mikeymo's place

Wow!   What an amazing, blessed and anointed weekend at Gospel Light Community Church.  I should probably start on Friday, but this is a "Sunday" recap, so we'll start there.  It was a beautiful, sunny, 70-degree day in Connecticut, perfect for all the Easter color and joy.  Here's the set:

Opening:

Christ is Risen (Maher/Fields)(Gb)

Main Set:

Happy Day/Freedom (Hughes/Cantelon/Bushard)(C)
Mighty to Save/Shout Unto God (Morgan/Fielding/Houston/Sampson)(A)
Moving Forward (Houghton/Sanchez)(E)

Offering:

God's Not Dead/Can You Believe/Look What the Lord Has Done (Traditional/Miranda/Hanby)(G)


"Christ is Risen" was a natural for the day.  We've never done it before, and it's not typical of what we usually play, but I love the song, and it fits the day perfectly.  All in all, it came out pretty good, and people were singing along to it pretty well.   We had people literally dancing in the aisles during the opening medley.  For "Shout Unto God," we just used the chorus and bridge to tag "Mighty to Save."   The final song, "Moving Forward," turned into a spontaneous altar call.

We got all "tent revival" during the offering, which lasted awhile, and again had people dancing in the aisles.  We had music from our choir, Send Judah First, and a "cardboard testimony" type presentation from our kids.

The joy, the color, the celebration were in stark contrast to our Good Friday service.  This year we tried something different, and got a lot of positive feedback.  We wanted to make the service very immersive and serious, and counterpoint it with the joyous celebration on Sunday.   We kept the room dark, lit only by candles and some spotlights, focused on the Cross, which was the only thing on the altar.  The worship band was off the platform to the side, in the dark, so the Cross was the only object of attention.  The songs we sang were mostly unfamiliar to the congregation, but we did not put up any lyrics, instead forcing them to listen to what was being sung.  It came out amazing.

The set:

O The Blood (Miller/Miller)(G)
Jesus' Blood (Smith)(G)
Here I Am to Worship (Hughes)(G)
Drama - "The Birdcage"
One Single Drop of Blood (Beach)(Am)

The first and last are songs off the Gateway Worship album God Be Praised. Laura did a wonderful job with "O the blood," and I accompanied Daniel for "One Single Drop of Blood" which is a seriously killer song. We also had a great little skit called "The Birdcage" that demonstrated how Jesus sees us, and desires all of us to live.

 Here are some images from our Good Friday service, and from today's celebration.

Other Easter recaps are at The Worship Community.

Wow, what I great day and a great service!   I love Palm Sunday, and this year was no exception.  On with the Setlist!

Opening:

Hosanna (Praise is Rising) (Baloche/Brown)(G)

Main Set:

Again I Say Rejoice (Houghton/Lindsey)(E)
Hosanna (Fraser)(E)
Majesty (Garrard/Smith)(C)
You Are My King (Amazing Love)(Foote)(C)

Offering:

He Reigns (Furler/Taylor)(C)

Invitation:

Hosanna (Be Lifted Higher)(Houghton/Sidney) - recording 


Yes!  We hit the Hosanna Trifecta - sort of.  We were planning on playing the invitation song live, but with all the new music we are doing for this week through Easter, something had to give, and this was the toughest one.  It transposes through about four key changes, from G to Bb...   not very guitar-friendly, so I didn't mind too much.

"Praise is Rising" and "Majesty" were both new tunes for GLCC, but they worked really well, especially Majesty.  The girls did an amazing job harmonizing in the chorus, really making a great counterpoint to the quiet verses.

Daniel gave a message out of Matthew 21, which culminated with a call for all the young adults to come up, and all the older leaders to pray over them.  It was really a poignant and powerful moment of anointing and joining with "a new generation."  

I can't wait for Good Friday....

Check out other recaps at The Worship Community.

After the crazy busy-ness of last weekend, it was nice to just come in on Sunday, enjoy the service, and relax.  Today was really nice (and a beautiful New England Spring day as well)

Here's the set, pasted right out of Planning Center:  (lazy, I know) 

• 		Blessed Assurance [D] (Crosby/Knapp)

• Blessed Be Your Name [C] (Redman/Redman)

• 		Beautiful One [D] (Hughes)

• 		Open The Eyes Of My Heart [E] (Baloche)

• 		How Great Is Our God [E] (Tomlin/Reeves/Cash)

• Trading My Sorrows [G] (Evans)

Things went pretty smoothly at service.  Everything sounded great in my in-ear monitors, which was confirmed by Izzy (our sound-meister) when I got off the platform.   We also wound up tagging "How Great..." with "To Worship You I Live" by Israel Houghton - it just seemed to flow.