Sunday Setlist :: 12-27-09

Sometimes these Sunday Setlists act as "Worship Confessionals." Today that feels appropriate.

The "Sunday after" ... Christmas, Easter, or any big event ... can often feel like a letdown. I didn't want it to. But for me it did.

I was tired from the previous week even though I got a good night's sleep the night before. We didn't have a mid-week rehearsal, so I intentionally designed a set I thought we could pull off without one. Overall everyone did fine. But we went without an electric guitar, and the music felt a little empty to me.

I also led worship in all three services which presented it's own challenges. I had to be onstage at 8:30 to lead the first service. I was back in the choir room at 8:45 to run through the second and third service songs, but I had to be in the wings at 9:15 to wait for the cue to end the first service. By 12:30 I was ready to go home and crash. Thankfully I did.

1st service team: Linda on piano, Travis on vox and acoustic guitar.

Setlist:

• All Hail The Power of Jesus Name [F]
• Joyful Joyful We Adore Thee [F]
• I Stand Amazed In The Presence [F]
• Offering song: This Is Our God [F]
• Response song: Carried To The Table [Bb]

2nd-3rd service team: Aaron on drums, Mitch on bass, Cris on keys, Linda on piano, Danielle and vox, Travis on acoustic guitar and vox.

Setlist:

• Famous One - Chris Tomlin [F]
• Mighty To Save - Hillsong [A]
• Healer - Kari Jobe [A]
• The Stand - Hillsong [A]
• You Are My King - [E]
• Offering Song: This Is Our God - Chris Tomlin [F]
• Response Song: Carried To The Table - Leeland [Bb]

Read set lists from other churches at FredMcKinnon.com

Pastor Neil Tomba blogs about the service here.

Were you at the service? I would love to hear your comments or questions.

Sunday Setlist :: 12-20-09

Christmas week was so busy (in a good way) that I never got around to posting the set list.

Here it is - short and sweet:

This week I led worship in the 2nd and 3rd services.

Team: Aaron on drums, Brady on bass, Mitch on electric gtr, Cris on keys, Seth on piano, Bren and Danielle on BGVs, and Travis on acoustic guitar and vox.

• Song of Hope- Robbie Seay Band [B]
• O Little Town of Bethlehem/It Came Upon the Midnight Clear [F-Bb]
• It Is Well [Bb-C]
• I Celebrate the Day - Relient K [C] (with Silent Night/Away in A Manger)
• He Is With You - Ronnie Freeman [C]
• How Great Is Our God - Chris Tomlin [C] - One funny note here - I usually do this song in Bb as the Tomlin key is high for me and high for a congregation. This time I decided to do it in C since it flowed out of the previous song. In the 2nd service I did what I intended and started with "Name above all names" an octave down. Then I sang the verse and chorus normally - which created a nice build. In the 3rd service I forgot to do that and blasted into "Name above all names." Since I was up so high, I didn't really know where to go from there - so I fumbled around a little and eventually sang "Name above all names" low then high ... basically it was a rambling mess, kind of like this comment!

Sunday Setlist :: 12-13-09

Advent Sunday number 3 came together despite our lack of rehearsal. We spent our normal Wednesday night rehearsal time (as well as 3 hours on Saturday) rehearsing for the Christmas Special we did last night.

One thing that hit me in preparation for Sunday morning was how easy it is to sing the Christmas carols on auto-pilot. Though it's easy, it's risky. We miss so much when we don't connect with what we're singing.

The song that impacted me the most was Charles Wesley's "Hark, The Herald Angels Sing." I just timed myself, and I can recite the first verse in less than ten seconds without thinking about a word I'm saying. Ironic, considering the first word of the song means "listen attentively."

I confess. I can't remember singing that song and letting the weight of these words hit me or the the good news of them lift me up:

Mild, He lays his glory by
Born that man no more may die
Born to raise the sons of earth
Born to give them second birth
Hark! The herald angels sing
"Glory to the newborn King!"

This week I led worship in the 2nd and 3rd services.

Team: Aaron on drums, Brady on bass, Mitch on electric gtr, Cris on keys, Seth on piano, Philip on acoustic gtr, Bren and vox, special guest Josh Ello on violin, and Travis on acoustic guitar and vox.

Setlist:

• Blessed Be Your Name - Matt Redman [Bb]
• Angel Medley: Hark! The Herald Angels Sing (Wesley/Mendelssohn) [F-G] - Angels We Have Heard On High (Traditional French Carol/Chadwick/Barnes) [G] - Angels From the Realms of Glory (Montgomery/Smart) [A]
• We Fall Down - Tomlin [E]
• Jesus Name Above All Names - Hearn [E] - Transition to this was a little shaky. I had trouble getting into 3/4 in my head.
• He Is With You - Ronnie Freeman [C] This has become the theme song for this series. It wasn't intentional, but it's hitting home with lots of folks. (Unfortunately, Ronnie Freeman's version isn't available on iTunes. The link goes to Mandissa's version. Here are the lyrics.)

Read set lists from other churches at FredMcKinnon.com.

Pastor Neil Tomba blogs about the service here.

Were you at the service? I would love to hear your comments or questions.

Sunday Setlist :: 12-6-09

The second Sunday of Advent did not start as planned. One thing after another went wrong. It was one of those Sundays where I knew it could only be a great service in spite of us. I know it can be trite to say it like this, but God showed up.

