Finishing Christmas

If you missed the children's Christmas program last Sunday, you missed a tremendous blessing. I am grateful to God for the wonderful actors, singers and dancers who are part of our children's ministry. I am also grateful for Joanna Bartlett who had the vision the this program, Margie Broussard who worked with all of our singers, and our crack A/V team who pulled off a logistical nightmare without breaking a sweat. The body of Christ has such diverse gifts and it is a joy to see so many used for His glory.

This Sunday we close our Christmas celebration with Pastor Paul teaching on the Christmas story, focusing on Matthew 2:1-12 and the story of the wise men. We will be singing Arise Shine, O Come O Come Emmanuel, What Child Is This, and O Come All Ye Faithful. On this special day, we also have some very special music.Scott Moe will be singing Mary Did You Know, Becky Beukema will sing O Holy Night, and we have a Men's Ensemble singing God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen. Since the elementary school children will be joining us for the service, we will have a special time with all of them on the platform learning the story behind the Christmas Carol Away In A Manger. I would encourage you to follow the links for each song and listen to some wonderful arrangements of each song we will be using.

My family will leave for vacation following the morning service and will return on January 2. Kyle Harrington will be leading the congregation in worship on Sunday, December 30 and Steve Koets will lead the Praise Band during that service. I am grateful for these guys stepping up and leading in my absence.

This will be by last post for 2012 so I want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas.

Soli Deo Gloria,
Pastor Trent

Children's Program This Week

In the past week I have attended two school Christmas programs, sung in two Holiday Concerts, led a service of Christmas Carols, sung for our widows and widowers, and led a Sunday morning gathering at Calvary. This is the life of a musician at Christmas. There is still one more school program to go and of course the Children's Christmas Program at Calvary.

This Sunday morning we will see all of our children ages two through 6th grade present Christmas In Whoville. I have had the opportunity to sit in on many rehearsals and I can tell you that we have some very talented young people at Calvary. This is going to be a wonderful program full of music, drama and choreography that will explore the true meaning of Christmas.We will open with the congregation singing We Three Kings and close singing The First Noel. 

Since I do not have a lot of content today, I thought I would post one of my favorite arrangements for Christmas. Enjoy!

Soli Deo Gloria,
Pastor Trent

Christmas Has Come To Calvary

I love turning the calendar and finding that it is December. Privately I have been listening to Christmas music since late September but now it is socially acceptable to share that Christmas music with everyone! The next four weeks at Calvary will feature music that celebrates the incarnation of Christ. In first chapter of the Gospel of John we see this:

     And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

This is the true meaning of Christmas and is why we celebrate with great zeal.

On Sunday morning, we will be utilizing a more contemporary style to express our Christmas praise. We will be singing our own arrangement of Joy To The World which makes a joyful declaration of the coming of Christ. We will also sing our own arrangement of Go Tell It On The Mountain. This song is a call to take the message to Christmas to everyone. Next we will sing Casting Crown's arrangement of I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day.  This is a modern setting of the Henry Wadsworth Longfellow poem. Here is the text of the original poem by Longfellow.

I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day
Their old familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet the words repeat
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

I though how, as the day had come
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along the unbroken song
of peace on earth, good will to men.

And in despair I bowed my head
"There is no peace on earth" I said
"For hate is strong and mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good will to men."

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
"God is not dead nor doth He sleep;
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail,
With peace on earth, good will to men."

Till, ringing singing, on its way,
The world revolved from night to day,
A voice, a chime, a chant sublime,
Of peace on earth, good will to men!

We will close the service with Travis Cottrell's Jesus Saves. This has become a favorite at Calvary over the last few years.

On Sunday night, we will gather will a full orchestra to sing Christmas Carols the way you remember them from childhood. Here is the line-up of songs for Sunday night.

     Come Thou Long-Expected Jesus
     O Little Town Of Bethlehem
     Angels From The Realms Of Glory
     Joy To The World
     Hark The Herald Angels Sing
     Angels We Have Heard On High
     Silent Night
     Good Christian Men Rejoice

There will be more great Christmas songs in the coming weeks.

