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Archive | —Worship and Christ

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The Gathering: Live from WorshipGod11 is Here

By on November 16, 2011 in —Sovereign Grace Music, —Worship and Christ, —WorshipGod Conferences

In his outstanding book, Christ-Centered Worship: Letting the Gospel Shape Our Practice, Bryan Chapell writes, “Liturgy tells a story. We tell the gospel by the way we worship.” That thought influenced the song choices and order for our latest album, The Gathering: Live from WorshipGod11, 15 songs that tell the story of the gospel and our appropriate response to it. In Scripture and history, God’s glory and grace have informed and shaped the way we relate to him. We’re awed by his greatness but attracted by his mercy. We’re undone by his holiness but drawn by his forgiveness. It’s a pattern that’s reflected in Isaiah’s encounter with God …

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Leading in Light of Christ’s Perfection

By on April 7, 2011 in —Leading a Congregation, —Worship and Christ

Since August 2010, Ken Boer (music director for Covenant Life) and I have had three men working for me at Sovereign Grace: Nathan Edwards (Florida), Matt Richley (Merthyr Tydfil, UK) and Mauricio Velarde (Gaithersburg). It’s been a joy to have them around, growing and learning with them how to serve people more effectively in magnifying Jesus Christ using the Word and music. Each Wednesday morning we meet for about 90 minutes to study a book. We generally take turns sharing what specific sentences or paragraphs impacted us or raised questions for us. Not too long ago we finished The Cross And Christian Ministry by D.A. Carson. It’s a book …

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Risen Has Arrived

By on March 23, 2011 in —Easter, —Sovereign Grace Music, —Worship and Christ

I’m happy to announce that our latest album, Risen, came out yesterday — a whole album of songs that celebrate the reality and meaning of the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. When we first were planning Risen my hope was to get it out in time for Easter. God helping us, we did. And we managed to squeeze in a few extras. More Sheet Music We’ve included lead sheets and guitar charts as in the past, but this time both in the recorded key and in suggested congregational keys, when needed. Risen also includes the piano scores for all the songs. More Sovereign Grace Musicians Most of our previous major releases have …

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Should We Sing Songs About God’s Judgments?

By on October 29, 2010 in —Choosing Songs, —Worship and Christ, —Worship and Eschatology, —Worship and Evangelism, —Worship and God

Some people had questions about my recent review of Doug O’Donnell’s book, God’s Lyrics, which I want to attempt to address in this post. The basic question has to do with the place of singing about God’s judgments. O’Donnell makes the point that many of the songs in the Old Testament rejoice over God’s just judgments (Ex. 15:1-18; 1Sam. 2:10; 2Sam. 22:44-51, etc.) A related theme has to do with God humbling the proud. Both themes are lacking in the song diet of many churches, yet they’re unquestionably present not only in OT songs, but in the New Testament as well (Lk. 1:51-55; Rev. 18:20; 19:1-5). Are You Kidding Me? We can struggle with …

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The Functional Limits of Creativity: How Innovative Can We Be with the Gospel?

By on October 8, 2010 in —Creativity, —Worship and Christ, —Worship and Culture, —Worship and Evangelism, —Worship and Music

This past weekend I had the privilege of presenting a workshop at Crowder’s Fantastical Church Music Conference in Waco, TX. Through a series of email discussions, David and I came up with the title, “The Functional Limits of Creativity: How Innovative Can We Be with the Gospel?” When Crowder first contacted me about participating in the conference I wanted to make sure he knew where I was coming from in the area of creativity. I love creativity, but think God has placed limits on its use in congregational meetings. He told me that’s why he wanted me to come to the conference. Well, that made my day. I divided my workshop message into …

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The Cross and Christian Ministry

By on September 21, 2010 in —Worship and Christ, —Worship and Culture

A few years ago, at the recommendation of C.J. Mahaney, I read The Cross and Christian Ministry by D.A. Carson. Carson exposits select passages from 1 Corinthians, explaining how the cross affects our understanding of preaching, the Holy Spirit, factionalism, Christian leadership, and being a world Christian. I’d highly recommend it for any Christian leader who believes “Christ crucified” defines not only our message but our methods of ministry. Here are a few quotes that impacted me: Replacing The Primary with the Secondary “It is at least possible that we are the generation of believers who will destroy much of historic Christianity from …

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The Gospel Song – An Animation

By on August 24, 2010 in —Song Downloads, —Sovereign Grace Music, —Worship and Christ, Videos

Not too long ago I came across the work of Chris Powers, who put together an animated video of one of our songs, The Prodigal. I was moved by the way he used simple animation to illustrate the song in a powerful way. Recently Chris told me he had animated another one of our songs, The Gospel Song. Here are the lyrics: Holy God in love became Perfect man to bear my blame On the cross he took my sin By his death I live again. In the video, Chris also added a portion of a message by John Piper where he pleads with unbelievers to trust in the finished work of Christ for their sins. The Gospel Song was first written for a musical …

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"Jesus, Thank You" by Pat Sczebel

