J424

2 NEW ADVENT VIDEO'S

2011-12-09T11:29:00.003-06:00

Excited to make available to you all these 2 new Advent Videos made by Jameson Evenden at HBC in Brampton, ON.

Check them out

Christmas PPT Backgrounds 1.0

2011-12-07T18:02:00.005-06:00

With the celebration of our Lord's birth, I thought it might be helpful to post some free "Harvest-Prescott-Style"Christmas PPT backgrounds for you guys.

BRENT THOMAS: HARVEST ROCHESTER

2011-07-09T07:46:00.000-05:00

The past 7 months have been incredible for me to work with this young man. His heart for the Lord is passionate, His desire to follow the Lord is intentional, and His faith to GO is bold! I will miss Him, but I rejoice in all that I've seen the Lord do in His life over the past 2 years, and for the privilege of having him intern at Harvest Granger. I'm looking forward to hearing stories of worshipers being made in Rochester, Minnesota as God uses Brent Thomas!

"NEVER ONCE" CREATIVE

2011-06-29T01:26:00.001-05:00

We taught Matt Redman's new single, "Never Once" this past Sunday in church. We did it as a special song, and added a little video of people in our church declaring God's faithfulness. It was our first attempt at adding a video in the middle of a song, and it went really well!

We did the song just as the recording through the bridge, and at the end of the bridge, right before it goes into the final big chorus, the band backed way off, playing the bridge chord progression softly. At the end of the statements in the video the band began to build, and right when the final words, "Never Once," were stated in the video, we cranked into a big final Chorus. We hit it and everyone was on there feet right out of the video. It was a great way of making the lyrics of the song personal to our church, and took the lyrics of the song one step further. It was great to give different people in our church the opportunity to be apart of this worship element.

Again, the video was our first attempt at making something that our band would play behind. Our video man wrote a specific script, so we just had everyone say some of the lines, and pieced it together. The next one we will get a little more emotion from those stating, just to create that energy a little better as the band builds. Other than that it was a good attempt. Here's the video. We put music behind this just for the feel, but the original has no music behind it.

WHAT ARE YOU SUBMITTING TO?

2011-06-25T05:07:00.001-05:00

As humans, we are naturally creatures of habit. It is pretty plain to see that as humans we easily adapt our lifestyles to habits, rituals, and routines that make up day to day living. But why do we choose the routines that we do? What makes us habitually set aside time for specific things throughout each day? Could it be where our worship lyes? I believe so. As creatures of habit, who naturally worship, we make time to elevate that which we give worth to. Daily we submit ourselves to things like technology, TV shows, sports, "Hollywood drama," etc...the list goes on.

As followers of Jesus, and hopefully transformed worshipers, we face the challenge of living, breathing, and acting on behalf of Christ rather than the world. No doubt it's a challenge, for though we love Jesus, we live in a distracting world, and have a self-centered nature; BUT we choose to submit ourselves to that which we give worth to...that which we worship!

Romans 12:1-2

I appeal to You therefore brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as living sacrifices, holy, and acceptable unto God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is perfect and acceptable and good.

What if we submitted ourselves to the Word of God, everyday, not just as a "devotional," but as the divine story that God has written for our lives? I'm guilty of this, but God's Word is so easily lumped in with all the routines of ones day, when it should be the governing script for every move that we make! To do this it takes not only a transformation and renewing of our self-centered minds, but also a daily work to submit ourselves to God...which is our spiritual worship! Imagine if we all worked as hard at elevating spiritual disciplines in our life as we do at setting aside time to watch American Idol or Dancing With The Stars or read Facebook...etc.

When worship begins to expand outside of Sunday mornings into the rituals and routines of our everyday lives, more naturally will we submit to spiritual disciplines! When we submit ourselves to being worshipers, who are living out God's story, we will find that repentance, devotion, communion, forgiveness, adoration of Christ, and things alike will begin to shape our daily thoughts, habits, and routines. Paul says in 1 Cor. 10:31 "So whether you eat or drink, or whatever You do, do it all to the glory of God." So yes we can eat, take a nap, and even watch a TV show, but the issue lies where we submit ourselves! Are we elevating that "hobby" as what we submit to, or are we approaching it through a transformed life, fully submitted to the truths of God's Word. There is a difference, and the latter will help us view things as a worshiper of Christ and not of the world! May we consciously strive to be worshipers who submit ourselves to God's Holy Word, for it is the script to our story, and holds the steps we must take as our lives reflect the glory of a Holy God!

P.S. post stems from a great conversation with my good friend and fellow worship Pastor, Ryan Flanigan. He challenges me. You should read His blog:)

CHURCH GEAR FOR SALE

2011-05-12T09:40:00.000-05:00

Maybe your looking for some used AVL gear for your church. We have some gently used equipment that we are currently selling. Check over the list and email me if you have any questions or want pictures. We're open to sell as a bundle or individual items.

Edirol LVS-800 video switcher
Kramer VP-719XL video switcher
Pioneer PRV-LX1 DVD recorder
2 x Sony DSR-PD170 video camera SD
Sony BRC-300 remote camera
Sony RM-BR300 remote control unit
Kramer VP-300N 1:3 XGA distribution amp
Kramer VP-200XL 1:2 XGA line amp/ distribution amp
3 x Kramer Pico Tools 1:2 Video DA (BNC)
5 x Kramer VP 413 video to WXGA scaler
Kramer VP 414 video to WXGA/HD scaler
2 x Kramer VP-222 VGA Switcher/Distributor
2 x Manfrotto 055PROB with 501 head and 523PRO control unit
Strand Lighting 200 48 channel LX board

THE ONLY PROPER RESPONSE

2011-04-26T20:36:00.002-05:00

Sunday morning, Easter Sunday, my feet hit the ground early, pumped and ready to go. I had family visiting, and that usually means walking and maneuvering space in my small town house is extremely limited. So I got ready for church, and left about an hour early. I went and grabbed some coffee and just began to read through some of the resurrection accounts from the Gospels.

Luke chapter 24 grabbed my attention, as well as stirred up my heart for worship that morning. After Jesus appears to His disciples and all the people, He led the people far out to Bethany. Then, Luke 24:51-53 says:

While he blessed them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven. And they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple blessing God.

Jesus' first departure brought sorrow, grief, doubt, frustration, cowardliness, and the list goes on. But being the true, one and only God that He is, Jesus rose from the dead! He astonished the disciples, he shocked the soldiers, He turned doubters into believers; Out of sorrow came Joy; Out of cowardliness came boldness; And out of doubters came worshipers!

Jesus' second departure brought about the only proper response...WORSHIP! As Jesus ascended into heaven, those that saw Him alive, knew He was God. And at the sight of the living, breathing God, every knee bows and every tongue confesses "Jesus Is Lord!" They worshiped Him as He ascended, then in JOY ran back to Jerusalem, and day after day worshiped God in the temple! They were in awe!

Why should it be any different for us today? Scripture has more than proved itself. God's mercies and grace are more than evident. Without a doubt, Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, rose from the dead and is living and reigning that we might have life. The only proper response to this is Worship. May we daily respond properly to the righteousness bestowed on us through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ!

Stop. Think. Notice. Worship!

PASSION WEEKEND IN GRANGER

2011-04-26T20:00:00.003-05:00

We had an incredible weekend as a church! Good Friday was all about the death of Jesus. There was nothing hinting towards the resurrection; nothing showing the hope that was to come...The night was heavy, dark, and convicting as we looked at the depth of our sin, and the extent of what Jesus endured because of it. The band for the evening consisted of 5 male worship leaders, all singing different vocal parts, playing 2 acoustic guitars, a piano, a bass, and a cajon. The songs focused on the cross, and Christ's death...The songs had a minor feel to them. Isaiah 53 was the roadmap throughout the worship set. There was a heavy, unresolved tension left in the room when the service ended in silence and prayer.

But out of mourning comes celebration. Out of ashes comes beauty. Out of Christ's defeat come Christ's Victory!

Easter Sunday was simply a HUGE celebration. As a church we celebrated that death could not defeat our God! The grave could not contain our God! HE IS ALIVE! I was particularly excited this year to do Matt Maher's "Christ Is Risen." We rearranged it and added a 20 person choir to it, which made for an epic declaration of Jesus! At the end of the service, we let out our loudest celebration, the HE IS ALIVE! There were signs, shakers, air-horns, a vuvuzela, and a record number of people at Harvest Granger shouting in celebration! It was an incredible weekend!

