I've consolidated my two blogs (Worship+ and Shaping The Space) into one over at www.shapingthespace.net It's still got a bit of tweaking to be done, so be patient with me :)
For the time being, the easiest way to get into recent posts for Worship+ is to click on the fuzzy Worship+ logo on the front page once you get there.
God bless you in your life of worship!
16.2.09
9.2.09
Sun 8 Feb 2009, 10.30am & 5.00pm
Yesterday was hot. Really hot. I tweeted about our pastor's plans to shorten the meeting due to the expected heat and avoiding side effects that can come. In the end, our area of Sydney, by nothing short of a miracle, did not reach the expected temperatures, and it was more pleasant than some recent weeks. To describe this as a blessing in the midst of our worst bushfires ever is a huge understatement.
So the morning service was sweet, and I mean that in the sense of the Holy Spirit's presence being sweet as opposed to it being 'sah-weet' ;) The evening service was littered with problems due to the heat of the day in other areas (power failures, etc), but that's OK too - it was a great learning curve for all involved.
I was a backup singer this morning, and as I've said in previous posts, I love coming under the guidance of the other worship leaders and being led into God's presence; certainly makes me feel holy pride at how much these guys have grown. Only one hitch in the morning - he doubled up the chorus at the end of Run without anyone expecting it, so we had some interesting drum stuff there. A good laugh.
The evening service (or late afternoon, really) was run by our Ablaze youth guys as normal, and at the end of a hot hot week, the fatigue was showing on top the tech troubles associated with power failure and rock bands. They did good though.
And two great messages as well. AM - expanding the theme & vision for 2009. PM - being light in darkness. Lots of notes and song seeds too :)
The AM Songs
Run (Houston/Hillsong)
All For Love (Webster/Hillsong)
Shout Unto God (Sampson/Hillsong)
Happy Day (Hughes/Cantelon/Soul Survivor)
This Is Our God (Morgan/Fielding/Hillsong)
The PM Songs
Your Name High (Houston/Hillsong)
Show Me Your Glory (Murgida/one of ours)
Saving Son (Murgida/one of ours too)
This week is meant to be cool and wet. Bring it Lord! The southern part of the nation needs the relief, while the flooded northern part needs some dry weather to allow it to recover.
Now go and check out all the other setlists and reviews on the “Sunday Setlists” blog carnival at FredMcKinnon.com.
and see what else is going on round here as I go about Shaping The Space.
So the morning service was sweet, and I mean that in the sense of the Holy Spirit's presence being sweet as opposed to it being 'sah-weet' ;) The evening service was littered with problems due to the heat of the day in other areas (power failures, etc), but that's OK too - it was a great learning curve for all involved.
I was a backup singer this morning, and as I've said in previous posts, I love coming under the guidance of the other worship leaders and being led into God's presence; certainly makes me feel holy pride at how much these guys have grown. Only one hitch in the morning - he doubled up the chorus at the end of Run without anyone expecting it, so we had some interesting drum stuff there. A good laugh.
The evening service (or late afternoon, really) was run by our Ablaze youth guys as normal, and at the end of a hot hot week, the fatigue was showing on top the tech troubles associated with power failure and rock bands. They did good though.
And two great messages as well. AM - expanding the theme & vision for 2009. PM - being light in darkness. Lots of notes and song seeds too :)
The AM Songs
Run (Houston/Hillsong)
All For Love (Webster/Hillsong)
Shout Unto God (Sampson/Hillsong)
Happy Day (Hughes/Cantelon/Soul Survivor)
This Is Our God (Morgan/Fielding/Hillsong)
The PM Songs
Your Name High (Houston/Hillsong)
Show Me Your Glory (Murgida/one of ours)
Saving Son (Murgida/one of ours too)
This week is meant to be cool and wet. Bring it Lord! The southern part of the nation needs the relief, while the flooded northern part needs some dry weather to allow it to recover.
Now go and check out all the other setlists and reviews on the “Sunday Setlists” blog carnival at FredMcKinnon.com.
and see what else is going on round here as I go about Shaping The Space.
2.2.09
Sun 1 Feb 2009, 10.30am & 5.00pm
Yesterday was Vision Sunday at Harbourside. This is always a big day, and big weekend for the Vision Team who have a meeting & dinner on Saturday too. Not much free time, but that's OK - it's once a year.
For long term members, it might be easy to get a bit complacent with these services as they are fairly similar each year as they go about refreshing the vision and giving the annual theme. However, I always enjoy the presentation and to have the overall goals for the year ahead specifically laid out, including obvious things like carrying out the Great Commission, etc.
I was leading the AM service, while the Ablaze Band (our youth only band) lead our night services which kicked off again for the first time in 2009. This means we are always in the congregation for night services, but we also need to monitor members are in both teams to ensure time commitments are managed well.
The AM Songs were:
Break Free (Houston, etc/Hillsong)
Happy Day (Hughes/Cantelon)
Lead Me To The Cross (Fraser/Hillsong)
Stronger (Morgan/Hillsong)
Happy Day was new for us, and it went better than our praise songs often do first time out. Sure, a lot of people already knew it, but it's also got a fairly easy melody, esp the chorus.
With the tight schedule, my pastor asked me to be quick but not rushed, which we were, I think...and he decided to have us continue worship a little longer with the tag of Stronger. And no major or even minor stuff-ups. A great morning.
We also shared in the amazing talent of a couple of our high school students who had recently sung at the Sydney Opera House, which led to a radio spot, which led to a talent development contract with a very reputable school/agency. Yay! I'm so proud :)
Our evening service (or should I say 'afternoon service') was a more 'normal' format, a shorter service (usually just over an hour) to allow our free-praise Worship+ meeting to follow on immediately afterwards.
The guys did a great job and had us all excited to be in God's house on that hot, humid evening (which admittedly was more pleasant than the morning!)