“Jesus, Thank You” by Pat Sczebel

By on June 24, 2010 in —Next/New Attitude, —Songwriting, —Worship and Christ

Back in 2005 we produced an album called Worship God Live, a live album that featured Pat Sczebel and me each leading six songs. Pat serves as one of the pastors at Crossway Community Church, in Surrey, British Columbia. He’s been a dear friend for years. Pat inspires me in many ways. He’s one of the most encouraging guys I know. He’s a caring husband, a faithful dad, a diligent pastor, and he has a heart for the lost. But most of all, I’m affected by his genuine love for Jesus Christ. Through a variety of circumstances, in want and fruitfulness, Pat’s love for the Savior has produced encouragement, hope, and faith that affects everyone around …

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Spurgeon on the Inexhaustibility of Jesus

By on March 1, 2010 in —Leading a Congregation, —Worship and Christ, —Worship and Music

Charles Spurgeon (1834-1892) has few peers when it comes to stirring up biblically informed passion for Jesus Christ. My wife made me aware of one of his quotes today from The Daily Spurgeon. It’s from a sermon called “The Fulness Of Jesus, The Treasury Of Saints,” that Spurgeon delivered February 28, 1869. Spurgeon describes how both preaching and music grow dull if they don’t magnify the greatness of the Savior in people’s minds and hearts. His words are just as relevant today as they were 140 years ago. “Brethren, there is an abiding fullness of truth in Christ; after you have heard it for fifty years, you see more of its fullness …

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Songs that Celebrate the Resurrection in View of the Cross

By on February 26, 2010 in —Easter, —Worship and Christ

I’ll never make any apologies for encouraging Christians to live cross-centered lives, or leaders to lead in gospel-centered ways. Christ’s substitutionary death on the cross which reconciled us to God will always be central to our faith. But while we are called to glory in the cross of Christ (Gal. 6:14), the death of Christ isn’t meant to stand alone in our thinking or preaching. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied. (1 Cor. 15:17-19) Still, …

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Can Singing About the Gospel Become Rote?

By on January 29, 2010 in —Choosing Songs, —Worship and Christ

One of the drums I will never tire of beating is this: All biblical worship is rooted in and made possible by the cross of Christ. In my experience, the contemporary church (and any church, for that matter) is always in danger of neglecting the gospel in its songs. I said it this way in my book, Worship Matters: The gospel is not merely one of many possible themes we can touch on as we come to worship God. It is the central and foundational theme. All our worship originates and is brought into focus at the cross of Jesus Christ. Glorying in Jesus Christ means glorying in his cross. That doesn’t mean looking at some icon or two pieces …

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Longing for His Appearing – and Singing About It

By on January 21, 2010 in —Choosing Songs, —Worship and Christ

Whatever you believe about the timing of the return of Christ, orthodox Christians all agree on one thing: Jesus is coming back. Scripture tells us that when Jesus finally returns, all wrongs will be made right, the unrighteous will be judged, and those who have trusted in Christ will enter into the immediate presence of God in the new heavens and new earth. God promises that there will be no more sin, no more tears, no more death, and no more pain (2Thess. 2:8; Phil. 3:20-21; Rev. 21:4). And “when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2). With those kinds of promises, you’d expect that we’d be thinking …

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Treasuring Christ Above All Things

By on December 14, 2009 in —Sound and Tech, —Worship and Christ, Devotions

My daughter, Brittany, sent me this video today. It’s by the folks at Desiring God, who excel at using technology in a creative way to draw attention to what’s being said. The content is part of a John Piper sermon set to techno music. Piper addresses the question, “How do we treasure Christ above all things?” which is at the heart of God-honoring worship. This is what we’re seeking to help people do every time we have the privilege of leading corporate worship. …

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Christ-Centered Worship by Bryan Chappell – Book Review

By on September 26, 2009 in —Books, —Leading a Congregation, —Worship and Christ, —Worship and the Church

Just finished Christ-Centered Worship: Letting the Gospel Shape Our Practice, by Bryan Chappell. Bottom line — if you’re responsible for leading, overseeing, or planning corporate worship in your church, you should read this book. Chappell divides the book into two sections, Gospel Worship and Gospel Worship Resources. A casual look at the Table of Contents could lead you to think the book is all about formal liturgies, and irrelevant for churches that come from a more “free” tradition. Not the case. In the first section he defines liturgy as “the public way a church honors God in its times of gathered praise, prayer, instruction, and commitment” …

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By This We Know Love – Video from Next Live 2009

By on September 24, 2009 in —Next/New Attitude, —Songwriting, —Worship and Christ, Videos

This past May I had the joy of leading the singing at the Next conference in Baltimore, MD, along with three different bands. One of them was Zelos, led by Judah Groveman. We introduced one of Judah’s songs, By This We Know Love. It’s a simple ballad that communicates the profound truth of 1 John 3:16: “By this we know love, thathe laid down his life for us.” Here are the lyrics: God of all Creation, Lord of heaven’s light Descended into evil’s darkest night Infinitely Holy, Your perfections know no end Selflessly You died my rightful death By this we know love that He laid down His life God’s very own Son came from Heaven to die Suspended …

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