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We’re quickly approaching the 1-year anniversary for “Sunday Setlists” – the blog carnival where we share our worship service recaps with others worldwide.

Full details on “Sunday Setlists” – click here
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1.  Blog about  your worship services this week.  They didn’t have to happen on Sunday.  You don’t have to be the worship leader or pastor.  Just share your perspective.  Share songs, sermon themes, creative elements, and other forms of worship.  No blog?  Just share your recap in the comments box below.

2.  In your blog, please mention that you are participating in “Sunday Setlists” and link back to today’s post, which is:
http://www.fredmckinnon.com/myblog/2009/05/17/sunday-setlists-43/

3.  Fill out the Mister Linky box below, and give the full URL to your “Sunday Setlists” blog entry.

4.  Leave a comment and spread the word.  If you use Twitter, use the #sundaysetlists hashtag.

Worship Confessional for SSCC, Sunday May 17, 2009

Today was another Sunday where I scheduled myself off the stage completely.  Harriet, one of the worship leaders (actually, the founding worship leader!) led worship today.  I enjoyed the entire 11:00 AM service with my wife and one of my kids.  Crazy, we were even led to our seats by an usher!  (that’s because my wife came in late and there were hardly any seats left!)

Before I share about the setlist, I’ll “confess” some issues we had this week.  Thursday’s rehearsal was pretty stressful because a few us had to come late – there was an end-of-the-year musical at the elementary school which involved several of our kids.  To complicate matters, we had a couple of band members who couldn’t make rehearsal.  I typically have a strong rule about that – and rarely make an exception.  In this case, I made an exception – one had a last minute change, and another I had no knowledge that they were going to miss.  To top that off, Travis, our Tech Director, was very sick that day and couldn’t even come in to work.  We patched the system and setup the stage the best we could, but there were a few kinks to workout and it took a while.

Let me tell you – in most of these cases you hear “it’ll be OK, they know the music”.  Well, it’s not OK.  At our level (and I don’t say that in an arrogant way, like “our level” is better) we have layers upon layers of other things happening – from mixing FOH, mixing in-ear monitors, production cues and notes, etc.  The absense made the morning sound check stressful, hectic, and as a result, the overall level of excellence wasn’t as good as it could’ve been.  I’ll chalk that one up to being more proactive in schedule management.

Nevertheless, the worship time was great and of course, God touches lives and hearts.  Though we desire to bring our best, some days “our best” means simply “the best we can offer with the hand we were dealt”.  There was a liberty and freedom and as always, Harriet and the team did a great job connecting with the congregation and leading them in worship.

Walk-in:  “I’ll Fly Away” (bluegrass style, with harmonica) – a crowd favorite every time
Opening:  “No Other Name” (Todd Fields, Northpoint Live arr)
Announcements:  Pastor David did today’s announcements
Second Set:
The Old Rugged Cross (traditional, piano, vocals, guitars, and harmonica)
* Harriet did a fantastic job casting vision for this old hymn.  She expressed how the church is us locally, but is also us worldwide, gathering together to worship.  Then, she referenced the fact that the church is also historic, and that our heritage is marked not only by our creeds, but by our singing.  With that, she explained that this hymn would be known by some, and never heard by others.  It was a masterful, well-planned intro to kick off the 2nd set.

Shout to the Lord (Hillsongs)
* we did the Chorus-only of this on Easter, and Harriet brought it back in full force.  I have to admit, my sabbatical from that song (an unintentional one) had me in a place where I couldn’t wait to sing this great anthem again.  I sang with all I had.

You Have Made Me Glad (Hillsongs)
Another one of my favorites that Harriet leads.  I’ve taken that song and led it a few times myself, and love the way the song is easy to sing, and expresses great truths.  It’s a “vertical, direct” song to God – perfect for worship.

Sermon:  Road Signs – Yield
Our Youth Pastor, Jon Blankenship did the sermon today – he did a fantastic job, though our special “set design” plans fell through, leaving a rather unattractive, bare stage design.  Sermon was great – will be on the podcast by Monday afternoon.

Closing:  “Step by Step” and “Jesus Messiah”
Harriet pulled a surprise out of the hat, and added “Step by Step” (the old Rich Mullins song) after hearing Jon’s sermon.  It was an appropriate add, and then we had a segue into “Jesus Messiah” for the conclusion.

A good day.  I’ve been having some lower back problems for the last week and found it hard to sit through either service.  The nagging pain nagged me just enough to have me a bit on edge and frustrated that I couldn’t feel as whole as I’d like.

I enjoyed the perspective of “being in the room” this week, but Sunday is coming and we have a big day planned for next week.

Time for you to share! Be sure your URL goes to your actual post, and NOT your blog’s homepage. (for example, your URL should NOT be like this: myblog.wordpress.com, or myblog.blogspot.com, etc)