Teach me the mission appointed for me, what is my labor and where it shall be.  That’s the theme for our music this week: opening ourselves to God’s guidance and being willing to follow Him in using the gifts He has given us.

Master, Thou callest, I gladly obey; only direct me, and I’ll find Thy way.
Teach me the mission appointed for me, what is my labor and where it shall be.

Willing, my Savior, to take up the cross; willing to suffer reproaches and loss.
Willing to follow, if Thou wilt but lead; only support me with grace in my need.

Master, Thou callest, and this I reply,
“Ready and willing, Lord, here am I.”

That text is by Fanny Crosby–author of To God Be the Glory, I Am Thine, O Lord, Blessed Assurance, and over 9,000 other hymns–and I think it’s the perfect hymn to go with a study of using our gifts.  This has to be our attitude: Here I am, Lord.  Use me.  Show me what You would have me do, as we’ll sing in Cry of My Heart:

It is the cry of my heart to follow You.  It is the cry of my heart to be close to You.
It is the cry of my heart to follow all of the days of my life.

Teach me Your holy ways, O Lord, so I can walk in Your truth.
Teach me Your holy ways, O Lord, and make me wholly devoted to You.

Open my eyes so I can see the wonderful things that You do.
Open my heart up more and more, and make it wholly devoted to You.

We’ll be using two hymns this week by the writing team of Stuart Townend and Keith and Kristyn Getty, the authors and composers who, separately or together, have written In Christ Alone, Speak, O Lord, My Heart Is Filled with Thankfulness, The Power of the Cross, How Deep the Father’s Love for Us, and many more beautiful and powerful new hymns.  The first of the two is Compassion Hymn, a song that I love more every time we use it.  In the light of Christ’s immeasurable compassion for us, what can we do but share His compassion with the world?

There is an everlasting kindness You lavished on us
When the Radiance of heaven came to rescue the lost;
You called the sheep without a shepherd to leave their distress
For Your streams of forgiveness and the shade of Your rest.

And with compassion for the hurting, You reached out Your hand
As the lame ran to meet You and the dead breathed again;
You saw behind the eyes of sorrow and shared in our tears,
Heard the sigh of the weary, let the children draw near.

What boundless love, what fathomless grace
You have shown us, O God of compassion!
Each day we live an offering of praise
As we show to the world Your compassion.

We stood beneath the cross of Calvary and gazed on Your face,
At the thorns of oppression and the wounds of disgrace;
For surely You have borne our suffering and carried our grief
As You pardoned the scoffer and showed grace to the thief.

How beautiful the feet that carry this gospel of peace
To the fields of injustice and the valleys of  need.
To be a voice of hope and healing, to answer the cries
Of the hungry and helpless with the mercy of Christ.

What boundless love, what fathomless grace
You have shown us, O God of compassion!
Each day we live an offering of praise
As we show to the world Your compassion.

The second is the choir’s anthem, Hear the Call of the Kingdom.  Here’s the second verse of that song:

Hear the call of the Kingdom to be children of light;
With the mercy of heaven, the humility of Christ;
Walking justly before Him, loving all that is right,
That the life of Christ may shine through us.

This hymn reminds me of Jesus’ words in Matthew 5: You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden.  Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.  God has given us each specific gifts, and these are not to be hidden or kept to ourselves, but used for His glory.  This week, let’s seek God’s guidance in using our gifts to spread His light.

Lord, Here Am I: words by Fanny J. Crosby and music by John Ness Beck.  Music copyright 1984 Beckenhorst Press.  Cry of My Heart: words and music by Terry Butler.  Copyright 1991 Mercy/Vineyard Publishing. Compassion Hymn: words and music by Stuart Townend, Keith Getty, and Kristyn Getty.  Copyright 2009 Thankyou Music.  Hear the Call of the Kingdom: words and music by Stuart Townend, Keith Getty, and Kristyn Getty.  Copyright 2006 Thankyou Music. CCLI #3163058.