Soli Deo Gloria,
Pastor Trent

Draw Near To God

Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. This is a fairly straight-forward statement from James 4:8 and it has been proving true for me this week. The past few days at Calvary with the Life Action team have been days of drawing near to God. For me personally, the act of coming to church services while not being responsible for the content of those services has provided an opportunity to stop and listen to God, to consider my walk with Christ, to look at how I am leading my family, to ponder how I do ministry. As I have drawn near to God and given time for His Word to soak into my life, I find that I am wanting in many areas.

Last evening we participated in an exercise where we used a tool called Put Off…Put On.  This simple sheet of paper lists 42 specific sins that are clearly named in Scripture and 42 alternative righteous acts. We were challenged to look back at the just last seven days of our life and consider whether we had committed any of these sins. We were then challenged to confess and repent of any sins we had committed. I have to say that when I heard the parameter of seven days placed on the timeline, I was feeling pretty good. That false comfort provided by self-righteousness quickly dissipated as I began working through the list. When I had finished, I was pretty certain that I had committed 31 of the 42 sins listed in the past seven days. I would have been at 40 had the time frame been just a little longer.

It was humbling to go before the Lord and confess all the things that He already knows to be true about my life. Although confessing sin is not a pleasurable activity by any measure, the resulting forgiveness brings joy beyond measure. Going into this week, I had sensing a significant lack of joy in my life, after working through the Put Off…Put On sheet, I understand why there hasn’t been joy. Unconfessed sin had robbed me of joy.  Years ago I heard someone say that confession without repentance is just bragging. I get that saying and my deepest desire is that my confession will be accompanied by lasting repentance in every area of my life.

Following Christ is not one time experience, but a day by day journey. Sanctification doesn’t happen overnight but over a lifetime. My journey today includes continuing to draw near to God through prayer, through the Word, and through simple obedience. Obedience in the little things this week has brought a new level of joy to my life. I have drawn near to God and He has drawn near to me. I am looking forward to the rest of this week at Calvary as we continue to apply Biblical truth to our lives.

If you are in the Holland area, whether you normally attend Calvary or not, I encourage you to join us for the next few days.  It may change your life. 

Soli Deo Gloria,

Trent

When God Shows Up

The next two Sundays and the week in between will be very special days at Calvary as we have a Thirst Conference with Life Action Ministries. I am anticipating a wonderful time of seeking the Lord together. Our Calvary Worship Arts team will not have any responsibilities during the conference as the Life Action team will be leading us in worship. I hope that each of you in Worship Arts will make attending the conference a priority.

I was first introduced to Life Action Ministries in 1994 and that was a life changing experience for me.Rather that use the blog this week to walk through the songs we will be singing on Sunday, I have decided to tell you what God did in my heart during a Life Action conference.


I grew up in a family that went to church and I knew the stories of the Bible at an early age. As a child, it was very important to me that I did what was right and that I met the expectations that others had of me. Outwardly, I was very compliant to all my authorities. As a teenager, I realized that the right thing to do was to walk down the aisle at church and pray with the pastor to receive Christ. So that is what I did. I did not come to Christ with any sense of need or of want in my life. I came to Christ because that is what I was supposed to do. In my pride I believed that God needed me.

I lived on the outside as though I had a relationship with Jesus Christ, but on the inside, life was empty. I had no relationship with Christ and I didn't even know it. God, in His great love and mercy, allowed me to be surrounded by devoted followers of Jesus Christ. I saw a clear difference between my life and theirs. Eventually I heard Tim St. Clair of Life Action Ministries preach a message on brokenness. I finally realized the truth of James 4:6 that God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. I had not come to Christ humbly in need of a Savior. I had come proudly boasting of my works.

As my eyes were opened to my true condition, I realized what Christ had done for me in taking upon Himself the wrath that my sinful life deserved. I was saved by His sovereign grace. My sin debt was paid in full by Jesus Christ. God radically transformed my life 18 years ago and I have been on a journey to become more and more like Christ ever since.

