• Happy Day – Tim Hughes
• Glory To God Forever – Fee/Beeching
• You Never Let Go – Matt Redman
• Jesus Paid It All – Kristen Stanfill
• You Alone Can Rescue – Matt Redman

This week the Story Church band was Brandon, Dan, Jillien and me.

This week’s Story Church band were Darrell, Josh and myself. I thought the service went pretty well, especially for a minimal band. We played Matt Redman’s Holy for the first time and I it was good.  Did Story Church folk like that song?  Let me know!

I loved the second set which consisted of From The Inside Out, Majesty and When I Survey. The songs tied in well with the questions Jeremy selected to answer as part of our Q&A series.

We are starting to climb out of the summer slump and it’s nice to see people back that have been away during last couple of months.

Song	Artist	Key		Purchase
Everlasting God	Brenton Brown	Bb
God With Us	Mercy Me	Bb
Holy	Matt Redman	Bb
From The Inside Out	Hillsong	C
Majesty (chorus only)	Delirious	G
When I Survey	Isaac Watts	G

It’s always amazing to see people grow in their relationship with God and when it’s such a visual demonstration like baptism it makes for a special day.  Last Sunday was one of those days – four people were baptized in Falls Lake in Durham.  Baptisms aside, what struck me most about the day was how we’d grown as a church.  If you watch the video below, the part when everyone makes their way down to the lake side was awesome to witness.  I love our church.

Enjoying a beverage in the Lake District

I’m way behind on publishing my set lists – so, here’s the complete list to bring me up to date.  I’ll publish the 24 July’s set list in a separate post.   I was out in the UK on the 26 Jun and 03 Jul.  We travelled to Northern Ireland and then to England.  I managed to visit the Lake District, in the north of England, for the first time.

19 Jun 2011

• Like a Lion – Daniel Bashta
• Everlasting God – Brenton Brown
• Be Thou My Vision - Mary Elizabeth Byrne and Eleanor Henrietta Hull
• For Who You Are – Hillsong
• Freedom Reigns – Michael Larson

photo credit: horslips5

We were in Northern Ireland this week visiting family and friends.  Liz and I got a wee night away in Belfast City.  We met a very rude PSNI officer as well while trying to drive through the city centre.  How was I to know the whole system had changed.  Grrrr.

26 Jun 2011

• Did You Feel The Mountains Tremble – Delirious
• Cannons – Phil Wickham
• You Alone Can Rescue – Matt Redman
• My Deliverer – Chris Tomlin
• Come Thou Fount Of Every Blessing – Robert Robinson

photo credit: hozinja

This week we were in London staying with Liz’s family.  We didn’t get into the city much, but travelled more around the outskirts visiting old university buddies.

03 Jul 2011

• Everlasting God – Brenton Brown
• Mighty To Save – Hillsong
• Overwhelmed - Jimmy Robeson
• How Great Is Our God – Chris Tomlin
• God Of This City – BlueTree

photo credit: kiril106

Back in Durham now.  Liz and the kids are still back in London and I’m missing them like crazy.  As Freddie Mercury used to say, “The show must go on”.

10 Jul 2011

• Happy Day – Tim Hughes
• Blessed Be Your Name – Matt Redman
• Hungry – Kathryn Scott
• For Who You Are – Hillsong
• Freedom Reigns – Michael Larson

17 Jul 2011

• Forever – Chris Tomlin
• Your Grace Is Enough – Chris Tomlin / Matt Maher
• Your Love Never Fails – Chris McClarney
• Consuming Fire – Tim Hughes
• Revelation Song – Jennie Lee Riddle

photo credit: kelsey_lovefusionphoto

Song	Artist	Key		Purchase
Your Grace Is Enough	Chris Tomlin	G
Blessed Be Your Name	Matt Redman	G
Jesus Paid It All	Kristian Stanfill	B
How He Loves Us	John Mark McMillan	B
Healer	Mike Guglielmucci	B

This week’s Story Church band was Jillien, Darrell and myself.  It was great to have Darrell play with us for the first time.

I was playing through the set on Saturday on my own.  The line in “How He Loves Us” where it says “If grace is an ocean we’re all sinking” hit me hard.  I was bawling my eyes out, and then “Healer” got me going all over again.  Ha ha.  I love it when that happens.

Not sure that would work on a Sunday morning so I was a little nervous in case I wasn’t able to hold it together, but still excited to see what might happen in our service.

I didn’t end up bawling my eyes out, but God was still there.  The message of God’s love really came out through the set and built upon what Jeremy was preaching.  Even though in life we might take the wrong path and face some consequences, God still loves us and will help us get back on track.  Nothing is impossible for Him.

Check out what other churches did this weekend over at The Worship Community.

photo credit: Horia Varlan

AlastairVance

(Alastair Vance)

Trust in the Lord with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding. http://bible.us/Prov3.5.NASB On 2:28 PM Jun 5th 2011 from Bible

Song	Artist	Key		Purchase
For Who You Are	Hillsong	A
You Never Let Go	Matt Redman	A
Came To My Rescue	Hillsong	G
Consuming Fire	Tim Hughes	G
Light Of The World	Tim Hughes	G

This week’s Story Church band was Brian, Katie, Dan, Mike and Johnnie.  I didn’t lead this weekend, but took the opportunity just to worship along with our congregation.  It’s so refreshing to take a week off and I’m thankful for the great  Story Church people that allow me to do that.