Our music this week continues our month-long theme of using our gifts to serve the Lord, and this Sunday will specifically emphasize our commitment, devotion, and surrender to God.  We can’t present ourselves as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God, as we studied last week, without surrendering ourselves to His will. As Pastor Mike said last Sunday (you can listen to his message here), it’s not about us.  If we consider our study in September of some of God’s attributes–as Creator, Father, Redeemer, and our eternal God–what can our response be but to yield our will to our God and seek His leading?

I chose our songs with our deacon ordination service in mind, but their words apply to all of us as we seek to serve wherever we’ve been called.  First, The Potter’s Hand:

Beautiful Lord, wonderful Savior,
I know for sure all of my days are held in Your hand;
Crafted into Your perfect plan.

You gently call me into Your presence
Guiding me by Your Holy Spirit.
Teach me, dear Lord, to live all of life through Your eyes.

I’m captured by Your holy calling;
Set me apart, I know You’re drawing me to Yourself.
Lead me, Lord, I pray.

Take me, mold me, use me, fill me.
I give my life to the Potter’s hand.
Call me, guide me, lead me, walk beside me.
I give my life to the Potter’s hand.

The idea of God as the Potter, used here and also in the hymn Have Thine Own Way, Lord, comes from Isaiah 64:8: Yet, O Lord, you are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand, and from Jeremiah 18.  God is in control, and He has a plan for us.  He created us, He adopted us as His children through the redemption of His Son, and He has called us and set us apart for His service.

It’s easy enough to stand in church and sing “Take me, mold me, use me, fill me” as we do in the chorus of this song, but it’s something else entirely to make this our attitude.  It’s an ongoing struggle against our own nature, and so we must ask God to lead us in this area as well–to show us His truth and teach us obedience.

Speak, O Lord, as we come to You to receive the food of Your Holy Word.
Take Your truth, plant it deep in us; shape and fashion us in Your likeness,
That the light of Christ might be seen today in our acts of love and our deeds of faith.
Speak, O Lord, and fulfill in us all Your purposes for Your glory.

Teach us, Lord, full obedience, holy reverence, true humility;
Test our thoughts and our attitudes in the radiance of Your purity.
Cause our faith to rise; cause our eyes to see Your majestic love and authority.
Words of power that can never fail, let their truth prevail over unbelief.

Speak, O Lord, and renew our minds;
Help us grasp the heights of Your plans for us–
Truths unchanged from the dawn of time that will echo down through eternity.
And by grace we’ll stand on Your promises,
And by faith we’ll walk as You walk with us.
Speak, O Lord, till Your church is built and the earth is filled with Your glory.

And finally, we’ll close the service with I Surrender All as our song of commitment.

All to Jesus I surrender, all to Him I freely give;
I will ever love and trust Him, in His presence daily live.

All to Jesus I surrender, Lord, I give myself to Thee;
Fill me with Thy love and power, let Thy blessing fall on me.

I surrender all, I surrender all;
All to Thee, my blessed Savior, I surrender all.

The Potter’s Hand: words and music by Darlene Zschech.  Copyright 1997 Darlene Zschech/Hillsong Publishing.  Speak, O Lord: words and music by Keith Getty and Stuart Townend.  Copyright 2006 Thankyou Music.  I Surrender All: words by Judson W. Van DeVenter and music by Winfield S. Weeden. CCLI #3163058.

As we begin our series on discovering and using our gifts, we’re looking this week at Romans 12 with the theme of offering ourselves to God and using our gifts for His glory.  We must give ourselves completely to God and submit our will to His leading, and that’s the idea in the song We Are an Offering:

We lift our voices, we lift our hands,
We lift our lives up to You; we are an offering.
Lord, use our voices; Lord, use our hands;
Lord, use our lives, they are Yours; we are an offering.
All that we have, all that we are,
All that we hope to be, we give to You.

The choir will be singing A Living Sacrifice.  This whole song is a prayer, asking God to take us and use us to show His love.

Lord, we come to You with hearts of gratitude;
You’ve shown us how to love and how to live completely.
Help us to forgive and love as You have loved us.
Help us to be a living sacrifice,
Sharing the love and grace of Jesus Christ;
To show the love of God to all the world.
Lord, let us be a living sacrifice.

