Grace Gathering: 6.04.06

Grace Church of Columbia - Grace Gathering
Sunday, June 4th, 2006 10:00 am

Call to Worship
Isaiah 40:21-26

Opening Song
The Glories of Calvary Grace Church (Steve & Vikki Cook)

Confession of Sin/Assurance of Pardon
Silent Prayer of Confession
And Can It Be? (v. 4, read)

Song of Prayer
Lift Up Thy Bleeding Hand (Cecil Alexander, Andrew Osenga)

Confession of Our Common Faith
The Eternal Purposes of God (Bethlehem Elder Affirmation) God’s Eternal Purpose and Election
We believe that God, from all eternity, in order to display the full extent of His glory for the eternal and ever-increasing enjoyment of all who love Him, did, by the most wise and holy counsel of His will, freely and unchangeably ordain and foreknow whatever comes to pass.
We believe that God upholds and governs all things – from galaxies to subatomic particles, from the forces of nature to the movements of nations, and from the public plans of politicians to the secret acts of solitary persons – all in accord with His eternal, all-wise purposes to glorify Himself, yet in such a way that He never sins, nor ever condemns a person unjustly; but that His ordaining and governing all things is compatible with the moral accountability of all persons created in His image.
We believe that God’s election is an unconditional act of free grace which was given through His Son Christ Jesus before the world began. By this act God chose, before the foundation of the world, those who would be delivered from bondage to sin and brought to repentance and saving faith in His Son Christ Jesus.

Song of Thanksgiving
Father, Long Before Creation (Francis Jones, Andrew Osenga)

Song of Prayer
One Pure and Holy Passion (Mark Altrogge)

Scripture Reading
Exodus 14:30-15:21

Song of Prayer
Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing (Robert Robinson)

Offering
Offering Prayer
Receiving the Offering
Lift Up Thy Bleeding Hand (Cecil Alexander, Andrew Osenga)

Message
Grace Church at One Year: Grabbing On and Not Letting Go of the Rope

Lord's Supper
Invitation to the Table of our Lord
How Deep the Father’s Love for Us (Stuart Townend)
Serving the Bread and the Cup
The Bread and the Cup

Community Life
Announcements
Sharing and Praying

Song of Thanksgiving
See What A Morning (Resurrection Hymn) (Stuart Townend, Keith Getty)

Benediction
Benediction: Exodus
Now may the God that rescued His people Israel in the Exodus and has saved us, His new Israel, through the New Exodus in Christ, make us a people who will profoundly experience and passionately proclaim the freedom of our Lord's grace here in our great city. Amen.

I'm Still Alive, If Only a Little Distracted

Hey brothers, I apologize for my failure to post for awhile. I've been a little distracted by some big changes. You know this, but our readers don't--On June 1, I officially began as pastor of Northbrook Baptist Church in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. My first Sunday preaching will be June 11 (this coming Sunday). I'd appreciate you prayers during this busy summer as I begin a new ministry, look to sell and buy a house, and as Jenny gives birth to our third child in August.

Teaching Doctrine Through Song

There was a heretic in church history who taught that Christ was a created being. He spread his error through song. The children would skip through the city streets singing, "There once was was when he was not."

I was reminded of the power of song to teach (and defend) right doctrine yesterday when I received this e-mail regarding my text, He is Altogether Lovely:

Mr. Schumacher,
I just wanted to encourage you to keep writing. Just the other day I was talking with 2 Morman missionary girls about the deity of Christ and how the person they call "Jesus Christ" is not at all the Jesus Christ of the Holy Scriptures . The words you penned (scripture shining through song) quickly came to mind and aided me as I proclaimed to them the deity of Christ. After a short conversation, they insisted that they could no longer stay and talk about this any longer as scripture clearly revealed Christ's deity. All that said, I just wanted to say thank you for your service to the kingdom.

Grace Gathering: 5/28/06

Grace Church of Columbia - Grace Gathering
Sunday, May 28th, 2006 10:00 am

Call to Worship
Psalm 96

Opening Song
And Can it Be? (Scott Roley/Charles Wesley)

Confession of Sin/Assurance of Pardon
Confession of Sin 2.2.68 from The Worship Sourcebook
Leader: God blesses those whose hearts are pure, for they will see God.
God's People: But we have defiled our hearts with idols of our own choosing, doubting thatGod will keep his Word and his promises. We continually compromise the truth by trying to find meaning and security in our jobs, our friends, our pleasures, our projects—but not in God.
Leader: Lord, please show us your mercy.
God's People: Lord, have mercy upon us in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.
1 John 1:9