Greater than any song sung, or any number of people that came through, are those that responded to the Gospel on Easter Sunday. Our staff and team are currently pursuing those who responded to the Gospel for the first time! We are praying that Easter 2011 will be there Greatest Day in History, and that it would mark the change in their lives to the glory of God!

To God be the Glory!

Good Friday Video

2011-03-23T10:36:00.003-05:00

We created this video for use in our Good Friday service last year. Feel free to download it at the link below if it is helpful for you.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/10018220/Easter%20-%20Good%20Friday%20Media/Easter%202010%20-%20Space%20Video.mov

Easter Weekend PPT Slides

2011-03-22T13:43:00.009-05:00

I thought these might be useful and maybe save you guys some time. We designed these PPT slides last year for Easter. They are here free for the taking.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/10018220/Easter%20-%20Good%20Friday%20Media/Easter%20Logo%201.jpg

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/10018220/Easter%20-%20Good%20Friday%20Media/Easter%20-%20Blank.jpg

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/10018220/Easter%20-%20Good%20Friday%20Media/Easter%20-%20Lyrics%20Background.jpg

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/10018220/Easter%20-%20Good%20Friday%20Media/Easter%20-%20Resurrection.jpg

WHAT DO YOU STAND ON?

2011-03-10T10:25:00.003-06:00

A call to worship reminding people the power found in Jesus Christ. This typography video will center peoples attention on why they came to church and who they are there for; Jesus Christ. To purchase a copy click HERE

SCRIPTURE IN WORSHIP

2011-02-22T21:12:00.000-06:00

A worship leader wins when he uses God's word to direct people where to sing.
Up.
We as a church have been going through the life of Moses. An old testament Character study....how do you connect the dots between that and musical worship?
Dig.
Our graphic designer (@RonyEM) did this visual package up for me that highlights when God tells Moses who it was that was sending him and then goes on to describe God throughout the Old Testament leading up to Jesus.
I read each line over the congregation and asked that they would allow God to enlarge their view of Him with each verse. There are 6 slides in total. You can download them here for free

We sang "Your Great Name" to follow.
The weekends I use scripture to pound home themes or ideas are the weekends I feel the congregation gets it. Not because I crafted it better or said it smoother but because God honors his word 200% of the time.
Pointing people up musically using God's Word will not only grow your congregation in solid, biblical worship but teach them along the way something new then a chorus or melody.

HARVEST GRANGER: FACILITY UPDATE

2011-02-20T01:20:00.001-06:00

I found these pics from Harvest Granger's first night in the new facility last week. The Lord met with us in a big way, as people publicly confessed sin, and shouted songs of praise to our God for over 2 hours! "If Our God is For Us, Who Could Ever Stop Us!"

Not officially moving in yet for Sunday worship, but excited for a place to work with and seek God use for His Glory! Also, totally blown away by His faithfulness in providing this building and property for growth! Thought I'd share a few pics with you :)

Above, Men gather around a new brother in Christ!!!

Songwriting Tips

2011-02-11T10:02:00.002-06:00

Hi Guys,
I am not sure if this link has already been posted on here before? but i wanted to share some helpful tips from Vicky Beeching's website. There are many useful topics she discusses such as conquering writers block, 12 things I wish I'd known when I started song writing etc. So check it out and hopefully it proves beneficial for ya.

http://vickybeeching.com/blog/12-things-i-wish-id-known-when-i-started-songwriting/

http://vickybeeching.com/blog/how-to-conquer-songwriters-block/

Cheers

Dan A

GOD AT WORK: Harvest Granger

2011-02-07T12:45:00.000-06:00

So, being a plant almost 2 years old, it's really exciting for me to start having more means and talents available to pull off God at Word video's. I love seeing the stories that have come out of Elgin and Oakville and other Harvest's who have this down to a science. Even more, I'm pumped to see those stories in our body here in Granger be displayed in our services in order to evoke worship based on the saving power of the Gospel.

God is doing incredible things here in Granger; lives are being saved, and people are seeing God's faithfulness as they faithfully take hard steps seeking to put off the old self! Brent Thomas is one who has been saved by the Gospel, and who has experienced challenge and growth since coming to Harvest Bible Chapel. I'm excited to have his creative mind and servants heart at Harvest Granger for this season. In worship yesterday we got to share God's Story of Brent, and many were blessed, relating and recalling their own salvation story! So excited for the chance to create these quality videos for the worship ministry in our church!

Anyone have some good articles, blogs, or helpful hints for producing these videos???

3 NEW VIDEO MOTIONS

2011-02-01T11:53:00.003-06:00

Depending on what projection style you use these motions may or may not work for you. Either way, here is a link to 3 new fast tempo motions.

Electric Orange Motion
Electric Blue Motion
Electric Pink Motion

SERVICE REVIEW: 1/9/11 in Granger

2011-01-11T20:36:00.000-06:00

This past Sunday, we pulled some last minute changes to the order of service and I feel it ended up being an extremely fresh morning of worship. Due to a TON of snowfall in the area, we weren't really sure who the Lord would bring to Church Sunday morning, and simply with some events going on in the life of our church, we felt it was a perfect Sunday to do things differently. The order of service was as follows:

CORPORATE SINGING:

Hosanna (Praise is Rising)

One Way

Always- new song by Kristian Stanfill

**Prayer in Silence; intentionally had no music behind the prayer...in order to listen to God. Out of "Always" we bowed our heads, I quoted "I look to the hills, where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, maker of heaven and earth..." Continuing in the truth that our God is for us and in the trials, He does not waver...shifting us to the Holiness of God, his worthiness, and a complete vertical response to Christ!

Revelation Song

ANNOUNCEMENTS

NEW CORPORATE SONG:

Hallelujah What a Savior(Praise to the One)- AWESOME hymn re-write! Everyone caught on quickly and we invited them to stand and join.

DEVOTIONAL STYLE MESSAGE: The adoption of MAN into GOD the Father's Care

CORPORATE PRAYER:

People broke up into groups of about 7-12 and prayed out loud:

1. Personal Prayers based off what we are called to in 1 Timothy 6:11

2. Prayers for our church from Colossians 2:9-10, that Christ would be the Head of any growth and steps

RESPONSE:

God of This City

Our God

I believe people were stretched out of their comfort zones this past Sunday, but I believe the LORD met with us in a fresh way, as He promises to in 2 Chronicles 7:14. Even a midst the moving of chairs and getting in groups, the worship of God resonated throughout the gym as His people prayed humble prayers for their own spiritual walk and for that of their church body. Corporate prayer is something we are clearly called to in scripture, but it lacks in the way we so often do "church" today. Sure we pray, but prayer has easily become more of a transition in our services, rather than an earnest seeking of invocation, repentance, intercession, illumination and all that going before a Holy God can be for the body of Christ!

Constance Cherry writes in her book The Worship Architect, "...Not only is corporate prayer not the reason for dull worship; it is perhaps the one thing that can renew our worship when done in a vital manner." We NEED prayer. We NEED to pray in our churches...together! I am so thankful to be at a church that "believes firmly in the power of prayer," and this past Sunday excited me to see the Lord work as His people prayed and sought His face corporately.

What do you think? If you were there what were your thoughts? OR how can we make corporate prayer a priority in the church as we worship the Lord in a way that is biblically faithful?

ONE PURPOSE

2011-01-05T09:49:00.000-06:00

ISAIAH 43:20-21

"...for I give water in the wilderness, rivers in the desert, to give drink to my chosen people, the people whom I formed for myself that they might declare my praise."

I read this incredible verse this morning and have spent some time just meditating on it and on my life. Thought I would share some of my thoughts that are helping me respond in worship this morning.

My God supplies all I need for one purpose: To declare His Praise and Reflect His Glory!

Read the verse above again!!! It holds value! We have been CHOSEN by God, formed for Him alone, and HE provides water where there is no water...not so we can simply survive; not simply for our own comfort and peace; BUT THAT WE MIGHT DECLARE HIS PRAISE!!! The real truth is our God supplies life where there is no life. He's called us His precious children, when we were His enemies. Why would God choose to redeem that which rejects Him, runs from Him, and crucified Him??? Because it makes Him all the more Glorious!!!

May we never forget, as worshipers of Jesus Christ, our chief calling and goal in life:

1CORINTHIANS 10:31- SO WHETHER YOU EAT OR DRINK, OR WHATEVER YOU DO, DO ALL TO THE GLORY OF GOD!!! For He made a way where there was no way...He's given life to the dead...He supplies all our needs that we might make much of Him!!!