As we worship You in Spirit and in truth,
Lord, bless us with Your grace to know we are forgiven.
May we live in peace and share Your loving mercy
To show the love of God to all the world.
Lord, let us be a living sacrifice.

We have another theme this week: the observance of the Lord’s Supper.  As we share communion in remembrance of Christ’s sacrifice, we’re reminded of our responsibility.  In light of His sacrifice for us, what else can we do but sacrifice ourselves to Him? 

The Wonderful Cross combines the hymn When I Survey the Wondrous Cross with a new chorus by Chris Tomlin and Jesse Reeves.  It also combines both our themes for the service: God’s gift, and our response, and it shows the result that comes of sacrificing our all to Him: the wonderful cross bids me come and die, and find that I may truly live.

When I survey the wondrous cross
On which the Prince of Glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss,
And pour contempt on all my pride.

Oh, the wonderful cross, oh, the wonderful cross
Bids me come and die, and find that I may truly live.
Oh, the wonderful cross, oh, the wonderful cross;
All who gather here by grace draw near, and bless Your name.

Were the whole realm of nature mine,
That were an offering far too small;
Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all.

Finally, how can we remember Christ’s ultimate sacrifice without pouring out our thanks to Him?  And we show that thanks by offering ourselves as sacrifices–which is our spiritual act of worship.

My heart is filled with thankfulness to Him who bore my pain;
Who plumbed the depths of my disgrace and gave me life again;
Who crushed my curse of sinfulness and clothed me in His light,
And wrote His law of righteousness with power upon my heart.

My heart is filled with thankfulness to Him who reigns above;
Whose wisdom is my perfect peace, whose every thought is love;
For every day I have on earth is given by the King.
So I will give my life, my all to love and follow Him.

We Are an Offering: words and music by Dwight Liles.  Copyright 1984 Word Music, LLC.  A Living Sacrifice: words and music by Mary McDonald.  Copyright 2012 Lorenz Publishing Company.  The Wonderful Cross: words by Isaac Watts, Chris Tomlin, Jesse Reeves, and J. D. Walt.  Music by Lowell Mason, Chris Tomlin, Jesse Reeves, and J. D. Walt.  Copyright 2000 worshiptogether.com Songs/sixsteps Music.  My Heart Is Filled with Thankfulness: words and music by Keith Getty and Stuart Townend.  Copyright 2006 Thankyou Music.  CCLI #3163058.

This Sunday, as we consider the eternal nature of God, we’ll begin and end the service with songs that are paraphrases of psalms on this subject.  These two songs span a broad spectrum of sacred music–the first is a contemporary song by Chris Tomlin from 2001 while the second is a traditional hymn by Isaac Watts from 1719–but they both use the words of the psalmist to celebrate our eternal, almighty God.

Forever is taken from Psalm 136 and uses the same structure as this psalm, repeating the refrain “His love endures forever” after each line in the verses.

________________________________________________________

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.  His love endures forever.
Give thanks to the God of gods.  His love endures forever.
Give thanks to the Lord of lords:  His love endures forever.
to him who alone does great wonders,  His love endures forever.
(Psalm 136:1-4)

Give thanks to the Lord, our God and King.
His love endures forever.
For He is good, He is above all things.
His love endures forever.

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To him who struck down the firstborn of Egypt, His love endures forever.
and brought Israel out from among them, His love endures forever.
with a mighty hand and outstretched arm; His love endures forever.
(136:10-12)

With a mighty hand and outstretched arm,
His love endures forever.
For the life that’s been reborn;
His love endures forever.

______________________________________________________

Who made the great lights—His love endures forever.
the sun to govern the day, His love endures forever.
the moon and stars to govern the night; His love endures forever.
to the One who remembered us in our low estate, His love endures forever.
and freed us from our enemies, His love endures forever.
and who gives food to every creature. His love endures forever.
(136:7-9, 23-25)

From the rising to the setting sun,
His love endures forever.
And by the grace of God we will carry on;
His love endures forever.

