VOICE OF THE SINGER #3

PSALM 51
June 21, 2009
with Adam Waters

Last Sunday was a great and unique experience. We took the entire service and read loads of our Psalms and incorporated them into our entire worship time. Here's what it looked like (sermon/extended communion devo notes are after)...

Ashley read PSALM 126
Song of Praise ~ Psalm 126

Matt read PSALM 150
Song of Praise ~ Let Everthing That Has Breath

Corrie read PSALM 84
Song of God’s Presence ~ Better is one Day in Your Courts

Al read Psalm 36:5-9
Song of God’s Vastness ~ Your Love Oh Lord

Adam read our Song of Forgiveness ~ Psalm 51 and gave the devotion.

Matt read Psalm 24
Song of Purity ~ Clean Hands

DEVOTION
As with singing, our communion with our Savior is laced with Scripture. From the times when Jesus implemented the simple meal, to the apostles sharing it daily in Acts, to finally Paul’s teachings on the proper way for the feast in 1Corinthians. Today, we want to examine PSALM 51 and the heart of where we should be during communion…

GAVE A BUNCH OF BACKGROUND TO THE DAVIDIC STORY on Ps. 51
• Appeal to the Father's Heart PSALM 51 (NLT) 1 Have mercy on me, O God, because of your unfailing love. Because of your great compassion, blot out the stain of my sins. 2 Wash me clean from my guilt. Purify me from my sin.
o Have mercy on me.
o Because of your love cleanse me.

• Recognize Your Condition 3 For I recognize my rebellion; it haunts me day and night. 4 Against you, and you alone, have I sinned; I have done what is evil in your sight. You will be proved right in what you say, and your judgment against me is just. 5 For I was born a sinner—yes, from the moment my mother conceived me. 6 But you desire honesty from the womb, teaching me wisdom even there.
o I realize my sin.
o I have broken your heart.
o I know your punishment is good.
o I understand that my fallen state is no excuse.

• Plead Your Case 7 Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. 8 Oh, give me back my joy again; you have broken me— now let me rejoice. 9 Don’t keep looking at my sins. Remove the stain of my guilt. 10 Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me. 11 Do not banish me from your presence, and don’t take your Holy Spirit from me. 12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and make me willing to obey you.
o Wash me again.
o Help me not to stay in a downtrodden place, but rather in a place of joy!

• Change Your Life Path 13 Then I will teach your ways to rebels, and they will return to you. 14 Forgive me for shedding blood, O God who saves; then I will joyfully sing of your forgiveness. 15 Unseal my lips, O Lord, that my mouth may praise you.
o I must tell others about what has happened.
o How I have sinned… and how you have saved!

• Live Like the Father's Heart Has Ransomed You 16 You do not desire a sacrifice, or I would offer one. You do not want a burnt offering. 17 The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit. You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God. 18 Look with favor on Zion and help her; rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. 19 Then you will be pleased with sacrifices offered in the right spirit—with burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings. Then bulls will again be sacrificed on your altar.
o We must not be satisfied with following the law of religion.
o We must become totally broken and dependent on the Father.
o We must not fall victim to works, but rather “heart-change”


CLOSE:
We are going to close our service with communion… A time of repentance, a time of remembrance, a time to take the truth of what Jesus asked us to do and make it practical…

EATING WITH SHEPHERDS: Singer #2

PSALM 23
June 14, 2009
with Adam Waters

What do we know of shepherding?
**Whenever I think of shepherding, I think of my years in youth ministry and trying to make sure that we never lost kids, that we fed kids and that everyone was okay when we went to an amusement park or the zoo.
**Maybe, all you think of is Little Bo-Peep.
**Maybe, you think of modern shepherding with electronic ear tags, dogs, bells on their collars and fenced in pastures.
**THE ENCYCLOPEDIA GIVES THIS BRIEF EXPLAINATION: To maintain a large herd, however, the sheep must be able to move from pasture to pasture, this required the development of a profession separate from that of the farmer. The duty of shepherds was to keep their flock intact and protect it from wolves and other predators. The shepherd was also to supervise the migration of the flock and ensured they made it to market areas in time for shearing. In ancient times shepherds also commonly milked their sheep, and made cheese from this milk. In many societies shepherds were an important part of the economy. Unlike farmers, shepherds were often wage earners, being paid to watch the sheep of others. Shepherds also lived apart from society, being largely nomadic. It was mainly a job of solitary males without children, and new shepherds thus needed to be recruited externally from the family. Still in other societies, each family would have a family member to shepherd its flock, often a child, youth or an elder. Shepherds would normally work in groups either looking after one large flock, or each bringing their own and merging their responsibilities. They would live in small cabins, often shared with their sheep and would buy food from local communities.

