Fellowship Bible Church - Songs We Sang in January 2022

Here’s what we sang together in January to start 2022!

  • All Glory Be To Christ (Dustin Kensrue, Kings Kaleidoscope)

  • Who You Say I Am (Hillsong Worship)

  • Through It All (Bill Horn)

  • How Deep The Father’s Love (Austin Stone Worship, Getty Music)

  • Rock of Ages (The Modern Post)

  • Rejoice (The Modern Post)

  • It Is Well (Todd Fields, Lauren Daigle)

  • King of My Heart (John Mark McMillan)

  • O Come to the Altar (Elevation Worship)

  • Grace Alone (The Modern Post)

  • Son of God (Starfield)

  • Highlands (Hillsong Worship)

  • Beloved (Derek Webb)

  • Made Alive (Citizens)

  • Broken Vessels (Hillsong Worship)

  • I Am Set Free (All Sons & Daugthers)

  • This is Amazing Grace (Phil Wickham)

  • Your Great Name (Michael Neale)

  • Sovereign Over Us (Aaron Keyes, The Worship Initiative)

It was a great month in worship together. One of my favorite songs that we have been singing lately is “Sovereign Over Us.” I love the declaration of God’s sovereignty and control, and how we can rest in that no matter what we’re facing in life. That is the way to peace.

Have a great week!

Fellowship Bible Church - The Songs We Sang In 2021

It’s been a while since we’ve done an update, but here are the songs we sang together last year in our times together in worship!

  • Graves Into Gardens (Elevation Worship)

  • Sing His Praise Again (Bethel Worship)

  • Soon (Bill Horn/Kelsey Thomsen)

  • Build My Life (Housefires)

  • Made Alive (Citizens)

  • Son of God (Starfield)

  • God With Us (All Sons & Daughters)

  • Grace Alone (The Modern Post)

  • Lord I Need You (Chris Tomlin)

  • O Praise the Name (Hillsong Worship)

  • Before the Throne (The Modern Post)

  • King of My Heart (John Mark McMillan)

  • Fix My Fading Eyes (Bill Horn)

  • Psalm 145 (Shane & Shane)

  • This is Amazing Grace (Phil Wickham)

  • Hosanna (Hillsong Worship)

  • Lion & The Lamb (Leeland Mooring)

  • Good Good Father (Housefires)

  • No Longer Slaves (Bethel Worship)

  • How Deep The Father’s Love (Austin Stone Worship)

  • Who You Say I Am (Hillsong Worship)

  • I Stand Amazed (Chris Tomlin)

  • Because of Your Love (Phil Wickham)

  • Yet Not I But Through Christ in Me (CityAlight)

  • Suffering Servant (The Modern Post)

  • Your Great Name (Michael Neale)

  • Rejoice (The Modern Post)

  • It Is Well (Todd Fields)

  • I Will Wait For You (Keith and Kristyn Getty, Shane & Shane)

  • Through It All (Bill Horn)

  • Beloved (Derek Webb)

  • King of Kings (Hillsong Worship)

  • I Will Go (Starfield)

  • Sing to the King (Passion Worship)

  • In Tenderness (Citizens)

  • Glorious Day (Kristian Stanfill/Passion Worship)

  • The Solid Rock (The Northwest Collective)

  • Defender (Kings Kaleidoscope)

  • Everlasting God (Brenton Brown)

  • O Come to the Altar (Elevation Worship)

  • Jesus Messiah (Chris Tomlin)

  • Your Love Awakens Me (Phil Wickham)

  • Great Are You Lord (All Sons & Daughters)

  • Wonderful Merciful Savior (Selah)

  • Wonderful Maker (Chris Tomlin/Matt Redman)

  • Jesus, You (Bill Horn)

  • This I Believe (Hillsong Worship)

  • You’re Beautiful (Phil Wickham)

  • Broken Vessels (Hillsong Worship)

  • The Cup Was Not Removed (The Worship Initiative)

  • Seek Your Kingdom (Kings Kaleidoscope)

  • Two Sets of Joneses (Big Tent Revival)

  • Sovereign Over Us (The Worship Initiative)

  • Lamb of God (Vertical Worship)

  • Come All You Weary (The Modern Post)

  • Rock of Ages (The Modern Post)

  • Worthy of Your Name (Passion Worship)

  • Highlands (Hillsong Worship)

  • Jerusalem (CityAlight)

  • Nothing But The Blood (Kelsey Thomsen)

  • None But Jesus (Hillsong Worship)

  • O Come, O Come Emmanuel (Fellowship Bible Church)

