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Does Worship Need the Church?

By on April 24, 2018 in —Leading a Congregation, —Together for the Gospel

Recently at the Together for the Gospel conference in Louisville, KY, I had the joy and privilege of accompanying 12k+ attendees as they worshiped God in song. The sight and sound of praising God together with over 10,000 other believers is pretty overwhelming. But we can experience something similar with a smaller crowd. We’re often deeply affected by the singing at a conference, retreat, or worship event. So much so that gathering with your church on Sunday feels like a major letdown. Why doesn’t the worship in song we experience at an event translate to Sunday morning? Should we expect it to? Can local churches learn from worship …

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Songs and Thoughts from Together for the Gospel

By on April 18, 2016 in —Leading a Congregation, —Musicians & Vocalists, —Together for the Gospel, —Worship and Music

The Together for the Gospel conference, held Apr. 12-14 in Louisville, KY, is an every-other-year feast of insightful Bible teaching, passionate singing, and rich fellowship. It’s the fruit of a friendship between Mark Dever, Ligon Duncan, Al Mohler, and my good friend and senior pastor, C.J. Mahaney. That fruit has blossomed to encourage thousands of pastors faithfully serving their local churches. I had the joy of leading the music again this year. It’s a unique experience. A guy at a piano joined by ten thousand voices singing theologically rich, gospel-centered hymns, old and new. We’ve produced two albums from previous T4G conferences …

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Worship God UK 2015, The Forum, Bath, UK

What’s Ahead for Sovereign Grace Music in 2016

By on February 8, 2016 in —Leading a Team, —Sovereign Grace Music, —Together for the Gospel, —Training a Team, —WorshipGod Conferences, Bob’s Updates

I know it’s already February, but people frequently ask me what’s coming up for Sovereign Grace Music in 2016. As always, Sovereign Grace Music will be providing Christ-exalting music and training for local churches from local churches. Here are some of the ways we’ll be doing that this year. Recording Projects We’re currently writing songs for a live album based on the Lord’s Prayer. The working title is Prayers of the Saints, but that could change. It’s exciting to see these songs of praise and petition take shape. We’ll be recording the album some time in early July, with an anticipated release date of October/November. We’re …

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T4G Live II

Together for the Gospel Live II Now Available

By on November 27, 2012 in —Song Downloads, —Sovereign Grace Music, —Together for the Gospel

Today is the official release date for Together for the Gospel Live II, the follow-up album to Together for the Gospel Live that came out in 2008. This new album contains 16 hymns, old and new, that we sang at the 2010 and 2012 Together for the Gospel conference in Louisville, KY. Together for the Gospel emerged out of the relationships between four men: Mark Dever, Al Mohler, Ligon Duncan, and C.J. Mahaney. They found their experience of fellowship in and around the gospel so rich and encouraging they wanted to share it with others. So every other year, along with a few other speakers, they gather with thousands of mostly pastors, and seek …

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O Great God at Together for the Gospel

By on May 20, 2010 in —Sovereign Grace Music, —Together for the Gospel, Videos

Last month, we introduced a number of songs at the Together for the Gospel conference in Louisville, KY. O Great God was one of them. I originally wrote the song for our album, Valley of Vision, a collection of songs based on The Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers and Devotions. It comes from the prayer,  “Regeneration,” that begins: Occupy the throne of my heart, take full possession and reign supreme, lay low every rebel lust, let no vile passion resist they holy war; manifest thy mighty power, and make me thine for ever. Thou art worthy to be praised with my every breath, loved with my every faculty of soul served …

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Songs from Together for the Gospel 2010

By on April 30, 2010 in —Choosing Songs, —Hymns, —Together for the Gospel

Here’s a list of the songs we sang at Together for the Gospel this year. You can download the four part arrangement we included in the T4G booklet by clicking on the title. Due to copyright restrictions, we can’t give away songs that aren’t public domain or are owned by someone other than Sovereign Grace Ministries. Tuesday Afternoon Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing And Can it Be There is a Fountain Speak, O Lord Tuesday Evening Before the Throne I Hear the Words of Love In Christ Alone Wednesday Morning How Firm a Foundation I Asked the Lord That I Might Grow My Song is Love Unknown How Deep the Father’s Love Wednesday …

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Reflections on Leading at Together for the Gospel 2010

By on April 29, 2010 in —Hymns, —Together for the Gospel

Not too long ago I had the privilege and joy of leading the singing as 7000 people, mostly pastors, gathered in Louisville, KY for the Together for the Gospel conference. I’ve posted on why we picked the music we did and how I had a few more limitations this year. One limitation I didn’t expect was finding out four days before the conference that I had had strep throat for two weeks. Didn’t seem to affect my voice too much (not sure anyone would have noticed the difference anyway), but I was definitely operating at less than full capacity. All the messages were excellent, but I particularly appreciated Mark Dever’s (The Church is the Gospel …

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Learning to Live with Limitations at Together for the Gospel

By on April 9, 2010 in —Musicians & Vocalists, —Together for the Gospel, —Worship and the Pastor

