"...the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead?He is not here, but has risen." (Luke 24:5-6)
We must always be very careful where we are seeking Jesus:
among the dead or the living. Seeking Jesus among the dead means to relegate
Him and His words to the ancient wisdom of a historical figure, beneficial but
optional and largely irrelevant to the issues of modern living.
Seeking a
living Jesus is an altogether different prospect -- one which acknowledges His
mastery over death, His power over life, and His absolute authority over
everything. A dead Jesus can be admired, quoted, and then easily cast aside,
like an accessory to be worn when it matches your outfit that
day. But a living Jesus is a Lord and King and demands our absolute devotion.
Which one we seek at any given moment says far more about us than about Him.
Here are the songs we will sing together as a community of Christ-followers celebrating a living Jesus:
Good Friday, April 14th - 7:00 PM
1. Great Are You, Lord by All Sons & Daughters
2. Lamb of God by Vertical Church Band
3. Garden by needtobreathe
4. At the Cross (Love Ran Red) by Chris Tomlin
5. Scandal of Grace by Hillsong United
Easter Sunday, April 16th - 8:45 & 10:30 AM
1. God is Able by Hillsong Live
2. O Praise the Name (Anastasis) by Hillsong Worship
3. Great Are You, Lord by All Sons & Daughters
4. No Longer Slaves by Bethel Music
For more information about the worship arts ministry of Church at the Ridge, contact Pastor Jerry Davison at jerryd@churchattheridge.com.
and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. (Amos 5:23-24)
There
is a kind of worship that God hates. Regardless of the style of music,
regardless of the presentation or production, regardless of the
excellence of its execution... He will not listen. You can have the the
most reverent traditional services with suits and ties, organists,
choirs, and sing only hymns, only from actual hymnals. You can have the
most exciting, professional sound and lighting designed to engage the
audience. You can sing all the best new contemporary worship songs with
the best musicians and singers available, and everyone in the building
can be singing along enthusiastically at the top of their voices with
all the sincerity they can muster. He will not listen or regard it....
IF your heart is not right before Him.
When
we get caught up in the trappings of worship -- no matter which side of
the debate you find yourself on -- and disregard the things that are
important to the heart of God, then we would be better unplugging the
amps and putting away the hymnals. Burn the drums AND the choir robes.
God is not interested in what style of worship you prefer; He is
interested in what kind of person you have become at the heart level.
I
often wonder what the underground church in China would think about our
hang-ups about worship styles, about sound systems, and whether the
lighting is right. I wonder if the persecuted believers in Sudan, Iraq,
Iran, or Syria would shake their heads in disbelief at the time and
energy we waste arguing about the form our worship takes rather than
serving the God we are supposed to be worshiping no matter the style of expression!
Here
are the songs we will be singing together in our gathering this week.
Listen to the lyrics and the truths expressed in each song, even if you
don't like the music. Ask God to give you a heart of worship that
transcends the material and taps into the eternal. You'd be amazed at
what might happen if we came together around a common confession of
faith and ignored the differences of opinion.
3. Psalm 27 (The Lord is My Light) by the RidgeWorship Band (Psalm 27)
This is an original song from our worship team and has no available lyric video or recording as of yet. But here are the lyrics so you can be familiar with them...
"Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom He has redeemed from
trouble and gathered in from the lands, from the east and from the west,
from the north and from the south." (Psalm 107:2-3)
One
of the ways "the redeemed of the Lord say so" is by proclaiming His
praise in song. When we gather together in corporate worship and sing
His praise loudly and enthusiastically, those whom the Lord has redeemed
are saying so -- no, singing so! Come join the redeemed in singing so this Sunday at The Ridge!
Here are the songs we will be "singing so" this week....
1. My Lighthouse by Rend Collective
2. Mt. Zion by Cageless Birds (featuring Jonathan David Helser) (Heb. 12:22-24)
"Praise the LORD! I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole
heart, in the company of the upright, in the congregation." (Psalm
111:1)
Have you ever heard someone say, "I don't
need to go to church to worship God; I can worship God just as well by
myself at home"? There's a Greek word for that: hogwash! Not only
is corporate worship commanded over and over in scripture, it is part
of the design of our hearts. We long to belong to a community, a family.
