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, ESV) What does it mean for the word of Christ to dwell in us "richly"? To be "rich" in anything -- money, possessions, friendships, happiness -- means to have a lot of it! It's interesting that Paul recommends music as his preferred way of getting Christ's words to stay inside us richly. In his book Desiring the Kingdom, author James K.A. Smith writes, "Music gets 'in' us in ways that other forms of discourse rarely do... Song soaks into the core of our very being... If being a participating member of a society is reflected by one's ability to speak the language, then one could say that song is one of the primary ways that we learn to speak the language of the kingdom." There is something very important and powerful that happens when God's people gather together to sing their praise in worship of Him corporately. It is core to our identity as Christ followers. Won;t you join us this week in getting Christ's word into us richly? Here are the songs we will sing together in corporate praise and worship this Sunday...
1. Glorious Day by Passion (featuring Kristian Stanfill)
2. Yes and Amen by Housefires
3. Always by Passion (featuring Kristian Stanfill)
"[Jesus] entered again into a synagogue; and a man was there whose hand was withered. They were watching Him to see if He would heal him... He said to the man with the withered hand, 'Get up and come forward!'... He said to the man, 'Stretch out your hand.' And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored." (Mark 3:1-5, NASB)
Withered. What a compelling image that word conjures! Shriveled. Diminished. Weak. No longer able to be what it once was, or do what it was created to do. All around us in our gathering every Sunday are people who are withered. Withered lives, withered hope, withered souls, withered marriages, withered homes, withered futures. They sit all around us, blending in, not wishing to draw attention to themselves or to their withered-ness. Many have given up hope and have settled for a withered, shriveled, diminished existence.
Isn't it interesting that the Pharisees knew that Jesus would heal the man? They knew He couldn't resist it! That's just who Jesus is! Yet instead of watching to see if Jesus would bring renewed hope, healing, and restoration so they could glorify God and celebrate with the man, scripture says they watched "so that they might accuse Him." While the Pharisees merely watched passively as the man sat with his withered hand, week after week, Sabbath after Sabbath, Jesus actively did something to bring healing. He did what was in His power to do to bring restoration of what had been withered. Watch Jesus as He calls the man forward. First, He requires the man to own the withered nature of his existence. "Come forward!" Never mind the onlookers who whisper and frown and crane their necks to see what you have tried to keep hidden, ashamed of how it looks compared to everyone else around you. But the man obeys the call of Christ to come. Jesus tell him to "stretch out your hand;" Offer to Me what has been withered by sin and brokenness. This will completely expose the man in front of all who are watching so intently, calling attention to the very thing he would rather keep hidden. But in the very act of obeying Jesus' command, something amazing happens: "his hand was restored." Restoration. The opposite of withered. Jesus is the same today in our gathering as He was all those years ago in that synagogue. People had gathered for worship. Christ was in their midst. He called to the withered soul and offered restoration. Some watched looking to criticize, but that didn't stop the man from obeying His call to offer what sin has withered to Him to be restored. Ridgers, Jesus wants to restore what has withered this Sunday! Will you come? Will you hear His call? Will you obey His command? Will you let Him heal you? Or will you play the part of Pharisee, sitting back, disengaged, critical and suspicious of the work that Jesus is doing in our midst? Here's the crazy part: He lets you choose! Here are the songs we will sing together in our gathering as we present our withered selves to Jesus to be restored by His touch:
1. Open Up the Heavens by Vertical Church Band
2. Glorious Day by Passion (featuring Kristian Stanfill)
"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)
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:
From my soul, I will join the songs of thanksgiving; I will sing and proclaim Your wonder and mystery. Your house, home to Your glory, O Eternal One, radiates its light. I am fixed on this place and long to be nowhere else. (Psalm 26:7-8, The Voice)
Last Sunday, we began our worship time together by singing these words: "There's no place I would rather be, than here in Your love." Is that true? Can we sing them with integrity before the Lord? Can we honestly sing with complete abandon, "God, there is nowhere else I would rather be than right here, gathered with Your people, in Your presence, praising You and singing to You"?
