Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal

By On February 29, 2012 · Leave a Comment · In Worship

In traditions that span the spectrum of Christian song and substance that constitutes corporate worship, you might find a number of common threads that unify rather than distinguish. A Call to Worship that employs scripture to remind us of God’s initiation of corporate worship. A time of corporate confession. Or, a brief prayer or song called the Trisagion, which mirrors quite literally this image of God’s throne room in Revelation 4:

“…and before the throne there was as it were a sea of glass, like crystal.  And around the throne, on each side of the throne, are four living creatures, full of eyes in front and behind: the first living creature like a lion, the second living creature like an ox, the third living creature with the face of a man, and the fourth living creature like an eagle in flight. And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say,  “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty,   who was and is and is to come!” (Revelation 4:6-8 ESV)

In our gatherings on Sundays, we are leveraging the simplicity and richness of Fernando Ortega’s version of the Trisagion throughout the Lenten period. If you are unfamiliar with it, I encourage you to purchase a copy of the track here. You can also preview it for free. See you Sunday.

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Behold the Lamb of God

By On January 13, 2012 · Leave a Comment · In Worship

We’ve got a big day planned this Sunday. Adult education kicks off what promise to be several great classes, and there’s a lunch for college students. The worship team worked on preparing some special music this week that I hope you’ll enjoy. We will be singing “Gather Round, Ye Children, Come”, a great song about the Christ child from Behold the Lamb of God, Andrew Peterson’s acclaimed Christmas tour-turned-album.

Peterson is a household name for some in our church, but his work will be new to lots of people. I really enjoy his style of song writing, and I think he crafts music that tells a story well. Behold the Lamb of God was written to tell the Christmas story. As Rob continues to dwell on Christ as a child, the lyrics from this song (written in 2004) began to play in my head. Hopefully it won’t be stuck in yours all next week.

Gather ’round, ye children, come
Listen to the old, old story
Of the pow’r of Death undone
By an infant born of glory
Son of God, Son of Man

Gather ’round, remember now
How creation held its breath
How it let out a sigh
And it filled up the sky with the angels
Son of God, Son of Man

So sing out with joy for the brave little boy
Who was God, but He made Himself nothing
He gave up His pride and He came here to die
Like a man

Therefore God exalted Him
To the place of highest praises
And He gave Him a name above every name
That at the very name of Jesus, Son of God

So in heav’n and earth and below
Every knee would bow in worship
And ev’ry tongue would proclaim
That Jesus, He reigns with the angels

See you Sunday.

 

Trisagion

By On December 1, 2011 · Leave a Comment · In Worship

Last week, we learned a new confession that will shape our services throughout Advent. Trisagion was written by Fernando Ortega, an accomplished song writer and worship director. Ortega is an Aglican minister and recently released a new album titled “Come Down, O Love Devine”. You can listen to some samples from this beautiful work here. We will sing these simple words together this Sunday:

Holy God, Holy and Mighty, Holy
Immortal One, have mercy, have mercy on us

The word Trisagion means “thrice holy” – we sing it to ackknowlege the holiness of our Triune God, just as we acknowlege our own unworthiness. As always, a corporate or private confession should point us to the cross, to the work of Christ that will make all things new. We are comforted by his word:

The LORD is a stronghold for the oppressed,
a stronghold in times of trouble.
And those who know your name put their trust in you,
for you, O LORD, have not forsaken those who seek you.

 

We’re Changing Children’s Dismissal from Worship!

By On December 1, 2011 · Leave a Comment · In Children, Current Events, Worship

Parents: If you’ve been around for a while, you are used to walking with your children to the welcome station just before the sermon. From now on, we are going to encourage you to do so at any time during the song that precedes the sermon. This should give you more time to get them checked in and still make it back for the entire message. We hope this will be encouraging to you!

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Behold Our God, Sunday

By On August 24, 2011 · Leave a Comment · In Worship

Who has held the oceans in His hands?
Who has numbered every grain of sand?
Kings and nations tremble at His voice
All creation rises to rejoice

Behold our God seated on His throne
Come, let us adore Him
Behold our King—nothing can compare
Come, let us adore Him

Who has given counsel to the Lord?
Who can question any of His words?
Who can teach the One who knows all things?
Who can fathom all His wondrous deeds?

Who has felt the nails upon His hands?
Bearing all the guilt of sinful man
God eternal, humbled to the grave
Jesus, Savior, risen now to reign

You will reign forever
Let Your glory fill the earth