Margie and I had the privilege of serving with Life Action Ministries as team members for two years and served for many more as musical consultants. I have seen God move through many churches in radical ways as people have chosen to become obedient to the Word of God. My prayer for Calvary coming into this week is that God would manifest His glory here and that we would never be the same. I am praying for a revival that is marked by repentance and reconciliation. I am praying for a revival that sees broken marriages and relationships restored. I am praying for a revival that sees men and women surrender their lives for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I am praying it begins in me.

Soli Deo Gloria
Trent

Thanksgiving Praise

The Thanksgiving Praise Service has been a tradition at Calvary as far back as I can remember. Each year we make a shift from our normal course of study and worship to express gratitude to the Lord for all that He has done. The focus this year is on the actions of a grateful heart. Pastor Paul’s message will be woven throughout the service and mingled with song and testimonies, culminating with celebration of the Lord’s Table.

We begin Sunday with the congregation singing God Is Good All The Time. This will be followed by a time for us to express our thanks to God through our tithes and offerings. The Worship Choir will sing Sweet Aroma Of Praise while the ushers collect the offering.

When the choir has finished, Pastor Paul will begin his message declaring that a grateful heart serves unselfishly. We are going to have the opportunity to hear from some members of our New Jersey mission team as they share their experiences with us. We may even hear about a future mission opportunity to serve the people of Tuckerton, New Jersey.

After the mission team has shared, Pastor Paul will continue with the declaration that a grateful heart gives unselfishly. We will have the opportunity to practice unselfish giving as we have our special Thanksgiving offering. This offering is designated to repairing the house of the Lord. There are several areas of our church facility that are in desperate need of repair and we are going to use this offering to meet those needs so that our general offering can continue to be focused on our mission to passionately pursue Christ and to lovingly pursue others for Christ. The best example we have of an unselfish giver is Jesus Christ. We will declare that as we sing the Sovereign Grace song Jesus, Thank You. This modern worship song is deeply meaningful and will help us declare the gospel of Jesus Christ. Here is the first verse:

                The mystery of the cross I cannot comprehend

                The agonies of Calvary

                You the perfect holy One crushed Your Son

                Who drank the bitter cup reserved for me

Pastor Paul will then declare that a grateful heart praises unselfishly. We have prepared a special Thanksgiving video and after it plays we will hear from the congregation as we give thanks through testimonies. That portion of the service will close with the congregation singing Great Is Thy Faithfulness.

The final part of Pastor Paul’s message is that a grateful heart remembers. We will remember the death of Jesus Christ through the celebration of the Lord’s Table. The congregation will sing Matt Redman’s 10,000 Reasons (Bless The Lord) and then we will take communion. Finally we will close the service singing the Doxology.

                Praise God from Whom all blessings flow

                Praise Him all creatures here below

                Praise Him above ye heavenly hosts

                Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost

                Amen

Soli Deo Gloria

No Longer Blind

This Sunday at Calvary will be very special as we have a number of parents coming to dedicate their children to the Lord. Three to four times a year we are privileged to stand along parents as they dedicate themselves to training their children in the fear and admonition of the Lord. This is just one of many things that make our Calvary community a special place. We are also going to hear testimonies from families who have completed our membership process and are joining our church. It truly is a joy to hear how God has intervened in someone’s life and drawn them to Himself.

Pastor Paul will continue his series Journey Through John and will finish the passage from chapter 9 where Jesus heals the man born blind. Once again we have a new song from our Worship Arts team. This song, No Longer Blind, was primarily written by Scott Moe. Here are the lyrics to the chorus:

                Then by Your grace, You opened our eyes

                You took away the blindness

                That made our hearts so we could not see

                You threw the door wide open

                You’re the truth Who came to set us free

I know that this will be a blessing to you. Steve Koets will also be singing Witness To My Ways. This is the song that he wrote and we introduced last Sunday. Follow the YouTube link to hear this wonderful new song.

The other songs we will be singing as a congregation are Come Praise And Glorify from Sovereign Grace and How Deep The Father’s Love For Us. Jeremy Banks will be leading our worship team and church through these songs and I am excited to worship together this Sunday.

Coming Up:

Remember that we want a full choir on Sunday November 18^th to sing Sweet Aroma of Praise. Plan to be in the auditorium to rehearse at 9:45 a.m. that morning.