If not, why not? Part of preparing to be in the presence of God is examining ourselves -- checking our heart to see if there are competing desires that displace God as the object of its devotion. That's why at the beginning of Psalm 26, David invites God to look into his heart:
"Put me on trial and examine me, O Eternal One! Search me through and through -- from my deepest longings to every thought that crosses my mind." (Psalm 26:2, The Voice)
If we cannot enter into worship in our gatherings on Sunday, it may be because we have not entered into worship throughout the week. David recognized that where he went, what he did while he was there, and who he did it with could expose his heart to competing desires:
"My life is not wasted among liars; my days are not spent among cheaters. I despise every crowd intent on evil; I do not commune with the wicked." (Psalm 26:4-5, The Voice)
We can't expect our hearts to be positioned for worship on Sunday if the rest of the week we have chosen to allow people who have no regard for God to be the chief influences in our lives through books, TV programs, movies, video games, popular music, talk radio, or just relationships at work or home or in the classroom.
As you prepare yourself and your family for time in God's presence among His people this Sunday, ask yourself: "What am I doing with my time? What effect is it having on my heart and mind? Who am I allowing to influence the way I think and live, and what I desire in my heart ?" Make space to allow the Holy Spirit and the Word of God to be the primary -- better yet, the exclusive! -- influences of your heart and mind this week. Then, when you gather for worship with your church family, you will find yourself able to sing with all integrity, "There truly is no place I would rather be!"
Here are the songs we will be singing together in our worship gathering this Sunday...
"And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. God saw the people of Israel—and God knew." Exodus 2:24-25
God heard... God saw... God knew... and God remembered His promise. Such wonderful words of encouragement! God has not forgotten, forsaken, abandoned, or betrayed us -- no matter what it seems like from our earthly vantage point. We are in the middle of a Great Story. It's a love story to be sure, but it is set in the midst of a terrible and ferocious battle for the hearts and souls of people. The Author of this Story has already established its ending from the beginning. The ending He has panned is so beautiful and so breathtaking that it should not be considered an ending at all, but rather, a beginning of an even greater Story which, as C. S. Lewis writes, "no one on earth has read: which goes on for ever: in which every chapter is better than the one before." (The Last Battle)
As we gather for worship this Sunday, remember that the Story isn't finished yet. Don't give up! There is a glorious future awaiting us, but it is not yet. To give up now is like closing a book in the middle and complaining that the plot hasn't resolved. Trust the Author and Finisher of our faith!
Here are the songs we are singing together at The Ridge this week:
And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. And the angel said to them, "Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger." And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,
"Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!" (Luke 2:8-14)
It is especially interesting to me that the very first thing the angels did to herald the coming of the Christ was to sing. What is your response this Christmas to the announcement that the Lord is come? Gather with us this Saturday evening at 6:30 PM to sing His praise. Here are the songs we will sing together to celebrate the birth of Jesus:
1. Hark, the Herald Angels Sing by Jeremy Camp
2. Joy to the World (You Are My Joy) by Rend Collective
3. O Come, All Ye Faithful by Big Daddy Weave
4. All is Well by Northpoint Worship
5. Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus by Red Mountain Church
One of the Advent stories I love most is the story of Simeon in the Gospel of Matthew. We don;t hear about this one much around Christmas but it's a beautiful story of a faithful man who believed the promise that God would deliver Israel in his lifetime. God had promised Simeon that he would see the Savior with his own eyes before he died, and Simeon had been waiting a long time to see that promise fulfilled. Little did he know, that day when he walked into the temple to worship like so many days before, that his wait would finally come to an end...
And
he came in the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in
the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the Law, he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said,
"Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace,
according to your word;
for my eyes have seen your salvation
that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples,
a light for revelation to the Gentiles,
and for glory to your people Israel." (Matthew 9:27-32)
As we celebrate the Advent season together as a church, rest in the peace that comes from knowing we worship a faithful God who keeps His promises, even if it means waiting a lifetime to see it. And if He kept His promise to come the first time, we can know with all certainty that He will come again and make all things new in His Kingdom!