The PM songs were:
Salvation (Seeley/Planetshakers)
Run (Houston/Hillsong)
With Everything (Houston/Hillsong)
The message was on catching vision, perishing without vision, what what God does when we focus our vision on him. It focussed on Saul/Paul's conversion quite a bit, and was an excellent way to get our night meetings started.
Worship+ involved some powerful ministry, with the songs being The Anthem (Planetshakers), and our version of Awesome God (Mullins) to finish, complete with our very own raps. Funny to see the older people in the congregation enjoying rap so much. We're going to record this some day, I know it :) It was a shorter time than we'd been doing during the week, or late last year, but that's OK; it left us hungry for more, so we'll be back.
Now go and check out all the other setlists and reviews on the “Sunday Setlists” blog carnival at FredMcKinnon.com.
and see what else is going on round here as I go about Shaping The Space.
For long term members, it might be easy to get a bit complacent with these services as they are fairly similar each year as they go about refreshing the vision and giving the annual theme. However, I always enjoy the presentation and to have the overall goals for the year ahead specifically laid out, including obvious things like carrying out the Great Commission, etc.
I was leading the AM service, while the Ablaze Band (our youth only band) lead our night services which kicked off again for the first time in 2009. This means we are always in the congregation for night services, but we also need to monitor members are in both teams to ensure time commitments are managed well.
The AM Songs were:
Break Free (Houston, etc/Hillsong)
Happy Day (Hughes/Cantelon)
Lead Me To The Cross (Fraser/Hillsong)
Stronger (Morgan/Hillsong)
Happy Day was new for us, and it went better than our praise songs often do first time out. Sure, a lot of people already knew it, but it's also got a fairly easy melody, esp the chorus.
With the tight schedule, my pastor asked me to be quick but not rushed, which we were, I think...and he decided to have us continue worship a little longer with the tag of Stronger. And no major or even minor stuff-ups. A great morning.
We also shared in the amazing talent of a couple of our high school students who had recently sung at the Sydney Opera House, which led to a radio spot, which led to a talent development contract with a very reputable school/agency. Yay! I'm so proud :)
Our evening service (or should I say 'afternoon service') was a more 'normal' format, a shorter service (usually just over an hour) to allow our free-praise Worship+ meeting to follow on immediately afterwards.
The guys did a great job and had us all excited to be in God's house on that hot, humid evening (which admittedly was more pleasant than the morning!)
The PM songs were:
Salvation (Seeley/Planetshakers)
Run (Houston/Hillsong)
With Everything (Houston/Hillsong)
The message was on catching vision, perishing without vision, what what God does when we focus our vision on him. It focussed on Saul/Paul's conversion quite a bit, and was an excellent way to get our night meetings started.
Worship+ involved some powerful ministry, with the songs being The Anthem (Planetshakers), and our version of Awesome God (Mullins) to finish, complete with our very own raps. Funny to see the older people in the congregation enjoying rap so much. We're going to record this some day, I know it :) It was a shorter time than we'd been doing during the week, or late last year, but that's OK; it left us hungry for more, so we'll be back.
Now go and check out all the other setlists and reviews on the “Sunday Setlists” blog carnival at FredMcKinnon.com.
and see what else is going on round here as I go about Shaping The Space.
31.1.09
Fri 30 Jan 2009, 7.30pm
The last night of our week of prayer worship meetings. I'm kind of sad that they're over, but I'm also relieved because basically life has been on hold this week while serving and seeking God took over completely.
It was great to be able to be in the congregation tonight as the team flowed in the bridge from You'll Come for most of the night, and we ended with a very powerful (there's that word again :) time of praise and worship singing With Everything. It was almost as amazing as when I first heard it at Hillsong Conference. These guys are awesome, and how blessed am I to lead them.
But the reason we were there was there to seek, repent, give thanks, call in what God's promises are for me, and praise and worship my Lord; that's what I and hundreds of others did. And his blessing was abundant in the prayer. I love how God refreshes even while we're dancing and sweating and shaking...never fails to amaze me
Then about 12 of us went out for coffee & gelato (though I just had juice as I was completing a week long fast) and before we knew it, it was 12.30am! I am so thankful to God for the fellowship He's placed my wonderful wife and I with. 2009 - you have great things in store! Bring it on!
It was great to be able to be in the congregation tonight as the team flowed in the bridge from You'll Come for most of the night, and we ended with a very powerful (there's that word again :) time of praise and worship singing With Everything. It was almost as amazing as when I first heard it at Hillsong Conference. These guys are awesome, and how blessed am I to lead them.
But the reason we were there was there to seek, repent, give thanks, call in what God's promises are for me, and praise and worship my Lord; that's what I and hundreds of others did. And his blessing was abundant in the prayer. I love how God refreshes even while we're dancing and sweating and shaking...never fails to amaze me
Then about 12 of us went out for coffee & gelato (though I just had juice as I was completing a week long fast) and before we knew it, it was 12.30am! I am so thankful to God for the fellowship He's placed my wonderful wife and I with. 2009 - you have great things in store! Bring it on!
29.1.09
Thu 29 Jan 2009, 7.30pm
The theme for tonight was spiritual warfare, and my goodness, there was a lot of warring going on. It was a power meeting, and everyone was totally spent at end, needing some time to soak in the Holy Spirit...and He came as a physical wind to cool us. Beautiful.
One thing I've really loved about these meetings is that I've never been really sure who in the team would be able to turn up given they are on every night, and tonight we had a totally different band with the exception of our drummer...and yet the flow was uninterrupted. This is team unity, and I'm extremely thankful for it.
Verses for tonight were from Colossians 4:2-4 and Ephesians 6:10-18, and the spiritual songs flowed from these as well, and at times almost as responses to the prayers which came from the people too. More came to pray using the lead mic than we've had at any meeting so far (I think around 15 people), while we had around 150 at the meeting again.
