Message Series: “Unplug: Part IV”

Song / Version / Key / Leader
“Only Your Love” – Kari Jobe – Key of E – Female 1 Lead
“Cornerstone” – Hillsong – Key of C – Male 1 Lead
“Always” – Kristian Stanfill – Key of D – Female 2 Lead
“Oceans (Where Feet May Fail)” – Hillsong – Key of D – Female 1 Lead
“My Heart Is Yours” – Kristian Stanfill – Key of A – Male 1 Lead (Communion)

To wrap up our last week of the 21 Days of Prayer & Fasting series and to kick-off the beginning of the Easter season, we introduced “Only Your Love” to our church. The lyrics of this song in particular are a powerful depiction of God’s love for us through Christ and paired with a driving melody, it is the perfect combination for a good theologically sound opener.

Continuing the theme of Christ (transitioning out of E into the key of C via MainStage Pads) and because we were introducing a new song, we followed with the familiar “Cornerstone,” written on the foundational hymn lyrics of “The Solid Rock.” We then made our last key transition to D for another familiar song, “Always.” I really like to stack the set with more familiar tunes when we are introducing a new song. It keeps the congregation engaged and participating. Plus, the declaration nature of the chorus and the repetitive nature of the bridge make it even more singable, while the themes of trials, faith, and trust make it relatable.

We concluded the set with one of our staple reflective yet spiritually challenging songs, “Oceans (Where Feel May Fail).” The bridge is a challenging prayer of God calling us to deeper waters that require our faith to be solely placed in Him. At the conclusion of this song, we rest and took a time for prayer. Following the sermon, we ended with a time of communion as our response to the call to faith and trust. For response, we returned to the song “My Heart Is Yours” from the previous week’s set, which emphasized gratitude for Christ’s sacrifice and in turn we then surrender our lives to Him.

Message Series: “Unplug: Part III”

Song / Version / Key / Leader
“You Are Good” – Bethel – Key of F – Female 1 Lead
“Beneath the Waters (I Will Rise)” – Hillsong – Key of A – Female 1 Lead
“My Heart Is Yours” – Kristian Stanfill – Key of A – Male 1 Lead
“Broken Vessels (Amazing Grace)” – Hillsong – Key of G – Female 2 Lead

Because we were doing two fairly newer songs, we opened with a very familiar song, “You Are Good.” It’s a simple praise song in lyric and melody that makes it easier to get the church participating & engaging in worship. We transitioned via pad after the trashcan ending while Pastor Devin was welcoming everyone.

During this moment, we began playing the intro of “Beneath the Waters (I Will Rise),” which was the main song we had chosen for the theme of Baptism. The Ligertwood’s out of Hillsong Church wrote this song specifically for their Baptism services. So, you really can’t get a better depiction lyric wise of the story of Baptism, which makes it a great choice. Also, the chorus melody is really singable for easy participation. (We came back to this song for our response time concluding the sermon while the Baptismal candidates were getting changed and ready.)

Ending with a down chorus, we remained in the key of A for a recently introduced song, “My Heart Is Yours.” Again, a great choice for the theme of Baptism on the idea of surrendering your life and the declaration of Jesus as Lord. This song’s bridge are lyrics from the hymn “I Surrender All,” which gives it automatic familiarity.

Following “My Heart Is Yours,” we transitioned to the key of G via pad for a more reflective moment, echoing the theme of Baptism with “Broken Vessels (Amazing Grace).” Once again, great descriptive lyrics that tell the story of the Cross along with adding the hymn element in there with the pre-chorus. We let this song breathe at the end with the pad and real ambient sounds created via the electric guitars as our Associate Pastor lead us in a moment of prayer before transitioning to meet & greet and the sermon.

Message Series: “Unplug: Part II”

Song / Version / Key / Leader
“Open Up The Heavens” – Meredith Andrews – Key of B – Female 1 Lead
“One Thing Remains” – Bethel – Key of B – Male 1 Lead
“Never Once” – Matt Redman – Key of B – Male 2 Lead
“How He Loves” – Jesus Culture – Key of G – Female 1 Lead
“Healer” – Planetshakers – Key of E – Female 1 Lead

In the second week of our 21 Days of Prayer and Fasting series, we felt it thematically appropriate to choose “Open Up the Heavens” as our opener. “Open up the Heavens we want to see you, open up the floodgates a mighty river flowing from Your heart, filling every part of our praise… show us show us Your glory, show us show us Your power…” Lyrically and melodically you can’t get a better invocation song.