______________________________________________________

The chorus of the song says:

Forever God is faithful,
Forever God is strong,
Forever God is with us,
Forever, forever!

Now step back in time 300 years or so, when Isaac Watts published The Psalms of David Imitated in the Language of the New Testament in which he versified, or paraphrased, 138 psalms including O God, Our Help in Ages Past from Psalm 90.

______________________________________________________

Lord, you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations. Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God. (Psalm 90:1-2)

O God, our help in ages past, our hope for years to come,
Our shelter from the stormy blast, and our eternal home!

Under the shadow of Thy throne Thy saints have dwelt secure;
Sufficient is Thine arm alone, and our defense is sure.

Before the hills in order stood, or earth received her frame,
From everlasting Thou art God, to endless years the same.

______________________________________________________

For a thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night. (90:4)

A thousand ages in Thy sight are like an evening gone;
Short as the watch that ends the night before the rising sun.

______________________________________________________

You sweep men away in the sleep of death; they are like the new grass of the morning— though in the morning it springs up new, by evening it is dry and withered. The length of our days is seventy years—or eighty, if we have the strength; yet their span is but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away. (90:5, 6, 10)

Time, like an ever-rolling stream, bears all its sons away;
They fly, forgotten, as a dream dies at the opening day.

_______________________________________________________

Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.  Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us, for as many years as we have seen trouble.  May your deeds be shown to your servants, your splendor to their children.  May the favor of the Lord our God rest upon us; establish the work of our hands for us—yes, establish the work of our hands. (90:14-17)

O God, our help in ages past, our hope for years to come,
Be Thou our guard while life shall last, and our eternal home.

______________________________________________________

We’ll also be looking at Isaiah 46:9, which reads For I am God, and there is no other;
I am God, and there is no one like Me, so we’ll be singing I Worship You, Almighty God:

I worship You, Almighty God; there is none like You.
I worship You, O Prince of Peace; that is what I want to do.
I give You praise for You are my righteousness.
I worship You, Almighty God; there is none like You.

Continuing the theme of “forever God is faithful,” we’ll sing Great Is Thy Faithfulness, which praises God for His unchanging nature and unfailing love.  The first verse is a reference to James 1:17: Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.

Great is Thy faithfulness, O God, my Father;
There is no shadow of turning with Thee.
Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not;
As Thou has been, Thou forever wilt be.

Great is Thy faithfulness! Great is Thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see;
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided;
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!

And no series on the attributes of God would be complete without singing Holy, Holy, Holy, the same words that are sung around God’s throne in Isaiah 6 and Revelation 4.

Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty!
Early in the morning our song shall rise to Thee;
Holy, holy, holy, merciful and mighty!
God in three Persons, blessed Trinity!

Holy, holy, holy! all the saints adore Thee,
Casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea;
Cherubim and seraphim falling down before Thee,
Who wert, and art, and evermore shall be.

Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty!
All Thy works shall praise Thy name, in earth, and sky, and sea;
Holy, holy, holy, merciful and mighty!
God in three Persons, blessed Trinity!

Forever: words and music by Chris Tomlin.  Copyright 2001 worshiptogether.com Songs/sixsteps Music.  O God, Our Help in Ages Past: words by Isaac Watts and music by William Croft.  I Worship You, Almighty God: words and music by Sandra Corbett-Wood.  Copyright 1983 Integrity’s Hosanna! Music. Great Is Thy Faithfulness: words by Thomas O. Chisolm and music by William M. Runyan.  Copyright 1923,  renewed 1951 Hope Publishing Company.  Holy, Holy, Holy: words by Reginald Heber and music by John B. Dykes.  CCLI #3163058.

This week as we consider the redemptive work of God the Son, we’ll be using hymns to celebrate our redemption.  First, I Know Whom I Have Believed:

I know not why God’s wondrous grace to me He hath made known,
Nor why, unworthy, Christ in love redeemed me for His own.

This stanza speaks to the mystery we sang of last week: the love, the grace, the sacrifice that’s beyond our understanding.  But even though we can’t fathom this kind of love, we have faith in…

…the power of God, who has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time,but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel…I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day (II Timothy 1:8-12).

