Unity, Fellowship (an antidote to our diversity?)

Unity Song
Words and Music by Geoff Twigg©Marks of Christ


Sin had enslaved us, the punishment was made for us
The price of rebellion and shame
Your mercy saved us; the debt we owed was paid for us
We’re guilty but You took the blame.

Our demonstration, the way to live displayed for us
Becoming like You is our aim
Your Holy Nation, we know that You have prayed for us,
That we would be one in Your name


Bridge
Kneeling together at the foot of the cross
We rise forgiven, by Your grace!
Feeding the hungry, Reaching out to the lost,
Lifting our voices in praise!


Chorus
One Lord, One Church – we unite by Your Spirit!
One heart, one voice - we delight in Your love!
One hope, one faith, You invite us to celebrate You
“Come be the Bride of the Lamb, The Holy One!”


Now we’re invited to build a new community
Your Spirit has brought us new birth
And we’re excited to demonstrate in unity
The Kingdom of God on the earth

Repeat Bridge, Chorus

Conscious Dependence on the Holy Spirit

This song is actually based on the Temptations in the Wilderness...

I need You
Geoff Twigg
©Marks of Christ

Deep in the wilderness I cry aloud - I need You, need You
My heart is humbled and my knees are bowed
I need You, need You
More than the good things You provide each day
My life’s sustained by every word You say
Lord I depend on You in every way
I need You, need You, need You.


Teach me, dear Lord that I am not my own
I need You, need You
No other King can ever take Your throne
I need You, need You
Your Kingdom come, O Lord I daily pray
Your Will be done – I promise to obey
I’m gonna follow Jesus, come what may
I need You, need You, need You.


No other beauty will distract my gaze
I need You, need You
No other love will ever gain my praise
I need You, need You
No other purpose makes my life worthwhile
No other calling than to be Your child
No other pleasure than to see Your smile
I need You, need You, need You.

The Whole Mission of the Church

Mission Song
Words & Music by Geoff Twigg
©Marks of Christ

Verse 1:
This is a holy place
The Lord is very near
Turning to seek His face
We sense His presence here
The Father's grace has
Made us worthy to come
Our sins forgiven
By the death of His Son

Verse 2:
This is a listening hour
And all our hearts are stirred
Who, by the Spirit's power
Hear and obey His word
High in the darkness
Like a tower on a hill
His light will guide us as
We walk in His will

Verse 3:
All who are suffering
There is a welcome here
Healing our Lord can bring
Comfort that dries each tear!
We serve the Savior
By whose love we are known
In grateful service for
The mercy He's shown

Verse 4:
We seek to follow Him
Lead others in His way
To turn away from sin
Grow more like Christ each day
Exalting Jesus our example and Lord
Friends and disciples in the
Light of His word

Verse 5:
Once more, from Heaven's throne
We hear our Lord's command!
Go, make the gospel known
Preach Christ in every land!
His voice is calling!
How on earth will they know?
God's love is burning
In our hearts as we go...

Chorus:
To obey the great commandments
To fulfill the great Commission
And to do it all to the glory of God!
To become more like the Savior
Worship Him and love our neighbor
And to do it all to the glory of God!

response song from ECC Minister's Retreat

I was asked to make these lyrics available... Doug Wysockey-Johnson's teaching stimulated some good thoughts about our 'Call' to ministry in Christ, and I wrote this lyric to help us respond. It goes to the tune 'Finlandia' written by Jean Sibelius and found in most hymnbooks.

I heard Your call and stepped out in obedience
Now looking back on easy times and hard
I find “the past must come to serve the future”,
Your grace and truth my compass and my chart;
And I’m resolved to turn as You direct me,
Or stay the course if You will guard my heart.

I’ll cast the seed in every situation.
(“The field is tilled and must be left to grace”)
I’ll go aside to pray and seek Your Sabbath;
Walk to Your pulse, and not the world’s harsh pace,
And I’m resolved to turn as You direct me
Or stay the course and please You in the race.

My Savior’s call! Renewed with each new morning;
I pledge to answer, go where I am shown;
As He, the Maker calls, Who truly knows me
I’ll use His gifts, tho’ called to ways unknown.
Lord, I’m resolved to turn as You direct me
Or stay the course if You will lead me home.