Calling all band and orchestra players; we want a full orchestra to play for our Christmas Carol Sing-A-Long on Sunday evening, December 9^th. Let me know if you can play!

Soli Deo Gloria,

Trent

Witness To My Ways

This Week

This Sunday at Calvary our Journey Through John takes us into chapter 9 where we see Jesus heal a man who was born blind. Some of our musicians began working through this passage several months ago with the intention of writing songs that we could utilize in our corporate worship. Witness To My Ways is one of the songs birthed through those efforts. The song written primarily by Stephen Koets is about coming to belief in Jesus Christ. I know that it will be a blessing to our congregation. Here is the text from the chorus:

                        And I believe, and it's changing how I see

                        It's your truth that sets us free, Lord Jesus

                        And I believe, my eyes are open now I see

                        the Son of God has come for me to live

We will open the service singing The Father’s Love from Sovereign Grace musician Joel Sczebel which is a wonderful declaration that the sinner has been forgiven, the rebel has been made clean, blind eyes have been made to see and orphans have been adopted because of the Father’s love.

After our time of offerings a testimonies, we will sing a song set that focuses our hearts on the grace of God utilizing the songs Your Grace Is Enough, Grace Greater Than Our Sin, and Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone). After the message we will close the service by reprising Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone).

Don’t forget that this Sunday is the day when we turn our clocks back and gain that extra hour of sleep. We should all be rested and ready to worship God at Calvary.

Coming Soon

November 11 – Child Dedication, Veteran Recognition

November 18 – Thanksgiving Praise Service: I would like to utilize a full choir for this Sunday. We will be singing Sweet Aroma Of Praise so join us at 9:45 a.m. on the 18^th to prepare our song for the service.

November 25 – December 2 – Thirst Conference with Life Action Ministries: Please set aside this week to seek the Lord together with our church family. This is perhaps the most important week in the life of our church for the entire year and I hope that everyone in Worship Arts will make it a priority.

Soli Deo Gloria,

Trent

Something Familiar

What a great weekend we had at Calvary with 30 men singing Nothing But The Blood with great zeal! Days like last Sunday are such a joy to me. It is often difficult to turn the corner and look toward another Sunday, but here we are, looking forward to meeting together once again.

Selah is a wonderful group that has provided the church with many fresh new arrangements of long time beloved songs. This week at Calvary, we are going to use a couple of those songs to help our church worship God. We are going to open the service singing Standing On The Promises Medley. This medley is a combination of three great hymns Standing On The Promises, Leaning On The Everlasting Arms and Are You Washed In The Blood. I know that this medley will very quickly become a favorite at Calvary as it affirms God’s faithfulness with a fresh setting of familiar tunes.

After the offering we will sing Selah’s arrangement of There Is Power In The Blood. This hymn declares that our only hope for cleansing from sin both in eternity and right now is found in the blood of Christ. We will follow this by The Greatest Of All which is a Sovereign Grace song that incorporates a familiar text from Fanny Crosby. This song exults in the finished work of Christ on our behalf. Finally we will sing Wonderful Merciful Savior. This wonderful song of praise is intended to put an exclamation point on our offering of worship to God.

Pastor Paul will be continuing our Journey Through John and preach through the passage about the adulterous woman. We close the service singing I’m Forever Grateful. This chorus will help us express our thanks to Christ for His work on the cross.

As you prepare for worship this week, sing through the songs that we will be using, read through the passage in John 7:53-8:11 and ask God to meet with us as we gather on Sunday.

Soli Deo Gloria,

Trent

A New Trend and Looking Toward Sunday

I have noticed a new trend in the last few rehearsals, everyone is showing up early. This has been a huge blessing because it means we can begin on time or even early and make the best use of everyone’s time. Thank you for your diligence and faithfulness. It truly is a joy to lead our Worship Arts team.

Our Worship Arts Committee has been in the process over the past few months of developing an expectation guide for our team members. Before people commit to being involved in anything, they generally want to know what will be expected of them. Over the years we have had a lot of verbal and quite frankly unspoken expectations that did not really help our team to grow in their walk with Christ, in fellowship with the community of believers at Calvary, or in their musicianship and expertise. Our desire is that the following expectations will help all of us who participate in Worship Arts at Calvary to have a goal or target at which to aim so that we can make continuous improvements in all areas of our relationship to Christ and His church. Whether you sing, play an instrument, or work in AV these guidelines are intended to help you maximize your abilities to serve Christ at Calvary.