Songs of Worship
I Will Glory in My Redeemer (Steve & Vikki Cook)
Better is One Day (Matt Redman)

Confession of Our Common Faith
Westminster Shorter Catechism Q37 & 38
Leader: Q. 37. What benefits do believers receive from Christ at death?
God's People: A. The souls of believers are at their death made perfect in holiness, and do immediately pass into glory; and their bodies, being still united in Christ, do rest in their graves, till the resurrection.
Leader: Q. 38. What benefits do believers receive from Christ at the resurrection?
God's People: A. At the resurrection, believers, being raised up in glory, shall be openly acknowledged and acquitted in the day of judgment, and made perfectly blessed in the full enjoying of God to all eternity.

Song of Prayer
Give Us Clean Hands (Charlie Hall)

Scripture Reading
Hebrews 10:1-25

Song of Meditation
The Gospel Song (Drew Jones and Bob Kauflin)

Offering
Offering Prayer
Give Us Clean Hands (instrumental)

Message: Matthew 5:8
Lord's Supper
Invitation to the Table of our Lord
Jesus, Cast a Look On Me (John Berridge, Matthew Perryman Jones)
The Bread and the Cup

Community Life
Announcements
Sharing and Praying

Song of Thanksgiving
How Great Thou Art (Stuart K. Hine)

Benediction
Jude 24-25

Key Worship Convictions of Grace Church

I put this together sometime ago, when I was sharing my vision for worship with Luke. Tell me what you think. I would love to read documents of some of you out there that have tried to do a similar thing.

Key Worship Music Convictions: Grace Church of Columbia

God-Centered Orientation: The service in general, and the songs in particular, should point people to God, not self.

Gospel Focus: The service and songs should remind participants of the gospel—that they are sinners saved by the life, death, and resurrection of Christ.

Theological Richness: Songs should not only be doctrinally true, but theologically rich. Preference will be shown to modern hymns, and shallow, repetitive songs will be avoided.

Historical Connection: The great hymns of the faith should be sung, either with their original tunes or with modern revisions of them, allowing today’s worshippers to be connected to their brothers and sisters of the past and their depth of expression.

Modern Expression: The best of today’s worship songs should also be used, allowing for modern expression of ancient truths, while still preferring God-centered, gospel-focused, and theologically rich songs.

Indigenous Style: The “feel” of worship music should suit the place in which the church is found, allowing the people of that community to give appropriate voice to their praises.

Liturgical Flow: The structure of the worship gathering should have a certain flow, ushering people through the gospel to the throne of God. To say the gathering is liturgical speaks more of the thought put into the service than the feel produced by it.

Diverse Instrumentation and Involvement: Diverse instruments and different believers (ethnically, generationally, etc.) should be utilized to lead all the saints in praise, while keeping a stylistic “center” to the gathering.

Participative Nature: The goal of worship music is to engage and lead the saints in worship. Therefore, arranging, playing, and mixing of music that encourages a performance-spectator mentality will be avoided. The voices in a worship gathering should be the main instruments.

God-Glorifying Excellence: The music leader and team will strive to lead in such a way that God is glorified, and that the saints will not be distracted either by their mastery or by their inability. This will be accomplished partially through weekly rehearsals.

Musical Beauty: God-glorifying lyrics must be matched with fitting, beautiful music that images the beauty of the Creator God who invented music.

Non-Negotiable Importance: As singing is commanded throughout the Bible and serves as the most supreme voice of amazing truths, its importance must be taught and modeled by church leadership. “I don’t like to sing” is an unacceptable statement for a believer of Christ.

Lifestyle Understanding: Worship encompasses all of life—certainly more than Sunday morning, and especially the Sunday singing time. Singing is just one aspect of a worship service, and calling it “worship” confuses the people of God.

Gifted Leadership: As the song leader sets the tone for the gathering of God’s people, he must be a gifted musician, passionate worshipper, and loving servant who can plan and lead God-glorifying singing times.

Elder Involvement: The final responsibility for the songs sung during the worship gathering falls to the elders, so they must be involved closely with the planning of services. They must not completely delegate this responsibility due to the critical teaching component of corporate singing.

Believer Orientation: Singing in corporate worship gatherings should be geared to facilitate the worship of believers, not appeal to “seekers.” Worship can only be truly done by believers in Christ.

Multi-Generational Appeal: A diversity of songs should be sung that appeal to all of God’s saints, not just a certain age group. However, a congregational “center” should be ascertained, enabling for an indigenous expression of worship by the bulk of the congregation.

