracted by circumstances.  I am also glad when His people aren’t either.  Today there was ample opportunity.

We knew that we had to finish our service 1 hour earlier than usual this week, because the owners of the building we rent were letting out some of the rooms we use for the afternoon, and they needed time to prepare them.  We also knew that during the service we were going to dedicate the baby of a couple who are members of our congregation.  What I hadn’t understood however, was that we couldn’t set up in our usual venue, but had to transport all of our equipment along the corridor and across to another hall.

So, upon arrival – finding this scenario, I had a choice to make; do I give in to the temptation to be offended, or do I resist?  I chose to resist.

Ali had overall charge of the worship this week and had forgotten about the shorter service; consequently, he had to reduce the set list.  The final version looked like this:

• One Way (Hillsong United) Ali
• Forever Over Us (One Hundred Hours) Ali
• Love So Strong (Mike Ellis) Mike
• Who Is There Like You (Ali Loaker) Ali

Despite all of the changes (known & unknown) and the opportunities to be distracted, or stressed, we really “had church” today!

There were yet more new faces in the congregation; and even though all of the children and the “RKidz” staff are no longer in our service, the hall seemed to be just as full (if not more) as when they were.

From the outset, everyone chose to enter in.  The first two songs were played both in the same Key (C) and they have a similar rock/pop feel; and though the second song, One Hundred Hours’ “Forever Over Us”, was new this week, it didn’t seem to dampen people’s enthusiasm.

As has become our custom at this point in the service, one of the Pastors stepped up & gave the “notices”, followed by Pastor Mark who brought an encouragement and lead the church in prayer.  As he began to pray, Ali and our keyboard player began to quietly play the chord progression for “Love So Strong”; instantly, you could sense God’s presence.  In our church, prayer is very much an active thing.  During times of prayer, the whole congregation will actively participate – praying simultaneously.

The music continued after the prayer and through the dedication and provided a good platform over which Jon & Simone could make their vows & pray – thanking God  for their son Joel, declaring God’s truth over him & themselves, dedicating him to God.

It was easy to flow from that straight into worship.  The moment we began to sing I could feel the atmosphere change & lift.  All around the hall there were hands raised and eyes closed and people were passionately crying out to God, “Holy, holy are You Lord“.  We entered a time of extended free worship with a sense of awe at God’s presence; and I really felt prompted to say that in His presence, there was no fear, that whatever the circumstance – He is all we need.  As I said it, I could see people wipe tears from their eyes.

I felt we could go further, but also felt constrained by the time and wanted us to sing Ali’s, “Who Is There Like You”.  This is such a powerful, passionate, awesome song!

What I learned from today was that it doesn’t matter where you are, what your circumstances, or how much time you have.  God is actively seeking those who worship Him “in spirit and in truth” (John 4:23); and the instant we we do that, we enter His presence. O the beauty of His presence!  As the Psalmist says, “One day spent in Your Temple is better than a thousand anywhere else” (Ps 84:10).

Wednesday night is our normal weekly prayer meeting night.  This week was the launch of the once-a-month “P5″ prayer meeting (which stands for power-filled, prophetic prayer & praise party).

Musically, it was a lot more intimate, with just me leading the worship – using my acoustic guitar & amp.  The style and flow of the worship were intentionally different to our Sunday service; on Sundays we plan for it to be more of a “shop window” (as widely accessible as possible) – with set arrangements etc; whereas the plan for this night was to leave a lot more space for there to be more free/spontaneous worship & for God to speak.

The songs on the set list were:

• You Are Good (Israel Houghton)
• Here I Am To Worship (Tim Hughes)
• I Will Worship You (Mike Ellis)
• We Bow Down (Viola Grafstrom)
• Facedown (Matt Redman)

The first four songs were all played in the same key (E), which meant that the flow between the songs & times of free worship was effortless.  There was such a very real sense of God’s presence – with worship, prayer & prophecy intermingled, all the while the music was continually being played.  I find that grouping songs together in the same key really helps to provide a secure environment where people can easily focus on worshipping God and not be distracted; it provides the space for worship to carry on between songs and for the dynamic flow of conversation between God & man to continue.

There was a short powerful teaching from Pastor Mark about prayer and then we went back into worship.  I began to play the chord progression for Matt Redman’s, “Facedown” (this time in F); the worship & prayer began to flow again; we had an extended time of free, prophetic prayer & worship and eventually sang the song to end.

We had met with God, heard His voice, declared His truth, advanced His kingdom and had a truly awesome time doing it!  It’s going to be interesting to see what God does with these meetings over the coming months.

Today was my first Sunday back after a two week break and what a Sunday it was!

While I was on holiday, one of the things God was speaking to me about was the power of praise. I knew that on this first Sunday back I was to encourage the congregation to enter into praise with a renewed fervour and passion. So, over several days before the service I began to read around the subject and got a vision of me stood before them, reading scripture and encouraging their faith – declaring what happens when God’s people praise Him.

The first song on the set list was Chris Tomlin’s “Forever”. The band began playing the chord progression for the chorus while I read from Isaiah 12:4-6. I began to declare that God was great in our midst, saying that He “inhabits the praises of His people” (Ps 22:3) – as we bring what we have (our faith-filled praises), the almighty creator of the universe brings all that He is; we enter His presence & the kingdom of God invades the earth. What an explosive start!

The set list this week looked like this:

• Forever (Chris Tomlin) Ali
• Your Grace Is Enough (Chris Tomlin) Mike
• From The Inside Out (Hillsong United) Mike
• How Great Is Our God (Chris Tomlin) Mike
• Everlasting One (Ali Loaker) Ali
• Who Is There Like You (Ali Loaker) Ali

Right from the outset there was an excitement and an expectancy of what would happen as we met with God. The worship flowed freely & passionately, interwoven with prophetic words, healing and a tangible sense of God’s presence. This was great because there were a number of visitors who don’t yet know God. For everyone present, there would have been no doubt that God is real and He makes a difference in the lives of those who want Him.

It was great to be on holiday, but it’s great to be back!

Here’s week 2 of Ali’s guest blog:

• G Forever (Chris Tomlin) Ali
• G Come love of God (Ali Loaker) Ali

–(Notices)–

• Em The voice of the lord (Ali Loaker) Ali
• Em More than life (Hillsong United) Ali
• Bm Did you rise the sun (Hillsong United) Teash
• Am A thousand miles (Ali Loaker) Ali

“This Sunday was the first time in a while we have had the go ahead to play praise songs after the notices. We were playing before the service and God gave me a picture of us marching into battle with a ‘kingdom of God’ flag raise high above our heads (Isiah 59:19). I started the service by reciting this verse and letting everybody know the direction God wanted to go in today.

The first two songs went well and I encouraged the congregation to use them as a pathway on to the battlefield because breakthrough is in the air. The breakthrough never came unfortunately or at least not to the natural eye!

Worship went well with Teash leading her first song. She did really well and managed to remember all of the hand signals etc…

Cheers

Ali”