The Rolling Stones, not generally known for wise words of instruction, reminded us of the truth that, “You can’t always get what you want.” Next week I have the joy and privilege of leading 7000+ Together for the Gospel conference attendees in singing the praises of our great Savior. Typically I lead with a full band, and enjoy the variety that can be achieved by adding various acoustic instruments, synths, percussion, and vocalists to the mix. But you can’t always get what you want. So at Together for the Gospel this year, it will just be me and a piano. Just like 2006 and 2008. Will I be limited? Yes. Will I praise God any less passionately? …

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Getting Ready for Together for the Gospel

By on March 9, 2010 in —Hymns, —Together for the Gospel

In the midst of other activities, I’ve been preparing to lead the singing for a group of 7000 mostly pastors at Together for the Gospel, to be held Apr. 13-15, 2010 in Louisville, KY. The conference emerged out of a friendship between four men – Al Mohler, Mark Dever, Ligon Duncan, and CJ Mahaney – who hail from different  backgrounds (Baptist, Presbyterian, charismatic) but who have found a profound unity in their passion for the gospel of Jesus Christ. This year, they’ll be joined by John Piper, John MacArthur, Thabiti Anyabwile, and R.C. Sproul. Matt Chandler has recently agreed to speak as part of CJ’s session. In addition, there will …

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Together for the Gospel CD Now Available

By on December 5, 2008 in —Hymns, —Song Downloads, —Sovereign Grace Music, —Together for the Gospel

Last April I had the joy of leading over 5000 individuals, mostly men, in times of corporate worship at the Together for the Gospel conference in Louisville, KY. Dave Mackenzie, who works for Sovereign Grace, set up mics to record the event, and I’m happy to let you know you can now buy the CD at the Sovereign Grace store. I’ll warn you. If you’re looking for incredible drum tracks, awesome guitar sounds, and a thumping bass,  you’ll have to look elsewhere. Together for the Gospel Live is just me on the piano and 5000 voices belting out 16 hymns, old and new, that magnify the gospel and glory of Christ. That’s it. Turns out that’s enough. …

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Together for the Gospel Live CD Pre-Order

By on November 14, 2008 in —Sovereign Grace Music, —Together for the Gospel

The live CD that I mentioned in a previous post is now ready for pre-order at the Sovereign Grace Music site. Right now you can sample all the songs and download three songs for free: O For a Thousand Tongues to Sing Jesus Paid it All All Hail the Pow’r of Jesus’ Name Go on over and let me know what you think. The CD should be ready by December. …

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Together for the Gospel Live CD

By on November 6, 2008 in —Hymns, —Sovereign Grace Music, —Together for the Gospel

Last April I had the privilege of leading over 5000 folks (mostly men) in worship a the Together for the Gospel conference in Louisville, KY. The sound was overpowering at times, particularly when we got to verses that unpacked the salvation Jesus secured for us through his substitutionary death. Since the conference, we’ve been asked whether or not any part of the singing had been recorded. As a matter of fact, all of it was. And we’ve been working on a CD made up of 16 hymns from the conference. They include older hymns like And Can it Be, It Is Well, and How Firm a Foundation, as well as modern hymns like The Power of the Cross (Getty/Townend) …

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Reflections on Leading Worship at Together for the Gospel

By on April 25, 2008 in —Choosing Songs, —Together for the Gospel

If you just read the comments on my last Together for the Gospel post, you might be tempted to think that things went flawlessly. Not the case. Practically every time I lead I learn something new about what I’m doing, even though I’ve been leading worship for over 30 years now. I pray that I’m always learning something. Here are some of the things I learned, put into practice, or remembered this year. You can experience and express strong emotions for God while singing hymns. I don’t know how many times I’ve heard someone say that hymns are dry, academic, lyrically dense, and inappropriate for “passionate worship.” That may be true in some …

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Song List for Together for the Gospel Conference

By on April 19, 2008 in —Hymns, —Together for the Gospel

This past week I had the privilege of leading worship in song for the Together for the Gospel conference in Louisville, Kentucky. What a joy it was to lead over 5000 attendees, mostly pastors, in worshiping our great Redeemer for his matchless work of redemption. They came from a variety of denominations and churches, mostly from the United States, but from as far away as Australia and India. (I have a story about the pastor from India at the end of this post) A number of people asked me for the song list and lyrics to the songs we sang. Most of the hymns we sang were public domain, but a few were Sovereign Grace Music and songs by Stuart …

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A Tale of Two Conferences

By on April 9, 2008 in —Next/New Attitude, —Together for the Gospel

During the past few weeks I’ve been preparing song lists for two conferences. The first is Together for the Gospel (Apr. 15-17) which takes place next week in Louisville, Kentucky. I worked with Mark Dever to plan the songs we’ll be singing there. About 5200 pastors will be sitting under the teaching of John Piper, C.J. Mahaney, Al Mohler, Mark Dever, Thabiti Anyabwile, R.C. Sproul, Ligon Duncan, and John MacArthur. It will be a diverse crowd, composed of Presbyterians, Baptists, continuationists, cessationists, paedo-Baptists, credo-Baptists, old, young, traditional, contemporary…you get the picture. We’re be gathering around the most glorious …

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