  • Come Thou Long Expected Jesus (Chris Tomlin/Christy Nockels)

  • Come Behold The Wondrous Mystery (Matt Boswell)

  • This is War (The Modern Post)

  • What Child Is This (Fellowship Bible Church)

  • Joy Has Dawned (Kings Kaleidoscope/Keith & Kristyn Getty)

  • Angels From The Realms Of Glory (Fellowship Bible Church)

  • O Come Let Us Adore Him (Fellowship Bible Church/Hillsong Worship)

  • Here I Am To Worship (Tim Hughes)

  • O Come Emmanuel (Sojourn Music)

  • Joy to the World (Fellowship Bible Church)

  • O Holy Night (Fellowship Bible Church)

  • Silent Night (Fellowship Bible Church)

I’ll try to keep up with monthly recaps going forward. Let me know if you have any questions!

Songs to Grow Old With

In their book, "Sing," Keith & Kristyn Getty wrote about the idea of songs that you want to grow old with, meaning they are meaningful, beautiful, and they will stand the test of time and you won't grow tired of them as trends change. (They have also talked at their conferences about "timeless" songs and the pursuit of writing those kinds of songs.)

So, it got me thinking, and I created a playlist of songs that I want to grow old with.

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4fpfZ4CIkWSHObuRylADZE?si=DcJr5AWfTfiKkb1w6fCpjw

It’s a thought that has definitely given me some pause and made me think more critically about the songs I’m spending my time listening to, and about the songs that I’m writing.

What would be some of your "songs to grow old with?"

A Poem from Psalm 31

In You, O Lord, I find refuge,
Protect me from disgrace.
Your righteousness delivers me,
Your fortress, strong to save.

You are my Rock, You lead and guide
To praise of Your great name.
You rescue me out of their net,
My spirit You redeem.

I spurn the ones who pay regard
To idols – empty, vain,
And I will trust in You alone –
Your love, my hope, remains.

You notice my affliction here,
The sorrow of my soul.
You shield me from my enemies
And make for me a home.

Be gracious, Lord, in my distress –
My eyes, they waste away.
My grief erodes body and soul,
My life is spent in pain.

I feel like one forgotten, dead,
And broken like a jar,
But I will trust in You, O Lord –
I say, my God You are.

I know my times are in Your hand;
You rescue me from foes.
Please make Your face to shine on me
And save me in Your love.

O let me not be put to shame
For on Your name I call;
Lord, silence those with lying lips
And let the wicked fall.

How plenteous is Your goodness, Lord –
You’ve stored it for Your own,
And worked that good for those who hide
Their hope in You alone.

O bless the Lord for He has shown
His steadfast love to me,
Though I was cut off from all hope,
I cried – You heard my pleas.

O love the Lord, all You, His saints,
The faithful, He preserves;
Let strength and courage find Your heart
That waits upon the Lord.

A Poem from Psalm 50

They Mighty One, the Lord, He speaks
And summons Earth, sunrise to set.
Out of perfect Zion He shines –
He comes and does not keep silent.

Before Him is consuming fire,
A mighty hurricane surrounds.
He calls to all to face their Judge
And see His righteousness abounds.

“Hear, O My people, I will speak
And testify against Your crimes.
For I am God, Your God alone,
And ev'ry creature here is mine.

“I do not need Your sacrifice;
Your offerings - an empty chore.
What I desire is hearts of thanks,
And faithful love, for I’m the Lord.”

A Poem from Psalm 38

Teach me to hold my tongue, O Lord,
When wickedness prevails,
To keep silence and hold, O Lord,
My peace, though no avail.

Make me to know my end, O Lord,
And measure all my days,
To know the breath that is my life
And shadows of my ways.

I wait for You alone, O Lord,
My hope is in Your hand.
Deliver me from sins unknown –
My selfishness as man.

I dare not open up my mouth
Because Your discipline
Consumes what is so dear to me
That I forsake my sin.

Give ear to my request, O Lord,
Do not neglect my tears.
Look kindly on Your servant’s face
That I may so be cheered.

A Poem from Psalm 83

O God, please do not keep silence;
Do not hold Your peace or be still.
Your enemies have raised their heads
And scheme against Your sov'reign will.

O God, make them like whirling dust,
Like refuse blown before the wind.
Pursue them like consuming fire
And terrify them with their sin.

Humble them – fill them with shame,
That they may seek Your glorious Name.

A Poem from Psalm 65

Praise waits for You in silence, Lord,
O You who hears our cry.
To You all flesh shall come and bring
Their praise to You on high.

Iniquites prevail against
But You atone for sin.
You bless the ones You choose to bring
That they may enter in.

