Amen

Yesterday morning I was leading worship at my church, as I do regularly on the "3rd Sunday" praise team.

It was a powerful worship, and we ended it with the song God of This City. You may know it (I'll include a youtube video and lyrics at the end of this post if you don't). It ends on a powerful crescendo of "greater things are yet to come; greater things are still to be done in this city" followed by the softer yet powerful truth of "there is no one like our God...there is no one like our God"

In an acapella setting, the voices linger and resonate throughout the sanctuary for a few moments after the last note is cut off. As we basked in that moment a small child's voice, no older than 3, echoed through the auditorium:

"Amen!"

Amen indeed. There is NO ONE like our God! If the smallest of children can feel that so powerfully in her soul...who am I to question?

And yet sometimes I do.

Help me to be like a child on her Father's knee...
to grasp the most awesome and complex of truths
in the simplest of ways.

AMEN




(lyrics are included on the video--and it is the original version from Ireland so they are slightly different, so it's definitely worth a listen)

*God of This City was written by a worship band from Ireland (possibly why it's so close to my heart!) on a missions trip to Thailand. They set up the band in a brothel and sang worship songs right in the heart of the sex trade district...and this song came to them than night as they witnessed the brokenness that surrounded them--that the God they were worshiping was STILL the 'God of these people' and the 'Lord of this nation'
Makes it all the more powerful to know the story...*

Sunday's Song

Beautiful song from this morning's worship...enjoy Hillsong's version!

At The Cross

Oh Lord You've searched me,
You know my way,
Even when I fail You,
I know You love me...

Your holy presence surrounding me,
In every season, I know You love me...

At the cross I bow my knee,
Where Your blood was she'd for me
There's no greater love than this
You have overcome the grave
Your glory fills the highest place,
What can separate me now...

You go before me
You shield my way,
Your hand upholds me,
I know You love me...

You tore the veil,
You made a way
When You said that 'it is done'

And when the earth fades,
Falls from my eyes,
And You stand before me
I know You love me, I know You love me...

Sunday's Song

Today I was on the praise team at church (which means worshipping from 7:30-12:30, give or take). It's such a blessing to watch the faces of the congregation, to see them standing impulsively and lifting hands, to observe the changes that are visible on each face. This Sunday was especially "special" though.

Today we talked a bit about our church's history (Dean--our pastor--played a clip from one of the founding minister's sermons which made me tear up--Rubel was the pastor there when I arrived and even though he left us only 2 years after I joined the church he had a tremendous impact on my life. Anthony was affected even more by this--Woodmont is the church he's grown up in). So it was an amazing and sweet service just within the sermon and other elements. Randy (my friend and our worship minister) chose songs that were "landmark" songs for our church, and I thought it was only appropriate that I share the one that was especially important to Rubel. It's an oldie...just warning you...but has special meaning for our congregation and for that reason I love it.

His Grace Reaches Me

Deeper than the ocean and whiter than the sea
Is the grace of the Savior for sinners like me
Sent from the Father and it thrills my soul
Just to feel and to know that His blood makes me whole

His grace reaches me
Yes His grace reaches me
And will last through eternity
Now I'm under His control
And I'm happy in my soul
Just to know that His grace reaches me

Higher and the mountains and brighter than the sun
It was offered at Calvary for everyone
Greatest of treasures and it's mine today
Though my sins were as scarlett, He has washed them away

His grace reaches me
Yes His grace reaches me
And will last through eternity
Now I'm under His control
And I'm happy in my soul
Just to know that His grace reaches me

Isn't that a beautiful message?

By the way, I'll be posting the answers to my "facts" post soon. And there's still about 24 hours left to ask me a question for my 100th post :0)

I laughed, I cried, I sang

Praise Team Retreat -- one of my favorite weekends of the year! We always gather at one of my old stomping grounds: the Nazarene campground for the TN district. It's a great facility, with one aspect that always makes me giggle. If you come in the back way, you literally drive through the creek. See? I took a picture on my way out this morning!

Anyway, retreat was amazing as usual. It was smaller as far as participants this year, but we still packed a lot in. I was asked to help lead worship with some great friends on Saturday evening, which was great. We got in some good reading of new music, input on the worship ministry, and even an intimidating session of being critiqued by our peers and worship minister! Then there were the times of silly games like Catch Phrase, which we took to an entirely new level of crazy (I laughed), serious talks about things that matter (I cried), and wonderful times of worship (I sang). It was a great way to connect with my good friends (and learn some exciting baby news as well as some sad moving-away news) and with my Father who is always ready to connect with me even when I forget.

It's always good to get away. But I'm glad to be blogging from my couch again as I catch up on a few tv shows that were waiting for me when I walked through the door this afternoon. I feel like I've hit the "reset" button for the next few days. Kind of a fresh start all in itself. It's a beautiful thing :0)