HALLELUJAH (202) - CHRISTMAS VERSION

HALLELUJAH (CHRISTMAS VERSION) - MP3

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE !!!

Every year when the holiday season rolls around, many people throughout the congregation & many of the singers on our worship team request that we do MORE Christmas songs.  So this year, we decided to start threading in Christmas songs ("Hark the Herald Angels Sing", "O Come All Ye Faithful", etc) much earlier in December, and we also sang a couple new versions of songs.

This one in particular really resounded with our church ! J Brian Craig, a Songwriter & Worship Leader in CA arranged this really cool version of "Hallelujah" (a very familiar song for us) but added in the theme from "The Carol of the Bells" and used the verses of "Hark the Herald Angels Sing" ... It is so EPIC !!!  Here is the original post on J Brian Craig's website where you can find the Lyrics & Chords as well as a teaching recording that Brian made:

J BRIAN CRAIG.COM - HALLELUJAH (CHRISTMAS VERSION)

I hope you all have a great time with family & that you remember the most precious gift of all - Our Lord & Savior, Jesus Christ.

Ross

PS - I could't resist posting this.  Below you will find a link to listen to "THERE WAS A LITTLE BABY" as sung by our Kindergarten and 1st Graders for our Christmas service on Sunday !!!

THERE WAS A LITTLE BABY - MP3

IT IS WELL WITH MY SOUL

IT IS WELL WITH MY SOUL MP3

VERSE 1

When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

CHORUS
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, it is well, with my soul

VERSE 2 ***
Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul

VERSE 3
My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

VERSE 4 ***
For me, be it Christ, be it Christ hence to live
If Jordan above me shall roll,
No pang shall be mine, for in death as in life
Thou wilt whisper Thy peace to my soul

VERSE 5 ***
But, Lord, 'tis for Thee, for Thy coming we wait,
The sky, not the grave, is our goal;
Oh, trump of the angel! Oh, voice of the Lord!
Blessed hope, blessed rest of my soul!

VERSE 6 
And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll
The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,
Even so, it is well with my soul

This beautiful hymn is a favorite of our congregation ! The words are especially touching when you know the story behind the song.  Horatio G. Spafford and his wife Anna were Christians, activists in the abolitionist & temperance movements, and residents of Chicago in the mid-1800's.  Scarlet fever claimed the life of one of their 5 children early on (their only son, Horatio), and the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 literally burned up much of the families assets.  In 1873, the Spafford's planned a trip to Europe to attend a revival meeting.  Horatio stayed behind for business reasons while Anna and their 4 girls went ahead; they were to meet in England.  Tragically, their ship was struck by another ship and Anna was the lone survivor of the shipwreck.  From England, Anna telegraphed Horatio this message: "Saved alone.  What shall I do...".  As he passed over the shipwreck site on his way to bring Anna home, Horatio wrote the words to this song.  In 1876 Philip P. Bliss set these words to music

In 1880, after re-settling in Chicago & having 3 more children, their second son also died.  In 1881 they decided to leave America and moved to Jerusalem, Israel to serve the poor and provide care for homeless children.

*** We traditionally only sing verses 1, 3 and 6, however I find verses 2, 4, and 5 to be equally beautiful !  Especially the second line of verse 5 "the sky, not the grave, is our goal!"

SOURCE: Horatio G. Spafford: The Story Behind the Hymn "It is Well with My Soul"

HEAL MY SOUL

HEAL MY SOUL MP3

VERSE 1

 E

Jesus you are

C#m

Able to

       A                  F#m      A  B

Bind up the brokenhearted people

CHORUS
A            E

Heal my soul
C#m        B

Make me whole
A         E

Fill my heart

                B        E

With your love again

VERSE 2

Jesus you can

Heal my heart and

Cure every disease and sickness

VERSE 3

Jesus you have

Taken all my

Guilt and sin upon your body

Hey all !

I wrote this song last week and it fit really well with today's sermon "Rx for the Soul" as a part of our SOUL WARS series.  Much of this song was inspired by my personal bible study.  I've been reading through the early part of Jesus' ministry in my chronological bible and it talks a lot about how he went around healing & curing diseases - for example, Matthew 9:35:

"Jesus went through all the towns and villages, 

teaching in their synagogues, 

preaching the good news of the kingdom 

and healing every disease and sickness."