By awesome deeds You answer us
With righteousness to save.
The hope of all the earth You are
Of rescue from the grave.

You are the One who by His might
The mountains built with strength;
Who stills the roaring of the seas,
Who calms the raging waves.

From Your right hand the earth You bless
With water and with life.
The earth will stand in wonder, Lord,
In awe of Your great signs.

A Poem from Psalm 77

I cry aloud to God and He will hear;
In trouble, I stretch out my hand to Him.
My soul cannot be comforted, I fear –
My spirit faints as I remember Him.

So troubled is my soul I cannot speak
When I consider days of long ago.
Let me recall my songs in dead of night
And search for Him whose love I long to know.

Has God forgotten grace and love in wrath?
To answer, I Iook to His faithful past.

I will remember all Your deeds, O Lord,
And ponder all the works that You have done.
Your way, O God, is holy like none else –
You are the God whose wonders stand alone.

The waters saw Your face and fled in fear;
The clouds poured out the water they had held.
The skies gave forth the thunder and the wind;
The earth it shook and mountains surely fell.

Your way was through the sea and waters great,
Your footprints hidden from Your people's eyes.
You led them as a shepherd leads his flock
And brought them safely to the place supplied.

A Poem from Psalm 63

You are my God, and I seek You.
My soul thirsts and flesh faints for You.
As in a world without water,
I look to You o'er all others.

Your steadfast love surpasses life –
My lips will praise and glorify.
And I will bless for all my days,
And lift my hands in Your great name.

When I remember on my bed,
I think of You with quiet breath –
How You have been my help so strong,
The shadow of Your wings my song.

I cling to Your upholding hand,
Despite the one who seeks my end.
I still rejoice in You, my Hope,
My confidence in You alone.

A Poem from Galatians 2

Our church is going through the book of Galatians together, and here is a poem that I wrote from Galatians chapter 2:

Your promise is all that I need -
No law, no work, no deed in me.
But faith, a gift to all who hear,
For sin was far too great to bear.

My weakness full, no pow'r my own
Could justify or feign atone.
But by Your grace so freely giv'n,
You reconciled and brought me in.

Matthew 5:17-20 Study Notes

“Do not think…” v.17

Two Major Components of the Old Testament:

  • Law—“Torah”

  • Prophecy

“To fulfill…”— plerosai (aorist, active, infinitive) - because of the disjunction (“or”) between “law” and “prophets,” it implies that this phrase has a double meaning. He fulfills the law in one way, and the prophets in another way.

Jesus’ Fulfillment…

  • Fulfillment of the Law

  • ulfillment of Prophecy

“Till all is fulfilled” v.18—

"Jot" – Yod — The "y" sound in Hebrew – the smallest letter in the Hebrew Alphabet. Basically, it's the equivalent of the English apostrophe: '

“Tittle” – (Greek keraia) — this is the smallest distinguishing mark in Hebrew letters, similar to the mark at the bottom of the letter "Q." In Hebrew, that mark is the difference between the equivalent R and D sounding letters in Hebrew. This mark is small but still very significant. In Deuteronomy 6:4, this mark distinguishing these two letters is the difference between the verse saying "The Lord our God, the Lord is one," and "The Lord our God, the Lord is another." Those are very different messages, so this tiny mark is critical to the preservation of the truth.

 

“These commandments” v.19, 20 —

Moral, ethical demands·

The result of disobedience

This is not imputed righteousness as an abstract idea, but practical righteousness, worked out in daily life.

Fellowship Bible Church - Thoughts on a New Song, "Reckless Love"

For the past few weeks, we've begun introducing a new song, "Reckless Love" by Cory Asbury. I was a little uncomfortable with singing this song with our congregation because of the use of the word "reckless" in reference to the love of God. By definition, "reckless" means "marked by lack of proper caution: careless of consequences." This strict definition does not apply to God. He is well-aware of the consequences of every action and every decision He makes. He makes decisions with a complete understanding of all the facts of a given situation before it has even happened. There is nothing that surprises Him. There is no true "risk" with God, because He knows the outcome. He is not careless, but ultimately care-full, considering every aspect of everything He does, and by extension, everything that everyone does.

However, language is not a static thing (unfortunately) – it is constantly changing, and words continue to take on new and subtle changes to their meaning. I think "reckless" is one of those words. If we look at the Merriam-Webster discussion of the synonyms, I think it makes more sense of the writer's intention: 

[The synonyms] adventurous, venturesome, daring, daredevil, rash, reckless, foolhardy mean exposing oneself to danger more than required by good sense. adventurous implies a willingness to accept risks but not necessarily imprudence.

