It has been two weeks since my post to this blog carnival…one was due to laziness the other to a major flood in Nashville area. We actually cancelled all services on May 2 due to rain and the dangerous conditions in the Nashville are. If you or your church is looking for a place to do ministry in the next few weeks or this summer, there is plenty to do in Nashville.
The setlist.
Pre-service
Vocals and band started this song minutes before the actual start of our service…why? Our folks love to socialize with each other, which is great; however it makes most of them late for the start of the service. So…we are trying some things to encourage them to get to the worship center. Adding the song this week seemed to help some. Anyone else have this problem or better yet a solution.
Song Set #1
Scriptures: Psalm 99:1-5,9; Luke 2:14; Revelation 1:8, 17-18
These scriptures were used to set up the first song, which spoke of the never changing God and our obligation and privilege to sing of His glory.
Prayer
In our tradition it is very rare that we speak together a written creed, but by using this song we were able to speak together basic theological truths that shape our beliefs.
Welcome
Baptism
Song Set #2
This is a new setting of the words from the hymn “There’s A Wideness In God’s Mercy.” Most of the words from the stanzas are used and there is an added chorus stating: “more, God is more than the measure of my mind.” More (There's A Wideness In God's Mercy)
The hymnal is filled with some wonderful poetry that is often discarded because the tune may seem antiquated. It might be a challenge to look for these great words and put them to new music but it is worth it.
This is a collaboration between some of today’s most gifted and prolific writers. Amazingly the words are simple and reflect the text of Psalm 136. A word of caution this song can lose all energy and become boring if taken just a few beats too slowly. We found it important to keep the tempo around 75 bpm. The arrangement we used was published by LifeWay and it featured a worship team trio throughout.
Sermon
When You Feel God Has Abandoned You (Luke 1:5-14)
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This blog post is my participation in the blog carnival Sunday Setlists which can be found at www.theworshipcommunity.com
