Bad Church Sign: No, Luke, I Am Your Father

Thankful to Karen Erskine for sending this sign to me.  This week’s bad church sign of the week has the Jesus character telling Luke Skywalker that, in fact, Darth Vader is not his father.  Instead, he is. This one isn’t that bad per se, but is quite hilarious on one side.  On the other side, …

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“Risen” – Storytellers

The song “Risen” off of our “Knowing Jesus” project was 1 of the 2 original group writing sessions we did.  John, Jamie, Laura, and Phillip camped out in my playroom and studied the 4 gospel accounts of Jesus’ resurrection.  After a while, they had a pre-chorus section and a few different chorus ideas.  The “come and see, the tomb is empty, He is risen” was the first section written.

We knew we wanted minor verses, major choruses.  We also decided that we wanted the mood to carry over from “It Is Finished” before it.  We wanted to convey at the beginning a sense of hopelessness and confusion.  So the song starts out with just pad and vocal.  Was the cross the end?  Now what?  We wanted people to experience what the disciples must have felt.

The rest of the song is a rowdy celebration of the power over death found in Jesus’ resurrection.

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Knowing Jesus Recap (And What’s Next)

I know I am two weeks behind to give you a “Knowing Jesus” recap, but things have been a tad busy as of late.  In short, the event exceeded my expectations which were very large.  After all the prayer, study, work, and preparation into this event and resource, I set the bar high in my mind.  I never imagined what would happen that night.

I thought the entire roof was about to blow off the building.  When God’s people responded to the revelation of Jesus Christ, it was beyond intense.  As the storyline unfolded as we told the life and ministry of Christ through song, genuine, passionate worship erupted among us.

I had many comments (some of them were very sup rising), and here are the most repeated ones:

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Risen

Focusing on missions and the power of the resurrection – what a Sunday!

Samantha Vickers did a fantastic job sharing her “Ni Zan Je” testimony and showing what faithfulness to the call looks like.  It was great for her to commission our mission team leaving out this Saturday in Hausa.  “I will follow Jesus anywhere no matter the roughness of the road.”

Today, we worshiped to:

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Man Up

Scripture is full of servants who took a stand to confront evil. Look up these passages and learn from these examples. When the prophet Nathan heard about King David’s adulterous relationship with Bathsheba, what did he do about it (2 Samuel 12:7-9)?  He confronted and rebuked the King. When Nehemiah heard that God’s people were

It Is Finished

What a wonderful day to be a part of North Side!  I got the privilege to lead worship and preach today.  It is always a humbling thing to be in the room when God saves people.  We got to be in His presence when He did just that for a good crew of people at the 9:30 and 11:00 services.  I got to speak with some wonderful people and received some great emails today of people who Jesus saved today.  Absolutely amazing to see how God is transforming lives!

I preached from John 19 on the crucifixion of Jesus and the 3 greatest words I ever heard: it is finished.  We do not need to keep fighting a battle that has already been won by Christ.  He has offered the final sacrifice and has sat down at the right hand of God – it is finished!

Hebrews 10:11Every priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins; 12but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, SAT DOWN AT THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD

Today, we worshiped to:

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Pilate’s Judgment

Powerful time of worship this morning at North Side.  The above picture was a pretty special moment as Jeff served as both pastor and father to some missionaries we commissioned.  Jeff’s daughter, Emily, Scott, and Baby Lucy are leaving this week to serve as missionaries in Africa.  It has been amazing to watch this father be so proud of his family for a decision that will keep them far from the comforts that we take for granted and yet so much closer to Jesus through their obedience.  It was an honor to pray for them – will continue to do so!  We have some prayer cards at the church for you!

Today, we worshiped to:

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Knowing Jesus

Jesus changed everything. The world has yet to recover since the moment the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. As North Side Baptist Church studied through the Gospel of John, our worship team studied the life of Christ and wrote songs about some of the pivotal moments in His life and ministry. We wanted

21 Tracks

“Knowing Jesus” album is available on Sunday night at North Side.  We are hosting our “Knowing Jesus ” worship event at 6pm and would love to have you join us for worship!

The album is 21 tracks.  We would have done more, but we were seconds away from having to go double-disc.  We have so much music, we aren’t doing it all on Sunday night, but I have listed a track list to give you an idea on what each of these songs are.

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If An Album is Played in the Forest, Does Anyone Hear It?

Last night, I had the privilege of listening through the “Knowing Jesus” album with our band at our home.  They had each contributed in the writing, arranging, recording of the process, but none of them knew until last night that this project is 21 tracks.  It is as close to 80 minutes that the disc will allow.

Why that much music?  Why 21-tracks?

The end of John gives us a hint:

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