The chorus of the hymn is taken directly from verse 12:

But “I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able
To keep that which I’ve committed unto Him against that day.”

We’ll also be singing Grace Greater than Our Sin.  Look at these beautiful words:

Marvelous grace of our loving Lord, grace that exceeds our sin and our guilt,
Yonder on Calvary’s mount out-poured, there where the blood of the Lamb was spilt.

This is a very familiar hymn to many of us, so it’s easy to just zip right through without giving much thought to what we’re singing.  But take a moment to consider the message here.  As the hymn goes on to say:

Dark is the stain that we cannot hide–what can avail to wash it away?
Look! there is flowing a crimson tide; whiter than snow you may be today.

Everyone is stained by sin (Romans 3:23).  The stain of our sin is dark, there’s no way to hide it from God, and there’s nothing we can do about it ourselves.  Were it not for God’s marvelous grace, we would be separated from Him forever.  Once we have received that grace, how can we keep from singing His praise?  That’s the message of our last hymn, I Will Sing of My Redeemer:

I will sing of my Redeemer and His wondrous love to me;
On the cruel cross He suffered from the curse to set me free.

I will tell the wondrous story how, my lost estate to save,
In His boundless love and mercy He the ransom freely gave.

I will praise my dear Redeemer; His triumphant power I’ll tell,
How the victory He giveth over sin and death and hell.

I will sing of my Redeemer and His heavenly love for me;
He from death to life hath brought me, Son of God, with Him to be.

Sing, O sing of my Redeemer, with His blood He purchased me.
On the cross He sealed my pardon, paid the debt and made me free.

What a privilege that we can gather together to sing these words and worship our Redeemer and Deliverer!

But maybe you’re reading this and you’ve never received this grace.  Maybe you’re still stained by sin.  Maybe you have no idea what we’re talking about!  If that’s true for you, please come join us on Sunday.  Talk to me or to Pastor Mike.  We can help you find out more about the way to redemption.  Here’s the last verse of Grace Greater than Our Sin:

Marvelous, infinite, matchless grace, freely bestowed on all who believe!
You that are longing to see His face, will you this moment His grace receive?

Grace, grace, God’s grace, grace that will pardon and cleanse within!
Grace, grace, God’s grace, grace that is greater than all our sin!

I Know Whom I Have Believed: words by Daniel W. Whittle and music by James McGranahan.  Grace Greater than Our Sin: words by Julia H. Johnston and music by Daniel B. Towner.  I Will Sing of My Redeemer: words by Philip P. Bliss and music by Rowland H. Prichard.  CCLI # 3163058.

A mystery is revealed to the universe.  That’s a line from the song Children of God.  And what is the mystery?

A mystery is revealed to the universe,
The Father above has proven His love;
Now we are free from the judgment that we deserve,
So we are called the children of God.
Great is the love that the Father has given us.
He has delivered us.  He has delivered us.

We are free from the judgment that we deserve.  We were God’s enemies, and now we are His children, joint heirs with His own Son, Jesus.  This is love that we can never understand.  This is the mystery.  How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! (I John 3:1)

And although this is a joyful thought, it’s a sobering one as well.  What did it cost for us to be delivered from judgment?

How deep the Father’s love for us, how vast beyond all measure;
That He should give His only Son to make a wretch His treasure.
How great the pain of searing loss; the Father turns His face away
As wounds which mar the Chosen One bring many sons to glory.

Behold the Man upon a cross, my sin upon His shoulders;
Ashamed, I hear my mocking voice call out among the scoffers.
It was my sin that held Him there until it was accomplished.
His dying breath has brought me life; I know that it is finished.

I will not boast in anything: no gifts, no power, no wisdom;
But I will boast in Jesus Christ; His death and resurrection.
Why should I gain from His reward?  I cannot give an answer.
But this I know with all my heart: His wounds have paid my ransom.

It was my sin that held Him there.  Why should I gain from His reward?  Here is the mystery again.  We were lost, in darkness, sinful.  And yet God loved us enough to sacrifice His own Son to pay our ransom.  And now we can sing, as in Children of God:

We are the saints.  We are the children.
We’ve been redeemed.  We’ve been forgiven.
We are the sons and daughters of our God.

