Sunday Meeting Volume

It's been while since we've had a post other than set lists, but I just saw this article and found it interesting. Maybe it will generate some discussion about volume levels in our meetings on Sundays.

How Loud is Too Loud?

Set List for Sunday September 5th

Shout From the Roof - Paul Oakley

How Great is Your Faithfulness – Matt Redman

Coming Alive – Paul Oakley

This is Our God – Reuben Morgan

I Love Your Presence – Darren Clarke and Jessie Lane

Sunday August 29th Set List

Holy Are You Lord - Paul Oakley

How Great is Your Faithfulness - Matt Redman

Glorious Day - Michael Bleecker

Crimson Stream - Paul Oakley

Aug 15th - Set List

Holy Are You Lord - Paul Oakley
This Is Life - Simon Brading
Coming Alive - Paul Oakley
My Soul Is Well - Simon Brading
You Alone Can Rescue - Matt Redman

Two Great Posts from Seth Hein...

I've know Seth Hein for quite a number of years now, and have seen him progress from a barely-post-youth-group guy going for it in leading young people in worship at youth conferences, to overseeing the worship teams at Jubilee Church in St. Louis. He is an amazing guy who passionately loves God and continues to grow in leading God's people into a life of worship. He recently wrote at two-part article on "Connecting with Your Congregation" on the Newfrontiers-USA "Continuous Worship" blog. Check out what he had to say:


Connecting with Your Congregation - Part 1 by Seth Hein

Connecting with Your Congregation - Part 2 by Seth Hein

July 18th Set List

Worthy, You are Worthy - Matt Redman

For all That You Are - Simon Brading

God of Our Yesterdays - Matt Redman

My Soul is Well - Simon Brading

Righteousness of God - Aaron Scott

July 11th Set List

Salvation - Simon Brading

Righteousness of God - Aaron Scott

Majestic Glory - Karl Scott

Befriended - Matt Redman

Nothing but the Blood - Hymn Version

Training the Next Generation to Hope in God, Not Us

Training the Next Generation to Hope in God, Not Us

I think this is so important!

June 27th Set List

I'm doing this from memory so I hope I get it right!

O Praise Him - David Crowder
Majestic Glory - Karl Scott
Nothing But the Blood - Matt Redman
Fragrant Oil - Paul Oakley
Breathe On Me - Paul Okley

June 20 - Set list

Your Grace Is Enough - Matt Maher
Everything - Chris Tomlin
You Alone Can Rescue - Matt Redman
How Great Is Our God - Chris Tomlin
The Father's Song - Matt Redman

June 6 & 13 Setlist

June 6:
Come Thou Fount -
You're the Light - Ben Cantelon
Remain - Ben Cantelon
This Is Our God - Reuben Morgan
Coming Alive - Paul Oakley


June 13:
Everything - Chris Tomlin
Glorious Day - Michael Bleecker
Here I Am to Worship - Tim Hughes
Let Your Light Shine In - Michael Gray
This Is Our God - Reuben Morgan
Worthy, You Are Worthy - Matt Redman

May 2 Set List

Coming Alive - Paul Oakley
Our God Reigns - Simon Brading
Love Came Down - Ben Cantelon
Glorious Day - Michael Bleeker
Praise The Lord (My Soul Is Well)

Bo's Bloggings on the "What If" Series

Howdy folks, I wanted to make sure that as many people got a chance to take a look at Bo's postings during the "What If" teaching series as possible. He has been taking time to break down some of the details of the talks into more bite sized pieces. I would strongly encourage anyone who didn't get to hear any portions of the series to listen to the podcast (you can check it out by clicking here). As a leadership team we are excited to see what God does, how he moves us forward, and draws us out to serve the people and place of Tacoma! Here are a couple of links to the first two blog postings by Bo:

-More On Making Disciples
-Transparent Connections With Others

Great Free Album...thought is was worth sharing.

