Sojourn’s 8th Anniversary! Our Worship Music Set For September 21, 2008

This article is posted in conjunction with other church set lists as part of the Blog Carnival at fredmckinnon.com.  Photos provided by Dan Canales.

1. How Can the Heavens Hold You, by Sojourn’s own Jeremy Quillo.  How could we begin the service marking our eighth anniversary as a church body with anything but this, the very first song on our very first album, With the Angels.  Hear the mp3 and view the chord sheet from that page.  This is a great opening song to orient our hearts toward praising this God of transcendence and immanence, a God that cannot be bound by the universe but that still comforts each worshiper.

Following How Can the Heavens Hold You, Sojourn Worship Arts Pastor Mike Cosper briefly talked about our history: starting with about a dozen people, mostly college-aged, renting various buildings in Louisville’s Highlands for worship services as the church kept growing in size.  Then just two years ago, buying the former Shelby Elementary School and turning it into The 930 Art Center.  And now, worshiping 1200 strong together every week at The 930, and with over fifty community groups meeting in homes all over Louisville and Southern Indiana, and church members spreading the gospel and working for the peace of the city in many ways.

2. Come and Sing, also by Jeremy Quillo.  This was our “call to worship” song on the liturgically-themed Before the Throne CD.  You can view the chord sheet from that page and listen to the mp3 at Last FM. 

3. Great and Mighty, by Aaron Senseman and Cliff Young.  We immediately followed “Come and Sing” with this song of adoration.  The chorus is descriptive and declarative in its praise of the “Great and Mighty God.”  And the first verse portrays what theologians call the “already/not yet” tension:

Hold my heart, O God

keep me ever in Your will.

There is joy within Your presence here and now

but better still

is the day that is to come

when Your full glory is revealed.

I have long endured the trials of the age

I will sing

We followed this with a prayer of confession as well as celebration of our assurance that we are forgiven in Christ.

4. Fellowship So Deep, by Aaron Senseman and Kinley Lange.  You can find this song and the previous one on the Caedmon’s Call album In The Company Of Angels 2: The World Will Sing.  This was our second time to sing “Fellowship So Deep.”  Two weeks ago we did it as a post-communion song; this time it fit in equally well as a celebration of assurance and an introduction to the Passing of the Peace, with lines like:

Christ the Lamb was made to suffer, and to die upon a tree

so that we, sisters and brothers, could know His fellowship so deep

Following this, Pastor Chad Lewis read 1 Peter 1:3-5 before the Passing of the Peace.  Then Pastor Daniel Montgomery preached a sermon entitled “Be The Church: A Loving Community” from Romans 12:9-16.

5. Beneath the Cross of Jesus, by Keith and Kristyn Getty.  We sang this while taking the Lord’s Supper.  This hymn-metered exposition of the wonder of Christ’s crucifixion guides the worshiper from the first verse (where we sing that it is beneath the cross that we “find a place to stand” through to the last verse, where we “follow in His footsteps,” paradoxically remaining beneath the cross as we journey towards our “promised hope.”

6. Solid Rock (My Hope is Built on Nothing Less), hymn text by Edward Mote, music by William Bradbury.  We arrange this song with a solid indie-rock vibe, keeping the tempo constant but building towards the refrain:

On Christ the solid rock I stand,

All other ground is sinking sand;

All other ground is sinking sand.

After this we engaged in a corporate reading.  Pastor Chad reminded us, as we celebrated our eighth anniversary, that we did not “invent the wheel” and nor are we without a history, but rather, we are part of the Bride of Christ.  This church reaches back over centuries and includes countless faithful witnesses.  To remind us of this and the truths that they proclaimed, which we now proclaim, Pastor Chad led us in a corporate reading of the Apostles Creed.

7. Oh Church, Arise, by Stuart Townend and Keith Getty.  The cadence of this hymn is like a modern victory march.  Poetic meter and time signature match the lyrics perfectly:

O church, arise and put your armour on,

hear the call of Christ our Captain

For now the weak can say that they are strong

in the strength that God has given.

With shield of faith and belt of truth

We’ll stand against the devil’s lies.

An army bold, whose battle cry is Love

reaching out to those in darkness

Following this, Elder Robert Cheong led us in a benediction, ending with the familiar “In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, peace be with you” and the congregation answered “and also with you.”  Incidentally, this week’s edition of our “Worship Practices Explained” blog post will talk about the biblical roots of the benediction in Christian liturgy.

Worship band for the 9:30 a.m. and 11:15 a.m. services:

Joel Gerdis — vocals and guitar

Lorie King — vocals

Mike Cosper — electric guitar

Andy Hassler — piano

Brian Meurer — bass guitar

David Kidd — drums

Worship band for the 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. services:

Laura Beth O’nan — vocals

Mike Cosper — electric guitar

Michael Butterworth — keys

Charlie Lucas — bass guitar

Alex O’Nan — drums

Dave Richards — liturgical readings