i am an offering

I usually don’t post twice in one day but our pastor has just started a blog series that I think will be very beneficial for believers to read. I blogged last weak on the importance of knowing how to defend what we believe. This is what Wade is going to be diving into this week. Check out the first post here.

When I first started blogging, I used to have a post every Monday called “Sunday Recap.” I miss doing these types of posts as it causes me to reflect on the great things that God did and allowed me to take part in during worship on Sunday morning (and Sunday evening, now). A few blogs I’m reading have been calling them “worship confessionals.” I’m not sure what they mean by that, so I’m going to keep mine titled “Sunday Recap” for now. Here’s the recap from yesterday:

Worship set:

• Pre-service song: Marvelous Light by Charlie Hall
• Strong Tower - Peter Furler/Steven Taylor
• The Solid Rock - Bradbury
• Before the Throne of God Above - Steve and Vicki Cook
• Speak, O Lord - Getty/Townend

Every once in a while, the music and the message just click. That happened during worship yesterday. Pastor Wade talked about the fall of man from Genesis and then closed the message by talking about guilt and what to do with it when Satan throws it at us in various forms. We sang the second and third verses of “Before the Throne” as a reprise and the first words of the second verse are “When Satan tempts me to despair, and tells me of my guilt within, upward I look and see Him there who put an end to all my sin.” That’s powerful stuff.

Sunday evening was Truth Project at small group and I was able to lead worship in a small group setting for the first time. Nerves made me move through the teaching portion too quickly, but I think there was a good spirit in the place (well, obviously there was, since the Holy Spirit was present :-). Like we talked about in the study, though, our minds were engaged and in tune with God’s presence, so I know He was glorified!

On Wednesday I shared that I have the great privilege of being able to lead worship in a small group this coming Sunday for the first time. I’ve never done it before, and am a bit nervous to do it (which is good, that helps me rely on God and not myself!), so I asked a few questions asking for others’ experience. Josh shared some great thoughts:

• (on picking songs for small group setting) pick songs that are still comfortable in a small group setting. The big-venue, large audience songs don’t fare so well (think big Hillsong songs, some Charlie Hall, etc). Songs that encourage more personal worship are better suited as well.
• (on breaking the ice for people who aren’t use to worshiping in small groups) This one’s a hard one, and I don’t have an answer, but I’d say the more you sing, the more open the group gets. I’d also say the more free you yourself are to worship, the more your group will be encouraged to follow suit. As for the second question, yes! People that are comfortable singing in a small group (or alone) will sing more freely in large groups.

Thanks for your thoughts, Josh. The more I think about this, the more I realize that I’m not really ready to answer these questions yet, as I’ve had no experience. We’ll revisit this topic in a couple of months and see how things are going.

In the meantime, if you’re interested in leading worship for small groups, you might want to check out this book. My copy’s on the way and I’m excited to read it!

Today is Valentine’s Day. Many people today might feel very loved by someone in their life and find satisfaction and comfort in that love. Many people might feel lonely and depressed, wondering if love even exists. However, for both people, earthly love will fade and never satisfy. I was pointed to a hymn this week that I had never heard of before that puts God’s Love in some amazing imagery that really opened my eyes to its vastness - “The Love of God.” Check it out -

The love of God is greater far
Than tongue or pen can ever tell;
It goes beyond the highest star,
And reaches to the lowest hell;
The guilty pair, bowed down with care,
God gave His Son to win;
His erring child He reconciled,
And pardoned from his sin.

Refrain
O love of God, how rich and pure!
How measureless and strong!
It shall forevermore endure
The saints’ and angels’ song.

When years of time shall pass away,
And earthly thrones and kingdoms fall,
When men, who here refuse to pray,
On rocks and hills and mountains call,
God’s love so sure, shall still endure,
All measureless and strong;
Redeeming grace to Adam’s race—
The saints’ and angels’ song.

Could we with ink the ocean fill,
And were the skies of parchment made,
Were every stalk on earth a quill,
And every man a scribe by trade,
To write the love of God above,
Would drain the ocean dry.
Nor could the scroll contain the whole,
Though stretched from sky to sky.

What absolutely amazing words! If you’re feeling loved today, know that His love is greater than any earthly love you could imagine. If you’re feeling unloved today, let these words fill you with hope and peace.

Two interesting things about this hymn: The first is that the third verse is adapted from a Jewish poem, Hadamut. You can read more about it here. Secondly, there is a great recording of this hymn by Mercy Me on their Spoken For album.

*I will be sharing my answers to yesterday’s questions tomorrow, as I thought highlighting this hymn would be perfect for today.

As I mentioned yesterday, I was privileged to be able to join a small group at our church. I’ve been thinking for a long time now that small groups would be a great time to do a little more intimate worshipping together, do a little more informal teaching on worship, and possibly be a place to raise up new worship leaders. The only problem is…I’ve never done it before!

I’m much more used to leading worship in a larger group setting but I’m really excited about doing it in a small group. So, do any of you have experience with this? Could you answer any of these questions? I’ll post my answers and reasoning behind them tomorrow.

• What is your criteria for picking songs for a small group? Do you use some of the same songs you use during corporate worship or completely different stuff?
• If you have a group that’s never sung in a small group setting before and aren’t particularly used to losing themselves in worship, how do you break the ice? (I won’t be able to answer this one until this Sunday or next, when I do this for the first time!) Have you seen people start to become more intimate in worship during small group and then be more free during a corporate worship service?
• If you are planning to use time in small group to equip and raise up a worship leader, how do you go about the process? What’s worked for you? What hasn’t?