Progressive Worship 03/29/09, Church at the Mall

This week was an exciting time of worship with our church. I started the service by talking about the concept of raising hands in worship, because we were starting with "Unchanging" by Chris Tomlin, which says in the chorus, "So we raise up holy hands/ to praise the Holy One/ Who was, and is, and is to come." While we sang the song, the hands went up all over the place, and I think it's just a matter of giving our people freedom to express themselves in worship.

We then had the welcome time, and moved into "Everlasting God" by Brenton Brown and Ken Riley in Bb, which is a standard for our congregation. We moved directly into "Lord of All" by Kristian Stanfill in Bb, which is another powerful praise tune. We finished the set with one of my originals, "Never Be the Same" in Bb. 

It was a good day. I wish we had more time during our worship times on Sundays. We're currently sandwiched between two other services, and we have different teams leading at those two services, so there is a buffer of time where we have to turn things around. It's frustrating, but it is what it is. We are looking at reformatting the service layout, which is exciting. I'll keep you posted.

Blessings!

Bill

Check out Fred McKinnon's "Worship Confessionals," where I and many other worship leaders and team members have discussed their set lists. It's an awesome resource!!!

http://www.fredmckinnon.com/myblog/2009/03/29/sunday-setlists-36-what-happened-at-your-church/

Progressive Worship 3/22/09

This week at our 930 service, we had a short week because we had a special guest artist, Steve Green in our services. He came to support our Global Reach Foundation (our missions entity) because they were having their big fundraising auction Sunday night.

We started out with "All Because of Jesus" in C by Steve Fee, and then went directly into "Happy Day" in C by Tim Hughes. These two make an awesome one-two punch, and the energy was tangible as we started off. They work really well as a medley of sorts, and we transition into "Happy Day" seemlessly, which has a really cool effect. That was it for this morning.

Steve Green sang "Indescribable" by Laura Story and Jesse Reeves in G with a track, and then sang his rendition of "Holy, Holy, Holy" with just he and Dick Tunney on the piano. It was a great morning all in all. I just wish we had more time! God is at work!

check out Fred McKinnon's Sunday Setlists Worship Confessionals at http://www.fredmckinnon.com/myblog/2009/03/22/sunday-setlists-35/

This is a great resource!

Blessings!

Bill

Worship Confessional - Progressive Worship 3/15/09

This week our Pastor focused on how to surrender to the Lord and stand firm against temptation and the enemies accusations. The text was James 4:1-11, and the message was really strong. I really sensed God's presence in the service in a strong way. We didn't have any major problems--only a few "whoops!" moments, like an errant chord change at the start of the bridge by our lead player, or getting a little anxious and changing too quickly on another. Nothing hindered or threw off the Spirit in the service though, and His people responded!

We started off with "Let God Arise" by Chris Tomlin, which is one of my favorites by him. It is a strong song lyrically, coming primarily from Psalm 68, and it's a rocker! It wakes us all up. I just love the "full-tilt" feeling of the music, backing such a solid, biblical lyric.

After the welcome, we repeated "Let Me Sing" by Todd Fields. We just started teaching this to the congregation last week, but it has taken hold and our people were singing.

We moved from there directly into "Lord of All" by Kristian Stanfill. I prefaced the song a little bit, and I as usual, I felt a little awkward trying to explain my thoughts. I'm working on communicating better, and I felt that Sunday was a step forward for me in this regard. This song is always a strong one when we sing it. When we hit the chorus, "There is none so high and holy/King of kings, the one and only/You are adored, You are the Lord of all," it always seems like the place breaks loose. Hands shot up all over the place, and God's people were adoring Him because He is the Lord of all. To me, this song and these moments are the epitome of worship.

We finished up with "How Great is Our God" by Chris Tomlin, and the focus on the strength, power, and glory of God continued, and people always sing strong on this one. I've started to bring this one down to Bb to make it a little easier for the men to sing, and it seems like it's working. Still, it almost felt like a letdown after singing "Lord of All." I think we could repeat that song three times and it wouldn't get old!

For our invitation song, we sang Hillsong's "Mighty to Save," and it seemed to fit very well with Pastor Jay's message.  There were several people praying and coming forward, but not a lot. I think the weight of the message was still setting in at that time. It's times like those that I wish we had more time for response at the end of the service, but that is the trick of being sandwiched between two other services!

All-in-all, it was a fantastic morning of worship for our people and our team. God continues to move in a powerful way, and He is changing lives, which is what I live for.

check out other worship leaders set lists and worship confessionals at http://www.fredmckinnon.com/myblog/2009/03/15/sunday-setlists-34-worldwide-worship-recaps/

this is an awesome resource for worship leaders.

Progressive Worship 03/08/09

This week, we focused on Wisdom, for which it can be tricky to find congregational songs, but we just emphasized God's sovereignty and power. I think that fits.

We started out with "Faithful One," which is one of my newer originals, and it seems like the Lord is really using it to connect with our people. It emphasizes the immutability, uniqueness, and might of God

After the welcome, we went into "Everlasting God" by Brenton Brown and Ken Riley. It's a simple song, but I never get tired of singing, "You're the defender of the weak/You comfort those in need/You lift us up on wings like eagles." I love the fact that in declaring this about our God, we are also hearing a call for our own lives--to be defenders of the weak and comforters for those who need it.

We then introduced "Let Me Sing" by Todd Fields. I've been teaching this song in our acoustic worship time on Wednesday nights, and having that core group really helps to teach it to the larger congregation. I love the lyric of this song. We have all kinds of reasons to sing to our God, and we ought to be singing "louder than creation" for His glory.

We followed that up and finished the set with "Lord of All" by Kristian Stanfill. This is another incredible song. There is something truly life-changing and powerful about declaring the sovereignty, might, and glory of our great King.

We came back for invitation with "Center" by Charlie Hall and Co. I love the passage in Colossians from which this song comes, so it's easy to love this song. I played it with the cut capo, and my guitar was really singing on this one. It was one of those moments where everything was right, and in the quiet time of reflection for our people, I could hear the harmonics just ringing as I finger-picked the introduction to the song, and then as we came in all together, it was a beautiful moment.

It felt like a great day, especially considering that it was the Spring Forward Sunday. The people were with it, and God was at work. We'll repeat "Let Me Sing" this next week, as we continue to teach it to our people. Rehearsal last night was fantastic, so I'm really excited about this week.

1. "Faithful One" by Bill Horn (me)

2. "Everlasting God" by Brenton Brown/Ken Riley

3. "Let Me Sing" by Todd Fields

4. "Lord of All" by Kristian Stanfill

5. "Center" by Charlie Hall and Co.

Have a great week!

you can see other leaders' sunday set lists at http://www.fredmckinnon.com/myblog/2009/03/08/sunday-setlists-33/

check it out!

Grace and Peace,

Bill

Progressive Worship 3/1/09

This week, we focused on forgiveness:

1. "Your Grace is Enough" Maher/Tomlin

2. "Because of Your Love" Paul Baloche/Brenton Brown

3. "Unchanging" Tomlin

4. "Jesus Paid It All" add. chorus  by Alex Nifong

5. "Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone)" add. chorus by Chris Tomlin

This was a "tried-and-true" week for us. The people were singing, and the Lord continues to grow His people and give them more freedom to worship. We are changing the culture from spectating to worshiping!

Bill

http://www.fredmckinnon.com/myblog/2009/03/01/sunday-setlists-32/

www.billhornband.com

www.myspace.com/billhornband