Message Series: “The Blessed Life”

Song / Version / Key / Leader
“Open Up The Heavens” – Meredith Andrews – Key of B – Female 1 Lead
“At Your Name” – Bethel – Key of A – Male 1 Lead
“Your Great Name” – Natalie Grant – Key of A – Female Guest Lead
“Lord I Need You” – Chris Tomlin – Key of E – Female 1 Lead

Towards the end of our “Blessed Life” series, our pastor really wanted to give our church the opportunity to put into action all that had been taught over the past few weeks. Some churches would take this opportunity to take a huge offering for themselves for a specific project, etc. However, even in our infant stages, we wanted to give back and make a difference. So, for this particular week, we had another church planter come and share the Word with us and we took up an offering to help support the start of their church.

With that being said, we decided to introduce a new song this week, which I wouldn’t normally do because yes, it is a risk. However, I believed the message of this song was really a good representation of the purpose of our giving: we wanted to see the glory and power of God manifested on earth and for the heavens to open up and pour out blessing to touch people’s lives.

This is why we opened up service with “Open Up the Heavens” by Meredith Andrews. The version I had the team learn though was the version where she teams with Vertical Church band. I felt this had a more full and consistent rhythm along with a little more energy, especially when it came to drums. Also, the youtube video of this really helped the band learn the song better because they were able to actually see them play it live. I would really encourage your team members, especially when it’s a new song, to look up any tutorial videos on their specific instrument part because help is out there!

After the welcome, as the pad, electric and cymbals carried a little noise transition behind pastor, we swelled into “At Your Name.” We ended with a down chorus and stayed in the key of A for “Your Great Name,” which was led by a guest female worship leader from a neighboring church. I have been really blessed to be able to make some great female worship leader connections within my short time at Connect. I believe it is really important to expose your church to other people, styles and leadership and this was one week I was able to do so and our church really responded to it.

Our closing song was a tried and true staple, which is also good to pull out when you have a guest. We used “Lord I Need You” for the response time as well, which the prayer-like layout of this song is always a great choice, especially when your prompting people to step out and do something that might be out of their comfort zone.

Message Series: “The Blessed Life”

Song / Version / Key / Leader
“You Are Good” – Bethel – Key of F – Female 1 Lead
“One Thing Remains” – Bethel – Key of B – Male 1 Lead
“Forever Reign” – Hillsong – Key of G – Female 2 Lead
“Forever” – Kari Jobe – Key of G – Female 1 Lead

Our opening song this week was “You Are Good.” As mentioned before, while the simplicity of the lyrics of this song don’t make it my absolute favorite, our church is more participatory with this opener than any other we do, and that is what matters. Our job is to engage the congregation and get them to participate and focus on connecting in worship.

We then transitioned via Ableton pad to the key of B for “One Thing Remains” as our pastor welcomed everyone. I really love the message of the first verse and bridge of this song and the chorus makes it easy for people to engage as well. We ended with a down chorus and moved to the key of G for “Forever Reign,” which our second female leader sang.

You’ve heard me many times talk about changing the key of certain staples songs that are typically male lead or visa versa to give it a fresh voicing. This went over so well last time, we decided to do it again, and of course when we decided we wanted the whole set to lead to “Forever,” which is also in the key of G, this solidified the decision for transition purposes.

With ended “Forever Reign” with a down bridge and began the keys intro of “Forever.” As the intro was playing I prayed a simple prayer of thanks:
“Lord, we thank you for Your sacrifice on the cross. We thank you for the blood that was shed for us and that you died and rose so that we may be reconciled with you. We thank you that you defeated sin, death, and the grave. We exalt your name in this place, Jesus. We declare there is no one else worthy of our praise and adoration but you and you alone.”
We then sang “Forever” and our Executive Pastor concluded with a prayer of surrender.

Message Series: “The Blessed Life”

Song / Version / Key / Leader
“He is Faithful” – Jesus Culture – Key of D – Female 1 Lead
“Here For You” – Chris Tomlin – Key of D – Male 1 Lead
“Always” – Kristian Stanfill – Key of D – Female 2 Lead
“Oceans (Where Feet May Fail)” – Hillsong – Key of D – Female 1 Lead

This particular Sunday’s set list was one of my favorites for two reasons: the songs carried such strong messages that covered a wide array of topics and all the songs were in the same key! (cue fireworks) My team loved me this weekend. It really is the little things. Anyway, we begun with one of my favorite songs thematically which is “He Is Faithful.” It includes such a declaration when you arrive at the chorus and especially once you hit the bridge.

After our opener, our pastor came up to welcome everyone as we transitioned to “Here For You,” playing the intro softly as he prayed an invocation. This song continues along the theme of invocation beautifully, “We welcome you with praise, Almighty God of love be welcome in this place.” After a large instrumental section and big chorus, we ended with a down chorus, which allowed us to transition to “Always” very smoothly.