The song for the night was Hillsong's Shout Unto God, and the two chords provided a foundation upon which declarations were made throughout the meeting.
We closed with a prayer circle and targetted warfare against a stronghold in our local area. It was, as our pastor said, probably the most powerful prayer meeting he'd ever attended in his life - and if you knew him you'd realise that was very significant.
Tomorrow is the last night, and I'm taking a rest while some of the younger worship leaders step up to lead the meeting - I can't wait, I can't wait, I can't wait (I know, I'm a cracked record :)
One thing I've really loved about these meetings is that I've never been really sure who in the team would be able to turn up given they are on every night, and tonight we had a totally different band with the exception of our drummer...and yet the flow was uninterrupted. This is team unity, and I'm extremely thankful for it.
Verses for tonight were from Colossians 4:2-4 and Ephesians 6:10-18, and the spiritual songs flowed from these as well, and at times almost as responses to the prayers which came from the people too. More came to pray using the lead mic than we've had at any meeting so far (I think around 15 people), while we had around 150 at the meeting again.
The song for the night was Hillsong's Shout Unto God, and the two chords provided a foundation upon which declarations were made throughout the meeting.
We closed with a prayer circle and targetted warfare against a stronghold in our local area. It was, as our pastor said, probably the most powerful prayer meeting he'd ever attended in his life - and if you knew him you'd realise that was very significant.
Tomorrow is the last night, and I'm taking a rest while some of the younger worship leaders step up to lead the meeting - I can't wait, I can't wait, I can't wait (I know, I'm a cracked record :)
28.1.09
Wed 28 Jan 2009, 7.30pm
You know the routine for these meetings now. That's right, there isn't one - no-one knows beforehand exactly what to expect. That's putting your complete trust in God to move how He wants.
I've seen a real change in our pastor through these meetings. He's completely relaxed with allowing the meeting to flow in unexpected directions, whereas once he had a tendency to try to make it go 'how these kinds of meetings should flow' (and would freely say so).
Tonight was focussed on the verses that formed the foundation of our church when it was planted in 1996 - Jeremiah 33:6-9. Once again, though I planned a few songs...only one was needed - out of which flowed beautiful prayer, powerful prayer, cries of repentance, cries for mercy, calls for boldness in proclaiming the full Gospel; people on their knees, faces, standing arms outstretched, walking the room, loudly declaring, quietly petitioning.
The song was Healer (Mike Guglielmucci). Many of you will know the story around that song, which made its use in this context more powerful than I could have imagined. Amongst the power, at times the music naturally moved into a place where we just wanted to soak in the beautiful presence of God with us, Emmanuel. So we did. It wasn't long enough, but it was just right too. I have no idea how to explain that feeling.
We finished by our pastor and some appointed people praying for us all individually in the three areas covered in the passage - healing, forgiveness, prosperity. There were about 150 people there, so it took a fair while but few were concerned about the time. I love this! I know it's not sustainable, but it's the right season, and it's what Worship+ is all about - intimacy with God, spending time with Him, getting to know Him; the One who lives in us.
I've seen a real change in our pastor through these meetings. He's completely relaxed with allowing the meeting to flow in unexpected directions, whereas once he had a tendency to try to make it go 'how these kinds of meetings should flow' (and would freely say so).
Tonight was focussed on the verses that formed the foundation of our church when it was planted in 1996 - Jeremiah 33:6-9. Once again, though I planned a few songs...only one was needed - out of which flowed beautiful prayer, powerful prayer, cries of repentance, cries for mercy, calls for boldness in proclaiming the full Gospel; people on their knees, faces, standing arms outstretched, walking the room, loudly declaring, quietly petitioning.
The song was Healer (Mike Guglielmucci). Many of you will know the story around that song, which made its use in this context more powerful than I could have imagined. Amongst the power, at times the music naturally moved into a place where we just wanted to soak in the beautiful presence of God with us, Emmanuel. So we did. It wasn't long enough, but it was just right too. I have no idea how to explain that feeling.
We finished by our pastor and some appointed people praying for us all individually in the three areas covered in the passage - healing, forgiveness, prosperity. There were about 150 people there, so it took a fair while but few were concerned about the time. I love this! I know it's not sustainable, but it's the right season, and it's what Worship+ is all about - intimacy with God, spending time with Him, getting to know Him; the One who lives in us.
27.1.09
Tue 27 Jan 2009, 7.30pm
I'm not going to bore you with the intricate details every night, because I know God is going to keep doing amazing things which I am unable to translate into an interesting post.
Suffice to say that tonight was similar but different to last night. The prayers were centred around claiming what is rightfully ours for His Kingdom - souls, abundance, everything.
Once I again, I prepared a few songs, but we went no further than I Exalt Thee. For just on an hour, we worshipped using the original lyric and fresh new songs of praise, worship, declaration, and prayer.
On the way home with my wonderful wife, I said it was a very different feeling to last night - when I felt revitalised, and thus had to stay up for hours (blogging, praying, sharing) to be able to sleep.
Tonight, I feel "refreshed and relaxed" - almost like having just had a really good Swedish massage. I will sleep well tonight...and again, I can't wait to see what God has in store for tomorrow.
Suffice to say that tonight was similar but different to last night. The prayers were centred around claiming what is rightfully ours for His Kingdom - souls, abundance, everything.
Once I again, I prepared a few songs, but we went no further than I Exalt Thee. For just on an hour, we worshipped using the original lyric and fresh new songs of praise, worship, declaration, and prayer.
On the way home with my wonderful wife, I said it was a very different feeling to last night - when I felt revitalised, and thus had to stay up for hours (blogging, praying, sharing) to be able to sleep.
Tonight, I feel "refreshed and relaxed" - almost like having just had a really good Swedish massage. I will sleep well tonight...and again, I can't wait to see what God has in store for tomorrow.
26.1.09
Mon 26 Jan 2009, 7.30pm
Australia Day - when we celebrate the English colonisation of our country - the Great South Land of The Holy Spirit.** What a mighty prophecy that was to be spoken over a land which at that time was unknown to the western world, and which has since been noted in lots of prophecy as being the last place on earth to experience revival.
Tonight PsG opened the meeting with an explanation of these prophecies, reading the Prime Minister's speech from this morning's festivities, and dedicating the evening to prayer as found in 1 Timothy 2:1-4 : for those in authority.
He then asked the worship team to come up to the platform. I'd prepared 3 songs (as had become the norm for these meetings) - Breathe (Barnett/Vineyard), Still (Morgan/Hillsong) and Welcome In This Place (Webster/Hillsong), but soon after we started on Breathe I knew the He had something else in mind.
An hour and 10 minutes later, I was speechless in His presence. Through the course of one set of chords, He gave me and the other singers songs for this time and place ("We declare this Great South Land is Yours, Holy Spirit", "We stand in awe of You, our God, our Lord", "We repent, we cry out to You for mercy Lord for this nation Lord". That never looks as impressive as I retype it, but some words are for a time, a place, a moment. The atmosphere in the room was indescribable - a tangible presence of God.
As I sang one of the songs - "Wherever I go, I breathe You in, I breathe You out to change this world" - I felt the Holy Spirit telling me to get the band to stop playing, but without me having to do or say anything, one of the other team members gave the direction. I love how God does that :) We then sang the song a couple more times accapella, then total silence for a minute or so until people in the congregation began worshipping in tongues, which grew and grew and grew. What a night!
The meeting closed with PsG telling us to get out there and share what we did on Australia Day (in addition to the BBQs, which are law after all ;-)
While sharing with one of our elders afterwards, she shared her vision of the prayers being offered as like those in Revelation being presented in the golden bowls, and that the angel hosts were joined with us as we worshipped. What a blessing.
If you come around here a bit, you might remember what I wrote last week about having no idea what to expect of this week. That was confirmed tonight, and again, I come tomorrow free of expectation, but just wanting more and more and more of You Lord. I'm excited by the vision for new ministry being dropped into the hearts of the people in our church, and that as worship leader they share them with me, very often before anyone else. Such a privilege to serve in this way. Praise Jesus!
**note that this links to an ugly ugly site, but it has some great info, ok :) And just a note, this isn't the place to go into the debate on whether it should be called Invasion Day for obvious reasons...
25.1.09
Sun 25 Jan 2009, 10.00am
Another one of those weeks where one of the other worship leaders in my team lead the worship and I got ministered to - I love these weeks :)
Which was probably just as well as I have had lots on my mind as planning for 2009 ramps up, and some team dynamics & relationships needed dealing with this past week, including a slight case of overenthusiasm (which I will always take in preference to lethargy!). These teens keep me on my toes.
After the sweetness of Wednesday, we were back in power mode this morning, and PsG made special mention during his message about how vital we are to the whole worship experience to help lift people into God's throneroom, and that we did a good job of that today. Well chuffed.
Not only did Dante lead a mighty worship set, he also did a great job taking the practice too, which meant I could spend some time with the sound techs getting some aspects a little better in our really tough room...lots of echoechoecho and rrreeevvvveeeerrrrbbbbb due to its original use and a desire (requirement?) to leave it intact. Makes the audio tough, as any professional engineer has noted when they've been in using the system.
Gotta say though, I'm REALLY looking forward to being back from summer hiatus mode and getting into learning new songs again. We've got a new one for next week's Vision Sunday (well, new for us) meeting, and I've got my plan for the first half of the year mapped out (with slots for new things which are released in the meantime) - bring it on!
The songs (all Hillsong today - again - we do that a lot :-)
My Future Decided
You Deserve
You'll Come
Mighty To Save
Now go and check out all the other setlists and reviews on the “Sunday Setlists” blog carnival at FredMcKinnon.com.
and see what else is going on round here as I go about Shaping The Space.
Which was probably just as well as I have had lots on my mind as planning for 2009 ramps up, and some team dynamics & relationships needed dealing with this past week, including a slight case of overenthusiasm (which I will always take in preference to lethargy!). These teens keep me on my toes.
After the sweetness of Wednesday, we were back in power mode this morning, and PsG made special mention during his message about how vital we are to the whole worship experience to help lift people into God's throneroom, and that we did a good job of that today. Well chuffed.
Not only did Dante lead a mighty worship set, he also did a great job taking the practice too, which meant I could spend some time with the sound techs getting some aspects a little better in our really tough room...lots of echoechoecho and rrreeevvvveeeerrrrbbbbb due to its original use and a desire (requirement?) to leave it intact. Makes the audio tough, as any professional engineer has noted when they've been in using the system.
Gotta say though, I'm REALLY looking forward to being back from summer hiatus mode and getting into learning new songs again. We've got a new one for next week's Vision Sunday (well, new for us) meeting, and I've got my plan for the first half of the year mapped out (with slots for new things which are released in the meantime) - bring it on!
The songs (all Hillsong today - again - we do that a lot :-)
My Future Decided
You Deserve
You'll Come
Mighty To Save
Now go and check out all the other setlists and reviews on the “Sunday Setlists” blog carnival at FredMcKinnon.com.
and see what else is going on round here as I go about Shaping The Space.
22.1.09
Wed 21 Jan 2009, 7.30pm
Last night, after yet another hot day (just on 38C or 100-ishF), we had a cooling storm, bringing freshness to the air, some much needed non-humidity-moisture, and a gentle breeze.