I think this is the connotation that is being linked to "reckless" more often nowadays, as in the idea of "reckless abandon." It implies putting oneself in harm's way, knowingly accepting the risks associated with it. This understanding of the word makes it more palatable to me. The Father knew full well that sending His only begotten Son in the flesh would result in His death on the cross to save sinners, yet He proceeded – willing to accept the pain because of His great love for us. The cross is, indeed, the clearest picture we have of God's love for us (Rom. 5:8).

Jesus left the 99 and laid down His own life for the sake of the one lost sheep (Lk. 15:3-7). Jesus became our substitute so that we could be reconciled to the Father, justified, redeemed, adopted as sons and daughters of God, and ultimately glorified together with Him. Rather than understanding the word "reckless" on its own, I think the phrase can and should be understood as a whole: "reckless love." God loved His enemies, and sent His only Son to die for them, and adopted them as His sons and daughters. This surely appears to be foolishness in the world's view, but the "foolishness of God is wiser than men" (1 Cor. 1:25 ESV), and His ways are not our ways.

Do I wish the writer chose a word with less controversy around it because of the differences between its denotation and connotation? Absolutely. However, I think the song proclaims some great truth, and it's worth giving it some explanation so that we can sing it with a proper understanding.

Some links for more consideration:

https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2018/april-web-only/reckless-love-cory-asbury-bethel-music-and-justin-bieber.html

https://www.desiringgod.org/interviews/should-we-sing-of-gods-reckless-love

http://samstorms.com/enjoying-god-blog/post/is-god-s-love--reckless--some-thoughts-on-a-popular-worship-song

Fellowship Bible Church - Songs from August & September 2017 Services

I took a little break from doing a weekly recap of our weekend services, partly to see how helpful or necessary it is. Perhaps a recap of what we sing month-to-month might be more valuable, to have all the songs in one place. Here's what we sang together over the months of August and September this year, along with the versions that we drew from in our preparation. 

Please let me know if you have any questions!

  • "Brokenness Aside" [All Sons & Daughters]
  • "Made Alive" [Citizens & Saints]
  • "How Can It Be" [Lauren Daigle]
  • "Lord I Need You" [Chris Tomin, Matt Maher]
  • "How Deep The Father's Love For Us" [Austin Stone Worship/Stuart Townend]
  • "In My Place" [The Village Church Worship]
  • "Jesus!" [Citizens & Saints]
  • "Grace Alone" [The Modern Post/Dustin Kensrue]
  • "I Stand Amazed" [traditional/ Chris Tomlin]
  • "I Am Set Free" [All Sons & Daughters]
  • "Before The Throne" [The Modern Post]
  • "Lamb of God" [Vertical Church Worship Band]
  • "O Come to the Altar" [Elevation Worship]
  • "By Our Love" [Christy Nockels]
  • "In Tenderness" [Citizens & Saints]
  • "God With Us" [All Sons & Daughters]
  • "Good Good Father" [Housefires II]
  • "Jesus Take All of Me" [Brenton Brown]
  • "Only a Word" [original]
  • "The Lion & The Lamb" [Leeland Mooring/Bethel Worship]
  • "Hosanna" [Hillsong]
  • "O Praise The Name (Anástasis)" [Hillsong]
  • "A Mighty Fortress" [Christy Nockels]
  • "Rejoice" [The Modern Post/Dustin Kensrue]
  • "Lord of All" [Kristian Stanfill]
  • "Your Great Name" [Michael Neale/Natalie Grant]
  • "Because of Your Love" [Phil Wickham]
  • "Jesus, You" [original]
  • "It Is Finished" [The Modern Post/Dustin Kensrue]
  • "Son of God" [Starfield]
  • "This I Believe" [Hillsong]
  • "This is Amazing Grace" [Phil Wickham/Bethel Worship]

Fellowship Bible Church - 05/06 - 05/07/2017

This weekend, we wrapped up our generosity series, The Flow of Everything, and we looked at what could be possible if all the church joined together to bless our community and our world with what we have. We also had our annual event, Sharefest, where we partnered with more than 30 churches in the city to bless area schools, the Boys & Girls Club, and the Topeka Rescue Mission by doing much-needed landscaping work and projects. It is always a beautiful picture of the church in action.

For our singing, we focused on how abundantly and graciously God has provided for our redemption through the cross. We concluded our services by celebrating communion together, remembering the sacrifice of Christ on our behalf. He has done great things for us!

