January 11, 2009

Today was a banner day at @V21Church. He is bringing more and more people to both Raleigh and Durham campuses, drawing them to himself. For those who are followers of Christ, it seems like he’s blowing up our vision of arrival or settling. This sense of “I’m a Christian. Now circle the wagons” that prevails in our selfish hearts is being replaced with “I’m a follower of Christ. Now, let’s follow Christ in his mission.” It was a huge day, both in terms of the scripture and sermon as well as the number of people who came. I went to bed humbled and energized.

Willingly
Words and Music by @MattStevensNC
This was the 2nd week of our new band model, and it was the band I lead (yet to be named). We’ve spent a few weeks trying to determine which songs sound best, and what we feel God calling us to sing. This song was written about the love of Christ, and is catching on. So much of a new song is the singability and frequency of singing it early on, allowing people to learn the words and melody. But with so many more new people coming, what do we do now?

By Thy Mercy (Jesus, Lord of Life and Glory)
Words by James Cummins, 1839
Music by Greg Thompson, 2004
Addtl. Music and Lyrics by @V21Church, 2008
This is a great song, especially when my capo is in the right place. I started out in two, played all the way through the chorus, when bass and drums come in. Realizing something was wrong, I stepped back and yelled to Jerry, “Should I be on 3?” meaning the third fret. He simply nodded. There was no way to continue on the wrong fret, so we stopped and started over. Found out later Jerry didn’t hear what I said, he just nodded. He later said “I’m playing a song, I’m not going to talk to you in front of hundreds of people.”  Hilarious, and even after preparing like crazy, I still messed up! Frustrating, but it happens.

Sermon: Haggai 2:4-9
Wow. @PastorTyler Jones has an amazing gift of communicating the vision of God for the local church, and this particularly was one of his finest. I’ll be listening to the podcast several more times, and this verse is one that marks 2009 for @V21Church.

No Eye Has Seen
Words and Music by Holly Dwan
Come on, @V21Church, move a little! I’m not suggesting everyone wants to move, dance and clap, but it’s almost comical watching some people fight it. This is still one of my favorite V21 tunes, and amazingly applicable to the sermon subject today.

Praise To The Lord, The Almighty
Words by Joachim Neander, 1680
Music by Erneuerten Gesangbuch, 1665

• Hymns can’t be beat when it comes to lyrics, but at times they lack a groove, especially in ¾ time. We tried to mess with the time signature a bit, but never locked into anything, and kept the ¾. All in all, it’s still a beautiful song, and Andrea did a great job leading this one.

Glory To God
Words and Music by @MattStevensNC
Groove, groove, groove. We’re trying to bring it to @V21Church in songs slow and fast. This week found us examining the groove of this song, and attempting to improve it. We’re on our way, but it just shows the need for time of crafting in addition to just rehearsing.

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

Band For Today
Jeff Tyndall – sound
@AndreaUpdyke – backing vocals
@Gerald_Updyke – bass
Steven Suits – lead guitar
Daniel Deese – drums
@MattStevensNC – vocals, rhythm guitar