"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!
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 adotration to our great God and Savior! Here is the soundtrack to your thankfulness this week...
NOTE: We do not yet have an official recording or lyric video for this original worship song. The video above is from a recent worship gathering. We hope to have a better recording in the near future. Thanks for your patience!
I was glad when they said to me, "Let us go to the house of the Lord!" (Psalm 122:1) I've said it many times before, and I will say it again now: Corporate worship with my church family is the highlight of my week! There is something about gathering with your fellow believers and just going for it -- singing to the top of your lungs with total abandon to our glorious Savior. I don't care how spiritual you think you are, you need corporate worship in your life if you are a Christ-follower. There are no Lone Rangers in the Kingdom of God. Here are the songs we will be singing together in worship this week, Ridgers. Begin right now preparing your heart to be in the presence of Almighty God with your fellow saints, unashamedly adoring Him in all out, joyful praise. See y'all Sunday!
"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. And don;t wait for Sunday to start. Begin now, yielding your heart to unashamed, unbridled adoration for our Savior. Here are the songs we will be singing together in our gathering this week. TOGETHER. 1. Your Grace is Enoughby Chris Tomlin. (2 Corinthians 12:9)
This Sunday is very exciting, historic occasion in the history of Church at the Ridge -- Grand Opening! All week long we have been canvassing our community, prayer-walking neighborhoods, and hanging door hangers with invites to our church. We are excited to see what God will do this Sunday!
As you prepare yourself and your family for our worship time, here are the songs we will be singing together in our gathering this Sunday....
No video or recording of this song yet exists. We hope to have a recording available later this year.
As an extra added bonus this week, we will be holding a special dedication service Sunday afternoon to celebrate what God has done and consecrate it to Him. Here are the songs we will be singing at this dedication gathering...