And our prayer meeting reflected this. The power of God working at the last 2 meetings made way for His Spirit to wash over us as cool streams, refreshing and reviving. Not that our thirst for Him could be quenched. The team did a beautiful job transitioning into something fresh for tonight after the last 2 weeks.
PsG wasn't there last night as he's still in Queensland, but Pastor Peter did a great job overseeing everything, and while there wasn't quite as many people there as last week, we still had well over 100.
Next week, the meeting is on every night. I have no idea what to expect, but all I want to see, hear, feel, touch, experience is my Lord.
The songs (all Reuben Morgan/Hillsong)
With All I Am
Eagle's Wings - this was our main soaking song, 25 minutes, free worship between the prayers - new songs about God pouring out His love & grace, on Him being worthy, cleansing streams...ahhh
This Is Our God - no matter how often we sing this, it is fresh and new
And our prayer meeting reflected this. The power of God working at the last 2 meetings made way for His Spirit to wash over us as cool streams, refreshing and reviving. Not that our thirst for Him could be quenched. The team did a beautiful job transitioning into something fresh for tonight after the last 2 weeks.
PsG wasn't there last night as he's still in Queensland, but Pastor Peter did a great job overseeing everything, and while there wasn't quite as many people there as last week, we still had well over 100.
Next week, the meeting is on every night. I have no idea what to expect, but all I want to see, hear, feel, touch, experience is my Lord.
The songs (all Reuben Morgan/Hillsong)
With All I Am
Eagle's Wings - this was our main soaking song, 25 minutes, free worship between the prayers - new songs about God pouring out His love & grace, on Him being worthy, cleansing streams...ahhh
This Is Our God - no matter how often we sing this, it is fresh and new
19.1.09
Sun 18 Jan 2009, 6.00pm
A church in the southern part of Sydney, known as "the Shire" (and yes, lots of hobbit jokes abound) has just rebuilt their 50 year old building. It's one of the largest churches in Sydney (around 2,000 members), with almost half of them being teenagers, and almost all of those teens being surfers :-).
My wonderful wife and I decided to visit as we have friends who are members there, and our pastor was also keen to hear what their new building was like. Btw, our churches work together with a couple of others to bring 2 hours of preaching on free-to-air TV each week in Sydney, and are now also on air in Melbourne, with Brisbane being the goal for 2009.
ShireLive had their new youth pastor preaching tonight, who's just moved over from Perth to head up the massive youth ministry at Shire. He gave a great message based on Daniel about our personal furnaces that we have to deal with...one of which will be success, so it was a great counterpoint to our own message this morning at Harbourside.
The main room now has quite steeply banked seating for just over 1,000 people, and there were probably around 600 there last night (still very much in that holiday mode with people away), most of whom were the youth getting ready for a 1 week summer camp starting tomorrow.
Service style is very very similar to Hillsong, very relaxed but still reverent, and perfectly suited to the culture of the church and the community it serves. It all felt very natural, and very "Australian". It was immediately obvious that most members there are a bit more stereotypically Australian than our area; a lot of ours are recent-ish immigrants or 2nd generation (me being a very glaring exception).
And the music was great. The worship leader tonight was a former Australian Idol Top 12 contestant who we instantly recognised. Thankfully she's also a wonderfully humble person and did a great job of leading us into God's presence ready for the message.
Overall, a great time of worship...and I felt a little bit like the Secret Worshipper...who, btw, I don't really like the idea of - how can you establish your roots firmly in a church if you're constantly visiting others to scrutinise everything? Anyway, the site is entertaining - or rather, it usually is but at the moment they're in the middle of redoing it and there's none of the articles up. Oh well :-)
The songs:
Sing Sing Sing (Chris Tomlin)
My Future Decided (Hillsong United)
He Is Lord (Hillsong)
Til I See You (Hillsong United)
Now go and check out all the other setlists and reviews on the “Sunday Setlists” blog carnival at FredMcKinnon.com.
and see what else is on my mind as I share how I'm going with Shaping The Space.
My wonderful wife and I decided to visit as we have friends who are members there, and our pastor was also keen to hear what their new building was like. Btw, our churches work together with a couple of others to bring 2 hours of preaching on free-to-air TV each week in Sydney, and are now also on air in Melbourne, with Brisbane being the goal for 2009.
ShireLive had their new youth pastor preaching tonight, who's just moved over from Perth to head up the massive youth ministry at Shire. He gave a great message based on Daniel about our personal furnaces that we have to deal with...one of which will be success, so it was a great counterpoint to our own message this morning at Harbourside.
The main room now has quite steeply banked seating for just over 1,000 people, and there were probably around 600 there last night (still very much in that holiday mode with people away), most of whom were the youth getting ready for a 1 week summer camp starting tomorrow.
Service style is very very similar to Hillsong, very relaxed but still reverent, and perfectly suited to the culture of the church and the community it serves. It all felt very natural, and very "Australian". It was immediately obvious that most members there are a bit more stereotypically Australian than our area; a lot of ours are recent-ish immigrants or 2nd generation (me being a very glaring exception).
And the music was great. The worship leader tonight was a former Australian Idol Top 12 contestant who we instantly recognised. Thankfully she's also a wonderfully humble person and did a great job of leading us into God's presence ready for the message.
Overall, a great time of worship...and I felt a little bit like the Secret Worshipper...who, btw, I don't really like the idea of - how can you establish your roots firmly in a church if you're constantly visiting others to scrutinise everything? Anyway, the site is entertaining - or rather, it usually is but at the moment they're in the middle of redoing it and there's none of the articles up. Oh well :-)
The songs:
Sing Sing Sing (Chris Tomlin)
My Future Decided (Hillsong United)
He Is Lord (Hillsong)
Til I See You (Hillsong United)
Now go and check out all the other setlists and reviews on the “Sunday Setlists” blog carnival at FredMcKinnon.com.
and see what else is on my mind as I share how I'm going with Shaping The Space.