INCREDIBLE EVENING

2010-12-20T15:10:00.006-06:00

WOW! Last night at Harvest Bible Chapel in Granger IN, was an incredible night of corporate worship and celebration of Jesus Christ! Seriously the Lord moved, and it may have been the most Joyful, Christ-centered Christmas services I've ever been too. My hopes and prayers for the evening was that we could create an environment where people could come and really lift their voices LOUDLY in the name of Jesus...both remembering that He came, and anticipating His coming again! Well, the Lord moved and the gym where we hold our services was filled with the praises of God's people, and I choked back tears of Joy the whole time!!! GOOD NIGHT!

It was a first for us shutting of all of the gym halogen lights and trying to create a little more of a warm atmosphere...Things turned out really well and it was cool to worship in that setting for a change. Also, it was a first putting a small 12 person choir up there with the band and that blew me away. My thought was just to have some worshipers facing the congregation so that their voices could be heard, prompting others to join...Not only did it accomplish that, the choir sang some great harmonies, and added a lot of energy to the room! This will begin to become more of a regular at Harvest!

The order of Service went as follows:

Opening Song: He Has Come For Us (What Child Is This)

VIDEO: LUKE 2 (Typography)....Shown in post below.

Right out of the video we jumped into a soft "caroling" feel of:

O Come All Ye Faithful-

band builded through the song, until the big ending where we proclaimed,"We'll praise Your name forever!"

Hark the Herald Angels Sing (Piano only)

My Soul Magnifies the Lord (Band in; Big and Energetic)

O Holy Night

Emmanuel (Hallowed Manger Ground)-

Ended focusing the congregation on the thought of God himself coming dwell among sinners, finishing by singing the chorus with no instruments...

TESTIMONY TIME: We wanted to hear from people about why their soul magnifies the Lord! Trent led a time with soft piano music playing, and people stood to proclaim God's greatness in their lives this Christmas season.

CONVERSATION/GOSPEL: Our Sr. Pastor and his Wife Andrea sat on stools and took some time to talk about Christmas in their growing up years, as well as their current family days...It was relational setting up for the congregation that no matter where anyone found themselves this Christmas season, without Jesus Christ, the meaning to Christmas, and ultimately life is missed. The Gospel was presented, and people were challenged to take hold of the light of the World...

RESPONSE TIME:

You Are the Light-

Powerful song in our church! Left the people in their seats to think, but they were up in no time declaring with Us...

Born that We May Have Life-

Great, fun song! Off the Chris Tomlin Christmas album, its just a song of rejoicing, and we rejoiced at the close of last night! Great way to end the service!

Well, I have been blessed to be a part of Harvest in Granger, and there is incredible life happening there that can only produce worship in my life! God is so faithful and good! I think my heart grew 10 sizes worshiping with the body of Christ last night, and that is the best thing that will happen this Christmas!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!

LUKE 2 TYPOGRAPHY

2010-11-30T18:16:00.002-06:00

Here is a new resource from our media department in Oakville. It is The Christmas Story (Luke 2:1-20 ESV). A short and solid way to tell the Christmas story for any of your services. Enjoy!

Two Years and Counting! - 9/12/2010 from Houston, TX

2010-11-30T12:03:00.003-06:00

Wow, this is an update that I have been wanting to write about for a while now. We finally got the pictures from our 2nd Anniversary Celebration at Harvest Houston and I wanted to share them as well as the service break down with you so you can get an idea of what a Sunday at Harvest Houston looks like!

Our new sermon series banner

On Sept 12. we celebrated the 2nd Anniversary of Harvest Houston, along with kicking off the new sermon calendar. This year (as well as some of next) we will be taking on the Gospel of John verse by verse in a series called 'Revealed: A Glimpse of the Almighty'. There's a full description of the series here.
Being that it was such a big day in the life of our young church, the staff wanted to put together a special service to truly celebrate all that God had done in our brief history and all that we expect and are excited for Him to do in our future. It really was an amazing day of worship and fellowship with the body of believers.

Our newly designed bulletins
(with sermon notes pages inserted)

The service itself was designed with the specific intention of pointing people to the truth of God's glory and transcendence. We wanted our people to grasp that He is Creator, above all, and that everything was created BY Him and FOR Him. The title of the message was 'Glory Beyond Our Comprehension' from John 1:1-18 and can be listened to here. The sermon points (in case you wanted to follow along) were that God's glory is:
i. Eternal (vv. 1-3)
ii. Brilliant (vv. 4-8)
iii. True (vv. 9-11)
iv. Life- Giving (vv. 12-13)

New offering bags

v. Visible (vv. 14-18)

When planning this service we decided to implement several unique elements, which for me turned out to be a lot of fun (lots of work, but fun still). Back in April I had been a part of an 'Impromptu Choir' during a service at Harvest Elgin, IL while I was there for Harvest U (the annual Harvest training conference for Harvest Churches). The idea behind an 'Impromptu Choir' is to invite members from the congregation to join the worship team in leading the worship set that day. One of the purposes behind this is to continually teach your people that worshiping God is something you participate in, not something you spectate. So during the weeks prior I had asked a few key members to be 'instigators' and come forward as soon as I was done with the invitation and instruction for the choir. The response we saw was incredible! We usually run anywhere from 95-125 people on a Sunday morning, so I was expecting 6-8 people to come forward (apart from the 3 that I had asked ahead of time). Instead, we had close to 20 people come forward and take part in this act of worship. I was blown away. Thats 20% of our people!

Another element that was unique to this service was a video that I made as a sermon opener called "How Great You Are' designed to magnify the greatness of God. You can check it out below:

How Great You Are from Jason Dunton on Vimeo.

The last element that was used in this service was a song that I wrote called 'The Name of Jesus'. You can check it out here.

Here's the run-down (w/ pics) for the service:

WELCOME VIDEO/ COUNTDOWN

WORSHIP SET:

The Lord Reigns w/ greeting during (Gateway Worship)

The Greatness of Our God (One Sonic Society)

Worship Rises (Joshua Seller)

Our God (Chris Tomlin)

Glory to God Forever (Steve Fee)

ANNOUNCEMENTS/ OFFERING

OFFERING SONG:

Hosanna (Hillsong)

HOW GREAT YOU ARE (video introduction for sermon)

SERMON:
Glory Beyond Our Comprehension
John 1: 1-18

CLOSE:
The Name of Jesus (Jason Dunton)

YOU ARE LOVED

Ushers and Greeters getting everything ready

The Worship Team praying before the service

Some shots from worship

Impromptu Choir!!

Pastor Buddy bringing it!

PSALM 86 VIDEO

2010-11-19T09:34:00.000-06:00

Our creative team produced this new video that we showed at our Night of Worship in conjunction with the theme surrounding "The Greatness of our God". The audio is in the key of B and we put it before "Greater". The text is straight from Psalm 86. Our goal is to get at least 2-3 video's like this available to the local church via our good friends at WorshipHouseMedia.com

WEEKEND REVIEW - HARVEST ELGIN +BAPTISM VIDEO

2010-11-07T22:50:00.002-06:00

- Call to Worship
1. O Worship the King
2. Unchanging (this was 'bring back')
3. Jesus, Faithful King (How Great is the love)

- communion set-up
"Last weekend in the message from Exodus we studied the Passover together. What a vivid illustration foreshadowing our Lord and King, Jesus Christ, being crucified on a cross.

We felt the tension of seeing a live lamb on the stage, a knife pulled, and we gasped with the thought of the blood being spilt from the little, helpless lamb.

Blood required, needed for the doorposts, an identification of allegiance to God who would save and protect from the 10th plague.

Now, this week, we come to our Passover, no need for another lamb to be brought on stage. Jesus, the Lamb of God, has been sacrificed, once and for all, for the sins of the world.

As we take communion, we reflect on Christ’s sacrifice because He wanted to save us from our sins. If you are not a follower of Christ, let the communion elements pass by. If you are a follower of Christ, His sacrifice is for you, remember what He has done, take time to meditate on the forgiveness of your sins and the riches of His grace."

(as we played an instrumental of 'how deep the Father's love for us' we ran the lyrics on the screen so that people could use the words to meditate as the elements were passed)

- taking of elements
4. Worthy is the Lamb
5. Stronger

- Announcements
Offering Special: This is our God

this was the Baptism highlight video from the previous weekend.

Spontaneous Baptisms, October 30/31 from Harvest Bible Chapel on Vimeo.

WEEKEND REVIEW - HARVEST ROLLING MEADOWS

2010-11-04T17:03:00.002-05:00

note: we've been using an instrumental of our offering special as the prelude music. It's working as a nice way of acclimating to the special music before people sit down and hear it performed. It's the little things :)

you can click on the images below to enlarge them..