We are relational creatures by nature because we bear the image of our
relational God. He has existed for all eternity as Three-In-One, the
Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, all living in perfect, loving
communion with each other. It's in our DNA! You cannot worship
as well alone as you can "in the company of the upright, in the
congregation," regardless of what you may think or feel. Won't you join us this Sunday for worship as we gather to "give thanks to the Lord with our whole hearts"?
Here
are the songs we will be singing together in our gathering this week:
Let
the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one
another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs,
with thankfulness in your hearts to God. (Colossians 3:16) Music is a big part of the life of a church. And it as meant to be done together -- to
the glory of God and for the building up of the Body. Songs not only
express worship to God, but they "teach and admonish" (that means "to
warn") each other. And where does it originate? "With thankfulness in
your hearts to God"! As
you begin to prepare yourself and your family to gather with the saints
at The Ridge this Sunday, remind yourself of all you have to be
thankful for. Let your mind dwell on the goodness of God, even if your
circumstances are not ideal. We have a sign that hangs over the entrance
to our family room in our house that says, "There is ALWAYS something
to be thankful for." Let that gratitude stir your hearts to greater
affection for Jesus and bring that "thanks-full" heart to church with
you Sunday and let it explode with joyful adoration to our great God
and Savior! Here is the soundtrack to your thankfulness this week...
“Yet even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; and rend your hearts and not your garments.” Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and he relents over disaster. Who knows whether he will not turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind him, a grain offering and a drink offering for the Lord your God? (Joel 2:12-14)
The
Israelites in Joel's day were experiencing the judgment of God because
they had forsaken His ways and disregarded His Word. They loved their
comfort more than His presence. So He gave them exactly what they wanted
-- and they were suffering for it. God gave them over to their enemies
and allowed their land and crops and vineyards and cities to be trampled
and destroyed. They could not even bring grain and drink offerings for
proper worship as the Lord prescribed because they had nothing left to
bring. "Yet even now.." God invited them back into His presence;
even though they had completely abandoned Him, He was ready to restore
them if they returned and repented.
God
is calling us to return to Him, Ridgers. He is calling us out of
complacency and comfort, out of rebellion and idol worship, back into
His presence. He wants to restore a heart of worship to Church at The
Ridge. This week as we sing together, we are calling out to Him to
restore us to repentance and for a fresh outpouring of His Holy Spirit.
God is on the move and up to something big at The Ridge! Are you ready
to meet with Him this week?
Here
are the songs we will sing together Sunday morning. Please take the
time to listen, learn, and pray as you sing them in your own worship
time, alone and with your family. Read the scriptures attached to each
song. Ask God to move in your own heart, then ask Him to move on the
hearts of our church this weekend.
"Let them praise his name with dancing, making melody to him with tambourine and lyre!" (Psalm 149:3)
Do
you value gathering for corporate praise and worship? Do you value the
community and the unity that comes from singing praises to God with
other believers? Now, here's the tough question... are you ready?
Do
you value live praise and worship music played skillfully by musicians
and singers who love the Lord and have consecrated their gifts, talents,
and instruments to Him? And do you value joyful, exuberant,
enthusiastic worship, even if it's loud (tambourines and lyres are
really just drums and guitars) and people might actually (gulp) dance?!
Apparently,
God does or He would not have expressed it in scripture in the form of a
command. The challenge for the modern believer in a culture that
elevates its own comfort and preferences over the glory of God is to set
aside what we think and expect and instead embrace what scripture says
about how we worship. At The Ridge we value vertical worship. Vertical
as opposed to horizontal. Vertical, meaning that our only concern is
praising God in direct proportion to His greatness. Scripture says, "Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable."
(Psalm 145:3) That looks like a lot of different things to a lot of
different people. So don't look at people. Look at the Lord. Let your
sole focus be on His greatness, and let nothing else distract you from
that focus.
Here are the songs we will be singing together in our worship gathering this week:
