I added my comments last week to the “Sunday Setlists” blog carnival at FredMcKinnon.Com, and it really was a neat experience. I met some new worship leaders through the comments, and had fun reading through their Sunday morning experiences as well. So, I thought I would try again. This post is regarding our services at Bethel Bapist Church in Janesville, WI on Sunday, Aug. 16th, 2009. You can read all the other posts about yesterday from worship leaders around the country at http://www.fredmckinnon.com/myblog/2009/08/16/sunday-setlists-56/
Yesterday was a bittersweet morning. It’s always a good thing to spend time praising the Lord, but personal circumstances this past week have been pretty rough, so for me, it felt more like a real “sacrifice of praise”. But, God is good, and He carried me through the morning, and ended up being a wonderful morning!
We began with “Awesome Is the Lord Most High” (Tomlin), followed by “Glory To God Forever” (Vicky Beeching and Steve Fee), and then “God You Reign” (Lincoln Brewster).
Once a month, we have our Worship Choir sing with the worship team singers and band. They sang with us yesterday, and it always adds another level of energy and excitement to have them there. It’s been a great way to include new individuals interested in becoming part of the worship ministry.
We heard about what God is doing with one of our missionary families in the Philippines, and put the website up for all to see that shows live broadcasting on the Good TV network, one of the only Christian TV networks in the Philippines. God is doing some amazing things there!
The message was “Carry One Another’s Burdens” from our series on the One Another commands found in Scripture. The message seemed especially appropriate for the events happening this week.
We closed with “Everyday” (Joel Houston). Our choir was clapping, swaying on that one – a lot of fun!!
Overall, it was a powerful morning. I guess the big takeaway for me was that just as God carries us through our hard times, we as Christ-followers are to help carry the load of other believers who are going through difficult times.
God is good, all the time!
Barry Westman 