How Great Is Our God

This week was the first week I had gone into Wednesday night worship without a theme or song to build off of. Last week, I had asked Corrie to give me a few ideas, and I built off of those. The week before that, mom had given me a song title and I had built off of that. Every week before that, someone had either helped me pick songs, I had been given a theme, or someone else had picked out the songs, entirely. Granted, not all of those weeks was I the "leader" of the worship team.

We opened with the song "Indescribable," by Chris Tomlin. As the title hints, the song is about how God, Himself, is indescribable. The lyrics, themselves, state, "Indescribable, uncontainable; You placed the stars in the sky and You know them by name. You are amazing, God." Oddly enough, this happens to be Chelsie's favorite worship song, or so she claims. We had a bit of trouble, before we actually sang, figuring out who was going to sing it. I had to drop it down a key if I wanted to sing it, but we tried having Elissa lead it while it was in the original key. Didn't work out so well.

The second song was "Unfailing Love," by Chris Tomlin. This song simply states that God's love is eternal. It is pure. It is... well... unfailing. The chorus says, "Praise You, God of earth and sky. How beautiful is Your unfailing love (unfailing love). And You never change, God, You remain the Holy One of my unfailing love (unfailing love)." In all honesty, this song was simply chosen because of the simple message it states. It happened to fit into the theme of the songs.

The final song was "How Great Is Our God." Something happened during this song and I don't think I want an explanation as to what. In the middle of the song, I began to pray, thinking I would end the worship set with that, but as I talked, I realized that my hands were continuing the song, without fail! Rarely am I able to talk and play a song without messing up. After praying and realizing that the song went on perfectly and the prayer ended right before I got around to the beginning of the chorus again, I lead the youth with the chorus one last time. Elissa then closed in prayer and Chelsie took the lead as the preacher for the night.

She spoke on some prophetic stuff. It's actually very neat. Before Bush is out of office, a Tsunami will strike California. Also, there've been an increasing number of reports of twelve and thirteen year old kids claiming that Jesus has shown up and told them that He's returning in their generation. The same generation that I, as well as nearly all of my friends, am a part of. It's exciting! But, this also means that persecution will come, as well. That part isn't as exciting. Heh.

God Bless,

Mike

Shout Unto God...

When I heard that the youth were going to lead a service for the adults, a few weeks ago, I was actually rather nervous. I hadn't the foggiest idea what we were going to do for music, for a message, or, really, anything at all! My mother was insistent that we do this, though, no matter how negatively people reacted. I tried to stay with an open mind and let God lead it on.

Oh boy did He ever.

After spending all day preparing, we set into the service. We opened with a song. The song is about Heaven's gates flinging open wide and God's presence (or He Himself) pouring out of them. The song is, "Did You Feel The Mountains Tremble?" The thing I love about playing music to the mixed crowd of the adults and some younger people is that they get into the music, even if they don't want to. It's encouraging.

After the song, mom spoke a message about God's spirit pouring out (if you read the last paragraph, you might see something similar in there). In all honesty, I didn't pay attention. We had heard a much better sermon on the same subject at camp. Finally, mom called the worship band back up.

This time, we were up there for actual worship. We did the same set that we played on Wednesday night, except I did a lot more directing with my voice, during the songs. I'm starting to get the hang of actually leading the songs. Another point of interest was that Corrie's mic was up a tad louder than she was used to and you could hear her, clearly. She claims this has boosted her confidence a bit, and I'm totally going to run with that. All in all, the worship set was very successful.

After worship was done, things were moved around while I and another youth named Ariana threw on white robes. I also threw on a purple/pink sash (I thought it was purple, but many insisted that it was pink), as I was going to represent Jesus in a drama/dance hybrid that my friend Chelsie Pope thought up. It was, basically, a drama/dance that talked about sleeping/dead Christians waking up to God, then falling away. It then shifted to the last days and people were persecuting. All the while, Ariana, who represented the Holy Spirit, was speaking to those who would hear her. I, representing Jesus, slowly drew closer to the main action. As the persecuting scene was going on, I looked on, then stepped into the area. According to the Bible, every knee will bow to Jesus, so everyone, even those persecuting, bowed as I stepped down. This was the closing scene of the dance/drama.