Jeremy Riddle Songwriting Workshop - Harvest Naperville

2010-11-04T10:50:00.001-05:00

Just wanted to remind Harvest songwriters in proximity to Harvest in Naperville, that we have Jeremy Riddle hosting a song writers workshop this Saturday at 11am.

We will be providing a light lunch after the workshop. You are also invited to stay for our 5pm Saturday service as Jeremy and his band lead us in worship.

Our church address is:
1805 High Point Dr.
Naperville, IL
60563

Click here for directions

Let me know if you have any questions - dlidstone@harvestnaperville.org

Looking forward to seeing you there!

VISUAL CANDY

2010-11-02T13:56:00.004-05:00

Really excited about what our newly tuned video production dept are creating here at Harvest in Elgin. Here are 2 recent video's to share with you...

our new series at Harvest is called 'Get healthy'. I'm loving everything i'm learning.
here's a excellent intro video the guys made for this weekend that explains the whole series...

next, we recently used one of Meredith's songs as an offertory special. Coming from a family with adopted children, this song was written about a young boy Meredith met in Haiti who stirred her heart for further for adoption. The people in this video are all adoptive families from Harvest...

AT THE CROSS~ 10/24 in GRANGER

2010-10-26T17:58:00.009-05:00

For in Him the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.~Colossians 1:19-20

Sunday was a great, refreshing day at Harvest Bible Chapel in Granger. As we have been journeying verse by verse in Colossians, the verses above led us to contemplate the cross and the bloodshed on the cross that has brought us peace with God. With the recognition that the cross is not really a pretty picture, but rather a gory, display of torture and bloody death, we focused on the price paid for our sins. Recognizing that we need the cross of Christ in our lives, we put a BIG, rugged cross in the middle of the gym where we worship the Lord. Sunday we focused on the Cross and ultimately the name above all names, JESUS!

The service looked like this:

Nothing But The Blood- (A) Matt Redman

In Jesus Name- (B) One Sonic Society

Started the service upbeat, energetic, familiar, and focused on the blood of Jesus and the fact that by Jesus' death and resurrection, "It has all been done!"

WELCOME/ANNOUNCEMENTS

MESSAGE INTRO- Pastor Trent read the text from Colossians 1:19-20 and focused the congregation on the blood of Jesus that has brought us peace.

Oh Crimson Flow- (D) by Christ for the Nations. Reflective song...hymn feel with a refrain. Congregation remained seated, contemplating the cross.

MESSAGE- Listen HERE!

COMMUNION- This was cool. We actually had communion set up at the cross, so the congregation, section by section funneled to the front of the auditorium, and up the center aisle to the cross, where they participated in communion. It was a powerful picture after a powerful message. During communion, I played and sang, "Thank You Jesus For the Cross" and some other familiar songs on acoustic. As people got back to their seats, some stood and sang along, some sat and prayed...It was a time of worship, reflecting on Christ's sacrifice.

HYMN SING- We ended the service looking at the cross, thinking about the cross, and worshiping through familiar hymns about the cross. We did a medley of hymns:

At the Cross At the Cross-G

The Old Rugged Cross- G

Jesus Keep Me Near the Cross- G

When I Survey the Wondrous Cross- D

We did about a verse and a chorus of each song. We arranged them to flow one into another pretty seamlessly. Musically it was simply an acoustic guitar, piano, and 3 part vocals as the whole congregation belted out the familiar hymns. For "When I Survey" the band slowly came in until we hit "The Wonderful Cross" chorus LOUD AND PROUD! Sang the chorus of "The Wonderful Cross" twice and ended the service on a big note, cheering for the life we have in Christ!

It was a cool way to change up the order, to sing some oldies but goodies, and it was a convicting day picturing the blood of the cross shed for us! God is Good!

WEEKEND REVIEW HARVEST ELGIN

2010-10-25T10:02:00.000-05:00

1. Our God Saves

2. Holy
this song was written a while back and featured on a Vineyard album called by the same name. Although it's been in our song list for a number of years it never seems to get tired on our church. We've changed it a little since the original version but the upbeat groove combined with the vertical lyric proves to be a winner everytime.

3. Thank You, Jesus, for the cross

4. Always
James was preaching on 'deliverance' from the book of Exodus this weekend - which worked out to be this perfect weekend to introduce this song. I heard it a while back, then introduced it to our single adult ministry, Connect. The response was instant and overwhelming. Although songs can be a little musically inaccessible but the lyric is A++, it's worth pushing forward with it. With the low melody in the verse and then the sudden octave jump in the chorus, we found Bb to be the perfect key. Our church responded as we imagined - this song is anointed with a message that our church wants to be singing to the Lord through this season.

After the offertory special, we then finished with 'Lord, most High'.

HILLSONG CHAPEL

2010-10-23T14:15:00.001-05:00

A new record by Hillsong called 'Hillsong Chapel - Yaweh' hits itunes on Tuesday. For churches with growing worship teams (maybe an acoustic, bass, piano, percussion), it provides an interesting take on a lot of their classic songs. It's still very polished but does give a good take on how the songs can be played with a more acoustic heavy band. My only fear is that some of the arrangements have become a little sleepy - but they compensate with some vibey beautiful broken down colors to old favs.

track list:
01. Hosanna
02. You'll Come
03. Run
04. The Time Has Come
05. Saviour King
06. Yahweh
07. Came To My Rescue
08. Stronger
09. This Is Our God
10. You Hold Me Now
11. From The Inside Out
12. Mighty To Save
13. Salvation Is Here

HARVEST NAPERVILLE WORSHIP SITE

2010-10-22T11:00:00.000-05:00

The worship team led by Dan Lidstone at Harvest Naperville have just launched their new website at www.harvest-worship.com

They've done an amazing job centralizing all their resources, song lists, videos, original music and more into one tidy, clean and dynamic site.

make sure you save this site to your shortcuts.

great job guys!

NEW WORSHIP RECORD FROM HARVEST WEST OLIVE

2010-10-20T10:51:00.003-05:00

Hey there fellow worship leaders. Just wanted to drop a line and let you know about the new worship project from our church. We've been working on this for awhile with our band, praise teams and choir. We're really excited about it and hope you give it a listen. Maybe there's something on there your church would want to do. God bless and please....let me know what you think. The link is below.

SONG SETLIST SAMPLE

2010-10-19T11:50:00.003-05:00

Here is list of the past 2 months at Harvest in Oakville. What new or old songs have you been using lately that you find God's hand on in your sung times of worship?

A easy way to spit out a graphic like this is click on the reports link at the right hand side in your planning center, select the date-to-date and it will give you something similar.

SERVICE REVIEW: 10/17/2010 in Granger

2010-10-18T13:56:00.001-05:00

It was another great morning worshiping with the people of God at Harvest Bible Chapel in Granger! I truly believe that through prayer and a consistent focus on keeping the Gospel the center of all we do at Harvest, we are beginning to see people become worshipers of God who desire hard truth in their lives, and who long to be true disciples of Christ! It is exciting to continually, week to week, see this unravel in peoples lives! Easily one of my favorite few hours of my week!

The Order of service for this week looked like this:

Sing to the King (E)- Big intro, with exciting call to worship. Repeated verse 2, and when the lyrics say "For Satan in vanquished and Jesus is King," band held the note while everyone clapped and shouted and cheered....then went in for 1 more chorus.

The Solid Rock (E)- Charlie Hall's version of the hymn...

Your Name (A)

All Glory (E)

-PASTORAL PRAYER- out of All Glory, the music sat, and Pastor Trent came and focused the congregation on our Holy God, who truly does deserve all the glory, honor, wisdom, strength, and power!

ANNOUNCEMENTS

In Jesus Name (B)- Introduced One Sonic Society's new song,"In Jesus Name." I highly recommend this song for congregational use! The band sounded big on it, it is so singable and easy to grasp the melody, and it's truth is worth declaring. The people were on there feet by verse 2, and several told me how much the song spoke to them concerning their current situation...They said it helped them worship in the midst of their hardship and focus them on putting their trust in Jesus Name alone! One woman said it was the exact truth she needed to hear, as she lost her job 2 days prior! God is Good! (If you need the chart for it, comment on here with your email:)

MESSAGE- Colossians 1:17-18--The preeminence of Christ! Making Him first place in our lives. Having Christ at the Core of my life means His priorities become my priorities. Convicting stuff...Listen HERE!

Closing Song- Center (E)

COLOSSIANS 1:17-18

AND HE IS BEFORE ALL THINGS AND IN HIM ALL THINGS HOLD TOGETHER. HE IS THE HEAD OF THE BODY, THE CHURCH; THE FIRSTBORN FROM THE DEAD, THAT IN EVERYTHING HE MIGHT BE PREEMINENT!

I SURRENDER ALL

2010-10-13T15:34:00.000-05:00

Jacob Sooter and i wrote a new version of 'I Surrender all'. Same verse lyrics but with a new melody - and entirely new chorus and bridge.

If you can get past my pitchy vocal through the board mix, you get the idea of the song. It was received better than we thought (not all our new songs are received well!). It's one of those hymn re-makes that our people caught onto immediately and embraced.

all to Jesus, i surrender
all to Him i freely give
i will ever love and trust Him
in His presence, live

all to Jesus, i surrender
humbly at His feet i bow
worldly pleasures, all forsaken
take me Jesus now.

I surrender all
I surrender all
all to You for all You've yet to do
I surrender all

all to Jesus, i surrender
now i feel the sacred flame
oh the joy of full salvation
glory to His name

come fire, come rain
come joy or earthly pain
Lord, hear me when i say 'You are worth it'
and if this offering costs me everything
Lord hear me when i say 'You are worth it,
You are worth it, You are worth it all'

CANADIAN WORSHIP MUSIC'S BEST KEPT SECRET

2010-10-09T15:14:00.002-05:00

i remember the day Delirious? reached the top 20 on the UK charts and Simon Mayo, BBC Radio 1 DJ dubbed them 'Pop's best kept secret'. It wasn't just that Deirious? had been lying low til that point, but as they busted through the grass roots veil into the mainstream music scene, they did it with one almighty round house kick to the enemy's face.

I would commend to you that the very same thing is occuring from Canada's worship music movement. On tuesday of this coming week (12th) Joshua Seller's new record 'My King is coming' will be available to all who love to worship the Lord. In a similar vein to the musical muscle of Fee's 'hope rising' LP and the energetic ascension of Tomlin's stream of radio hits, this serious offering of Josh's has the clout to stand up shoulder to shoulder with any of those records flowing from the current musical spring of Christedom.

As we often cry out with the Psalmist, 'Restore to me the joy your salvation' (ps51), One of the forms in which God responds is by giving us vehicles of praise to ascribe worth to Him and communicate how awesome He is through the testimonies of other current psalmists. This vehicle is a GT500 in 'Joy' - and with Seller driving on a very specific route - get vertical. You'll hear as you progress through this 11 track offering, Joshua has a lyrical road map to drive his verses into choruses that shout of God's holiness, worthy-ness, worshipfulness, and glory. You won't find many records where that economy is so high - and refreshing to experience as it becomes a new friend to your album collection.

Lastly, what i really like the most about this record is Joshua. Having spent some quality time with him on and off stage in the last 4 years, it's been a joy for me to watch him find his feet pastorally and his direction sonically - and not without a distinctive and lovable energy on his part of that pursuit. I truly believe this record to be an accurate representation of Joshua's heart and life as a worshipper before the living almighty King who is coming.

Download it on your regional itunes this coming Tuesday.

WORSHIP SET, CANTON, MI 10/3/10

2010-10-08T12:15:00.000-05:00

God has really been blessing in our weekend worship services here in Canton! It's an awesome privilege to lead in worship each week. I thought I would post a recent worship set. I know we talked about doing this in the WL Web Conference, so here's what we did:

Welcome/Call To Worship: Psalm 18:1-3
The band hung on G and I drew everyone's attention to the fact that we are committed to singing songs that are in line with scripture - songs that say the same thing that His Words says about Himself. I mentioned that our first song actually comes from Psalm 18, we quoted it together, then went right into the song.

He is My Fortress - A (harvest song)
One Way - G
I Surrender All (All to You) - D (harvest song)
vs1, vs2, cho, vs3, cho, cho,
the band continued to play as I encouraged people to express to the Lord our desire as a church to be surrendered to Him. I encouraged everyone to express this physically to the Lord and to each other by lifting our hands together as we sing the chorus 2x's.
Cho, cho, end
HBC Church Plant emphasis: We had a couple pray for the Harvest that was launching that morning in Austin, TX. We've been doing this almost every week with all the new Harvest launches to keep before our people what God is doing through our fellowship. We have been doing it in different ways within our services
Revelation Song - D (Juli led)
We spent time discussing this transition with our announcement guy to make it smooth.
Announcements / Offering
Special: Your Love Never Fails - A

Message: Exodus 3-4
Close: I Surrender All (All to You) - Cho 2x's

HARVEST IS LOOKING FOR WORSHIP LEADERS....

2010-10-07T15:49:00.000-05:00

Over the last ten years I’ve been serving as a worship leader for Harvest Bible Chapel in Chicago, IL. Every weekend we serve 13,000 people on five campuses in the suburbs and the city of Chicago with high-impact worship services. It was around the time I joined the staff that our Senior Pastor, James MacDonald fronted a vision to launch independent Harvest church plants across North America and beyond. There are now 53 Harvest Bible Chapel locations, 42 in North America and 11 overseas.

During that time, it has been incredible to watch a community of gifted worship leaders and pastors grow together in community with one another. Many Harvest Worship leaders are in regular contact with each other and take part in a number of gatherings for training and fellowship.

Some of these current Harvest Bible Chapels and future churches are looking for worship leaders to serve in their ministries.
If you're not currently serving at a church, would you be interested in filling that role?

Rory Noland, Worship Pastor here in Chicago and author of Heart of the Artist says, “Basically, we’re looking for someone, first of all, who has the musical chops needed to be an effective worship leader. The person has to be able to sing and/or play well enough to draw the congregation into worship as well as garner the respect of other musicians and be able to give basic musical direction to their players."

“Prospective worship leaders also need to be team builders, recruiting and mobilizing musicians and singers to be part of a worshiping community. Their job is to equip the saints and to set others up for meaningful ministry experiences. Worship leaders need to see themselves as pastors and shepherds, not just someone who stands in front of the congregation singing worship songs,” Noland explains.

“The worship leader should be someone that others enjoy being around. We have to respect each other and be able to work well together.

“And last but not least, worship leaders need to be mature spiritually, exhibiting humility and teach-ability. They need to read God’s Word regularly, pray, and practice private worship as a spiritual discipline. They also need to model godly character. Leading worship in church is high calling and should be treated as a privilege.”

If you are interested in using your gifts to serve the ministry of Harvest Bible Chapel and to find out more about the locations currently in need of worship leaders, e-mail me at:
arozier@harvestbiblechapel.org

Send me in one e-mail your resume and any samples of you leading worship (video from Youtube or Vimeo would be best, audio alone would be second choice)

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Andi Rozier
Associate Pastor of Worship Leadership
Harvest Bible Chapel

Read more about the Harvest Bible Fellowship

5 REASONS TO GO TO CHURCH CONFERENCES

2010-10-05T08:56:00.001-05:00

I just got back from a conference in New Jersey where I was asked to speak and share a little bit about songwriting and a pretty cool thing happening with WorshipRises. It got me thinking...

Sometimes I think conferences get a bad rap in church staff world because people are either scared to ask to actually go to something they think might be interesting and helpful, or staff are scared to send their leaders because they would be out of the office and away from real "ministry".

So here it goes. 5 Things reasons to attend a church conference.

1. Inspiration: whether or not you think you need it, inspiration comes in many different forms and provides many different functions to someone who has just got back from a couple days outside of their "bubble". People talk different outside of our normal church life, they think different, they do things different. Maybe better, maybe worse, but these types of events help gauge what you want to keep doing and what you want to change and why you want to change it. Maybe hearing a new speaker or worship leader communicate to you will spark a new or deeper wisdom that the Lord wants to grow you in.

2. Community: This word is way over used in church circles...so I thought, "hey why not use it again"... It's become the new "fellowship" but less churchie. A lot of time ministry staff forget how impactful strangers can be. In most scenario's you don't know a lot of the people you're singing next to or doing lunch with and this gives space to tell your story, to remember your ministry and where God has brought you. It also gives you the ability to listen to someone else's story. Maybe their ministry situation is way worse then yours and you realize how little you have to complain about. It forces remembrance and gratefulness and aligns why we got into ministry to begin with. The church (people).

3. Atmosphere: A lot of churches do church the same way every weekend; You see the same faces, the 4 song, announcements, offering special, sermon, close becomes old and you begin to find yourself in the motions because you know what to expect. Being outside that and not in charge free's you up to just "be" and lean in to to what the Lord is urging instead of what is next. A different worship centre, room, state, bed, or Coast can be greatly used by the Lord to help you find some much needed peace and rest. Getting into a new atmosphere and environment clears the mind and hands the megaphone back to the still small voice.