Calvary Worship Arts Team Expectations

     Spiritual

Model worship on Sunday mornings whether on stage or in the congregation

Spend time with God in Scripture and prayer

Support the ministries of Calvary Baptist Church

Participate in Calvary Discipleship activities when available

     Community

Attend conferences and training sessions as scheduled

Notify your team leader as soon as possible if cancellation is necessary

Respond quickly to all PCO (Planning Center Online) requests and correspondence

Be on time for rehearsals and services

     Technical/Musical

Learn songs before rehearsals, via MP3s and charts on PCO and Calvary web-site

Review songs via Calvary web-site between rehearsals and Sunday morning

Continue to grow and improve on your instrument

Master your ministry area and hone your skills as a creative, artistic contributor 

Memorize the lyrics/music/cues as much as possible to maximize congregational interaction

Now to turn our attention to this coming Sunday, Pastor Paul will continue our Journey Through John going deeper into John chapter 8. We will begin the service singing Greater Than We Can Imagine, a wonderful song of praise based upon Psalm 145. After the offering we will sing Oh The Deep, Deep Love Of Jesus, The Greatest Of All, and Come Christians Join To Sing. All three of these songs extol the mercies and love of Christ. Before the message, we will have a special Men’s Chorus singing an arrangement of the hymn Nothing But The Blood. I trust that this song will be a blessing to all. As of this writing, I am a little uncertain of our closing song. I am leaning toward You Have Been Raised but that could change before Sunday.

It is with joyful anticipation that I wait for Sunday when we gather together for corporate worship. My prayer is that you daily individual worship will be Christ centered and rich.

Soli Deo Gloria,

Pastor Trent

Jesus, Thank You

You’ll notice it as soon as you walk into the auditorium. Yes, the stage is different. We’ve moved people around and no one is playing the piano. This week we are trying something a little different; using only hand percussion, acoustic guitars and acoustic bass for our praise band this week, we are introducing Calvary unplugged. The music will be slightly more laid back and definitely quieter.

The content of our worship will focused on Christ. We will open singing the Paul Baloche song Praise Adonai. This song of praise will immediately point us to Christ as it gives vivid imagery of worship in heaven. Our place in that worship gathering is secured by the blood of Christ and we will make that declaration as we sing Matt Redman’s Nothing But The Blood. From the opening declaration until the final doxology, we will declare our absolute dependence upon Christ.

The next two songs we will sing are from Sovereign Grace Music. Oh The Deep, Deep Love is Bob Kauflin’s modern rendition of the hymn by Samuel Trevor Francis. Through wonderful descriptions, we will sing of the love of Christ as compared to the vastness of the ocean. Then we will declare our thanks to Christ with awe and wonder as we sing Jesus, Thank You. We were, as the song declares, once Your enemies, now seated at Your table. We certainly have much for which to give thanks.

As we close the service we will sing Here I Am To Worship by Tim Hughes as an offering of sacrifice and praise. You can follow the link for each song if you would like a preview of Sunday. I think it is going to be a great Sunday at Calvary and I hope to see you there.

Soli Deo Gloria,

Trent

Who Can Satisfy My Soul?

This Week at Calvary

This Sunday (October 7) we return to our Journey Through John. Pastor Paul will be preaching out of John 7, explain the significance of the Jesus’ actions at the Feast of Booths. We will also find out how Hebrews 12:3 relates to this passage. I think it is going to be a stirring message that you do not want to miss.

We will open our service declaring the goodness of God in all circumstances singing God Is Good All The Time. We will follow that up with two songs of praise, Praise Adonai and I Will Sing Of My Redeemer (You Set Me Free). These three songs will help us to focus on God’s goodness, His unique character, and the freedom we have through Christ.

We will then sing two songs have a theme of living water, All Who Are Thirsty and Who Can Satisfy My Soul. These songs relate directly to the passage from John 7. Here is a link to the song Who Can Satisfy My Soul by Dennis Jernigan. In between the two songs, we will read together the passage from Isaiah 12:1-4.