See what other churches did this weekend over at The Worship Community.

photo credit: xlibber

Song	Artist	Key		Purchase
Your Love Never Fails	Chris McClarney	G
Cannons	Phil Wickham	G
How Great Is Our God	Chris Tomlin	C
Hungry	Kathryn Scott	C
Hosanna	Brooke Fraser	E

This week’s Story Church band was Mike on drums, Johnnie on acoustic guitar, Josh on bass, Jillien on vocals and myself on acoustic.

Being a holiday weekend, we were quite low on attendance.  Still, there was enough people there belting out the songs that they could be heard over the band on occasion!

Luke presented a great case for community and why it’s important for us to reach out to others around us.  When Luke talked about community groups, a point that stuck out to me was the warning against using a check-list to evaluate people we wanted to be a part of our group.

It’s natural to gather together with people who share similar interests and life situations, but when this goes as far as making certain groups exclusive then it’s not right.  I agree with this since I have seen this first hand.

In my experience, exclusive groups like this don’t last.  They fizzle out.  In contrast, I have seen other groups which have a complete mix of different personalities, grow deeper with each other and last much longer.

All the talk of community groups got me thinking.  It’s time to start doing a short devotional (~10mins) at the start of rehearsals.  I know many churches do this, but we have not as yet.  So I shared this with Brian on Sunday and he is going to start this on Thursday night.  I’m excited as we take this next step as a team together.

Check out what other churches did this weekend over at The Worship Community.

photo credit: Ernst Vikne

This week’s Story Church band was Bruce, Katie, Alan, Mitch, Josh and myself.   There was barely any room left on stage.  Ha.  It was awesome.

Setup went great too even though we had a full stage which was great because we had a new song to practice – “Like A Lion”.   Bruce and Josh could not make rehearsal earlier in the week, so it sure made me smile when we played through this song and it sounded so good.

Now you know why I picked the photo above. I know, I know, it’s a female lion, but I liked this shot so much.  She looks like she means business.  Roaaaar.

There is a real feeling at the moment that God is doing something new and exciting in our worship.  Freedom seems to be growing from week to week.  The Holy Spirit is ministering to people and we are learning to listen to Him more and trust in Him.

The second set this week was amazing.  I love it when God moves and people leave better than when they came in.

Song	Artist	Key		Purchase
All Because Of Jesus	Fee	A
Forever	Chris Tomlin	A
Like A Lion	David Crowder Band	B
Because Of Your Love	Phil Wickham	B
You Alone Can Rescue	Matt Redman	B

photo credit: ksr8s

Song	Artist	Key		Purchase
Your Grace Is Enough	Matt Maher / Chris Tomlin	G
Holy Is The Lord	Chris Tomlin	G
Our God	Chris Tomlin	B
How He Loves	John Mark McMillan	B
Revelation Song	Jennie Lee Riddle	D

Brian, Jillien and Katie led the worship this week. I was out of town – taking my folks to the beach. I know, hardship, but someone has to do it.

I did go to rehearsal and the guys sounded really good. I do wish I could have been at Story Church as well but a wise man once said – you can’t have your cake and eat it too.

photo credit: mararie

Song	Artist	Key		Purchase
Glory To God Forever	Fee/Vicky Beeching	B
God With Us	Mercy Me	B
Mighty To Save	Hillsong	G
Here I Am To Worship	Tim Hughes	G

It was great leading with Brian Schooley this morning.  Brian has just arrived from California with his family and has jumped straight in.

My mum & dad were also in town enjoyed the service. I got the chance to make up for missing the UK mother’s day a month or two back (not sure on the date). Ha.

photo credit: Wolfiewolf

Song	Artist	Key		Purchase
Forever	Chris Tomlin	G
For Who You Are	Hillsong	G
How Great Is Our God	Chris Tomlin	C
Consuming Fire	Tim Hughes	G
Majesty	Delirious	G
Revelation Song	Jennie Lee Riddle	D

This week’s Story Church band was Bruce on drums, Jillien on vocals, Andrew on electric, Josh on bass and myself on acoustic. Let’s not forget Joel on sound and Yancy on media – without these guys the band could not function.

Since everyone worked so hard last weekend, we decided not to rehearse earlier this week.  Setup took 10 minutes longer than expected and general widespread panic was not far away.  However, in the end, we managed to get through the set and get a service walk-through done with about 15 minutes to spare.

We started Paradox this week with the theme of King / Servant.  I had thought about resurrecting ‘Servant King’ by Graham Kendrick, but quickly decided against it.  We kicked off with Forever and For Who You Are in the first set.

Jeremy preached about Jesus the King, who still reigns on the throne!  He came to serve, to give of Himself.  There was even a royal wedding tie-in.  I had considered wearing my Union Jack t-shirt for the service to show my support.

I’m not a massive fan of How Great Is Our God, but this song was amazing on Sunday.  It tied in well with the message and seems to be popular with Story Churchers.  Then we started Consuming Fire and my internal Holy Spirit barometer took a little dip (can I say that?).  It gradually built back up, especially when we hit the bridge ‘Stir it up in our hearts Lord…’ and when we flowed into Majesty it was beeeeeyutiful (<- another new word I just made up, Andrew).  The band stopped playing and we just sang.

The last song of the 2nd set was Revelation Song which Jillien led.  She was enjoying herself so much she added an extra chorus.  We didn’t mind one bit.  It was a fantastic finish to a great morning’s worship at Story Church.

It was great to have the Schooley’s with us this weekend.  Welcome to North Carolina guys!

See what other churches did this weekend over at The Worship Community website.