Not too sure who these guys are, but from what I've heard from this album so far they are solid! They are called PageCXVI and their first album is free this week to promote their upcoming release. The arrangements of these hymns are super cool. A fairly indie-pop feel with some nice Rhodes-ish piano and ambient guitar. Hope you like!

http://pagecxvi.bkstageshare.com/hymns/

Some Helfpul Stuff from Simon Brading

Came across these video clips featuring Simon Brading speaking on a variety of topics.


http://vimeo.com/tag:simonbrading

Worship Set: April 25

You're the Light - Ben Cantelon
Holy Are You Lord - Paul Oakley
Glorious Day - Michael Bleecker
This Is Our God - Reuben Morgan

Leadership: Control vs Structure

This is a portion of an article Leigh and I read for our adoption prep. Even though it's actually about parenting, I found it very helpful, informative, and provoking in regards to leading people in a team setting. Our goal is to build community with one another, learn from one another, and work together to see people turn their hearts to God. Hope you find it helpful as well!

-waymond

-----------


CONTROL VS STRUCTURE

These two terms are central for the success or failure of good interventions. Two environments may look identical in set up, but the quality of the atmosphere in each may be opposite if the interactions in one reflect attempts to control and the other reflects attempts to structure.

The American Heritage dictionary definition of "Control" includes: "1) To exercise authority or dominating influence over; direct; regulate. 2) To hold in restraint; to check." Control tends to be top-down, other-initiated, disregards the needs of the individual and sets up power struggles. Control is usually "over" someone or something, and as such does not invite mutuality.

(When people) have been asked if they have ever felt controlled, and if so, how they felt and what they remember wanting to do. Most people have unpleasant memories of feeling controlled. Parents and professionals alike said the experience made them want to get away, avoid the situation, get even, and other behaviors suggesting intense discomfort. There are often intense negative feelings associated with the memory of feeling controlled. Children often react to the experience of feeling controlled and may also demonstrate this in their behaviors.

Implicitly, people in control are expected to have answers and be able to exert power over and change others. This results in making statements rather than asking questions and being directive rather than inviting participation. Control tends to be brittle, characterized by increasing numbers of rules and regulations. Controlling behaviors send a message that reads: You (your ideas, contributions) do not matter. It is normal for people to fight messages that they do not matter.

The definition of "Structure" includes the following descriptors: "1) A complex entity. 2) The configuration of elements, parts, or constituents in such an entity; organization; arrangement. 3) The interrelation of parts or the principle of organization in a complex entity." Structure is characterized by a few guiding principles, and is adaptable, affording greater latitude for working with a range of cultures, strengths, and abilities.

There is a common fear that letting go of control will result in chaos. The reality is that structure provides more options. Letting go of the fear of not having all the answers supports asking questions  and exploring options.

Worship Set: March 28

Holy Are You Lord - Paul Oakley
Sweetly Broken - Jeremy Riddle
O Glorious Day - Michael Bleecker(?)
Worthy, You Are Worthy - Matt Redman
Crimson Stream - Paul Oakley

Loving this video and song

This is a song and video by Rend Collective Experiment a new band from the UK that I recently heard about on Kingsway's website. Enjoy!

What Do You Say When You Lead Worship? Part 1

What Do You Say When You Lead Worship? Part 1

This is super funny, but also very helpful!

How To Choose Songs For a Gathering

I just came across this excellent article on song selection from Paul Oakley.

Take a look at it here.

Songs - Sunday March 14

Song list from Sunday March 14, 2010:

Let God Arise (capo 2 in G, actual Key A) Chris Tomlin

Our God He Reigns (capo 4 in Am, actual key C#) Simon Brading

Third Day (capo 3 in D, actual key F) Simon Brading

Amazing Grace (capo 3 in D, actual key F)

My Soul is Well (capo 3 in G, actual key A#) Simon Brading

Small Group Worship

Two weeks ago in our small group we had a time of worship that was filled with passion, prayer, and the tangible presence of God. It did not include a guitar, or any music for that matter. It was not lead by a "worship leader" nor was it hyped up in any way at all. It was simple and powerful, and it looked like this:

Tom Valdez was sitting on his couch and the rest of our small group (about 10ish people) were scattered around him in various chairs, couches, etc. I had asked him to lead the worship time by picking a section of scripture that talked about the biggness/goodness of God and to lead a time of prayerful worship around that. He started by explaining that he'd had a pretty crappy week and that when I had asked him to lead the worship time he was a bit skeptical, but decided to go for it. Then he read Psalm 103 and gave a very brief explanation of how these verses on God's love and redeeming character had lifted him out of his circumstances. Then we prayed. We prayed into the truth of these verses. We told God how he had lifted us out of pits, how he was our Rock, how much we appreciated the fact that our sins were removed "as far as the East is from the West." It wasn't fancy, it wasn't flashy, it wasn't hyped...but God was there, by his Holy Spirit, and we sensed his presence and love. We bowed our wills before him and we threw our affections toward him, and he poured out his love into our hearts.

Small group worship times can be pretty awkward at times, but if led well they can be simple yet transformative times. They can include guitars and singing songs from song sheets, they can be raised voices singing songs from our hearts, they can look like what Tom did in our group. There are a variety of ways to have corporate small group worship. The point is, they need to be led. Tom told us what to do, led us through the scripture, and then we were led in corporate prayer together. I would encourage those who lead these times to follow some very simple points as you lead:

1) Tell the group what you're going to do:
(Example) I'm going to read some scripture about the goodness and greatness of God. Pay attention to who God says that he is, or how he responds to us as we go through the scripture. Then we're going to pray our thanks and for those things and speak back those things to him. This isn't about us, it's about praising him.

2) Encourage the group to participate...don't be afraid to be expressive and passionate: 
(Example) Let's not ask God for anything during this time. Let's just lift our voices. (Then start out by going for it yourself...pray BIG prayers, or maybe even prep others by asking them to start out the prayer time beforehand. Just to say, prayer times can look like all the people raising their voices at once...which can be very good, individuals praying, or a combination of the two. Again, let people know what you're expecting.)


3) Lead by example in praying out, singing out, and sharing the prophetic

4) Look for opportunities to encourage people in your group afterward


Small groups are safe places to worship, build community, and practice the gifts of the Spirit. Let's continue to move forward as a church and lead people well into times of expressive worship!

Songs - Sunday March 7

Song list from Sunday March 7, 2010:

Our God He Reigns (capo 4 in Am, actual key C#) Simon Brading
Highest and Greatest (capo 4 in G, actual key B) Tim Hughes
Let the Rain Come (capo 4 in G, actual key B) Simon Brading
My Soul is Well (capo 2 in G, actual key A) Simon Brading
You Alone Can Rescue (capo 2 in G, actual key A) Matt Redman

Worship through Prayer

Prayer is a vitally important aspect of every Christian’s life that should be given more attention than it often times receives. Prayer isn’t just bringing requests before God for Him to either say yes or no to, it is the best and most effective way that we as His children can connect and spend time communing with our Father. More than this, it is necessary for the health of our relationship with God and our lives as followers of Christ. This isn’t to say that God doesn’t want us to bring our requests before Him, because He most certainly does! Not only does He want us to bring our requests before Him, He wants us be specific about what we are asking of Him and to have faith that He will accomplish and provide those things. Our faithfulness in prayer is one of the many ways we act out our worship to God. The more passionately we throw ourselves into prayer the more our times of corporate worship will be filled with passion. Even more than just passion, the more we pray to be filled with the Spirit of God, the more our times of corporate worship will be filled and led by the Spirit of God. Lord God, may we be characterized by the way Your Spirit leads us in our gathering and as a church focused on Your mission of redemption! Through this incredible gift of prayer given to us by God, He wants to bring about change. Change in our hearts, in our church, in our neighborhoods, our City, and the nations. We have the great privilege of taking part in this change God has promised by joining together and praying that these promises would be fulfilled. The reconciling work of Jesus Christ is clearly laid out for us in this verse from Colossians:

“For it pleased the Father that in Him (Jesus) all the fullness should dwell, and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross” Col 1:20 (emphasis added)

Jesus has promised to reconcile all things into a right relationship with Him and is, in fact, in the process of this work of reconciliation. It clearly states in these verses that God is reconciling “all things to Himself”, and this absolutely includes the city of Tacoma. Because of this promise of reconciliation that has been given to us through Jesus Christ, we need to pray for the fulfillment of that promise to break in and take hold at the very heart of Tacoma and bring this city into a right relationship with Him. Our prayers will ignite and fuel this promise given to us by God and we will begin to see the reconciling work of Jesus in our city. We must pray with unwavering commitment and heart felt devotion, understanding that we may not see an immediate answer to our prayers, but having faith that through our perseverance in those requests we will see God answer those prayers in amazing ways. God exists in community and He desires to be in community with us. It is through this community relationship that God wants to bring about change, that’s how He designed it. Let’s join together as a community of believers, in community with the Father, to see His promise of reconciliation come to glorious fulfillment through life changing power of Jesus Christ. This is our mission: to see our city, our state, our nation, and all the nations of this earth come to know and worship the one and only Creator God, the Savior of the world; Jesus Christ.

Songs - Sunday Feb 21

Song list from Sunday, February 21, 2010:

Let God Arise - Chris Tomlin
This Is Life - Simon Brading
You Alone Can Rescue - Matt Redman
Let Your Light Shine In - Michael Gray
King of Glory - Melissa How

Audio from "A Biblical Look at the Prophetic" by Sam Poe

Thanks to Bo we now have all of the audio up from Sam's seminar on the prophetic from last weekend. You will find audio for 4 sessions and a PDF of the handout that Sam provided. The seminar covered the Nature of Prophecy, the Ministry of the Prophet in the New Testament Church, the Primary Purpose of Prophecy, Prophecy in the Gathering, and Weighing Prophecy.

Listen or download at www.ncctacoma.podomatic.com

Leading in the Midst of Trials

An extremely important post by Bob Kauflin. I am reminded that our role as leaders is first and foremost serving, even when we are hurting and discouraged. Jesus was an amazing example of this, drawing strength from the Father and being filled with the Holy Spirit. Please read.... and pray for the Kauflin family. ````

Leading in the Midst of Trials

Sunday - February 14

Song list from Sunday, February 14, 2010:

Let God Arise - Chris Tomlin
The Highest and Greatest - Tim Hughes
You Alone Can Rescue - Matt Redman
Healer - Mike Guglielmucci

"All of Life is Worship" - a Post Script

For ease of access, here is a link to my talk from mid-January. It is a honor and privilege to preach about worship. As an addendum to this preach I thought I would add a PS.

Here is my PS - Over the past few years God has been awakening me to the fact that all of mankind worships something, whether it is a job, our family, music and entertainment, food, or God himself. It's just the way we are made. What we see from the life of Jesus, though, is that instead of taking our eyes off of the Father, the joys, pains, loves, and endless commodities of life should STIR OUR AFFECTIONS for God. A nice Americano from Valhalla (a coffee shop on 6th Ave) can cause me to spontaneously worship God as much as some theologically rich worship song in the midst of a Sunday worship service. Hanging out with friends while watching the creativity of a movie can do the same. It has to do with the way we look at life and the Creator of life. A bigger view of God leads to a greater ability to worship...to bow our affections and wills to our Father. It's pretty scary to see the biblical view of what happens when we "worship the created rather than the creator" (Rom 1:24-26), but what happens when we live lives of worship can and will transform the places we live!

Our Focus in Corporate Worship

Hey guys, I just started reading Worship by the Book by D. A. Carson, Mark Ashton, R. Kent Hughes, and Timothy Keller, and I came across this very well worded section concerning our focus in corporate worship. It’s a little long but I feel like it does a great job of explaining how our focus can begin to shift from God to other aspects of the corporate gathering.

