This set list is one of many that you can find at the worship music set list blog carnival at fredmckinnon.com, featuring many different kinds of churches. I’m reporting from the morning set list this week, which differed on several points from our evening set list.
1. Bow, by Sojourn’s own Jeremy Quillo. You can read the story behind this song, by Jeremy himself, here on sojournmusic.com. The short article also contains a link to the free mp3 stream of “Bow,” and the chord sheet from our These Things I Remember page. This was one of the first “Sojourn originals” I heard when I began attending back in 2004, and I still love to hear it. It’s also a good response to God’s call to worship:
All in heaven will bow
And the earth will cry out and sing:
“You are holy, holy, Lord Almighty!”
And speaking of mp3s, you’ll be able to hear one new song from our upcoming Over The Grave: The Hymns Of Isaac Watts, Volume One this Tuesday the 26th — the day after Memorial Day. Come back here for details (or just get our RSS Feed so you’ll always see when this blog updates).
2. Abide With Me, by Henry Lyte, arranged and given a new melody by Justin Smith of Indelible Grace.
Hold thou Thy cross before my closing eyes
Shine through the gloom and point me to the skies
Heaven’s morning breaks, and earth’s vain shadows flee
in life and death, Lord, abide with me
3. In Christ Alone, by Keith Getty and Stuart Townend. We also sang this song at last week’s Thursday evening member meeting. It is, in many ways, the quintessential modern hymn — contemporary in that the song is less than a decade old, but timeless in its message:
There in the ground His body lay,
Light of the world by darkness slain:
Then bursting forth in glorious Day
Up from the grave He rose again!
And as He stands in victory
Sin’s curse has lost its grip on me,
For I am His and He is mine -
Bought with the precious blood of Christ.
After this song and the Passing of the Peace, we listened to a sermon from 1 Samuel 17 called “The Battle Belongs To The Lord,” by Mike Crowe, Sojourn’s Director of Group Life. This is, of course, the famous story of David and Goliath. Mike highlighted the fact that this story presents two very different responses by two very different kings to the threat of Goliath — King Saul, and King-to-be David. David knew that the battle — and the victory — belonged to God, and so he was not afraid to meet the giant’s challenge.
4. Thy Mercy, by John Stocker, modern melody by Sandra McCracken. This was our communion hymn for the week. Like many of you, I’m sure, I first heard this song performed by Caedmon’s Call. It’s also been a Sojourn Gathered regular for years, and a good song for celebrating our assurance in Christ:
Thy mercy, my God is the theme of my song,
The joy of my heart and the boast of my tongue,
Thy free grace alone, from the first to the last,
Hath won my affections and bound my soul fast.
5. Over Death, by Sojourn’s Jesse Eubanks, Neil Robins and Joel Gerdis, adapted from Isaac Watt’s’ “Hymn 17.” You’ll be able to hear this one very soon, as part of Over The Grave: The Hymns Of Isaac Watts, Volume One. How soon? Depends where you live and where you go. Here is a schedule of release dates.
Joyful, with all the strength I have —
My trembling lips should sing:
Where is your boast of victory, grave?
And where is the monster’s sting?
6. Absent From Flesh, by Isaac Watts and Sojourn’s Jamie Barnes. Here is one that will be on our next worship record, The Hymns Of Isaac Watts, Volume Two. We’ve been singing it during Sojourn Gathered for over a year now. The congregation took to it instantly and still loves to sing it:
Absent from flesh, O Glorious day!
In one triumphant stroke
My reckoning paid, my charges dropped
and the bonds ‘round my hands are broke.
We closed the service with a few announcements and a benediction. To learn more about benedictions, listen to our five-minute presentation “Why We Do What We Do: The Benediction.”
And if you belong to a church that would like to find more free benediction readings for use in your services, look no further than theopensourcebook.org, a collaboration between Sojourn and The Calvin Institute Of Christian Worship. You’ll find many readings by our worship & arts pastor, Mike Cosper, as well as John Witvliet and Nathan Bierma and others from the Institute and worship pastors across the country who have submitted their readings to be freely used by others.
Worship band for the 9:30 am and 11:15 am services:
Jeremy Quillo — vocals and liturgy
Lorie King — vocals
Mike Cosper — lead guitar
Brian Meurer — bass guitar
Ryan Harvey — drums
Micah Revell — liturgy readings
Worship band for the 5 pm and 7 pm services:
Brooks Ritter — vocals and guitar
Samantha Bartlow — vocals
Mike Cosper — lead guitar
Dony Erwin — bass guitar
Matt Harris — drums
Scott Daniel — liturgical readings
