Rock Bible Church - 11-7-2010

How's your evening?

I tried to plan a relaxing evening and so far, so good. These nights are so important. I've found that with engineering, worship leading, the girlfriend, some kind of social life, etc. I need to be intentional about taking some time to relax, reflect, and replenish. Writing here is great way for me to relax, but moreso to reflect, particularly on worship at RBC. Replenishing generally comes from two places: 1) talking with Lindsey or my close college friends (who are also worship leaders) about God, worship, anything or 2) Reading the Bible and/or other books that simultaneously encourage and challenge me to better lead my heart and the RBC congregation in praise of the Lord. Recently, these books have been:

Worship Matters - Bob Kauflin: www.worshipmatters.com

Doctrine - Mark Driscoll and Gerry Breshears: www.relit.org

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We (band) had planned and even practiced for this Sunday, but Devin (drummer) was in a bike accident at 1pm that afternoon. His leg was pretty beat up and swolen; drumming wasnt an option. I spoke with him today and thankfully, his leg has already healed so much! Praise the Lord.

This past Sunday's set was a black and white of old and new. Hosanna and Wholly Yours are both relatively new songs (last 5 years), while Come Thou Fount, Doxology, and Jesus Paid It all are "oldies but goodies"... emphasis on goodies. I wrote about Wholly Yours here (last week) and I that description is applicable to this week. Hosanna was the opening song for Rock Bible Church back on 10/10/10. He is the God who saves us; "Hosanna" means "Save, I pray!". With a discussion on the introduction of sin and our disobedience of the Lord, it's important to elevate our Savior as exactly that - Savior.

I could dedicate an entire post to the truth in Come Thou Fount, but I'll try to keep it simple here. First verse (partial):

Come thou fount of every blessing

Tune my hear to sing Thy grace

Streams of mercy, never ceasing

Call for songs of loudest praise...

The Lord blesses. He is worthy of praise. This verse highlights some of his (most defining, in my opinion) attributes: grace, mercy, and love.

Here I raise my Ebenezer,

Hither by Thy help I've come

And I hope by Thy good pleasure

Safely to arrive at home

Jesus sought me when a stranger...

I sang this song for years (many as a member of a congregation (a congregette?) and a little over a year as a worship leader) without know what "...raise my Ebenezer" meant. I eventually stumbled upon it's meaning in 1 Samuel 7, where Samuel erects an "Ebenezer" (meaning: Stone of help) to remind himself and the people of Israel that it was the Lord who helped them to this place. Likewise, we too must remind ourselves that Christ sought us when strangers to God, and that it is by His ultimate stream of mercy, death on a cross, we are considered righteous and enabled to return to community with God.

...Let thy goodness, like a fetter

Bind my wandering heart to Thee

Prone to wander Lord I feel it

Prone to leave the God I love

Here's my heart Lord...

What great confession: "Lord, I am prone to wander." Do we admit this to the Lord? To ourselves? Sometimes I wish could fetter, aka "bind" or "fasten", my heart to Lord. Since this physically cannot happen, we need to ground and root our hearts in ways the Lord has provided for us. Isaiah 40 tells us that strength will rise for those "who wait on the Lord". Moses, before he passed away, told the people of Israel to write "Love the Lord your God..." on the doorposts and on your hands and to teach it diligently! Those are two examples. ...I say it like I have it down, I certainly do not. I need these words as much or more than the next.

(ok i tried to keep it short, emphasis on try.) As you can see, I really dig Come Thou Fount; it's safe to say we'll be singing it again.

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Without totally dragging on, I'll stop here. Maybe (read: most likely) a little more later this week to touch on Doxology and Jesus Paid It All.