Sun 18 Jan 2009, 10.00am
I'll be honest...the upbeat, fast, "get-everyone-dancing-and-praising" songs felt a little flat this morning. There were people enthusiastically praising, but there were probably more who weren't.
Then I noticed lots of very red faces.
Ahh. Summer. Days at the beach. Sunburn. Not good for ramping people up when they come into a cool dark space... ;-)
So by the time we got to the more relaxed, slower, "soak-in-God's-presence" music, some of these people had woken up a bit more oddly enough, and the last song was quite simply an amazing sacrifice of praise. I know it blessed God at least as much as it blessed me.
Technically and practically, the morning was unremarkable. The team was on time, rehearsal was smooth except for me fluffing a few thousand words as I tried to give direction to 4 people at the same time without stopping singing, our teen drummer was back, so we had to remind him not to hit quite so hard again ;-), our pre-service prayer time was full of faith and power. All systems normal then.
Our pastor continued his great preparation for 2009 series with a message on success and the Biblical keys to a successful life before he and his wife jetted off to Queensland to preach up there in the evening and meet with a big US ministry about us hosting a conference in May; an exciting opportunity for our church.
The songs:
Your Name High (Hillsong)
Run (Hillsong)
How Great Is Our God (Chris Tomlin - hadn't done this in ages, so beautifully simple)
The Anthem (Planetshakers - and the planet was indeed shaken)
Don't forget to check out all the other setlists and reviews on the “Sunday Setlists” blog carnival at FredMcKinnon.com.
and see what else is on my mind as I share how I'm going with Shaping The Space.
Then I noticed lots of very red faces.
Ahh. Summer. Days at the beach. Sunburn. Not good for ramping people up when they come into a cool dark space... ;-)
So by the time we got to the more relaxed, slower, "soak-in-God's-presence" music, some of these people had woken up a bit more oddly enough, and the last song was quite simply an amazing sacrifice of praise. I know it blessed God at least as much as it blessed me.
Technically and practically, the morning was unremarkable. The team was on time, rehearsal was smooth except for me fluffing a few thousand words as I tried to give direction to 4 people at the same time without stopping singing, our teen drummer was back, so we had to remind him not to hit quite so hard again ;-), our pre-service prayer time was full of faith and power. All systems normal then.
Our pastor continued his great preparation for 2009 series with a message on success and the Biblical keys to a successful life before he and his wife jetted off to Queensland to preach up there in the evening and meet with a big US ministry about us hosting a conference in May; an exciting opportunity for our church.
The songs:
Your Name High (Hillsong)
Run (Hillsong)
How Great Is Our God (Chris Tomlin - hadn't done this in ages, so beautifully simple)
The Anthem (Planetshakers - and the planet was indeed shaken)
Don't forget to check out all the other setlists and reviews on the “Sunday Setlists” blog carnival at FredMcKinnon.com.
and see what else is on my mind as I share how I'm going with Shaping The Space.
14.1.09
Wed 14 Jan 2009, 7.30pm
Today was hot. I mean nearly 40 degrees C or just over 100 F hot. I neglected to mention that last Wednesday was nearly as hot, which made the intensity of last week's meeting even more amazing as that much heat can so often completely zap enthusiasm - and our church doesn't have air conditioning in the main hall. Praise God is has fans though :-)
All day I'd been feeling that tonight's meeting was going to be a bit different to last week, and during the day this was confirmed (though not in the way I was expecting) as a lot of worship team members let me know they weren't going to be able to make it for various reasons. No drama, we still had a full team ready to flow.
We got to church to find people enjoying the air conditioning in the cafe (our church building is a 1920s theatre/dance hall), with no-one keen on going into the main hall to experience the heat.
But we did - and to our complete surprise, it was comparatively comfortable in there. That never happens on a hot day. How does God work that kind of thing?? It was hardly cool, but it was bearable.
Not for long though, as tonight's meeting made last week's look like we were sitting around in a silence. One of the most amazing things for me last night was listening to 250 people free-worshipping in tongues. It was one of the sweetest things I've ever experienced. And wow! 250 people to a prayer meeting on a hot night - that's over half the church!
All of which has left me wondering just how much more God has in store for this year that's only just begun.
After 90 minutes of prayer and song, PsG closed the meeting, and no-one left. They didn't even go out to the cool of the air-conditioned cafe. Eventually, there were about 30 of us left fellowshipping on the footpath out the front of our church, and we were the last to leave - 2 hours after the meeting ended. This is SO good, and we all know it's preparation for a new season. Bring it on Lord - we (think we) are ready ;-)
On a practical note, in answer to some comments (thanks for these guys!), the meeting is pretty free in terms of structure - it's all about seeing what the Holy Spirit does through the people. PsG opens the night and shares what God has put on his heart for the prayer needs, and just generally directs the night (favourite line "stick to the theme - if we're praying for the Love In Action team, don't come up and pray for Israel at that moment"). There's no message or specific devotional, just prayer and song. The music and singing moves from very meditative right through to warfare style - usually all within the one song...it's just a matter of flowing in the how the Holy Spirit directs us in that moment, and completely unrehearsable. It's where team unity really comes to the fore - so all that time you spend with your team getting to know them inside out really pays off ! And if you'd like to know a little more about our church in general, click on the link on the left of the page up there for Harbourside (note the correct Australian spelling, btw :-)
Anyway, this post is way too long! The songs which formed the basis of the night...
Lead Me To The Cross (Brooke Fraser/Hillsong) - we opened with this as a preparatory, "get us into the right frame of mind for prayer" song led by my wonderful wife, and followed by a short prayer from...actually, I can't remember who was actually talking, it hardly mattered.