I wanted to introduce “Always” to our church during this series on giving. Many people were stepping out in faith and learning to tithe and give with their finances for the first time. During this season, many were definitely giving out of their need and believing that if they were faithful, God would be too. I love the message of the chorus on this song along with the bridge. “…my refuge and strength always. I will not fear. Your promise is true. My God will come through always, always.” We also came back to this song at the end of service for response time. However, we only sang the bridge, 2 choruses and back to the bridge to end.

We concluded with one of our church’s favorites: “Oceans (Where Feet May Fail).” This song only reemphasized the idea of God’s faithfulness and how He has called us to step out, even when it’s not convenient or comfortable. In my opinion, the real kicker is the bridge; what a prayer to put in the mouths and hearts of your people to really challenge them, “Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders. Let me walk upon the water wherever you may call me. Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander and my faith will be made stronger in the presence of my Savior.”

I would challenge you as you plan out your sets to really study and be mindful of the lyrics. Make sure the songs carry a message that is not only theologically correct, but theologically deep. You want people to learn just as much in worship as they do during the sermon.

Message Series: “The Blessed Life”

Song / Version / Key / Leader
“This is Amazing Grace” – Phil Wickham – Key of E – Female 1 Lead
“God Is Able” – Hillsong – Key of E – Female 2 Lead
“Your Great Name” – Natalie Grant – Key of A – Female 1 Lead
“Broken Vessels” – Hillsong – Key of G – Female 1 Lead
“Holy Spirit” – Jesus Culture – Key of A – Male 2 Lead

At the top of the month we like to do corporate Communion. It not only starts off the month fresh, but it resets our focus as a body on Christ and His love, mercy, grace, forgiveness & sacrifice for us. This also works well to support the beginning of a new series. With that being said, our set list began with with “This Is Amazing Grace,” which reminds us of the impact of the cross. If you have read any of my set list posts before, you know I love the synth lead line in this as well… very addictive!

We continued in the key of E as we sang “God Is Able,” another great description of the victory we have in Jesus and a staple song for us at Connect. Transitioning to the key of A using the Ableton pad via midi keyboard, we sang “Your Great Name.” Again, common theme here: the cross! Sometimes having a universal theme throughout your set is good, especially if it is leading up to a particular message/moment. Just make sure the songs are theological rich in content.

Pastor then came up to read scripture and set up/administer communion as we transitioned and softly played the intro to “Broken Vessels” behind him. (Right now we do the peel back cups and place them at every chair.) We then sang “Broken Vessels,” the song we introduced last week. I knew going into Communion week I wanted to do this song. Therefore, I introduced it last week so it wouldn’t be completely new to our church. I wanted to ensure connection with the lyrics/story/melody of the song, even though it has the familiar hymn “Amazing Grace” as its pre-chorus.

For response time following the message we played an abbreviated version of “Holy Spirit,” which is attached above. During this time, Pastor invited everyone to just ask themselves the simple question: “What is the Holy Spirit saying to me through this message?” while asking the Lord to help them put Him first in every area of their lives.

Message Series: “Living the Anonymous Life”

Song / Version / Key / Leader
“Running” – Hillsong – Key of E – Female 1 Lead
“At Your Name” – Phil Wickham – Key of A – Male 1 Lead
“Never Once” – Matt Redman – Key of G – Female 2 Lead
“Broken Vessels (Amazing Grace)” – Hillsong – Key of G – Female 1 Lead
“Something In the Water” – Carrie Underwood– Key of G – Female 1 Lead

This week was the last week of our “Living the Anonymous Life” Series as well as our first time doing Baptisms. So, thematically I planned accordingly. We brought back “Running” as our opener from launch day as well as “At Your Name” from three weeks prior. We used the midi keyboard to transition smoothly between these songs via Ableton pads. Details of why I chose these songs are on the previous posts when we introduced them!

After, I had our second female leader lead “Never Once.” Like the song “Cornerstone” from last week, this too is typically a male led song. However, changing it up was a fresh twist for our church. I feel “Never Once” has a message that everyone can relate to, so it really is an easy win in any set.

“Broken Vessels” was then introduced in light of Baptisms. This modern hymn was a hit with our church, especially with the classic “Amazing Grace” chorus as its pre-chorus, not to mention the beautiful picture of salvation as its chorus. It also ends with the line, “raising up the broken to life,” which worked perfectly with Baptism. The one change we made for this song that was different from the recording was we cut it at around 6:10.

Concluding the sermon, after response time (we played “Broken Vessels” instrumentally), Pastor dismissed those who were going to be Baptized to get changed and ready, and we sung “Something in the Water” while a video about Baptism played simultaneously. The idea of doing a song that wasn’t a worship song was something that I really wrestled with. The reason for that was I never want our team to come off as we are trying to give a performance during service, because leading worship is the total opposite of that. However, I really loved the story and the imagery of this song and it really went well with the video. Later, we received several encouraging comments and it helped connect and emphasize the idea and testimony of Baptism.