Sunday Setlist 1-25-09 – Morning…

This is part of Fred McKinnon’s Sunday Setlist…

Well, the day is half over… we have our monthly communion and worship service this evening, so I will post that service tonight or tomorrow.

This morning went rather well – I only jumped in early on one entrance (oops) and the band followed beautifully. We are getting better!

But beyond the lack of major faux pas, the Spirit of God was moving and it was felt throughout the service. Wonderful.

We went back to some songs that we haven’t done in ages (so long that I had forgotten the order they went in!) but were well remembered to go with Praise is Rising, which we introduced last week. It was so nice to hear the congregation above the sounds of the band singing on Amazing Grace!

Anyway, the setlist from this morning is as follows:

• Hosanna (Praise is Rising) [F]
• We Lift You Up [G]
• Lord, Light the Fire Again [E]
• Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone) [D]
• Kids message
• Beautiful One [C]
• Announcements
• Message – Integrity (Rehoboam…)
• Amazing Grace – verse 1

We had planned to sing through Hosanna’s verse 1 & chorus, but we were running late, so Pastor Chris lead Amazing Grace instead – it worked so nicely.

The congregation is starting to pick up on Hosanna (PIR) now – the chorus is pretty straightforward. I noticed that most people were able to sing along without much hesitation, so I am excited that it will be one of those songs that gets picked up quickly. We have now done it in E, F & G. I prefer G because it fits my voice best, but it may be a bit high for the gents. E felt too low, and I’m not crazy about F though…

Moving into better-known songs after that was a much needed rest from new things. It was such a blessing to me to see people settle into singing them – like sitting down with an old friend that you know well and it feels like no time has passed at all. We have a small-ish congregation still, so I don’t usually hear them much, but wow… I could hear them loud and clear on Amazing Grace! I almost stepped back from the mic and just let them carry it, but I was afraid the band would wonder what I was doing. It was wonderful. People were just worshiping our Wonderful Savior! Hands and voices raised in adoration and thankfulness… it was beautiful.

We did kind of a fun thing with the band on Beautiful One – we were the prop for the kids message! Ms. Vicki has been teaching about gifts, giving, and using our gifts & talents to help others. Today her title was “Are You Part of the Band?” and we were the prop…

Basically we started the chorus for Beautiful One, then added and subtracted parts to show how we all have gifts and are necessary. Yes, it can be made to work with less, but not as well as if everyone is contributing their part for God. We had just the drummer for a bit, had just the harmonies and acoustic guitar playing chords, had just the vocals… then we lead into the song with everyone. It was pretty fun, and I think it came across well. I didn’t get a chance to ask too many people what they thought… well, so I just asked my husband. He got the message though! I guess I need to ask the girls.

The best part of the service though? The Monty Python reference. Yep, and from a guy that has never see Monty Python’s Quest for the Holy Grail in it’s entirety… It was great. Pastor Chris used a great illustration (even though he mis-quotes a bit) to get a great point across. We need to be strengthening the Inner Man by time spent in th Word and in sharing God’s love with the world around us. We need to protect the Inner Man from the attacks from sin in our lives that can weaken him – chopping off his arms and legs so that he is unable to go forth and do the worh that God has called us to. Do you know the reference yet? Just checking. Here’s a hint (if you don’t have it yet) “Merely a flesh wound”

Well, that actually wasn’t the best part, but it was pretty enjoyable. I’ve been waiting for 5 days to know which scene he would be using from the movie…

So that was our service this morning, and I’m heading out again in about 20 minutes to go set up for our communion service tonight. Lots of music, trying out some new things with swapping people in and out, and spending time in prayer as a body of believers.

I love this service…

One hour of music and quiet introspection and prayer… time to just kneel before our Holy God and cry out to Him with whatever is going on in your life. Time to truly think about the sacrifice that He paid on the cross for each and every one of us, time to thank Him, time to just sit in His presence, and to do it while surrounded by others who are doing the same thing.

As I said, I’ll post that service later.

Have a great week in the Lord!