As we come to today's text, your background on shepherding might seem strange as you encounter Psalm 23 (NLT)...
1 The LORD is my shepherd; I have all that I need. 2 He lets me rest in green meadows; he leads me beside peaceful streams. 3 He renews my strength. He guides me along right paths, bringing honor to his name. 4 Even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid, for you are close beside me. Your rod and your staff protect and comfort me. 5 You prepare a feast for me in the presence of my enemies. You honor me by anointing my head with oil. My cup overflows with blessings. 6 Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will live in the house of the LORD forever.

Shepherds: Today we want to walk you through the shepherds of the Bible. From Able to the Abraham to the Hebrews being Pharaoh's shepherds in Egypt, God had his people focused on this profession to understand His desire and relationship with them.

The Father
• David (author) was a shepherd. God taught him much through this experience. Saved him from the bear & lion. This guided him later in life (ex: Goliath).
• Psalm 23
o Provider… Guide… Protector... Giver of blessing… Loving Father.
The Jews: Ezekiel 34
o 2 “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds, the leaders of Israel. Give them this message from the Sovereign LORD: What sorrow awaits you shepherds who feed yourselves instead of your flocks. Shouldn’t shepherds feed their sheep? 3 You drink the milk, wear the wool, and butcher the best animals, but you let your flocks starve. 4 You have not taken care of the weak. You have not tended the sick or bound up the injured. You have not gone looking for those who have wandered away and are lost. Instead, you have ruled them with harshness and cruelty. 5 So my sheep have been scattered without a shepherd, and they are easy prey for any wild animal. 6 They have wandered through all the mountains and all the hills, across the face of the earth, yet no one has gone to search for them.
The Son: John 10
o Giver of life… sacrifices his own life.
o Connected to the Father… connected to the sheep… UNIFIER!
o Willing servant to the flock.
The Apostles (specifically Peter): John 21
o Feed my sheep.
o Take care of my sheep.
o Lose control of your life… and follow me.
The Church: Titus
o Elders’ qualifications? MEN of CHARACTER and PURPOSE (1:5-16)
o Elders’ responsibilities: MEN of the WORD (2:1-8, 15)

EATING w/ Shepherds
PRAYING w/ Shepherds
We closed with a time of talking about the community having meals with each of our 3 shepherds. Then, we broke up into our flocks and prayed together as a church.

SINGER #1

PSALM 15
June 7, 2009
with Adam Waters

I love music. Singer-song-writer guys have always been intriguing to me. Even if I don’t like the style. People like Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, James Taylor, John Mayer, Jack Johnson and others. Through recent years, Christian artists of a similar persuasion have caught my passions: Charlie Hall, Jason Upton and recently Phil Wickham. I love the honesty in their music. I love passion and depth of feeling. Have you ever noticed that it’s rarely the loud-peppy stuff that speaks to us when we’re going through something, but the slower more introspective music that pierces our hearts? The next 8 weeks of worship should be very interesting as we dive into the personal song-journals of men like David, Solomon, Asaph, Moses, Ethan and others.
TODAY, we start with David: runt, prince, fugitive, giant-slayer, King, sinner...
DAVID and the Psalms.

Psalm 15
1 Who may worship in your sanctuary, Lord? Who may enter your presence on your holy hill?
2 Those who lead blameless lives and do what is right, speaking the truth from sincere hearts.
3 Those who refuse to gossip or harm their neighbors or speak evil of their friends.
4 Those who despise flagrant sinners, and honor the faithful followers of the Lord, and keep their promises even when it hurts.
5 Those who lend money without charging interest, and who cannot be bribed to lie about the innocent. Such people will stand firm forever.

How can we possibly worship?
When you first read David’s list, it looks almost like and impossible list of disqualifications, but I think if we look through the smoke and lights, we’ll see just how accessible the Father is… and what really matters to Him for this relationship to commence.
WORSHIP? It means to adore, revere , to love deeply, respect, be devoted to…
 Speak truth from your heart to God. Authentic singers try to live a godly life.
o Avoiding sin every day.
o Adhering to godly principles.
o Authentically praising.

 Speak truth from your heart to men. Authentic singers treat others well.
o Refuse to gossip.
o Refuse to mistreat.
o Refuse to slander.

 Honor truthful worshippers. Authentic singers are inspired by other's authenticity.
o Forsake blatant falsehood.
o Bless those who are faithful.

 Honor truth in daily life. Authentic singers show it even at their daily job.
o Keep your promises.
o Keep your generous heart.
o Keep your integrity.

CLOSE:
We don’t want a generation of Christian cover-bands. Cover bands, knock-offs, look a likes…
Can you imagine getting your Coldplay, Pink Floyd, Rascal Flatts or Third Day tickets, just to find out that Scott, Ashley and Adam were going to be on stage at Riverbend playing their songs?!?
Our Father wants authentic worshippers. John 4 – It does not matter where you sing, but how! Not how well, but that you do it with all your heart!
We need to see how much our daily life influences our singing.
Is your voice authentic?
Can it be counted among the singers 7 days a week?

DON'T MISS THIS AWESOME SUNDAY!