[It seems I had an entire post written up, but it mysteriously disappeared when I saved it, so I'll try to remember all the profound things I had to say. ;) ]
We had a great weekend together as we continued our Awakening, looking at how the gospel is our celebration, and how it brings joy to the Father, to us, and to others who receive it. Joe focused in on Luke 15 and the "lost" parables of Jesus there, where He taught about the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost son. It was a beautiful reminder of how much the Father loves us and how He and all of Heaven celebrate it when we come back to Him!
Here's what we sang together:
Pre-service - "I Am Set Free" [All Sons & Daughters]
"Rejoice" - [Dustin Kensrue/The Modern Post]
"This is Amazing Grace" [Phil Wickham]
"Blessed Assurance" [Fanny Crosby]
"My Victory" [Crowder]
The team did a great job leading together to serve the church, and all of the songs connected well with Joe's message–especially the new song, "My Victory," which I have been looking to introduce to our congregation for about two months. We hosted Crowder in concert last week, and it was awesome to hear the song sung altogether with many from our congregation and others around the city. The lyric was a great fit for this weekend, as Joe discussed the attitudes of the scribes and the Pharisees toward Jesus and toward the tax collectors and sinners, along with the dangers of us taking the same self-righteous attitude, which stifles joy. The first verse of "My Victory" sings, "You came for criminals, and ev'ry Pharisee/ You came for hypocrites, even one like me." It then turns to look at the amazing gift of salvation that was given to us through the victory of Christ's cross. My favorite part of the song is the bridge, which comes from John 1:29, where John the Baptist declares about Jesus: "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!"
Behold the Lamb of God
Who takes away our sin
Who takes away our sin
The holy Lamb of God
Makes us alive again
Makes us alive again
I believe that for the Christian, something powerful happens when we speak or sing the truth of Scripture together. I believe that truth resonates within us and we cannot help but agree with it and be moved by it. That was the case for me this weekend, and for the first few services, I even had a hard time keeping my emotions reined in so I could finish singing it! It's a beautiful truth to sing together as we look to our wonderful Savior who has taken away our sin and who made us alive again when we were dead in our sin.
I hope you had a great weekend of worship, too.
in the Son,
Bill