                You will say in that day:

                “I will give thanks to you, O LORD,

                                for though you were angry with me,

                your anger turned away,

                                that you might comfort me.

                “Behold, God is my salvation;

                                I will trust, and will not be afraid;

                for the LORD GOD is my strength and my song,

                                and he has become my salvation.”

                With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. And you will say in that day:

                “Give thanks to the LORD,

                                call upon his name,

                make known his deeds among the peoples,

                                proclaim that his name is exalted.

(Isaiah 12:1-4 ESV)

Upcoming Events

October 21: Male Chorus Day (all men come join our special choir)

November 18: Thanksgiving Praise (we will use a full choir that day)

November 25 – December 2: Revival Summit with Life Action Ministries

December 9: Orchestra Sunday and Christmas Carols

Interesting Blog Post

One of my goals on this blog is to share with you the work of others that I find inspiring, meaningful or helpful to our ministry. Kristen Gilles along with her husband Bobby serve at Sojourn Church in the Louisville area. IN a recent blog post, Kristen walks through the Scriptures that call God’s people to worship Him. You can find the post here. Take some time to read this and consider how we call God’s people into worship.

Seeking God Together

This Sunday at Calvary, we get an introduction to our time in November/December with Life Action Revival Ministries. At that time we will be setting aside a week of our lives and activities to spend time collectively seeking the Lord for a spiritual awakening in our lives, church and community. I am looking forward to that time with great expectancy. Allen Mazelin, from Life Action will be our guest speaker and will be introducing our church to Life Action and encouraging us to prepare our hearts for a great movement of the Holy Spirit.

The songs we will be using are We Are Listening from Sojourn Music, Always from Kristian Stanfill and the Passion Worship Movement, Living Faith also from Sojourn, and an arrangement of the hymn Come Thou Fount Of Every Blessing. A number of months ago we posted a video of our Praise Band singing We Are Listening. You can find a link to the video here.

Come Thou Fount had become one of my favorite hymns over the years because it so accurately describes the condition of the human heart and the wondrous glory of God’s grace.  We are all prone to wander, prone to leave the God we love yet how amazing is His love that continually pursues us and calls us back to Him.

I am looking forward to meeting God in worship with our church on Sunday.  Be in prayer for our Praise 

Band as we minister on Saturday night at an event for the Holland Rescue Mission. Our desire is that God would be glorified through our lives and our music.

Soli Deo Gloria,

Trent

Worship Leaders Expectations

I came across a series of blogs from a worship leader that I found interesting and helpful. The leader is telling each member of his worship team what he expects from them. While every church and situation is different, I think there is much that we can learn.

Whether you play guitar, run sound, sing or play the drums I think you will find this series useful.

Check out the blog here:


What your worship leader wants you to know

Avoiding God's Wrath

In Exodus 32, Moses interceded for the nation of Israel before the Lord and the Lord relented from pouring out His wrath upon the people. Although not a perfect analogy, it certainly foreshadows Christ, suffering on the cross as God pours out His wrath for mankind upon Christ. This is the backdrop of the message on Sunday in the series Awkward People Awesome God.

In choosing our songs for Sunday, I was reminded of this text:

When Satan tempts me to despair and tells me of the guilt within, upward I look and see Him there who made an end to all my sin. Because the sinless Savior died, my sinful soul is counted free; For God, the Just is satisfied to look on Him and pardon me. – Charitie L Bancroft/Vikki Cook

So of course I had to choose Before The Throne Of God Above as the centerpiece of our music for Sunday. Other songs chosen to support that theme are Always, which we began learning a couple of weeks ago and 10,000 Reasons. We will begin the service with worship chorus Rise Up And Praise Him.

Randy and Darlene Schaap will be providing special music during the offertory this week and we will also celebrate Baptism in our Sunday gathering.

I am looking forward to being back and leading Calvary in worship on Sunday. I want to express my gratitude to Jeremy Banks and the entire team who ministered Sunday in my absence. It is a joy and very satisfying to know that our dedicated Worship Arts team can carry on in all circumstances.