Worship Thoughts: Celebration in Nehemiah

Celebration is such a beautiful emotion, but I am reminded in Nehemiah that the greatest celebrations often come our of great sorrow.  We celebrate today not because of our worth, but because we place our hope in a Sovereign God who demonstrated his love to us through the sacrifice of his Son Jesus.

Worship Principle...

Worship is being in communion with the Father, we see the people of Nehemiah do this by yielding to His plan.

Song Messages...

We find strength as we wait in hope of God, and celebrate in anticipation of His restoration (Everlasting God, Brewster)

"Hope is stiring" "Hosanna, come have your way among us, we welcome you here Lord Jesus" (Hosanna, Balouche/Brown)

We are made complete in our brokenness so that we can serve (Shout to the North, Smith)

Worship Reflections

“Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God, and all the people answered, ”Amen, Amen,“ lifting up their hands. And they bowed their heads and worshiped the Lord, with their faces to the ground.” (Neh. 8:6)

Reflection:
        This week we went into the beginning of Nehemiah chapter 8. This is a key chapter about the renewal of the covenant with God. Scholars have pointed to this being the first “revival” depicted in the Bible. This is a great book for us to be going through as a church. Scott point out in verse 3, that the people had not heard the word of God, and that they have replaced the word of God with traditions. This is a good warning for us to stay true to the truth of God and not get lost in programs. My key verse is verse 6, the people were unified in worship with their hands up and their faces down. When we come to understand the truth of who God is and who we are in light of it, we respond in this type of worship. Next week we will see the joy that accompanies this worship.

In the set list I tried to reflect verse 6, attributing to the greatness of God as a source of strength.
Set List:
Holy is the Lord
Indescribable
God of Wonders
God of this City

Sunday Reflection

Last week in Chapter 6 of Nehemiah we are encouraged to stand strong in God when we face criticism and challenged to view ourselves as someone that God can use. As I read through chapter seven a few things caught my attention.

We see that Nehemiah has a burden to count and organize the people and lands (7:5).
        Are we ready to listen and act as Nehemiah did when we receive a burden from God? What can get in the way of the hearing? What prevents us from acting?

Genealogies...hugh! Believe me I am not a huge fan of genealogies either, I just read through nine chapter of them in Chronicles today for an assignment. Importance can be seen though in honoring members of our church who have ‘gone before us’ and linking this new generation with the heritage of Israel.

Lastly it was great to see the family of God ‘contribute to the work’ (v. 69, 70). They contributed to the work and the treasury. This is a reminder that as the family of God we are called to serve. This echos the first motto of the church, “Not to be ministered to, but to minister.” The challenge is that we don’t go to church to get be served but to look for the opportunities to serve.

Nehemiah 6

This week Scott is going into Nehemiah 6

Here is the run down
This is the last opportunity for our friends Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem to stop the wall from being finished. They decide to trick Nehemiah into meeting with them outside. They asked him four times and on the fifth time they made it public knowledge that they are sending reports to the Persian king that the Israelites are building a wall and planning a revolt. This message could be stopped if Nehemiah will met with them outside the wall. The purpose is to cause fear among the people of Israel. Nehemiah does not go out and encourages the people to not stop working. He also prays, “...But now, O God, strenghten my hands” (Neh 6:9b). Then the enemies bribe his friend to prophecy that they should run and hide in the temple. This would give Nehemiah a bad name and cause him to sin, Nehemiah remains a man of integrity and refuses. Then they finish the wall, which was done in an amazing 52 days.

This week I think we will focus in strength and encouragement as a theme and maybe some songs about integrity.

Songs ideas;

Everlasting God - Brown
        “strength will rise as we wait upon the Lord” Ps. 123

Never let go - Redman
        “I will fear no evil” Psalm 23

If you have any other ideas let me know...

Thoughts on Worship

Songs
All Hail the Power of Jesus Name (1779, Edward Parronet, Tomlin)
        Only the power of Jesus is Redemptive        

History Maker // Martin Smith
        How big is our view of God?

Come Thou Fount (1758, Robert Robinson)
        We are only strong through Him, this song is about a longing to be dependent on God.

Hungry // Kathryn Scott
        When we are broken and empty we need to learn to turn to God alone for restoration.

Sunday Morning Prayers...
God I pray that you would challenge our view of You this morning. That we would put our trust in Your strength and not our own.

Worship thoughts...
Nehemiah knew where His strength came from, “The God of heaven will give us success.” (Neh. 2:20a). When we trust our own strength is how we are ‘prone to wander’ as it says in Come Thou Fount. There is a definite progression here.

Verse Integration...
Acts 17:28, “For in him we live and move and have our being...”

Service Reflection

Song Set:

        Blessed Be Your Name // Redman
        Indescribable // Laura Story
        King of Glory // Chris Tomlin
        Shout to the North // Martin Smith

        It always encourages me to see God use the songs in a mighty way. This reminds me more and more that Christ is the worship leader, and that our role as a band is to simply be a vessel for His use.

Message integration...

Nehemiah 1:5, “Lord the God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and keep his commandments,”
        
        These songs represented this verse very well. Indescribable speaks of our awesome God and how we are to respond in humble worship to Him. In verse 5, Nehemiah prays scripture and gives God praise for who He is. He trusts that God will keep His promises. In verse 10 we read, “They are your servants and your people, whom you redeemed by your great strength and your mighty hand.” This connects so well to King of Glory, when we sing that the redeemed are called to “declare the love” of God. This song also speaks about the King of Glory and about His strength and might. It comes directly out of Psalms 24:8-10.
        Nehemiah’s prayer is also acknowledging the Sovereignty of God. Through His prayer we can see that he does not tell God how to do it and is unsure of how God will do it. He simply prays that God will open the door and God does. Understanding the Sovereignty of God has to do with trusting God, but it also starts with the understanding that as Christians we are called to something greater than ourselves. Nehemiah’s heart was turned towards God and God gave him the desire to see the walls built. In response we need to be open to God’s work in our lives as we are continually being transformed in to the likeness of His son.


Special Music...
        I also loved the special testimonial song by Rebekah Yoon. In talking with and sharing her testimony it is easy to see her openness to God. To give up the big career in music to devote her life to the glory of God shows Christ work in her. I loved the fact that we could hear this come out in the music; that the way she expressed her love to God was evident in the music. This was a moving example of a non-verbal communication to God.