The Third Person

It’s always funny to talk about yourself in the third person.  Try it sometime.  Don’t try to pray in the third person though, that just gets weird.  Of course the Holy Spirit, or Holy Ghost is often referred to as the Third Person… as in, “God in three persons, blessed Trinity.”

Our small group recently spent some time praying for those we know and love , those who don’t know and love Jesus yet.  It was really a great time of connecting with God the Holy Spirit, allowing him to align our hearts with his, and grow in compassion for the lost.  After, we sang a chorus of Be Glorified and Thank You For Loving Me .  Caring about what matters to someone else is a great way to get to know them.

See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. – I John 3:1

Song Ideas: Holy, Holy, Holy, Be Glorified, Thank You For Loving Me, The Power of Your Name

The Tongue

James probably spent some time in the Psalms before he penned his letter.  He was aware of the power of the tongue, and the challenge to use it to bless.  In my small group we’re learning to tell others about our great God and his great plan to redeem the world through His Son.  I’m encouraged when I hear others bragging about their God – boasting in the cross.

James writes of the tongue like this: With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God.

Encourage your group to be quick to speak the things of God, to bless Him, to have his praise on the tip of their tongue.

Song ideas: O For A Thousand Tongues to Sing, How Great is Our God, Blessed Be The Name of the Lord

Thankful

I attended the thanksgiving communion service the other night.  The chairs were arranged so they were all facing toward the middle so that the people of God could share with each other testimony of God’s abundant provision in their lives.  After hearing all of the stories, celebrating communion and singing a final chorus blessing the Lord, I left encouraged and was reminded of Psalm 107.  In it, David reflects on the Jews new beginning after entering the Promised Land. He aptly starts the chapter like this:

Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
for his steadfast love endures forever!
Let the redeemed of the Lord say so,
whom he has redeemed from trouble…

It’s easy to get on the other side of something hard and forget to be thankful.  For the new beginnings we celebrate at communion, as we remember, there is nothing better than hearing the name of Jesus being treasured and God being glorified through the stories of lost sinners being redeemed from trouble. Whether through prayer or song or testimony, each time we meet we have a chance to give thanks… For the redeemed of God to say so.

Song ideas: Thankyou For Loving Me, Blessed Assurance, We Will Remember, Forever

Worship in My Small Group

Figured it might be good to set up a post that can we can add comments to relating specifically to our Small Group worship leading experiences……..so here it is! Share your highs, lows and in-betweens. How is your group responding in worship to God’s presence and movement of the Spirit during your time together? How are YOU being moved to facilitate that communication and participation? I’m praying that you will hear His voice clearly, that He would provide you discernment and direction and a bold love for His saints that are in your care.

From The Inside Out – Seventh Day Slumber

This song has been blessing me. Haven’t had a chance to play it myself, but I can hear it translating pretty well into an acoustic arrangement

\”From The Inside Out\” Seventh Day Slumber

While we’re at it…..we should probably try to use the same music sites whenever possible. This one is Imeem – looks ok, free registration, etc.   Any that you’re using regularly out there? Let’s see if we can find 2 or 3 that fit the bill.

The Heart of Worship – A Spirit Led Self Exam

Thanks to Adam for sending this along. Consider it for your group, and let us know if you plan to use it (I am doing it this week with our group) so we can pray for your time together.

Some scriptures that I’ve been thinking of have to do with seeing our reflection and what kind of impression it leaves on us:

As in water face reflects face, so the heart of man reflects the man. – Proverbs 27:19

For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known. – 1 Corinthians 13:12

For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. - James 1:23-24

Going to bring out some mirrors and other things that give off a reflection and spend some time in worship tonight, face to face with ourselves – will sing “Here I Am to Worship.”

The Mediation of Christ in worship

The latest issue of Worship Leader magazine has an article on Christ’s role in our worship (link to article below). I encourage you all to read it and share your impressions. Some excerpts that attracted my attention:

“the perfect worship of Jesus is the foundation for our worship; His worship on our behalf frees us to offer our own worship with confidence and honesty (note: Hebrews 10:19-22)”

“The Spirit connects us with Christ so that His worship becomes our own…….the mediation of Christ in our worship liberates our worship from false assumptions and expectations, and empowers our worship to be what God intended for it to be: the free and thankful devotion of His redeemed people.”

“we need to see ourselves as participants – in Christ and through the Spirit – in the Son’s worship of the Father, rather than as free agents.”

“…This changes our roles as worship leaders significantly from “producers of the sacred” who have to create worship moments from scratch, to worship guides who help the congregation connect with the ongoing worship of Jesus.”

All items noted in quotations above from the article “the Mediation of Christ in Worship” by Robb Redman. Read the complete article here:

http://www.worshipleader-digital.com/worshipleader/200909/?pg=22

New Music

We’ll be rolling out “All Over This World” to the church this week. If you haven’t had a chance to check it out on Planning Center, give it a look and a listen. I’ll be bringing it to my small group as part of this week’s study – I’ll let y’all know how it goes.

I know Adam has brought the song “Follow You” by Leeland to his group. As soon as CCLI updates I’ll get it available to you.

Keep us up to speed on any new music that is blessing YOU.

Use The Planning Center Online!

DEC services are prepared using The Planning Center. As one of our recognized small group worship leaders, your name and email address have been added to our database (you received an email inviting you to The Planning Center) so that you can access all the songs (audio and lead sheets) the worship team uses for DEC’s services, Celebrate Recovery worship and more.  Just go to http://www.planningcenteronline.com/ and login using your email address and the password that was provided to you in the invitation email.

Worship Is More Than Music

We usually define “worship” too narrowly (music, the singing part of the service) or too broadly (everything I do is worship) to be either accurate or helpful.

Other useful information and ponderings that really help the reader to pull together a compelling biblical and useful definition of worship.