The adult and children’s choirs sang Children of God a few weeks ago, and now this Sunday we invite you as the congregation to join us in these words as we celebrate our Father’s love.  I highly recommend watching the band Third Day’s music video for this song.  Watch it all the way to the end…and rejoice in your adoption!

Children of God: words by Mac Powell; music by Mac Powell, Tai Anderson, David Carr, and Mark Lee. Copyright 2010 Songs from the Quarry.  How Deep the Father’s Love for Us: words and music by Stuart Townend.  Copyright 1995 Thankyou Music.  CCLI # 3163058.

I love to make things.  I always have projects underway: Christmas presents, birthday presents, baby or wedding or Mother’s Day gifts.

But I don’t create anything.  Creating means to make something from nothing.  Absolutely nothing.  To just speak it into being.

That’s what our God can do.

And as much as I love to make things, I’ll be the first to agree that making something

1) is a lot of work,
2) takes forever, and
3) sometimes takes many tries to get it right.

Here’s what our God spoke into being in six days:

And God saw that it was good.

From the highest mountains to the tiniest details of the tiniest living things…that’s what our God can do.

The splendor of the King, clothed in majesty;
Let all the earth rejoice, let all the earth rejoice.
He wraps Himself in light, and darkness tries to hide;
It trembles at His voice, it trembles at His voice.

How great is our God!  Sing with me, “How great is our God!”
And all will see how great, how great is our God!

And God’s power goes beyond our planet, our solar system, beyond everything we know or imagine.  Everything, everywhere, is in the hand of God.

God of wonders beyond our galaxy, You are holy, holy.
The universe declares Your majesty; You are holy, holy.
Lord of heaven and earth.

To serve a God with that kind of might and power–what does that mean for us?  God has power over everything in our lives.  Everything that is wrong or unfair, everything we need…it’s all in His hand.

This is my Father’s world,
O let me ne’er forget
That though the wrong seems oft so strong,
God is the Ruler yet.
This is my Father’s world,
The battle is not done;
Jesus who died shall be satisfied,
And earth and heaven be one.

Come join us this Sunday and worship our almighty Creator.  Our God is an awesome God!

How Great Is Our God: words and music by Chris Tomlin, Jesse Reeves and Ed Cash. Copyright 2004 Alletrop Music/worshiptogether.com Songs/sixsteps Music. God of Wonders: words and music by Marc Byrd and Steve Hindalong.  Copyright 2000 Storm Boy Music/Meaux Music/New Spring Pub. CCLI #3163058.

As you can see in Mike’s post below, we’ll be talking about worship this week.  And there are some songs that do just that–talk about worship.   They speak about our attitudes toward worship and remind us that we should (and must) choose to worship.  This type of song would have fit our theme this week, but my thought was: less chat, more action.  We have the privilege to gather this week as a family and worship our God, and I wanted to fill this time with songs that are themselves words of worship.  And so I want to encourage you to approach our service this Sunday (and every Sunday) with an open heart, prepared to leave behind the things of this world and worship God’s holy name.

Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.  Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song (Psalm 95:1-2).

Hosanna, hosanna, You are the God who saves us,
Worthy of all our praises.
Hosanna, hosanna, come have Your way among us;
We welcome You here, Lord Jesus.

I’m excited for our service this Sunday! For our Back to Church service, I’ve based the music on one of my favorite themes: Children of God. We have so much to celebrate! We’re not just “religious people” or “people who go to church.” We’re not some club or civic organization. We are the beloved children of our heavenly Father.

How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! (I John 3:1)

This Sunday the adult choir, children’s choir, and praise band are combining to bring our special music, a song called…Children of God. This is a song by the band Third Day that you may have heard on the radio. I loved these words the first time I heard them and I’ve been looking forward to doing this song for a long time.

Praise to the Father of our Lord, Jesus Christ,
Our God and our King, to Him we will sing;
In His great mercy He has given us life.
Now we can be called the children of God.