4. Fun: Whoever said ministry shouldn't be fun is dumb. I love my job and can work hard and still have fun in the process because of the love I have for the Lord and what He has called me to. Conferences provide great sessions, powerful worship moments, but they also give room for laughter and memories with those you traveled with or met there. I met some really great people I had never known before this past week and found myself having a blast sitting around a circle of strangers and a few old friends and laughing and unplugging from being too serious.

5. Discernment: This word simply means "the ability to judge well". To do this from a ministry perspective requires 2 things: The first is the Lords gifting on you to carry this out in and through out your ministry, we know this rests with some greater then others but I think the benefit from church conferences and growing in our ability to judge well is this. When you go to many conferences you will meet people that won't do things the way you would do them. They may not come to an understanding regarding a doctrinal issue or ministry philosophy as you do...and that's OK....'cause your job isn't to correct everyone or give your opinion in the few days you're there...you're job is to soak in and take home all that God has for you in this short period of time. Your ability to judge and discern what exactly that is will be the task. I'm wired to hear something and then usually get it on the flight home. Slower than desired, but my little brain begins to digest and chew on what it is that struck a right or wrong note in my heart and it's then I can begin to test that to Scripture and recognize where I need to change or where I need to focus my discipleship when I get home on those under my ministry. It's not about who does it right and who does it wrong its about understanding why we do it the way we do and backing it up from God's Word. Don't get lost in the debate and miss out on ministry.

I'm thankful our Elders who support church conferences and events, we even have deemed it "Leadership Development" and have sent volunteers to specific conferences or events that might equip or build up their ministry...and its working! Buying someone a book on leadership and sending them to a conference where the leadership is implemented are two very different things. It helps visualize what we are trying to achieve or in some cases not achieve.

JEREMY RIDDLE - SONG WRITING WORKSHOP - HARVEST NAPERVILLE

2010-10-01T13:31:00.000-05:00

Hey, if you're a song writer and in proximity to Harvest in Naperville, Jeremy Riddle is hosting a song writers workshop there on Sat Nov 6th at 11am.

Jeremy has written songs such as 'More than a friend' and 'Sweetly Broken'.

More info can be obtained from Dan Lidstone, Worship Pastor at Harvest Naperville.

see you there :)

3 FIVES

2010-09-25T16:24:00.000-05:00

One of the topics of discussion in our worship leader's video conference last week was a lacking of new, good fives. In kind of a providential sampling of some new songs this afternoon, I was led to these three songs that really inspired me. They are for sure going in the "will do" list of Fives for me. Give them a listen and let me know what you guys think.

"Forevermore" by Jon Bauer
"Alleluia to the Lamb" by Klaus & Kari Jobe
"Stand in Awe" by Jeremy Riddle

How awesome that we get to lead our churches in vibrant, thoughtful ascription to God! To Him and Him alone, all glory, forever!

ORDER OF WORSHIP: GRANGER 9/19/2010

2010-09-19T14:56:00.000-05:00

I am just pumped about what the Lord is doing in the congregation at Harvest Bible Chapel in Granger! Today was another incredible time worshiping the Lord and hearing from His Word. There is an excitement in the building that you can feel when you walk in..."Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is Liberty," and people are excited about their freedom in Christ!

The service today was as follows:

Call to Worship: Upbeat....band vamped on 'G.' Congregation stood and I opened with Psalm 36:5-6 "Your steadfast love, O Lord, extends to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds. Your righteousness is like the mountains of God; your judgments are like the great deep..."

Forever- G/A

Everlasting God- A

Our God- A

God You Are My God- B

*With prompting people declared names of our God aloud...acoustic and synth...

God of the Ages- B- began with the bridge, "Who can compare, who can compare, to You..." started with just acoustic and built it into a big chorus and then one quiet chorus.

*Pastor Trent came and continued to focus the congregations hearts on our great God through prayer...

Announcements

Song: The Highest And The Greatest- A- Song by Tim Hughes...congregation quickly stood and joined to lift up the Lord of All. (can't keep 'em in their seats!)

Message- Colossians 1:1-2

Close- Your Grace Is Enough- G

It was a good day! Nothing better than lifting high the name of Jesus with fellow brothers and sisters in Jesus! PRAISE GOD!

WORSHIP CENTRAL BLOG POST

2010-09-17T18:42:00.000-05:00

Check out Brenton Brown's blog (say that 10 times fast!) on the Worship Central website. He mentions Andi and Pastor James at the beginning then delves into the Harvest Philosophy of Worship.

SERVICE REVIEW: 9/12/2010 IN GRANGER

2010-09-14T16:56:00.000-05:00

Today was INCREDIBLE!!! The Joy of the Lord was in the auditorium, the congregation, the servants, our Sr. Pastor, and myself! We had an incredible celebration through music and the word of God today...people were shouting and singing and clapping and rejoicing in the name of Jesus Christ! It was so exciting as we kicked off a new ministry season at Harvest Bible Chapel! God was gracious to meet with us and came to us in worship and His Word this morning!

The theme for the new year, as well as our series title is "Christ at the Core." Everything revolves around what is at the core of one's life. With this series, we will spend the next 15 to 20 weeks walking through verse by verse of Colossians; keeping the focus chapter 1:16, "...that in all things he may have the preeminence!" Jesus is the first, the last, the center, the head, the supreme, the highest, the greatest, and no one or thing can compare to Him! As sinners saved by grace, we need Christ at the Core of our lives. He holds everything together.

And we aren't simply suggesting that we need Christ at the core in this series...If you notice the tagline, "NOW BRING IT," it is not enough to say we are Christians. Paul states in Colossians 2:6, "As you have received Christ Jesus, SO WALK IN HIM." The truth is, if we say we have the hope of the gospel, we must keep Christ the center of all that we do! We exist simply for the glory of God...To make much of Christ!

The order of worship today looked like this:

Hosanna (Praise Is Rising)- G

You Are Good (Israel Houghton)- G

Mighty to Save- A

The Greatness of Our God- G

*Scripture: Revelation 5:8-10

Revelation Song- D

Announcements

*Scripture Reading- 5 different readers alternated, reading the entire first chapter of Colossians (band played lightly behind, and the people cheered at the end of the chapter!)

*Special- "God Of the Ages"-(B) by Travis Doucette. (Song written right out of Colossians, congregations stood right away to sing aloud the Christ centered lyrics!)

Message

Closing song: Center- D

It was such a powerful morning in worship! God is doing awesome things at Harvest and He is giving the people a great joy in their salvation! It was so uplifting to see people getting on their knees, and hearing people shouting names of Christ aloud! The name of Jesus is being lifted high and it is humbling and exciting to be a part of!

God Is Good!

SHOWING THANKS TO SERVANTS

2010-09-11T19:53:00.000-05:00

We had a pig roast tonight with the servants from Harvest Granger's worship team and their families! It was a good night of fellowship with some of my favorite people! Above shows our group (some absent from the picture) who serve every week in leading people in worshiping Jesus Christ...whether it's technically, musically, vocally, or through preaching, we all have an equal role in lifting high the name of Jesus! The worship ministry at my church would not be the same without these incredible servants who dedicate so much time to learning songs, making videos and graphics, showing up early on Sunday mornings, running word projection, and so much more! I am so grateful for their families as well who give them up on Thursday evenings for rehearsal and show up early on Sunday mornings. God has blessed us at Harvest not only with talented musicians and tech team members, but with worshipers who are passionately seeking Him with their lives! God is faithful and God is good!

As worship leaders, you know how valuable the people who serve from week to week are. You know how much you rely on their gifts and talents and time, and I'm sure you are thankful for them. It is so important as a leader of a worship ministry to show that thanks and appreciation to all those that make "worship ministry" happen every Sunday! Whether it be through a team gathering every now and then, or an encouraging email after a service on Sunday, affirm in your team their service to the Lord! Let them know that what they are doing is so meaningful to you, to your church, and is pleasing to the Lord!

What are some ways that you show appreciation to the servants in your worship ministry?

FIGHT THE GOOD FIGHT-SINGLE

2010-08-21T10:01:00.000-05:00

My church Harvest Bible Chapel just released a single called "Fight the Good Fight" co-written by our senior pastor Robbie Symons, Kuba Sosulski and myself. The song comes straight out of a sermon series we were in and the key text for this song is 1 Timothy 6:12;

"Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses."

