I was unable to lead worship on Good Friday, since my daughter was morning, but I heard they didn’t miss me at all. I heard it was an incredible service of worship, prayer, communion, Scripture, and remembering the cross.
Good Friday worship set:
Jesus
Just as Christ Forgave You
It’s Passion week. It’s the week we celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus. It’s a week when we should be reminded the great level to which Christ forgave us.
And we, in turn, are to forgive others in the same way.
This subject matter is pretty intense. Dealing with past hurts in which we were the victim or the culprit are never fun to visit. It is extremely hard to forgive those who have hurt us
Read Colossians 3:12-15 to see how we should forgive:
I Am the Door
Well, I planned today’s service with the good possibility of me not being there due to the baby’s arrival. While our band never needs me there, they really didn’t need me there today, so it was good just to come in and sing and play along with them.
They are so good, I’m honored they let me play and sing with them! And that is the truth.
Wonderful day with North Side today! Continuing on through John, we arrived at John 10 today focusing upon Jesus’ statement: “I am the door.” I have really loved this “Knowing Jesus” study.
Speaking of doors, Ms. Rosalie Cromer is normally seen opening doors on Sunday mornings for our worshipers, but today she was opening another kind of door. I asked her to read one of her poems that she has written during our worship today. Her poem, “The Greatest Desire of My Heart,” went perfectly into John’s song, “May Your Life Be.” It was almost as if the 2 of them wrote those pieces together!
She read from her book of poems entitled “If.” We have copies in the bookstore or you can get them online here.
Today, we worshiped to:
The Invitation of the Christ
As we continue our weekly installment of a Christology, we have arrived into section 9: the invitation of the Christ. One of Jesus’ biggest criticisms was that he was a friend of sinners.
You have heard the phrase: “Hate the sin, but don’t hate the sinner.” That’s a difficult line to walk. How can we befriend sinners and not getting stuck in the sin that entangles them? You might think it is impossible to do it, but it’s not. Jesus hung around sinners but he never sinned. Oftentimes, I see Christians hang around sinners but avoid being intentional about Kingdom living. It’s almost an attempt to remain unscathed than it is to change lives.
How come most unchurched people avoid churched people because they are perceived as stuffy, judgmental, hypocritical goody-two-shoes, and yet sinners would invite Jesus to the party?
Here are some things to remember:
The Jesus Album
If you were at North Side yesterday, you got a snippet of the big project we are working on this year: The Jesus Album (working title). I was humbled by the response I’ve been receiving since yesterday when we led the new song, “It is Finished.” This was one of the first songs we wrote for this project, and the first one we have done live.
So, let me explain the big picture: 1) Our worship ministry desires to help disciple people, 2) Music has a way to make theology portable, 3) We are attempting 4 recording projects this year to do this, 4) We are currently studying through the Gospel of John on Sunday mornings and it’s been unbelievable, and 5) This project, #3, needs to reflect all of that somehow.
In a way to bring all that together, I felt led to challenge our worship team: What if we wrote an album that looked at the life of Jesus chronologically and worshiped him at every step along the way?
Now I Can See
Crazy good day with North Side. We finished up John 9 in “Knowing Jesus” with the man who once was blind but now can see. For a bluegrass section at the end of the service, I was even able to talk Jeff into playing banjo with us at the end. So, so good. In addition to preaching a fantastic sermon today, he also played some mean banjo.
Today, we worshiped to:
The Manifestation of the Christ
As we continue in the Christology, this week we are studying the miraculous deeds of Jesus. These works served as a manifestation of the Christ and showed his omnipotence. With Jesus, truly, all things are possible.
The deaf can hear. The blind can see. The lame are rising up to stand upon their feet. He calmed the storm. He quieted souls. He mended the broken. The empty were filled. The sick made well. The mute began to speak of his glory. The dead were rising. With Christ, all things are possible.
But, do we really believe that? Do we honestly believe that Jesus can come in and fix that circumstance clouding our view?
The Man Born Blind
What a fantabulous day at North Side! We were thrilled to release our new album “The Manifold Wisdom of God: Sermon Remix 2011” (photo courtesy of Taylor Wolfe). While I couldn’t talk Jeff into doing his part live, the band did accompany his preaching. We played track #10 off of the album which is in my top 2 favorite tracks.
Thank you for all that got copies today. I loved hearing about the lines at the bookstore! Hope the biblical truths are impacting you today!
Today, we worshiped to:
Your Father the Devil
We were so honored to have the Faith Home choir help lead us in worship this morning. Mama Barnes of course had the place dancing and shaking as always. She and her choir did a wonderful job of worshiping Jesus and leading us to do the same. Faith Home is a Christian recovery program that we partner with here in Greenwood. You can get more info on their ministry here.
Today, we worshiped to:
The Revelation of the Christ
As we continue our Christology, this week we are focusing on the teaching ministry of Jesus. This is the Revelation of the Christ. Through his preaching, he displayed the attribute of wisdom as he proclaimed words of life.
Nobody taught like Jesus. No one will ever teach like Jesus. He was able to communicate long messages to all types of people and his words survived in a mainly oral culture for us to read today.
Some things to remember about Jesus’ teaching ministry:
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