“In an age increasingly suspicious of (linear) thought, there is much more respect for the “feeling” of things—whether a film or a church service. It is disturbingly easy to plot surveys of people, especially young people, drifting from a church of excellent preaching and teaching to one with excellent music because, it is alleged, there is “better worship” there. But we need to think carefully about this matter. Let us restrict ourselves for the moment to corporate worship. Although there are things that can be done to enhance corporate worship, there is a profound sense in which excellent worship cannot be attained merely by pursuing excellent worship. In the same way that, according to Jesus, you cannot find yourself until you lose yourself, so also you cannot find excellent corporate worship until you stop trying to find excellent corporate worship and pursue God himself. Despite the protestations, one sometimes wonders if we are beginning to worship worship rather than worship God. As a brother put it to me, it’s a bit like those who begin by admiring the sunset and soon begin to admire themselves admiring the sunset.

This point is acknowledged in a praise chorus like “ Let’s forget about ourselves, and magnify the Lord, and worship him.” The trouble is that after you have sung this repetitious chorus three or four times, you are no farther ahead. The way you forget about yourself is by focusing on God—not by singing about doing it, but by doing it. There are far too few choruses and services and sermons that expand our vision of God—his attributes, his works, his character, his words. Some think that corporate worship is good because it is lively where it has been dull. But it may also be shallow where it is lively, leaving people dissatisfied and restless in a few months’ time. Sheep lie down when they are fed well; they are more likely to be restless when they are hungry. “Feed my sheep,” Jesus commanded Peter (John 21); and many sheep are unfed. If you wish to deepen the worship of the people of God, above all deepen their grasp of his ineffable majesty in his person and in all his works.” - D.A. Carson

First of all let me say that I feel like we do a pretty good job of directing and keeping our focus on God in our corporate worship times. This is something I have been very grateful for during our time at NCC. After reading this I really started to think about the songs we sing on Sundays. I am happy to say that after doing this I found that the majority of songs we play focus our attention onto God and his many wonderful attributes. This is awesome, and also so very important as we aim to remove the attention from ourselves and focus on God. I just wanted to encourage all of us who are involved with leading worship to continue choosing (and even writing) songs that speak of God and his greatness. Let’s continue to supply the church with thought provoking songs that speak truth about the person and nature of God into their lives.

Mobilize

Hay Guy's, im not really sure who is all going to see this but i just
wanted to give a shout to all the our peeps at Mobilize this weekend.
it was a wonderful conference full of intense worship times and very
inspiring to us who play on worship teams. Simon Brading lead us so
well. Here is a link that michael found of all of the songs he played:
<http://www.worshipschool.com/song-lists-from-mobilise/>

Does America have a worship problem?

I've just started a new book, Experience God in Worship, which walks through several different styles of worship by a number of different authors. I'm only 16 pages into the book, and reading a section written by George Barna full of statistics about the church and worship. I came upon a quote I thought was worth posting here.

"The notion that America has a major problem in the area of worship is an inescapable conclusion. Perhaps the most striking feature of the research is the revelation that our problem is not an inability to craft services or experiences that are culturally relevant--we know how to do that, although many churches still resist doing so. The problem is that American Christians do not have a heart that is thirsting for an experience with God, eager to express gratitude and praise to Him, and open to His response to their efforts to convey humility, appreciation, acknowledgment of His love and character, and joy in knowing and serving Him." (George Barna in Experiencing God in Worship)

What do you think? Does America have a worship problem? Do you agree? If so, what is the solution?

"One Thing We Don't Want to Miss" - by Bob Kauflin

Bo sent me this link to a great article on the centrality of Jesus in our worship. A main question we must focus on during our times of corporate worship: "Have we magnified God’s worth in Jesus Christ?"

Full article: http://www.worshipcentral.org/blog/bob-kauflin/bob-kauflin-week-2