Posted as part of the church music set list Blog Carnival at fredmckinnon.com, where you can read many church music set lists.  Photos provided by Dan Canales.

1. Shelter Me, written by Buddy and Julie Miller.  It’s been a tumultuous couple of weeks here in the U.S.  Between Hurricane Ike and the threat of economic ruin, it’s appropriate to enter into congregational worship and sing:

Dark waters rise and thunders pound

the wheels of war are going ‘round

and all the walls are crumbling

shelter me Lord underneath your wings.

the song offers hope and assurance, culminating in a final declaration in the chorus “the world can shake, but Lord I’m making You my hiding place” and a third verse that looks forward to the day when death is defeated.  This is a great song for worship anytime, but especially in times of crisis, doubt and pessimism.

We then listened to a Call To Worship based on portions of Psalm 29.

2. Be Thou My Vision, traditional.  Text (probably) by Dallan Forgaill in the eighth century, translated into English from Old Irish by Mary E Byrne in 1905.  The music is from an old Irish folk tune called Slane.  Artists like Van Morrison, Nickel Creek, Ginny Owens and Pedro the Lion have performed this one in recent times.  It’s a good song of petition as well as adoration of the “High King of heaven.”

Next we offered up a Prayer Of Lament based on Psalm 13.

3. Blessed Be Your Name, written by Matt Redman.  This is perhaps the ultimate modern praise song of stubborn assurance and faith in God:

Blessed be Your name when the sun’s shining down on me

When the world’s “all as it should be” — blessed be Your name.

And blessed be Your name on the road marked with suffering

Though there’s pain in the offering, blessed be Your name

After the song ended we continued to hear and recite Words Of Assurance, reading aloud from Psalm 130:7-8.

4. Where Your Praise Never Ends, written by Sojourn’s own Charlie Richardson.  This song continued the musical theme of eschatological hope:

My voice prepares the notes

that I’ll sing before Your throne,

rehearsing the day I’ll see You face to face

After greeting one another for several minutes in the Giving Of The Peace portion of our liturgy, we then did something a little unusual: volunteers passed out a quick congregational survey.  We want to find out a little more demographic information about our attenders.  While people filled out the survey, the band softly played an instrumental of “God Who Saves.”

After this Pastor Robert Cheong spoke on “Overcoming Evil With Good” from Romans 12:17-21.

5. Thorns, our second song of the day by Charlie Richardson.  You can watch Charlie and a Sojourn band perform ”Thorns” from a 2007 episode of Fox in the Morning, the morning news TV show of Louisville’s Fox Network affiliate, WDRB.  We used it as a hymn for the Lord’s Supper this week, singing:

You wore a crown of thorns

that I might wear a crown of life

as we celebrated the historical reality of Christ’s sacrifice for our sins and the surety of the coming Kingdom.

6. Cling To The Crucified, anonymous text (from Bonar’s “Lyra Consolationis”) with music and text arrangement by Kevin Twit of Indelible Grace.  I love the epic-historical nature of the third verse, which uses adjectives to take us through Christ’s crucifixion, resurrection, Second Coming and reign as King, as it continues to exhort us to cling to Him.  Only poetry can say so much in such few words:

Cling to the Bleeding One, cling to His side

Cling to the Rising One, in Him abide

Cling to the Coming One, Hope shall arise

Cling to the Reigning One, Joy lights thine eyes

We then participated in a corporate reading of 1 Peter 2:22-24. 

7. The God Who Saves, written by Aaron Senseman for Caedmon’s Call.  Having moved through a liturgy of lament and petition, with reminders of God’s promise and provision, it was great to celebrate wholeheartedly before our time together under one roof ended for the week, singing about the victory that was, and is, and is to come:

“There is truth in His body, raised that third day

There is joy in a stone rolled away

There is hope pouring out of the tomb where He lay

Pouring out, pouring over the grave”

After this, deacon Michael Morgan led us in a benediction before we dismissed (see our “What’s A Benediction” page).  Michael, coincidentally, wrote our benediction song “All Good Gifts” for Before the Throne.

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

Brooks Ritter: vocals and guitar

Katie Vaughn: vocals

Mike Cosper: lead guitar

Michael Butterworth: keys

Dony Erwin: bass guitar

Smitty Smith: drums

Scott Slucher: liturgical readings

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

Jamie Barnes: vocals and lead guitar

Rebecca Elliott: vocals and keys

Dave Moisan: vocals, keys, acoustic guitar

Charlie Lucas: bass guitar

Matt Harris: drums

Lachlan Coffey: liturgical readings

• description: Walking through a church worship service, detailing the songs, use of elements like lament, communion and benediction, links to songs and more
• keywords: worship in times of crisis, lament in worship, corporate worship service, shelter me by Buddy and Julie Miller, Be Thou My Vision, prayer of lament, thorns Charlie Richardson, Sojourn Fox in the Morning, Sojourn band on TV, Kevin Twit Cling to the Crucified
• title: Psalms, Hymns and Spiritual Songs: Sojourn\'s Worship Liturgy/ Music Set List For September 28, 2008

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