Great is the love that the Father has given us.
He has delivered us. He has delivered us.

Children of God, sing your song and rejoice,
For the love that He has given us all.
Oh, children of God, by the blood of His Son
We have been redeemed and we can be called
The children of God.

A mystery is revealed to the universe,
The Father above has proven His love;
Now we are free from the judgment that we deserve,
So we are called the children of God.

We are the saints. We are the children.
We’ve been redeemed. We’ve been forgiven.
We are the sons and daughters of our God.

Think about what a love that is! Once we were all God’s enemies, in complete opposition to His holiness. It’s only because of His unfathomable love that we have been welcomed into His family. What can we do but sing His praises?

Bless the Lord, O my soul, O my soul.
Worship His holy name.
Sing like never before, O my soul.
I worship Your holy name.

The sun comes up. It’s a new day dawning.
It’s time to sing Your song again.
Whatever may pass or whatever lies before me,
Let me be singing when the evening comes.

You’re rich in love, and You’re slow to anger.
Your name is great, and Your heart is kind.
For all Your goodness I will keep on singing:
Ten thousand reasons for my heart to find.

And on that day when my strength is failing,
The end draws near and my time has come,
Still my soul will sing Your praise unending;
Ten thousand years and then forevermore!

Bless the Lord, O my soul, O my soul.
Worship His holy name.
Sing like never before, O my soul.
I worship Your holy name.

10,000 Reasons is a contemporary hymn by Matt Redman and another song you may have heard on the radio; the choir also sang it a few weeks ago. This Sunday we’ll use it as a congregational song so we can join together to sing these words and worship His holy name.

We’ll also sing We Praise You, O God, Our Redeemer, a hymn that’s so fitting as we gather as a family to thank God for His blessings and seek His guidance for a coming year:

We praise You, O God, our Redeemer, Creator,
In grateful devotion our tribute we bring.
We lay it before You, we kneel and adore You,
We bless Your holy name, glad praises we sing.

With voices united our praises we offer,
And gladly our songs of thanksgiving we raise.
With You, Lord, beside us, Your strong arm will guide us.
To You, our great Redeemer, forever be praise.

We’ll follow that with The Master Hath Come.  I love the third verse:

The Master hath called us, in life’s early morning,
With spirits as fresh as the dew on the sod:
We turn from the world, with its smiles and its scorning,
To cast in our lot with the people of God:
The Master hath called us, His sons and His daughters,
We plead for His blessing and trust in His love;
And through the green pastures, beside the still waters,
He’ll lead us at last to His kingdom above.

And we’ll close the service with Let It Be Said of Us.  Let’s make this our prayer for the coming year:

Let it be said of us that the Lord was our passion,
That with gladness we bore every cross we were given;
That we fought the good fight, that we finished the course
Knowing within us the power of the risen Lord.

Let it be said of us we were marked by forgiveness,
We were known by our love and delighted in meekness;
We were ruled by His peace heeding unity’s call,
Joined as one body that Christ would be seen by all.

Let the cross be our glory and the Lord be our song;
By mercy made holy, by the Spirit made strong.
Let the cross be our glory and the Lord be our song
‘Til the likeness of Jesus be through us be known.

Children of God: words by Mac Powell; music by Mac Powell, Tai Anderson, David Carr, and Mark Lee. Copyright 2010 Songs from the Quarry. 10,000 Reasons: words and music by Jonas Myrin and Matt Redman. Copyright 2011 Shout! Publishing/Thankyou Music/worshiptogether.com Songs/sixsteps Music/Said and Done Music.  We Praise You, O God, Our Redeemer: words by Julia Cady Cory; music: Netherlands folk song, arr. Edward Kremser.  The Master Hath Come: words by Sarah Doudney; music: traditional Welsh melody.  Let It Be Said of Us: words and music by Steve Fry.  Copyright 1996 Maranatha! Music/Word Music, LLC.  CCLI # 3163058.

This Sunday we’re covering Paul’s guidelines for family relationships found in Colossians 3:

• Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.
• Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them.
• Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord.
• Fathers, do not embitter your children, or they will become discouraged.