I've always loved Jesus' encounter in Matthew 8 with the man with leprosy who says to Jesus, "Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean" and Jesus' response of "I am willing".  After reading passages like this, I couldn't help but praise God for his power to heal us both on the outside and the inside.  I believe that God wants us to be healed emotionally & spiritually - whether from our past and the sin that we have committed and how it still can hurt us or people who have hurt us - whatever the case may be, I believe God wants us to be healed so that we can move on from the past and be free to enjoy "life to the full" in his loving arms.  The last verse of the song is especially meant to remind us that Jesus is the source of the healing that comes from God.  Only through Christ do we have healing and rehabilitation.  Isaiah 53:4-5 says:

"Surely he took up our infirmities

    and carried our sorrows,

yet we considered him stricken by God,    

smitten by him, and afflicted.

But he was pierced for our transgressions,    

⁵ 

he was crushed for our iniquities;

the punishment that brought us peace was upon him,    

and by his wounds we are healed."

Its amazing to me how Christ's PHYSICAL wounds have brought us SPIRITUAL healing !!! Only the I AM, the Almighty, the Everlasting God could come up with such an amazing plan of salvation ! Praise Him !

A MIGHTY FORTRESS

A MIGHTY FORTRESS (MP3)

Words & Music by Martin Luther

A mighty fortress is our God

A bulwark never failing

Our helper, He, amid the flood

Of mortal ills prevailing

For still our ancient foe

Doth seek to work us woe

His craft and pow'r are great

And, armed with cruel hate

On earth is not his equal

Did we in our own strength confide

Our striving would be losing

Were not the right man on our side

The man of God's own choosing

Dost ask who that may be?

Christ Jesus, it is HE !!!

Lord Sabaoth His name

From age to age the same

And He must win the battle

And tho' this world, with demons filled

Should threaten to undo us

We will not fear, for God hat willed

His truth to triumph through us

Let goods and kindred go

This mortal life also

The body they may kill

God's truth abideth still

His kingdom is forever !!!

Hey all !!!

This Sunday's worship service is titled "SOUL WARS" along with the Soul Wars theme that we are doing right now (so this is the "title message" if you will).  I'm really excited about the song lineup, especially this song "A MIGHTY FORTRESS" which was written by Martin Luther in 1529.  I made a recording of it for our worship ministry to listen to to help them get an idea of how this song sounds, but my bass is a little shaky so please give me some GRACE :-) It's just not possible to sing that low. I tried.

Anyways ... I learned some really cool new stuff when reading through and researching the lyrics of this song.  I always thought that the word "BULWARK" was really weird and honestly I didn't know what it meant (It kinda reminded me of the word Narwhal, like from "Elf" so every time I sang this song I thought of a Nordic Whale) ... BUT ... I looked it up and here's the definition:

So ... A bulwark is a WALL !!!  Kind of like a castle wall / wall of protection. I especially like definition #2 that talks about "a protection against external danger".  It's amazing to think and reflect upon how God protects us from SO MUCH external danger and really guards us from so much whether it is sin or the consequences it brings - I love thinking about God as our protector !!! To me, verse 1 really outlines the spiritual battle - that God is our protector and Satan is our enemy. Verse 2 acknowledges that only through Christ can we conquer ! And Verse 3 details the convictions we have as Christians, despite the demons and the forces of evil.  This is especially convicting as I am studying out the works of early Christians right now such as Clement, Mark Felix, and Justin Martyr and this was totally their conviction - They were willing to give up ALL material goods, friends & family, even their life ... for Christ ! Hope this song encourages you !

PS - I also posted the REMIX below :)

A MGHTY FORTRESS REMIX

LOSE MY SOUL

LOSE MY SOUL MP3

Today we kicked off our 6-week SOUL WARS series !!! The song service was inspiring, particularly a special performance that we did of TobyMac's "LOSE MY SOUL".  It was really cool because, although it was a performance song, the whole congregation helped out singing the chorus with us:

"I don't wanna gain the whole world and lose my soul"

It was also very fun to rap on this song :) hope you enjoy it !!! You can also check out the original version on youtube below:

"What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?"

- Jesus

Mark 8:36

WE'VE COME THIS FAR BY FAITH

We sang a traditional Gospel song this past Sunday called "We've Come This Far By Faith" to close out our service - and it has been stuck in my head all day today !!! Seri Murdock helped to lead the song & taught it to all of the part singers in our morning rehearsal before the service started and I have to say that I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THIS SONG !!!  Singing this song definitely makes me excited to explore more traditional gospel music and introduce it to our congregation :)  After looking up this song online I think there are additional lyrics, but we sang the chorus and the main verse so that's a start ;) Hope you enjoy it as much as I do !!!

