God Is Greater

This Sunday at Calvary, Pastor Paul will continue his series on Samson. We will look at the downward spiral that eventually cost Samson his very life. Our attention in worship will be upon celebrating the greatness of God.

The opening song will be Greater Than We Can imagine. This song is based on Psalm 145. This song of praise by David is rich in its praise of God and the song certainly carries that richness in its text. The video posted here was recorded at WorshipGod11. I think you will find it a great blessing.

The next two songs are declarations of our praise to God. Top Of My Lungs is a wonderful worship songs that speaks to the overflowing nature of our worship. We begin to sing our gratitude to God for all He has done and we never run out of things for which to be thankful. This theme continues through the next song How Can I Keep From Singing. This song boldly declares that even in the storms and trials of life, we are still overwhelmed by the greatness of God and our only right response is worship. The last song before the message will be the classic song How Great Is Our God from Chris Tomlin. This simple worship song places the exclamation point on our doxology on Sunday. His is the name above all names. He is worthy of all praise. My heart will sing, "how great is our God!"

The last song we will sing before the close is Made Me Glad. This song declares in its' chorus that God is my strength, my shield, my portion, deliverer, my shelter, strong tower, my very present help in time of need. This is a wonderful statement of who God is to His children.

I hope you come to church ready to make these declarations together as we worship the God who truly is greater than we can imagine.

Soli Deo Gloria,
Trent

Is My Praise Acceptable To God?

Usually when someone else is leading worship at Calvary it means that I am on vacation. But this year one of my goals is to give others the opportunity to lead while I am here in the services and rehearsals so that I can take an active role in mentoring other leaders. It will also give me the opportunity to sit out in the auditorium and hear what sounds we are really producing in our services. This week I have asked Jeremy Banks to lead us in worship on Sunday. Jeremy is a passionate worshiper of Jesus Christ who desires.to lead us in an authentic time of corporate worship. I am excited to work with Jeremy and our Praise Band this week as we prepare for our gathering on Sunday.

The opening song for Sunday is Tommy Walker's That's Why We Praise Him. Over the years this song has sparked more questions from our congregation than any other. Some misinterpret  the lyrics and think that the song communicates that the only reason we would praise Christ is because of what He has done to the neglect of who He is. I understand that perspective but I do not believe that is the meaning or intent at all. We certainly praise Christ first and foremost because of who He is. Yet it is also true that we would not be able to worship Christ if He had not acted on our behalf. So we are able to praise Him because of what He has done. I hope that is helpful as we prepare to sing on Sunday. The video link is from a service with Tommy Walker in Hawaii. I hope you enjoy it.

Then we have a three song set including Kristian Stanfill's Jesus Paid It All, Hillsong United's Stronger, and Matt Redman's Nothing But The Blood. These songs carry a unified message of what Christ's life, death,  and resurrection have accomplished for us.The closing line of Jesus Paid It All sums up the collective truth in these songs: Sin had left a crimson stain He washed it white as snow. We gather to worship because of these events in the life of Christ. Our worship is only acceptable to God because of the work of Christ.

As you prepare to worship God at Calvary this week remember that all we do, every song we sing, every prayer we offer, every sacrifice of praise is only made acceptable to God because of the work of Christ. That means no matter how well or even how poorly something may go in the service, it is still acceptable because of Christ. If I play or sing with perfection, it is no more acceptable than if I am sloppy or out of tune. It isn't my sacrifice that makes it good, it is Christ's. Rejoice in that truth Calvary.

Soli Deo Gloria,
Trent

Helpful Band Videos

The following videos are posted on YouTube from Paul Baloche. If you are part of the Praise Band at Calvary, I would like for you to watch each of these that apply to you. If it says "Everyone Watch," go ahead and watch it even if it is not for your instrument. I will be posting more videos like these in the future but these will certainly help us in our pursuit of musical excellence as we lead our congregation in corporate worship. Use the comment section of the blog to discuss what points are most helpful to you.

Worship Band Workshop - Everyone Watch

Worship Band Workshop Preview - Everyone Watch

Lead Guitar

Keyboard - Everyone Watch

Bass - Everyone Watch

Drums - Everyone Watch

Acoustic Guitar

Songs For Adoption

This Sunday at Calvary we will be observing Sanctity of Human Life Day. While there are many important truths that we can emphasize on this day, our focus at Calvary will be on adoption. In choosing our songs for Sunday, I looked for songs that talk about how we have been adopted by God. There really were quite a few songs that carried this theme so it was not difficult to find music for Sunday.

We will begin the service singing The Father's Love.  This song by Sovereign Grace musician Joel Sczebel has become a favorite at Calvary over the last few years. One of my favorite things about the song is that it talks about the Trinity. The Father has sent His Son and He gives us His Spirit as a guarantee of our future. This video was captured at the Next 2011 Conference. Devon Kauflin is leading. I think you will enjoy the addition of strings to this arrangement.

Travis Cottrell and David Moffit wrote a song a number of years back called You Will Be Our God. The chorus emphasizes the relationship between God and His people. We will move from this song into How Deep The Father's Love For Us. Stuart Townend wrote this stirring anthem which will help us to understand how far God the Father is willing to go to reconcile us to Himself.

Finally we will use the Casting Crowns song Glorious Day which is a new setting to the old hymn One Day. This song not only tells us the Gospel story, but reminds that our life in Christ is not simply a "here and now" event, but that Christ is returning for us and we as chosen, adopted, redeemed, justified saints should eagerly await that glorious day.

I would encourage you to use these songs in your private worship this week and prepare to worship corporately with great zeal when we gather again on Sunday.

Soli Deo Gloria,
Trent

Completely Done

Who God is and what he has accomplished for us are the themes that are running through our songs this Sunday at Calvary.

The hymn All Hail the Power of Jesus Name has been sung by the church for over 200 years. It has been called the national anthem of the Christian church. A few years ago, Judah Groveman of Sovereign Grace wrote a new chorus to this beloved anthem and on Sunday, we will begin our service with this new arrangement called His Name Is Jesus.

Next we will sing Chris Tomlin's Our God. A song from the Passion Movement, Our God boldly declares the power and might of our God over all. This is summed up in the line and if our God is for us, then who could ever stop us and if our God is with us then what could stand against. 

We transition into singing Revelation Song. I chose this song because after the declarations of power and might, I want us to spend time in awe of the Glory of Christ. This powerful worship song set from Revelation chapter 5 is intended to stir our hearts to love and devotion to Christ.

We close the service singing Completely Done which is another Sovereign Grace song from the writing team of Jonathan Baird, Ryan Baird, and Rich Gunderlock. The video is from the Next 2010 conference with Devon and Bob Kauflin leading Completely Done. The third stanza declares a rock solid faith in God regardless of my ability to get everything right. 

I don't know what lies ahead

What if I fail again

You are my confidence

You'll keep me to the end

I'm leaving my fears behind me now

Soli Deo Gloria,

Trent