Download it today:
iTunes Canada
iTunes USA

SCRIPTURE MEDITATION | VISUAL

2010-07-04T16:32:00.001-05:00

Thanks to Rony Mikhael for creating these visuals for a time of scripture meditation today. We had our piano player play a instrumental underneath as they came up on the screen (about a minute and a half each slide).

GOD, YOU ARE MY GOD - 'SING!'

2010-06-29T13:00:00.000-05:00

We're always trying to encourage our Harvest worship leaders to share from their hearts or take an opportunity during the worship set to do a short teaching. This example was from last weekend’s services. Andi did a short teaching on the word “sing.” It was everything you’d want from a worship leader in terms of speaking. It was brief, to the point, interesting, had great content, and drew people deeper into worship.

PRAYER

2010-06-27T16:47:00.000-05:00

This was adapted from the book "Valley of Vision". Unlike most prayers, this prayer is directed to the 3 person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit and gives great meaning to His role and our need of Him through out our worship time. Hope it helps.

O Holy Spirit,
As the sun is full of light
The ocean full of water
Heaven full of glory, so may my heart be full of You!
Give me Yourself without measure
As an unimpaired fountain
As inexhaustible riches.

Come as power
To expel every sin, to reign supreme and keep me walking in your will.
Come as teacher
Leading me into all truth, filling me with all understanding
Come as love
That I may adore the Father, and love him as my all
Come as joy
To dwell in me, move in me and stir my heart with passion
Come as light
Illuminating the Scripture, molding me in its laws and direction
Come as sanctifier
May my Body, soul and spirit be wholly Yours.
Come as helper
With strength to bless and keep, directing my every step.
Come as beautifier
Bringing order out of confusion, loveliness out of confusion.

Magnify to me Your glory this day by being magnified in me,
That my life would reflect all that You are!

A WORSHIP LEADERS PRAYER

2010-06-16T16:00:00.000-05:00

I received a new edition of Worship Leader Magazine today. The entire issue is geared toward worship leaders being "Stewards of Technology." We all know that "church" and "worship" is done in many different ways in this day...video, lights, art, band, etc. In a day where technology is more and more present in a worship service, it is completely, and utterly vital to remember that the greatness of our God trumps all relevance!!! A church can have all of the coolest lights and videos, and the best sounding band, and the coolest songs, but miss the entire aim of worship if it is not simply to respond to the greatness of our Triune God!

Anyways, often I don't find a ton of stuff in Worship Leader Magazine, but I found this prayer by Ken Gullikson that I feel is a great prayer for us as worship leaders to pray for our own ministries, particularly, the prayer for discernment in what we use and in light of the source of worship. As worship leaders, lets never lose sight of the greatness of our God. May we always use technology and new forms of worship to point people to Christ and boast in HIS greatness!!!

PRAYER by Ken Gullikson

Our Father,

We're utterly in awe of what you've done to communicate with us,

To reveal yourself and your purposes!

The very heavens declare your glory!

You've called a people to be agents of revelation;

You've spoken through prophets and the tools of the written Word

and ultimately your Son--Thank You!

We praise you for using every available tool to reach us with your good news,

for restoring our relationship with you,

And we thank you for inviting us to invite others,

and make disciples, to build your Church

In Jesus' name we pray that you continue to enable us

to take full advantage of every means available,

to be open, alert, and faithful stewards of all resources

that can enhance lives of worship and service!

Give us exquisite discernment

so we can recognize the source of our ideas;

keep us humble

so we can receive grace and reject the temptations

to presume, to be clever, to compete;

build us together with others whose gifts and callings

make us a body functioning as one

under the headship of Christ and the leading of the Holy Spirit.

You're the creator of all things;

open our eyes and hearts to every resource available,

giving us even new means to fulfill your purposes.

And give us the courage to follow your leading

to Your glory!

In Jesus' name we pray

and eagerly wait, AMEN
(Worship Leader Magazine(June); Prayer by Kenn Gullikson. Pg. 34)

National Day of Prayer Backgrounds 1.0

2010-05-05T14:26:00.000-05:00

Here are some "grungy" NDOP projection backgrounds for you to borrow if you need them...
I though they might be helpful....

SONG SUGGEST

2010-04-17T08:42:00.000-05:00

My friend Luis Vargas from Toronto has created this iPhone app specifically for finding songs in specific keys, topics or tempo's. Check it out as the library of songs is consistently growing. You can download it here

SongSuggest for Worship Leaders. iPhone App Demo from WorshipApps on Vimeo.

HE PAID MY DEBT (VIDEO)

2010-04-15T15:01:00.000-05:00

For our Easter services we added a short 1 min video inside the song "Jesus Paid it all". I got the idea from Andi Rozier when they incorporated a short testimonial during a song that song of God rescuing sinners. My wheels got turning and I though a simple statement could say so much to our church and make this familiar song with even more impact. There is no music accompaniment so the director just pushed play when we got to the point in the song when we would sing the bridge. the band just vamped on the B and then when the last person had said "he paid my debt" I could go right into the bridge without any hi-cups. It worked great!
Here is how we implemented it; Verse 1, Chorus, Verse 2, Chorus, Verse 3, Chorus, Video, Bridge, End

EASTER VISUALS

2010-03-31T14:48:00.000-05:00

HARVEST UNIVERSITY - WORSHIP LEADERS DINNER

2010-03-17T17:05:00.000-05:00

Harvest staff Worship Leaders,
or staff Worship Pastors....

are you coming to Harvest University on April 19th-21st?

if so could you let me know.

I'm trying to organize a dinner for Harvest worship leaders to get together and connect with one-another.

you can comment on this post or email me at arozier@harvestbiblechapel.org

thanks.

EASTER SONGS

2010-03-16T13:00:00.000-05:00

Easter is just around the corner. Usually our service tends to plan itself with so many people making suggestions in the weeks leading up to the planning meeting . There are so many options for songs and so little time to get them all in. Today Ben Cantelon (a Canadian, now residing in the UK and working at HTB) released this song 'Saviour of the world'.

I remember 'Happy Day' by Tim hughes was released just before we had our Easter Together service a few years back. There just wasn't room to get the song in and we ended up waiting a whole year to use the song. Crazy to think back about that now.

A few others that have and haven't made it this year are:

Rise and Sing - Fee
Christ is Risen - Matt Maher
God is alive - Fee
Happy Day - Tim Hughes
Lift up the name - Josh Caterer
Stronger - Hillsong
True love - Phil Whickam
How Great is the love - Paul Baloche and Meredith Andrews
the Power of the cross - The Gettys
Jesus Messiah - Chris Tomlin
Christ is Risen - Jeremy Riddle
Stand in Awe - Jeremy Riddle

These are just to name a few.

Which songs have you been choosing from for your Easter service this year...?

NEW ALBUM FROM MATT MCCOY

2010-03-16T12:58:00.000-05:00

the new full length record 'heaven calling' from Harvest Worship Leader Matt Mccoy is available now to download.

Matt has been on staff at Harvest (Rolling Meadows campuses) for around 8 months and was working long hours before that time to complete this project. 'Heaven Calling' is a punchy reflection of Matt's worship style and youth orientated writing.

It's been a joy to work alongside Matt and i'm looking forward to seeing these songs used at Harvest - and for what the Lord does through this project as it begins to touch hearts.

Matt's website is here - where you can also download the project before the physical release date.

NEW EP FROM JOSHUA SELLER

2010-03-16T01:44:00.000-05:00

The new e.p 'Passionate Reverence' from Joshua Seller, Worship leader for Harvest in Oakville, Canada is releasing on April 6th.

Here are some links:
Joshua's Myspace
Joshua's blog

and a video previewing 1 min samples of the new songs...

more to come on this e.p and how to get a copy...

help needed

2010-03-12T12:11:00.000-06:00

Hi guys and girls,

So i recently (this past sunday) got back to chicago and started my positon as worship director at Harvest Gurnee. I am really excited about what God has been doing at this church and what he is going to continue to do in the near future.

Part of my goals for this year is to develop the music team in both size and ability as musicians and leaders and as it stands my resources are quite limited. i am hoping this will change in the future as more people come and decide to offer their gifts.

However for now we are making do with the people that we can get but i wanted to put out a general request/enquiry to see if any of you as leaders know of any drummers/bass players who would be interested in attending, or just volunteering to be a part of the worship ministry here at Gurnee?

if you do know of any people could you have them contact me on 312-498-7534 or dan.j.andrews@gmail.com

thanks for your help, i hope your ministries are being blessed.

Projection Backgrounds 3.5

2010-03-04T14:13:00.000-06:00

I haven't posted projection backgrounds in a while. Some of you guys found these helpful. Feel free to steal these if they are useful to you.....