"For we live by faith, not by sight"

- 2 Corinthians 5:7 (NIV)

LISTEN BY CLICKING THE LINK BELOW:

WE'VE COME THIS FAR BY FAITH

WE'VE COME THIS FAR BY FAITH

Albert A. Goodson

We've come this far by faith

Leaning on the Lord

Trusting in his holy word

He never failed me yet

Woah, Woah, Woah

Can't turn around

We've come this far by faith

SET A FIRE

Hey all !!!

Its been a while since my last post - It was a crazy summer and a last couple months - in a good way !!! :) Today we learned a new song in the NJ Region of the NYC Church called "Set A Fire" by United Pursuit (a worship band out of Knoxville TN).  We have been singing another one of their songs called "Nothing I Hold Onto" for a while but I didn't make the connection that it was the same band until I looked this song up online after my friend Damon emailed me a link to a youtube video of "Set A Fire" suggesting that I teach it at our Sunday worship service.  Our NJ region Fall Theme is SOUL WARS ...

...and there is a great line in this song that goes "set a fire down in my soul that I can't contain, that I can't control" ... So when I checked this song out, I LOVED IT !!! for many reasons.   Its a really accessible and easy to learn worship song, which seems simple at first and yet is so deep and passionate.  Here are the lyrics:

SET A FIRE

Lyrics by Will Reagan & United Pursuit

"There's no place that I'd rather be

There's no place that I'd rather be

There's no place that I'd rather be

Than here in your love

Here in your love

So set a fire down in my soul

That I can't contain

That I can't control

I want more of you God

I want more of you God"

CLICK THE LINK BELOW TO LISTEN TO THE RECORDING:

SET A FIRE

TO DOWNLOAD MP3:
RIGHT CLICK THE LINK ABOVE AND SELECT "DOWNLOAD LINKED FILE"

I hope this song encourages you as much as it has encouraged me !!! Much love !!!

Ross

THE ROAD - NYC CHURCH OF CHRIST CONGREGATIONAL WORSHIP SERVICE

Yesterday, on June 10th, 2012, The New York City Church of Christ held a congregational worship service at the Jacob Javits Convention Center in Manhattan -  IT WAS SO INSPIRING !!! There were over 3,500+ people in attendance from all over New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut to PRAISE GOD & WORSHIP HIM !!!

Our theme for the service was "THE ROAD" based on MATTHEW 7:13-14:

"Enter through the narrow gate.  For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.  But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it."

Our opening set of worship songs started with the question "Which way do I go?" as we ask God, SHOW ME THE WAY, a song which ends focusing us on Jesus' statement that "I am the way" and that now because of that new way we have through Christ we are able to show others the way !!! Once we know the way, we realize "WOW !!! God's love endures FOREVER and that it is by his GRACE that we are able to journey along the narrow road.  And even as we are WALKING ON THE HEAVEN ROAD, Jesus says he will walk that road WITH us as our FRIEND !!! I am so amazed that I am a FRIEND OF GOD and that he calls me friend !!! Truly I need his friendship as I walk the narrow road, the road that leads to life !!!  Here was our opening worship:

SHOW ME THE WAY

FOREVER

WALKING ON THE HEAVEN ROAD

FRIEND OF GOD

As we continued in our service we switched to a cappella singing as we took communion and remembered Jesus' sacrifice on the cross.  I loved how in JESUS IS LORD it talks about how it is a privilege to CARRY everything to God in prayer - this made me think of us carrying our prayers along the road to present them before our God !!!  I also loved singing about how I WANT JESUS TO WALK WITH ME and how I HAVE DECIDED TO FOLLOW JESUS ! When I was choosing these songs I thought about how we need to both DESIRE and WILL for God to walk with us in our life ... it takes heart and effort to walk in the footsteps of Christ.

JESUS IS LORD

I WANT JESUS TO WALK WITH ME

I HAVE DECIDED TO FOLLOW JESUS

In the spirit of MATTHEW 5-7 / The Sermon on the Mount, I thought it fitting to sing about the Kingdom - SEEK YE FIRST and IN THE KINGDOM both embody to me the heart of a follower of Christ - I love the lyrics of In the Kingdom where the song leader sings out the question: "Are you walking on the road that will lead to heaven?" and the congregation responds "Walking, Singing, Yes I Am !!!"

SEEK YE FIRST

IN THE KINGDOM

Finally, after a POWERFUL sermon by Sam Powell, we praised God, singing LEAD ME TO THE ROCK, asking him to lead us in the higher way - to lead us on that road that leads to the place where he is so that one day we can spend eternity with him !!! AMEN !!!

LEAD ME TO THE ROCK

It was an inspiring worship service - I hope these thoughts and these recordings help you as you journey along your road, as you walk with the Lord in the way everlasting - the road that leads to life

Ross