October 5, 2008

A day late and a dollar short, as my football coach used to say. Which one? All of them, really- they are all the same. Somewhere, there is a probably a store for football coaches that sells books of ridiculous old sayings, nicknames and tips on calling everyone “Son”. Oh, and Bike shorts. Anyway, I’m not going to run laps for posting the Sunday Review late- those days are long gone! Here we go:

Sing Praise To God Who Reigns Above
Words by Johann Schultz, 1675
Arrangement/Additional Lyrics by @MattStevensNC, 2008

In light of questions regarding the first song of a service, I’ve been intentional lately about setting the tone for the service. On any given Sunday (continuing the football theme), you’ll have people from every position of belief, faith and view of God. Examining this song, it tied into a beautiful passage from Colossians 1, where Paul explains who Jesus Christ is, and lays out a progression we must not stop short of completing.

Verses 15-16: Paul writes that Christ “is the image of the invisible God” and “For by him all things were created”. This is the Creator image of God, teaching about his otherness, his holiness. This is wholly accurate, but we’ve all been guilty of viewing God as a distant being who doesn’t understand what’s happening in this tiny ant-world. So the progression continues:
Verses 17-20: “And he is the head of the body, the church.” Paul also writes “For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things.” Christ’s mission is revealed, as he came into the world to “save sinners” (1 Tim. 1:15). God is closer in this section, but in the sense that his work as Savior is sufficient. The danger with stopping at this view is seeing God as here, but unreachable, busy, speaking in a large auditorium and you’re in the nosebleed section. So we continue with Paul:
Verses 21-23: “And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death.” While Paul is writing to the church in Colossae, certainly we see the progression as including individuals. The holy Creator came near to us, and looked us in the eye through Jesus Christ. The challenge was presented to the congregation of @V21Church to examine their view of God- does it stop at distant, or “here but unreachable?” Or do you only see Christ as the latter, close and personal but not also Creator God?

The lyrics by Schatz are in this same vein, in the first stanza he touches on several aspects of Christ’s nature:

Sing praise to God who reigns above,
the God of all creation. (Col. 1:15-16)
The God of power, the God of love,
the God of our salvation. (Col. 1:17-20)
With healing balm my soul he fills,
and every faithless murmur stills. (Col. 1:21-23)

Glory To God
Words and Music by @MattStevensNC, 2006

I’ve been paying close attention during August-October with regards to the newcomers, and congregation in general, learning songs. As part of our “Stick 6“ campaign, we’re asking people to attend for six weeks to make an accurate assessment of @V21Church. This will allow them to get a feel for our songs, our preaching, our community, etc. This song has always been fairly popular for us to sing, but it was clear that a good number of people were still catching on. That is a difficult part of introducing new songs, but whether it’s an original or a popular CCM song, it will be new to a great many people, especially those who don’t listen to a lot of CCM.

Sermon: Ecclesiastes 4

If you’re wondering what biblical community looks like, listen to this sermon. Be warned: followers of Christ will be convicted, doubters and seekers will be intrigued.

No Eye Has Seen
Words and Music by Holly Dwan

This song is catching on, and I look forward to the day when people comfortably sing it with the hope and energy this song calls for. Man, I love this tune! Holly, great job! My goal this week with the recording was to get a good copy of this one- we’ll let everyone know how it turned out.

Chainbreaker
Words by Charlie Hall
Music by Kendall Combes, Dustin Ragland, Brian Bergman, Quint Anderson

Again, with the “Stick 6“ campaign, we’re heavily rotating new songs so people get a chance to learn them. This one is catching on, and while the chorus is rockin, the greatest value to this song is the bridge/breakdown:

We are free, we are free, Yeah the Son has set us free.
Drop your chains, sons and daughters, come and run in liberty!

All Creatures Of Our God and King
Words by Francis of Assisi.
Arrangement by David Crowder, with additions by @V21Church

Doing this song after “Chainbreaker”, which is a great closer, was risky, but it also forced the band to really rock it out. Did we? I hope so. More than that, I hope it provided a platform that allowed people to sing from hearts- “Oh Praise Him! Hallelujah!”

Today’s Sunday Review is posted in collaboration with other church music ministries at Sunday Setlists.