It’s important to see these guidelines as part of the larger context we’ve been covering the past few weeks: our lives as God’s holy people.  These verses probably have their own heading in your Bible–my NIV Bible has them listed under “Rules for Christian Households”–so that it looks like this is a whole new topic…but it’s not.  These aren’t just some random, feel-good ideas to help everybody get along.  They’re a continuation of the rest of the chapter and the chapter before, where we’ve seen:

• We were dead in sin, but now we are raised in Christ, with our sins forgiven (2:9-15).
• We died with Christ to the basic principles of this world (2:20).
• We have been raised with Christ and we are to set our hearts on things above (3:1-2).
• We are to put to death whatever belongs to our earthly nature (3:5).
• We are God’s holy people, and as such, we are to be clothed with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; we are to bear with each other; we are to forgive as the Lord forgave us; and we are called to peace (3:12-15).

And so, continuing that thought, we see what those principles look like within a family unit made up of God’s holy people: husbands and wives who love each other, parents who love their children, children who obey their parents.  A family that’s able to serve the Lord, to serve one another, and to serve others, in harmony and love.  This is the result of a family clothed with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.

With that in mind, we’ll be singing the hymn A Christian Home.

O give us homes built firm upon the Savior,
Where Christ is Head and Counselor and Guide;
Where every child is taught His love and favor
And gives his heart to Christ, the Crucified:
How sweet to know that, though his footsteps waver,
His faithful Lord is walking by his side!

O give us homes with godly fathers, mothers,
Who always place their hope and trust in Him;
Whose tender patience turmoil never bothers,
Whose calm and courage trouble cannot dim;
A home where each finds joy in serving others,
And love still shines, though days be dark and grim.

We’re also singing We Are an Offering, and I love the idea of these words applied not just to the church body but being sung as a family:

We lift our voices, we lift our hands,
We lift our lives up to You; we are an offering.
Lord, use our voices, Lord, use our hands;
Lord, use our lives, they are Yours; we are an offering.
All that we have, all that we are, all that we hope to be,
We give to You, we give to You.

And we’ll follow this with Seekers of Your Heart, a simple but powerful little prayer:

Lord, we want to know You, live our lives to show You
All the love we owe You–we’re seekers of Your heart.

The choir will be singing Find Us Faithful.  We sing the chorus of this song in our worship services, but this choral arrangement also includes the verses.

We’re pilgrims on the journey of the narrow road,
And those who’ve gone before us line the way.
Cheering on the faithful, encouraging the weary,
Their lives a stirring testament to God’s sustaining grace.

Surrounded by so great a cloud of witness,
Let us run the race not only for the prize;
But as those who’ve gone before us, let us leave to those behind us
The heritage of faithfulness passed on through godly lives.

After all our hopes and dreams have come and gone,
And our children sift through all we’ve left behind,
May the clues that they discover and the memories they uncover
Become the light that leads them to the road we each must find.

Oh, may all who come behind us find us faithful,
May the fire of our devotion light their way.
May the footprints that we leave lead them to believe,
And the lives we live inspire them to obey.
Oh, may all who come behind us find us faithful.

And we’ll finish the service with The Family Prayer Song, taken from Joshua’s familiar words in Joshua 24:15.

Come and fill our homes with your presence;
You alone are worthy of our reverence.
As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord;
We will serve the Lord.

A Christian Home: words by Barbara B. Hart.  Copyright 1965 Singspiration Music.  CCLI #3163058. We Are an Offering: words and music by Dwight Liles.  Copyright 1984 Word Music, LLC.  CCLI #3163058. Seekers of Your Heart: words and music by Melodie Tunney, Dick Tunney, Beverly Darnall.  Copyright 1987 BMG Songs/Pamela Kay Music.  CCLI #3163058.  Find Us Faithful: words and music by Jon Mohr.  Copyright 1987 Birdwing Music and Jonathan Mark Music.  CCLI #3163058.  The Family Prayer Song: words and music by Morris Chapman.  Copyright 1994 Maranatha Praise, Inc. CCLI #3163058.