Fire Fall Down (Marty Sampson/Hillsong) - this went for 45 minutes, with several prayers during quieter moments, which usually brought us back to a louder moment, with lots of free/prophetic worship
The Anthem (Henry Seeley/Planetshakers) - this song is SO high. Most men can sing it comfortably down an octave (and I usually go between the 2 as I have a big range), and women can easily sing in the original octave. It's a really well-named song if you don't know it, with just 6 lines. The 11 minute version in the link is about half the length of what 'happened' last night. And happened is the right word - you could not orchestrate this yourself.
Finally, I just want to thank the amazing team I've been blessed to lead. What blows me away is that most of them are still in high-school. God has amazing things in store for these guys!
Don't forget to see what else is on my mind as I share how I'm going with Shaping The Space.
All day I'd been feeling that tonight's meeting was going to be a bit different to last week, and during the day this was confirmed (though not in the way I was expecting) as a lot of worship team members let me know they weren't going to be able to make it for various reasons. No drama, we still had a full team ready to flow.
We got to church to find people enjoying the air conditioning in the cafe (our church building is a 1920s theatre/dance hall), with no-one keen on going into the main hall to experience the heat.
But we did - and to our complete surprise, it was comparatively comfortable in there. That never happens on a hot day. How does God work that kind of thing?? It was hardly cool, but it was bearable.
Not for long though, as tonight's meeting made last week's look like we were sitting around in a silence. One of the most amazing things for me last night was listening to 250 people free-worshipping in tongues. It was one of the sweetest things I've ever experienced. And wow! 250 people to a prayer meeting on a hot night - that's over half the church!
All of which has left me wondering just how much more God has in store for this year that's only just begun.
After 90 minutes of prayer and song, PsG closed the meeting, and no-one left. They didn't even go out to the cool of the air-conditioned cafe. Eventually, there were about 30 of us left fellowshipping on the footpath out the front of our church, and we were the last to leave - 2 hours after the meeting ended. This is SO good, and we all know it's preparation for a new season. Bring it on Lord - we (think we) are ready ;-)
On a practical note, in answer to some comments (thanks for these guys!), the meeting is pretty free in terms of structure - it's all about seeing what the Holy Spirit does through the people. PsG opens the night and shares what God has put on his heart for the prayer needs, and just generally directs the night (favourite line "stick to the theme - if we're praying for the Love In Action team, don't come up and pray for Israel at that moment"). There's no message or specific devotional, just prayer and song. The music and singing moves from very meditative right through to warfare style - usually all within the one song...it's just a matter of flowing in the how the Holy Spirit directs us in that moment, and completely unrehearsable. It's where team unity really comes to the fore - so all that time you spend with your team getting to know them inside out really pays off ! And if you'd like to know a little more about our church in general, click on the link on the left of the page up there for Harbourside (note the correct Australian spelling, btw :-)
Anyway, this post is way too long! The songs which formed the basis of the night...
Lead Me To The Cross (Brooke Fraser/Hillsong) - we opened with this as a preparatory, "get us into the right frame of mind for prayer" song led by my wonderful wife, and followed by a short prayer from...actually, I can't remember who was actually talking, it hardly mattered.
Fire Fall Down (Marty Sampson/Hillsong) - this went for 45 minutes, with several prayers during quieter moments, which usually brought us back to a louder moment, with lots of free/prophetic worship
The Anthem (Henry Seeley/Planetshakers) - this song is SO high. Most men can sing it comfortably down an octave (and I usually go between the 2 as I have a big range), and women can easily sing in the original octave. It's a really well-named song if you don't know it, with just 6 lines. The 11 minute version in the link is about half the length of what 'happened' last night. And happened is the right word - you could not orchestrate this yourself.
Finally, I just want to thank the amazing team I've been blessed to lead. What blows me away is that most of them are still in high-school. God has amazing things in store for these guys!
Don't forget to see what else is on my mind as I share how I'm going with Shaping The Space.
11.1.09
Sun 11 Jan 2009, 10.00am
There has been a lot of prophecy around the world about 2009 being a significant year for all sorts of reasons. For our church, the pastor is believing it's going to be a watershed : a year we all look back on as a major turning point.
And certainly, in this early stage of the year, God is moving in a mighty way - with salvations, healings, conversions, renewal and clarity of vision for many. Equally, others are struggling to keep up as we race into 2009. And with the pastor today announcing an exciting conference we'll be heavily involved with in late May, it's all just adding to the 'significant year' talk.
The music (and whole worship experience) has been reflecting this too. I was on backup today (though I led one song), and I love coming under the leadership of the other worship leaders in the team - for them to minister to me through their leading.
On a practical level, the rehearsal was smooth but rushed - everything a little too fast. I rarely get concerned about this. Focus on God and let Him iron out those things that are truly minor, and He also makes it clear when I need to address something too.
There were several reports from the congregation that today was great musically - good levels, everything clear, harmonies blended well, nothing too overpowering. A good report :-)
Spiritually, we were refreshed, invigorated, set on fire, revived, washed clean, saturated, drenched...ummm - pretty much every way of describing a 'whole' encounter with God. And at one point in the last song (I think during the 10th minute...or thereabouts), a few of us heard thunder when there wasn't any. Question of the day: "Was that the angel armies or God himself ?"
And those songs were:
Tell The World (Hillsong)
Let God Arise (Chris Tomlin)
All For Love (Hillsong)
Shout Unto God (Hillsong)
Now go and check out all the other setlists and reviews on the “Sunday Setlists” blog carnival at FredMcKinnon.com.
and see what else is on my mind as I share how I'm going with Shaping The Space.
Now go and check out all the other setlists and reviews on the “Sunday Setlists” blog carnival at FredMcKinnon.com.
and see what else is on my mind as I share how I'm going with Shaping The Space.
8.1.09
Wed 7 Jan 2009, 7.30pm
During January, every Wednesday our church has special prayer meetings to prepare for the year ahead. Around 80% of the church come to these meetings at least once, and then during the last week of the month they are held every night of the week, with usually 40-60 people.
We open with some praise and worship, and then see how God leads - sometimes it's a night of praise, sometimes it's all prayer. We just never know, and that's what's so good.
This week, we started with You'll Come (Brooke Fraser), and the intro alone had about 3 minutes of free praise before we got into the song. The Holy Spirit totally took over and we ebbed and flowed through Welcome In This Place (Miriam Webster) and Shout Unto God (Marty Sampson, Joel Houston) for around 60 minutes, with pastors and leaders praying during the quieter moments.
It doesn't translate into a blog all that well I don't think, but it was truly awe-inspring.
And we had nearly 100 people there too !
We open with some praise and worship, and then see how God leads - sometimes it's a night of praise, sometimes it's all prayer. We just never know, and that's what's so good.
This week, we started with You'll Come (Brooke Fraser), and the intro alone had about 3 minutes of free praise before we got into the song. The Holy Spirit totally took over and we ebbed and flowed through Welcome In This Place (Miriam Webster) and Shout Unto God (Marty Sampson, Joel Houston) for around 60 minutes, with pastors and leaders praying during the quieter moments.
It doesn't translate into a blog all that well I don't think, but it was truly awe-inspring.
And we had nearly 100 people there too !
5.1.09
Sun 4 Jan 2009, 10.00am
To start this post, note we only have one meeting per week for a 6 week period starting mid-December. This is during our summer holiday season, when many people are travelling, and it allows more time for the Vision Team and other leaders to plan for the year ahead. All our mid-week cell groups and other meetings are also on hiatus during this period.
So, this week at HCLC. How was it? Awesome. I know it's easy to write that, but it was.
The day started as we usually do with the team arriving (basically on time) for pre-service warm up. Summer is always fun for this as I'm never totally sure who will be there (teens often seem to forget to tell me they're going away with their families, etc), but it keeps me on my toes and I love it. Really, I do.
All went smoothly, and then the prayer before service was powerful. All of the leaders tapped into the same word on unity for the year ahead, like we've never experienced before, and we shared in some free-worship during this time too. I love it when that happens in prayer meetings.
The mechanics of the morning all went really well - sound was good (though apparently the sub was a bit low - all the sound-tech teens were very clearly away), the band were in tune with each other, the singers were sensitive to harmony requirements, etc.
The Holy Spirit prompted me to drop to my knees during one song - not something I'd usually do, but obedience is the key for me :-)
After the powerful message on preparing for 2009, almost half the church came forward for prayer, anointing and prophecy for the year ahead. Beautiful
The one downer for me is that my wonderful wife was on day 2 of a stomach bug (now all cleared up) and was at home with a fever and not able to be there. She was rostered on as a singer that morning, and that's always very special to share in worship together from the platform. So I bought a copy of the service from our resource desk so she could share little bit in the time we spent with God at church that morning.
Songs
What The World Will Never Take - Hillsong (Sampson, Crocker, Ligertwood)
I'm Not Ashamed - Hillsong (Dylan, Andrew)
Show Me Your Glory - Harbourside (Murgida)
This Is Our God - Hillsong (Morgan)
As always for us, these just form the basis of our music, and more often than not, during the slower songs we almost always enter into free-worship using 2-4 chords from the song as a starting point, and seeing where God takes it. Note I hesitate to differentiate between praise and worship based on song-speed; it should be about lyrical content, but going into that isn't why this blog exists :-)
Now go and check out all the other setlists and reviews on the “Sunday Setlists” blog carnival at FredMcKinnon.com.
and see what else is on my mind as I share how I'm going with Shaping The Space.
So, this week at HCLC. How was it? Awesome. I know it's easy to write that, but it was.
The day started as we usually do with the team arriving (basically on time) for pre-service warm up. Summer is always fun for this as I'm never totally sure who will be there (teens often seem to forget to tell me they're going away with their families, etc), but it keeps me on my toes and I love it. Really, I do.
All went smoothly, and then the prayer before service was powerful. All of the leaders tapped into the same word on unity for the year ahead, like we've never experienced before, and we shared in some free-worship during this time too. I love it when that happens in prayer meetings.
The mechanics of the morning all went really well - sound was good (though apparently the sub was a bit low - all the sound-tech teens were very clearly away), the band were in tune with each other, the singers were sensitive to harmony requirements, etc.
The Holy Spirit prompted me to drop to my knees during one song - not something I'd usually do, but obedience is the key for me :-)
After the powerful message on preparing for 2009, almost half the church came forward for prayer, anointing and prophecy for the year ahead. Beautiful
The one downer for me is that my wonderful wife was on day 2 of a stomach bug (now all cleared up) and was at home with a fever and not able to be there. She was rostered on as a singer that morning, and that's always very special to share in worship together from the platform. So I bought a copy of the service from our resource desk so she could share little bit in the time we spent with God at church that morning.
Songs
What The World Will Never Take - Hillsong (Sampson, Crocker, Ligertwood)
I'm Not Ashamed - Hillsong (Dylan, Andrew)
Show Me Your Glory - Harbourside (Murgida)
This Is Our God - Hillsong (Morgan)
As always for us, these just form the basis of our music, and more often than not, during the slower songs we almost always enter into free-worship using 2-4 chords from the song as a starting point, and seeing where God takes it. Note I hesitate to differentiate between praise and worship based on song-speed; it should be about lyrical content, but going into that isn't why this blog exists :-)
Now go and check out all the other setlists and reviews on the “Sunday Setlists” blog carnival at FredMcKinnon.com.
and see what else is on my mind as I share how I'm going with Shaping The Space.
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