In Christ Alone

I am grateful to God for Jeremy Banks who will be leading worship this Sunday at Calvary while I spend a few days in Arkansas with my family. My father turns 84 later this week and I am excited about the opportunity to celebrate with him.

As Jeremy and I walked through planning this service, this passage particularly the latter part of verse 27 came to mind:

Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church, of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints. To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.  (Colossians 1:24-29 ESV)

Christ in you, the hope of glory became our theme as we planned music to coordinate with Pastor Paul’s message series Awkward People Awesome God.

The songs we chose were designed to build into that theme. We begin singing Holy Is The Lord which is intended to communicate the aspect of God’s character that transcends all other aspects. One author I read recently said that the Lord is holy in all that He does and all that He is. There is more to chew on that I can write here but I want to recommend to you the book Recalling the Hope of Glory by Allen P. Ross.

We will also sing The Name of The Lord and You Are My All in All, two songs which declare our dependence upon God. Just before the message, we will sing In Christ Alone.  This modern hymn by Stuart Townend and Keith Getty has become a favorite by many in our congregation because of the rich lyrics and beautiful melody. Through this song we declare our dependence on Christ, our hope in Christ, and our freedom through Christ as we retell the story of his death, burial and resurrection.

I am getting excited about our service even as I write this. I trust that Sunday will be a wonderful time for God’s people at Calvary to worship Him together.

Soli Deo Gloria,

Pastor Trent