Multiple Settings: Small groups, family devotions, and youth groups, just to name a few, are other venues that should encourage musical worship.

Corporate Emphasis: Believers should be encouraged to worship God primarily as a corporate body, not as individuals, during the weekly corporate worship gathering. This will affect songs chosen (preference for “we” songs over those “I”) and prayers uttered (“God, forgive us,” over “God, forgive me.”), as well as numerous other aspects of the meeting.

Passionate Expression: Christians must be taught to desire strong affections in worship. Hypocritical, heartless singing is to be avoided, while heartfelt passion is to be pursued.

Loving Deference: Church members must put the desires of others above themselves, not fighting to see that their musical preferences are honored as best.

Unified Praise: The unity of the local body must be pursued in worship gatherings. This is achieved, first of all, by having all the believers gathered in one room, with one voice. Multiple worship gatherings, and multiple, different-styled worship gatherings will be avoided.

Grace Gathering: 5/21/06

I suggested recently to David and Eric that we begin posting our Sunday "orders of service" to promote discussion and provide ideas. Here is ours for tomorrow:

Grace Church of Columbia: Grace Gathering
Sunday, May 21st, 2006, 10:00 a.m.

Call to Worship/Welcome/Announcements: Lamentations 3:21-26

Opening Song: Jesus, Everlasting King (Isaac Watts, Matthew Smith)

Confession of Sin/Assurance of Pardon: Confession of Sin 2.2.68 from The Worship Sourcebook
Leader: God blesses those who are merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
God's People: But we have often presided as harsh judges over the lives of others. We have been quick to place blame on anything or anyone but ourselves. We have avoided obligations to care for or to help people in need.
Leader: Lord, please show us your mercy.
God's People: Lord, have mercy upon us in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.
Titus 3:4-7

Songs of Meditation: Thy Mercy My God Is The Theme Of My Song (John Stocker, Sandra McCracken)
Only Hope (Charles Wesley, Randall Goodgame)

Scripture Reading: Colossians 3:1-17

Song of Prayer: Be Thou My Vision (Eleanor Hull)

Offering
Corporate Prayer: 4.4.17 from The Worship Sourcebook
Lord Jesus, you are our living head. Teach us to be your body here on earth—your hands, your feet, your eyes, and your compassionate heart. Lord, send the impulses of your love into the sinews of this church. May your will and thoughts direct us. Let your hands, through our hands, supply food for our neighbors’ hunger. Let them hear your voice as we visit and talk with them. Let children come to us and sit in our laps, as they sat in yours. Without you as our head, Lord, we are lifeless. We wait for your power, your Word, your instruction. Fill us with your life and love, Jesus. Amen.

Message: Matthew 5:7

Lord's Supper
Invitation to the Table of our Lord
In Christ Alone (Stuart Townend and Keith Getty)
The Bread and the Cup

Pastoral Prayer
Sharing and Praying

Song of Sending: Take to the World (Aaron Tate)

Sending: Sending 9.1.21 from The Worship Sourcebook
As you have been fed at this table, go to feed the hungry. As you have been set free, go to set free the imprisoned. As you have received, give. As you have heard, proclaim. And the blessing that you have received from Father, Son, and Holy Spiritbe always with you. Amen.

Together for the Gospel!

I just returned this weekend from hands-down the best conference I have ever attended. What a fabulous 3 days.

1) As a church planter, the conference was incredibly encouraging. I left encouraged to keep plugging away, keep trusting God's promise to build His Church His way.

2) I was greatly encouraged by the unity present at the conference across denominational lines. There was true brotherhood around the gospel without the "lowest common denominator" feel of other non-denominational events I have attended. The understanding of the gospel and of God and His Church was so marvelous that I felt more at home than had I been at a meeting of my own denomination.

3) It was a wonderful opportunity to see old friends and catch up with them. Nice to chat with you, David and Eric.

4) The worship through music was AMAZING. Bob Kauflin, if you read this, your song selection and humble leadership were greatly appreciated. It was a remarkable experience to sing such God-centered songs with 3000 passionate men. A preview of heaven, for sure, although the sopranos and altos there will round things out nicely. :)

Now I can't wait to head up to Minneapolis in September for the Desiring God National Conference!

Singing to Jesus or My Prom Date?

The New York Times recently featured a story about a popular CCM/worship band. The article has interesting things to say about the state of Christian music and the evangelical subculture.

Read the article here.

Read Dick Staub's comments here.