We remained in the key of B for the next two songs, “One Thing Remains” and “Never Once,” both lead by our two male leaders. We transitioned the two songs with a down chorus and let the pad linger before starting the keys lead line intro of “Never Once.” This was the first time we’ve had a male lead “Never Once,” even though that is what the original recording calls for. In previous sets, we have needed/wanted the different voicing and feel that a female could bring to the song. However, with me leading the 1st, 4th and altar song, I felt the 2nd and 3rd songs needed to be male led.

We tagged “You are faithful, God, You are faithful” four times before transitioning to the key of G via pad to sing “How He Loves.” Because the two previous songs were rather driving and structured, I really enjoyed ending with a song that gave more space on the front end to just breathe before ending with the powerful chorus. It gave a good balance to the set.

Following the sermon that was focused on forgiveness and healing, we chose “Healer” as our reflection song for the response/ministry time concluding the service. This song, despite the story attached to its writer, carries a pure message and is a wonderful declaration of truth of simply who God is to us. It helped to facilitate a powerful ministry moment for our church and for that I am grateful.

Message Series: “Unplug”

Song / Version / Key / Leader
“He is Faithful” – Jesus Culture – Key of D – Female 1 Lead
“My Heart Is Yours” – Kristian Stanfill – Key of A – Male 1 Lead
“Your Great Name” – Natalie Grant – Key of A – Female 1 Lead
“Love Came Down” – Kari Jobe – Key of G – Female 2 Lead

As we started a new series for the New Year alongside the beginning of our 21 days of prayer and fasting, we felt “He Is Faithful” was a great message to sing. There is nothing like declaring, “He is faithful… all our hope is in Him” going into a season of focused prayer.

We trashcan ended this song and transitioned via Mainstage pad to the key of A to begin the intro of a new song we were introducing, “My Heart Is Yours.” This is also an incredible song to declare as a church together, a pure song of surrender to the Lord and a great one as well for a season of prayer and fasting.

After tagging “take it all, take it all, my life in your hands,” we remained in the key of A and let the pad carry the space for 8 counts before hitting the intro of “Your Great Name.” This song has become a staple for our church because of its salvation message and such description of the power of the name of Jesus. It is also congregationally friendly, easy to sing.

We ended “Your Great Name” with a down chorus before transitioning to the key of G pad and beginning the intro of “Love Came Down.” We did two passes of the intro keys lead line before coming in with the verse. We didn’t get big with the song and left it more reflective until we hit the bridge because both “My Heart is Yours” and “Your Great Name” are more intense songs dynamically. We really wanted to give some breathing space up front to have more of a time of reflection.

To conclude the service, we came back to “My Heart Is Yours” as our prayer as a church for response for the season of prayer and fasting.

Message: “You Belong”

Song / Version / Key / Leader
“This is Amazing Grace” – Phil Wickham – Key of E – Female 1 Lead
“God Is Able” – Hillsong – Key of B – Male 1 Lead
“Holy Spirit” – Jesus Culture – Key of E – Female 2 Lead
“Lord I Need You” – Chris Tomlin/Passion – Key of E – Female 1 Lead

To kick off the year, we introduced “This is Amazing Grace” to our church. There is no better message to lead with, especially with visitors and the new year, than the story of Salvation and the Cross. Plus, the Phil Wickham version has a catchy lead line that works great for an opener and is fun to play as a team.

Following the new song, we kept it pretty simple and transitioned to the key of B via pad for “God Is Able,” which our main male leader led. Actually, the remainder of our set ended up being the same songs we did on Launch Sunday, which wasn’t planned. I just thought we needed to do more staple songs at the beginning of the year to ensure the people really entered in as well as felt comfortable singing. Also, if there were many visitors, which there normally are on the first Sunday of the year because of New Year’s Resolutions, they are more likely to engage if the people around them are engaging. This just so happened to lead us to selecting the same set.

So, following “God Is Able,” we transitioned to the key of E, where we stayed for both “Holy Spirit” and “Lord I Need You.” We ended “Holy Spirit” with a down chorus, let it breathe with just the pad for two measures and began the intro of “Lord I Need You,” and then ended that song with a down chorus as well, with just voices and pad. We absolutely love the worship pads we purchased via Loop Community. They help so much to carry those otherwise dead spaces that could become exit ramps for people. It just makes transitions so much simpler and creates a fuller bed for songs, so the musicians aren’t having to play unnecessarily to fill in the sound.