The sermon was from Ecc. 4:4-12. Neil talked about choosing to press the stop button on the treadmill of life. The treadmill runs on competition/envy and greed. The treadmill steals rest and relationship. We can hit the stop button believing we have nothing left to prove. (Listen to the sermon.)

Part two of the drama was even better than week one. Our drama team is amazing! (see it here)

This week I led worship in the 2nd and 3rd services.

Team: Aaron on drums, Brady on bass, Mitch on electric gtr, Cris on keys, Linda on piano, Philip on acoustic gtr and vox, Danielle and vox, Travis on acoustic guitar and vox.

Setlist:

• Joy to the World - Isaac Watts [C-D] - It was the opener this week, so we country-fied it.
• O Come All Ye Faithful - Wade/Reading [G]
• O Come, O Come Emmanuel - Neale/Helmore [Em]
• Revelation Song - Jennie Riddle [E] - Originally Bren was going to lead this song, but she was sick. Now that I've led it twice, I think I'm stealing it back from Bren. (Hey Bren, you can keep Hosanna even though I like to lead that one too!)
• Emmanuel -Bob McGee [C]
  
• Two Sets of Joneses - [D] - This Big Tent Revival classic isn't everyone's flavor, but I think it was a great fit for service. (lyrics here)
  
• COMMUNION: Lead Me to the Cross - [Bm] - Danielle led this song for the first time and was awesome!
• OUTRO SONG: He Is With You - Ronnie Freeman [C] - This song is so powerful. We normally don't do an outro song, but I'm glad we did. Several people stayed in their seats to listen, and I could see people hugging and crying. It's a poignant song for people in many different phases of life.

Read set lists from other churches at FredMcKinnon.com.

Were you at the service? I would love to hear your comments or questions.

Sunday Setlist :: 11-29-09

Sunday was the first Sunday of the Advent season. We started a new series that will continue for 4 weeks: Eternity In Our Hearts.

Sunday's message was from Ecclesiastes 2:1 - The Search for Satisfaction. Listen to it here. Our drama team wrote original pieces for each week. This week's was awesome! Watch it here.

The highlight of the morning was a baptism we did only in the 3rd service. We normally don't do baptisms during Advent since the services are so full. I'm glad we made an exception!

My friend Matt has a son Ben who attends school in Austin. Over the past month or two, Ben met and befriended a homeless man, Wayne. Through Matt's and Ben's care in Wayne's life, Wayne came to Christ and was spending Thanksgiving in Dallas with his new friends. Wayne's baptism is a great reminder of the amazing love and pursuit of the Father.

I led worship in all 3 services this week.

1st service team: Danielle on vox, Cris on keys, Dr. Hansen on organ.

2nd-3rd service team: Aaron on drums, Brady on bass, Mitch on electric gtr, Cris on keys, Philip on acoustic gtr and vox, Danielle and vox, Travis on acoustic guitar and vox.

Setlist:

• Blessed Be Your Name - Matt Redman [Bb] (2nd and 3rd services only)
• Come Thou Long Expected Jesus - Charles Wesley [D]
• Here Is Love - Matt Redman version of the classic hymn [F]
• O Come Let Us Adore Him - Wade/Reading [F-G]
• He Is With You - Ronnie Freeman [C] (Unfortunately, Ronnie Freeman's version isn't available on iTunes. The link goes to Mandissa's version. Here are the lyrics.)
• Joy To The World - Isaac Watts [C-D]

Read set lists from other churches at FredMcKinnon.com.

Were you at the service? I would love to hear your comments or questions.

Why This Blog?

Here we go again ... This isn't the first time I've started a blog. I've blogged and used to be on MySpace, but now I'm mainly on Facebook and Twitter.

I like to use Facebook to stay connected to a wide variety of people - friends from high school, extended family, church friends, etc. Right now I have 361 friends on Facebook. The only thing they have in common is they are all my friends on Facebook. They don't share the same religious or political ideas. They can be passionate about things that are opposed. For that reason I choose to not use my Facebook as a pulpit. I want to know what's going on in their lives, and they want to know what's going on in mine. For me it's not the place to draw lines and pick sides.

I rarely update my Facebook status directly. I let Twitter do that. My tweets usually fall into one of four categories:

1) Something funny - usually said by one of my kids

2) Something irritating - It's a nice release sometimes to "vent" to the cyber-world.

3) My exercise log - Some people like this and say it encourages them. I'm sure others have stopped following me or hidden me from their feed because it gets annoying. The reason I do it is for the cyber-accountability. So far, it's worked.

4) A life update - The last time I took one of my kids to the hospital, I tweeted updates throughout the experience. Family and friends could easily stay updated and could send me encouragements. Twitter and Facebook were great for that.

So, why blog?

I get excited about blogging at first, but then I get bored with it. I also get annoyed when I read others' "deep thoughts" that feel forced. Still, I sometimes have insights or encouragements that I think could benefit others. As a worship leader/minister/teacher I want to use my experiences and my gifts to build people.

Am I afraid to take the risk of putting something out there that I think is meaningful? Probably. Do I know there are other critical people like me out there who will judge what I say? Yes. But, I've decided I need to take the risk anyway.

Another reason I'm starting this blog is for one of the staple posts I plan to do. My friend Fred McKinnon posts a Sunday Setlist on his blog weekly. He and others put their worship sets from Sunday on the blog. I'm going to post mine on this blog and link to and from Fred's. People often ask me about a particular song I did on Sunday, and I'll make that information available to people here.

If any readers have questions about worship, worship leading, or songwriting, let me know. I'll do my best to answer.

God Bless!