Psalms, Hymns and Spiritual Songs: Sojourn’s Worship Liturgy for Palm Sunday, 2009

This is one of many church worship music set lists that you can read through by browsing the links of the Blog Carnival at fredmckinnon.com.  Normally we’d have photos here by Dan Canales.  This week, however, he is gone.  But if you want to see tons of cool pics, just click on his link!

1. Fall on the Rock, written by Julie Miller.  Julie and her husband Buddy make up one of the best songwriting and performing duos you’ll find anywhere.  They also drench their gospel songs in scriptural allusions:

There’s a time a coming soon
and it’s a day coming fast
When God will make the last the first
and the first will be last.

Then our liturgist lead us in a Palm Sunday Call to Worship reading based on Zechariah 9:9 and John 12:13, prefacing it with these words:

Today is Palm Sunday - a day when we remember Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem. It was a day when he was honored as a King who’d come to conquer the enemies of God. The people lined the roads and laid out palms before him. A week later, they screamed “Crucify him.”  On this day, we celebrate that Jesus is our king, and that he’s conquered our enemies by conquering, Satan, sin and death.

2. King of Glory, by Chris Tomlin.  This modern praise song is always an appropriate one for Christian worship, but particularly on Palm Sunday, when we recognize the Triumphal Entry.

Following this, we prayed a corporate Prayer of Confession.  You can read many of our congregational readings at theopensourcebook.org, and use them for your own worship services.

3. Alas and Did My Savior Bleed, by Isaac Watts.  The version we sang this week was the traditional Irish melody, arranged by Annie Quick from Tim Keller’s Redeemer Church.

Was it for crimes that I had done, He groaned upon the tree?

Amazing pity, grace unknown, and love beyond degree!

We followed this classic hymn by focusing on Words of Assurance from John 3:16, after the liturgist brought our thoughts to Palm Sunday again:

“On Palm Sunday, we might be overwhelmed. Though we celebrate Jesus as our King, like the crowds, we know that our hearts are quick to turn away from him. We can thank God that our King didn’t come to condemn us, but to rescue us. Hear Jesus’ own words:

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”

(John 3:16-17)

4. Abide With Me, written by Henry Lyte, arrangement and new melody by Justin Smith.  This is one of my favorite songs from Indelible Grace V: Wake Thy Slumbering Children:

I fear no foe, with Thee at hand to bless,

Ills have no weight, tears lose their bitterness,

Where is Thy sting, death?  Where, grave, thy victory?

I triumph still.  Abide with me.

Following this and the Passing of Peace, Lead Pastor Daniel Montgomery preached from one of the most difficult passages of scripture, Deuteronomy 7, where God commands the Israelites to utterly destroy their enemies.  If you’d like to hear what he had to say about this, you can always listen to Sojourn sermons from the Resources page of sojournchurch.com.  We’ll post this message later in the week.

5. Amen, Amen, written by Sojourn’s own Neil and Kate Robins, based on the Isaac Watts hymn, “Jesus Shall Reign.”  You can hear the mp3 and view the chord sheet from our Advent Songs page here on sojournmusic.com. Incidentally, you can still download that entire album for free or whatever you’d be willing to pay for it, at Noisetrade.com.  You’ll see the link on our Advent Songs page.

This was our communion hymn of the week, which we sang and meditated on while coming forward to receive the bread and the cup.

6. Warrior, written by Sojourners Dave Moisan, me (Bobby Gilles) and Neil Robins.  This song was inspired by “Psalm 21” by Isaac Watts, and will be on our upcoming Over The Grave: The Hymns Of Isaac Watts, Volume One:

Earth and sea will give up their dead,

The nations gather before Him.

A day of glory, a day of dread,

No one dares now ignore Him …

7. I Boast No More, written by Isaac Watts with new melody by Sandra McCracken.  This is one of my all-time favorite worship songs, from one of my favorite worship albums, The Builder and the Architect:

Now, for the loss I bear His name,
What was my gain I count my loss;
My former pride I call my shame,
And nail my glory to His cross.

Following this and our Next Steps announcements, we participated in this benediction to conclude our Palm Sunday service together at The 930:

Jesus, our King and Conqueror,
has ended the war between us and God,
and invites us to join him in the war against Satan, Sin, and Death.
May we join in that battle as we walk through our days.
Go and fight the good fight in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Peace be with you
and also with you

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

Brooks Ritter — vocals and guitar

Katie Vaughn — vocals

Mike Cosper — lead guitar

Dony Erwin — bass guitar

Ryan Harvey — drums

Scott Slucher — liturgy readings

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

Jamie Barnes — vocals, guitar and keys

Rebecca Dennison — vocals

Tim Donaldson — cello

Bryon Shrock — bass guitar

Andy Meyers — drums

Brandon Rogers — liturgical readings