Here are the songs we will sing in worship to our faithful God this week:
Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name!
For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations. (Psalm 100:4-5)
We have more reason to be thankful than any other people alive! As we gather this Sunday to sing our praises to our faithful God, let the full weight of His goodness and mercy fuel your worship and allow gratitude to well up inside you to the point of overflowing in exuberant praise!
Here are the songs we will sing together this Sunday in our corporate worship gathering...
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.
"Though
you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you
believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled
with glory..." (1 Peter 1:8) I came across this verse reading through Peter's first letter to Jewish believers scattered in the Dispersion in the early days of the church. Like modern believers, many of them never saw Jesus in person, and would not see Him until He returns at the end of the age. In spite of that, and in spite of the difficulties and persecution they endured for this Jesus they had never seen yet believed in and loved more dearly than their own lives, they had "joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory"! Think about those words describing their joy: inexpressible (too great and deep and rich to ever be adequately summed up in any language a human could utter) and filled with glory (overflowing with the greatness of who God is and His manifest presence in their lives). Wow! Does that describe our joy? Is that the kind of worship we bring to our gathering on Sunday morning? It can be... if we take the time today to set aside a moment to drop everything and just worship Him! Here are some songs we will sing together in our gathering Sunday. Begin praising Him now with these songs of adoration and praise...
“You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, and praise the name of the Lord your God, who has dealt wondrously with you. And my people shall never again be put to shame. You shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the Lord your God and there is none else.And my people shall never again be put to shame." -- Joel 2:26-27 (ESV)
The Lord's presence is all we ever need to satisfy every desire. Think about that. Everything you have ever sent your heart after in its search for life and happiness and peace -- it's all found in Jesus! As you listen to the worship music for this week and read the attending scriptures, will you meditate on that truth? Will you allow your heart to settle on Christ and be satisfied by Him? Will you stop your restless quest for love in the things this world offers and "know that He is the Lord your God and there is none else"? Here are the songs we will be singing together this week in our gathering at The Ridge:
Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; I and the boywill go over there and worship and come again to you.” (Genesis 22:5) In the story of Abraham sacrificing Isaac, there is an overlooked element that modern worshipers would do well to notice: Abraham's faith. When Abraham tells his servants, "We are going to worship," he doesn't mean he and Isaac are going to sing a few songs, hear a nice sermonette about how to be the best Abraham he could be, and then go home and watch football and fall asleep on the couch. All true worship involves sacrifice, a laying down of something we value greatly, a death towards anything that competes with total devotion to God in the affections of our hearts. Because God knows something about us most of us don't even realize: we are what we love most. Abraham was worshiping God by proclaiming there was nothing he loved more, no greater affection or devotion, than YHWH.
What our hearts chases after most passionately defines us more than any other single aspect of our being. There is no room in the presence of God for any lesser loves, even family. Yet many of us come casually into the presence of the Most High, dragging along a suitcase full of idols that have captured our hearts. Oh, we want Jesus, but not at the expense of all these other gods. Some of us just want Him to validate and bless all the other lovers we have given our hearts to. But some of us come ready to worship, ready to put to death anything that threatens to steal our devotion from God, dead to any lesser loves. Which worshiper will you be this Sunday? Here are the songs we will be singing together in praise to our great God and King...
"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....
"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 just 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. The lyric videos have been linked so you can learn the words. Scripture links have been provided so you can know the truths from the Word that are in the songs. And links have been provided for you to purchase the songs if you wish to add them to your personal music library. Don't wait for Sunday morning to begin praising our Savior; start right now!
***PLEASE NOTE: There is a controversial line on the lyrics of this song that has been removed and replaced in the version we will sing in our worship gathering. While we agree with the composers' intent in the lyric, we feel it could possibly offend and be a distraction in our gathering so we have replaced that one line with one that is expresses a similar truth in a less potentially offensive manner.
“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.
And don't forget to invite your Friends And Neighbors to F.A.N. Day!