(c)November 2009 marksofchrist

worship - what it means and why we blend it...

Everyone can tell what you like, enjoy or treasure by your priorities.

In 1967, Desmond Morris published a book called 'The Naked Ape' in which he described "Body language" – what your pose and actions (subconsciously) tells onlookers about your attitude.

The way you live, behave and devote your time etc. shows where your priorities lie; or, as Jesus put it "where your treasure is, there your heart will be also" (Matt 6.21)

That's what the Anglo-Saxon word “weorthscipe” means – how we display worth - the values and value judgments that form our life's patterns. It's the root word from which we get our word 'worship'.

So, in that sense, worship is the priorities and values indicated by the way you live.

Everyone can tell what you like, enjoy or treasure by your priorities.

A good “Service of Worship” should help re-organize the priorities of our life, make them line-up with the kingdom of God.

Do you remember the PBS program called "The Antiques Roadshow"? In which people take an item from the attic or basement, expose it to expert scrutiny & analysis, and from those expert comments they discover more about the object and how precious it is. It's something like that with an Act of Worship – we take our faith, dust it off, examine and celebrate it together and begin to appreciate who God is and what He has done – in a new light. Through worship we begin to see ourselves as we really are – sinners saved by God's grace – or better still we see ourselves as God sees us – loved but lost, unworthy but welcome.

However, when we take our focus off Christ, we quickly forget what's central to our faith or get distracted from our life resolutions – and all this, too, is obvious to people around us.

Pastor Rick Warren's book, 'The Purpose Driven Life' begins with the sentence: “It's not about you.” That highlights one of the problems we face when discussing our worship services. Each of us loves to sing songs or hymns, pray prayers and say creeds that express our faith. But asking questions about what you like or enjoy is not the point; in fact, that only serves to make us think about ourselves, and most of us don't need help to be self-centered.

what you like or enjoy is not the point

Really the question should be what do your children, your parents, your neighbor find helpful in expressing themselves to God? How can we, as a church family, celebrate our faith and commune with God in a way that works for all of us?

If we see that this old hymn reminds Grandma of a meaningful time in her life - or this contemporary worship song really speaks to our teenager, it's going to be easier to celebrate together. If these words help me to express my faith, or explain the Gospel to my friends, then my family know it's important to me, and they'll be happy to say or sing them with me.

So, when we design a service of blended worship, we're doing just what the hymn "All Hail the power of Jesus' Name" says, we're "joining in the everlasting song". Words that were inspired by the Holy Spirit three or four thousand years ago are blended with words that were written three days ago; all included because - as an extended family - we can express our faith and respond to God together.

centrifugal forces

Here I am at the Covenant AGM in Portland, OR. Seems to me we're celebrating, rightly, each of our Affirmations at subsequent Annual Meetings, Midwinters etc. That's a good thing. Because each of the strategies I hear about ethnicity, evangelism, demographic targeting and so on - each would seem to pull us out from the center of our common focus, that is Christ.

pull us out from the center of our common focus

so I suggest we stimulate and generate
a) songs and hymns that focus on each of the Affirmations
b) opportunities for this material to be distributed and made available to other churches
c) education about the basic theological positions of the Affirmations, so that we can create vocabulary (i.e. "what do we mean by New Birth?")
d) reasonable standards of theology, musical composition, form and structure so that we hold ourselves accountable to inherited standards of integrity

and let's do it with all the enthusiasm and joy we can muster to move our denomination forward in a vital area of popular theology!

a fun time in York PA

One of the things I'm really enjoying about the Covenant is the 'collegiality' of my fellow enthusiasts for Christ. Last week gave me more shining examples; people who are - well, just lovely individuals, trying to follow the savior, recognizing their own weakness and finding His strength.
Each (in their own way) trying to make the most of the talents we've been given, seeking to encourage one another and give all the credit to God. These are the ones I enjoy meeting; we derive great joy in collaboration and wish we could work and play together a little more often...
but then it's back to the several places God has put us. I remember seeing my children (years ago, now) worn out after playing with cousins or other friends from afar; wishing these people were around more, but exhausted from having so much fun. That's me right now - and to those who were involved in the AGM experience last week: Thanks. It was really a fun time!
We may be discovering more about why God invented church...