Ariana and I changed out of our robes as quickly as possible and helped re-set up the stage for the final event: more worship.

The songs we did, this time, were "The Stand," and "Shout Unto God," by Hillsong. We also prepared to do "Fire Fall Down," also by Hillsong, but we didn't.

"The Stand," is a very emotional song that speaks of how God has always been here, is still working today, and works in our lives. In an effort to give back to Him, we realize, "What can I say? What can I do?" As you ask yourself these questions, you realize, "I can only offer myself to Him." Thus, the song leads to the point, "So I'll stand with arms high and heart abandoned, in awe of the One who gave it all. I'll stand, my soul, Lord, to You surrendered. All I am is Yours." The only thing that we, truly, can give back to God is ourselves.

"Shout Unto God," being one of my favorite worship songs, was the real hard hitter, at least, in my opinion. I love making noise for Jesus, and this song provided the opportunity to. The lyrics are a simple statement that "the enemy" has been defeated. Satan has already lost! Death couldn't hold Him down. He defeated death, hell, and the grave when He rose from the dead! The rest of the song is simply a victory cry unto God.

As the songs were being played, you could feel the presence of God, Himself, in that place. It is the first time that I have been the one to lead a worship service where God has come down into the place. It was ended by repeating the bridge and chorus of "The Stand," and then the service was closed.

Now, I've finally picked out another worship set for Wednesday night, and I sit here, remembering last night. I know that I, and the team of people that God has gifted me with, can successfully lead worship for an entire congregation. God has anointed our little group. I sit here, a happy man, knowing this.

God Bless,

Mike

Worship Going... well?!

I am sitting here, thinking about last night, and am still absolutely amazed. With only one run through of each song under our belts, the worship team took the stage, adding in a new member, even, and we nailed it...

... with God's help, of course!

The entire week, I hadn't the foggiest what I would do for worship during youth group. I decided to turn to Corrie and Elissa and ask them what they would like to do. Elissa gave me an, "I don't know," whereas Corrie told me she'd send me some songs the next day, and did so. I used one of the songs she sent, which was, "Jesus, Lover of my Soul." Little did I know, that was the key song of the night.

We've got a very small worship team, guitar, keyboard, drums, and vocals. There isn't a whole lot of exciting, jump around, have fun songs that we can do without having a few more instruments to add that extra layer of depth, so we really have to work at getting the music across effectively, which is exactly what we're trying to do.

The song set opened with "Every Move I Make," which is simply stating that you walk with Jesus, every day of your life. During the song, supposing you mean what you're singing, you're literally asking God, "How can this love, that You give me, be? How come You give me this mercy, this grace?" As I looked up, toward the end of the song, I noticed a few members of the youth group dancing around. This was encouraging.

Moving on to the second song, which was "You Are My King (Amazing Love)," the mood died down a little bit. I decided, since it was a slower song, I wouldn't look around all that much. As the song chugged along, since I think I slowed it down a bit more than I should've, I wound up dropping my pick and had to use my thumb to play. I didn't let it bother me, since I happened to have another pick in my pocket. Coincidence? I could see a few of the youth worshipping, in my peripheral vision, and this was very encouraging, as well. As the song ended, I dug in my pocket, hearing voices raised to God in worship.

The song poses an amazing question, though: "How can it be, that You, my King, would die for me?" It speaks of an amazing love. A selfless love.

Extra pick in hand, the third song, "Jesus, Lover of my Soul," started. The whole song is an outcry, from the soul, that states that you love Him just as much as He loves you. You'll never let him go. You need Him. You'll worship Him with everything in you. This song was the key song of the evening. Something happened, during this song, and I don't know what. All I know is, the spirit on that room was incredible. And this time... it wasn't because it was at a camp, or a convention. It was because us, the youth of the church, sincerely worshipped Him.

This Sunday, I'm going to add one song to this set, for the youth led service. The song will probably be, "The Stand," by Hillsong. God's already putting ideas of how to use the song, within the set, in my head. It's all very exciting, hard to explain, but overall wonderful.

Until next week.

God Bless,

Mike