Here's what we sang together this weekend:

Pre-Service - "Worthy of Your Name" [Passion Worship Band]
"It Is Finished" [The Modern Post/Dustin Kensrue]
"I Stand Amazed" [Charles Hutchison Gabriel]
"Lord I Need You" [Passion Worship Band]
"Jesus Paid It All" [Traditional, Alex Nifong, Passion Worship Band]

It was a great weekend together! I am excited about what the Lord is doing in the Church in Topeka, and it is awesome to be a part of it through Fellowship.

I hope you had a great weekend!

in the Son,

Bill

Fellowship Bible Church - 04/29 - 04/30/2017

This weekend, we continued our Flow of Everything series about living a generous life. This continues to be a challenging series as we examine how God has blessed us and how we respond to that blessing with what God has entrusted to us.

Here's what we sang together this weekend:

Pre-service - "Worthy of Your Name" [Brett Younker, Sean Curran, Passion Worship Band]
"The Solid Rock" [The Dispatch]
"Grace Alone" [The Modern Post, Dustin Kensrue]
"10,000 Reasons" [Matt Redman]
"Because of Your Love" [Phil Wickham]

We introduced a newer song this weekend, "Worthy of Your Name" which came out of Passion 2017. Several of our college students attended the event and came back talking about the song, so I have been looking forward to introducing it to our church family. There was some thought about incorporating it into our Easter services, but we didn't have enough lead time to do so effectively. It's a tricky song to find the right key for congregational singing because the original vocalist has such a high range. But, we'll keep toying with it to try to find the best key for our church. For the rest of our singing this weekend, we focused on the grace and goodness of God, and called each other (and ourselves) to respond with a life of worship to who He is and what He has done for us. It was a great weekend together!

I hope you had a great weekend of worship!

in the Son,

Bill

Fellowship Bible Church - 4/22 - 4/23/2017

This weekend, we began a new series about living a generous life: "The Flow of Everything." it was a great start to the series as we looked at God as the source of absolutely everything we have.

Here's what we sang together:

Pre-Service: "You Are God Alone (Not a God)" [Billy & Cindy Foote]
"Made Alive" [Citizens & Saints]
"Jesus!" [Citizens & Saints/The Northwest Collective]
"Good Good Father" [Housefires]
"Son of God" [Starfield]

We had some challenges to overcome this weekend with team members getting sick or injured (at one point there was the possibility of me leading from the drums– yikes!), but the Lord provided and brought a team together that did a great job serving and leading. 

Fellowship Bible Church - Easter - 04/15 - 04/16/2017

It's late! But here is our recap of our Easter services together last weekend, anyway!

It was our first Easter weekend together in our new worship center building, which makes it much easier for our congregation to hear one another singing. It made for a powerful time of singing, celebration, and worship together!

Here's what we sang together to celebrate the Faith, Hope, and Love that we have because of the risen Christ:

Pre-service - "Forever (We Sing Hallelujah)" [Bethel Music]
"Rejoice" [The Modern Post/Dustin Kensrue]
"Jesus!" [Citizens & Saints/The Northwest Collective]
"O Praise The Name (Anástasis)" [Hillsong Worship]
"No Longer Slaves" [Jonathan David Helser & Melissa Helser]

Fellowship Bible Church - 04/01 - 04/02/2017

This week, we concluded our Way of Life series through the Sermon on the Mount. It was a great study, and I think we all were impacted in some way by the life-changing contained in these powerful three chapters of the Gospel of Matthew.

This week, we were looking at the conclusion of the Sermon on the Mount, in Matthew 7:24-29, where Jesus describes the wise man who builds his house on the rock (Jesus), and the foolish man who builds his life on the sand. The first two songs that came to mind when we were looking ahead to this weekend were the great hymn "The Solid Rock" and "Two Sets of Jones'" by Big Tent Revival. I hadn't played the latter in probably close to two decades, so it was fun to break it out and share it with our congregation, many of whom were very young when it was originally released. It was a last-minute addition to the set after we had some late illness and injuries take out one of our leaders for the weekend, but I'm glad it made it in. I heard quite a few nostalgic comments, where people shared the impact that the song or the band had on their formative years in their walk with Jesus.

Here's what we sang together:

Pre-service - "Two Sets of Jones'" [Big Tent Revival]
"Grace Alone" [The Modern Post, Dustin Kensrue]
"The Solid Rock" [Edward Mote, arr. by The Dispatch]
"Jesus Take All Of Me (Just As I Am)" [Charlotte Elliott, Brenton Brown]
"Because Of Your Love" [Phil Wickham]

It was a great weekend, and a great way to conclude this series. I'm looking forward to Easter in two weeks!

Have a great week!

in the Son,

Bill