BROWN BAG PRODUCTION GATHERING IN ELGIN

2010-02-16T15:26:00.001-06:00

Hey, if you are a production member and can make the brown bag gathering in Elgin this coming Thursday then drop Joel Smith a line at jasmith@harvestbible.org to let him know you're coming!

A LESSON IN WORSHIP FROM THE GREEKS

2010-02-16T12:53:00.000-06:00

One of my favorite studies I've ever done was the study of the word "worship" in the New Testament. Several times we see the word "worship," and to us, it has one distinct thought and meaning, but literally in the Greek language, which made up the New Testament, there are three separate words and meanings for our one word, worship. I always found this fascinating because we easily throw this word around today and a majority of the time I would say that it is used to describe music that takes place on a Sunday morning. That is not bad, and the music on Sunday morning is meant for worship, but the Greek translations help us apply this simple word to our everyday life in an array of areas. Ultimately, we know that to worship is to bring God glory and worth....but not just in song! Also, in service, in waking, in sleeping, in eating, in drinking, etc. Read below the three different words and meanings that in the Greek, make up our one word, worship.

PROSKUNEO- to kiss like a dog licking a master's hand, to fawn or crouch, to prostrate one-self in homage, to reverence, to worship

*Matthew 28:9- "And as they went to tell His disciples, behold, Jesus met them saying "Rejoice!" So they came and held Him by the feet and worshiped Him!"

*John 4:24- "God is spirit and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth."

*Revelation 5:14- "The the four living creatures said, "AMEN!" and the 24 elders fell down andworshiped Him who lives forever and ever."

SEBOMAI- to adore, devout, revere, religious, worship

*Acts 18:7- "And he departed from there and entered the house of a certain man named Justus, one who worshiped God, who's house was next to the synagogue."

*Acts 18:3- "saying: "this fellow persuades men to worship God contrary to the law."

*Acts 16:4- "Now a certain woman named Lydia heard us. She was a seller of purple from the city of Thyatira, who worshiped God. The Lord opened her heart to heed the things spoken by Paul."

LATREUO- to minister, render religious homage, serve, to do service, worshiper

*Acts 24:11- "because you may ascertain that it has been no more than twelve days since I went up to worship."

*Philippians 3:3- "For we are his circumcision, who worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh."

*Hebrews 10:2- "For then, would they not have ceased to be offered? For the worshipers, once purified, would have no more consciousness of sins."

Ultimately, worship could really be broken down as worth-ship, where the ultimate meaning is giving worth to God. But, as we look at the three Greek words above, all translated to English as worship, we see how our giving worth to God is done in more ways than one. Proskuneo gives us our word, prostrate, with the sense that we bow before God in all his greatness as we worship.Sebomai is an adoration that is devoted religiously to worshiping God in everything we do; (by religiously I mean constantly, just as Lydia constantly adored and worshiped God with her life.) And Latreuo means we serve out of worship for God...or we go with the intent to worship God.

Each of the words above bring worth to God in worship, but describe different postures for our worship. At Harvest Bible Chapel we often say we are to worship, walk, and work for Christ. It's funny to me that in a sense, the Greek words for worship cover these things. All three are done with the intent to bring God glory and give Him worth. We need to worship facedown in reverence (proskuneo), walk as worshipers adoring Christ in all we do (sebomai), and work for God with the intent to worship Him and give Him glory in our service (latreuo)! The depth of this simple everyday word to us, according to the inspired original language of God's New Testament, spurs me on to worship God more in every aspect of my life. I hope it does the same for you! I hope this shows you that in everything God is to be worshiped, and that only comes through surrender. May we surrender our lives wholly, so that in everything we say, do, eat, or drink God might be worshiped.

"Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen" Jude 24-2

ENCOURAGING, INSTRUCTIVE EMAILS

2010-02-12T16:58:00.001-06:00

I intercepted this e-mail from one of our band leaders to a new(ish) drummer who's stepping up to the plate for us this weekend. I thought it was a great combination of encouraging and instructive - and i'm loudly promoting more of it...

"Thanks for being willing to play on such short notice. I've been excited to have you play in Meadows on a big weekend for a while now. There are a couple of things I want to make you aware of in the set. You are the drummer, so you are the quarterback in alot of ways. You have to be really certain of the transitions and formats. We are going to try to stick to the formats I've got listed below, but its always a good idea to bring a pen with you to mark down the changes that will certainly occur in rehearsal. Right now here is what we have:

Prelude: Hallelujah For the Cross (Intro, V1, V2, PreCH, CH, CH, intro)

***Amena Brown (guest poet) will do a poem/call to worship and we build the bridge of "Salvation is Here" under her

1. Salvation is Here - (Bridge building, Intro, V1, intro, V1, CH, intro, V2, CH, CH, Bridge, drums CH, big CH, intro)

2. I Call You Faithful - bring your pen on this one because we tag "Great are Your Works" (Intro, V, intro, V, CH, intro, V, drum hits V, CH, CH)

3. You Alone Can Rescue (down V1, V1 with drums, CH, V2, CH, CH with ending tag)

***Amena Brown poem

4. You Alone (V1, V1, CH, V2, CH, CH)

****Communion
5. He Is Exalted (Chorus only

Announcements

Offertory Special "Our God Is Greater" - EXACTLY like recording on Planning Centre"

BAPTISM VIDEO - ROLLING MEADOWS CAMPUSES

2010-02-08T09:36:00.001-06:00

We haven't had a spontaneous baptism weekend for over a year (i think?). It was incredible to watch so many people JUMP from their seats at the call to come forward. I am always, in a way 'changed' by hearing stories of other peoples changed lives. I know many others are too. It is an honor to witness this incredible weekend at our church... God's church, His people.

(if you want to count, you'll see every single person who was baptized in the video!)

Baptism Highlights 2010 from Harvest Bible Chapel on Vimeo.

RISE OF THE VJ

2010-02-02T10:13:00.001-06:00

This morning was the first time i heard the term 'VJ' (Video Jockey) used in a conversation. I'm pretty sure i'm not out of the loop - maybe it's cos i moved my office to a quiet corner? Anyway, Sources close to me tell me that the production world spotlight is starting to shine brighter on this selfless creative contributer of worship services. 'Hurrah' i say!!

with that said, Joel Smith introduced me to a guy he knows named Stephen Proctor who goes by the title 'WorshipVJ'. Stephen is known by gear heads to be somewhere near the top of the mountain of sought after VJ's on the planet and is on the leading edge of this new creative wave.

FREE ALERT!! Just to sweeten the moment, if you have a vimeo account and are using pro-presenter you can download a whole truck load of FREE backgrounds from the Worship VJ right here.

injoy.

QUESTIONS?

2010-01-29T15:59:00.000-06:00

if we all got a big conference call together....

1. what should we talk about?
2. what would you like to talk about?
3. any questions you want to e-mail me.... arozier@harvestbiblechapel.org

let me know?

Harvest Crystal Lake campus

2010-01-28T19:52:00.000-06:00

1.Holy Holy (lift up His name)
2.I call You faithful
3a.Holy, Holy, Holy (v1)
open mic scripture set up (Holiness)
3b Holy, Holy, Holy (v3, v4)
open mic scripture reading
4. our God is greater
prayer
5. all glory (tag)

special: God is - the Burlocks

WORSHIPER OF THE WEEK: HANNAH

2010-01-27T12:41:00.000-06:00

A few days ago I began reading the book of 1 Samuel for my time with the Lord in the mornings. Since, starting I have not been able to get out of my mind the amazing worshiper found in Hannah. As I believe God calls us to be worshipers of Him and that He is seeking such people(Jn. 4:23-24), It is always encouraging to me when I read about people who fit the description of a worshiper of God. May we as worship leaders apply principles from these worshipers, in order to better glorify God for all that He is worth!

Hannah is a woman who went through a hard time. Hannah was unable to have children, but apart from that, her husband had another wife who had many children. Peninnah, the other wife, would constantly ridicule Hannah for not being able to have children, which left Hannah crying, not eating, and very sad. Her story is better told in 1 Samuel 1-2, and I would encourage you to read it on your own. With this post, I want to highlight what stands out to me concerning Hannah the worshiper.

If you'll notice the picture above, it portrays Hannah crying out to the Lord at the temple in her distress. This scene is seen in 1 Samuel 1:9-18. What first stands out to me about Hannah the worshiper is that her distress and sadness led her to call out to the Lord. She found her hope and her strength in God alone. Psalm 18:6 says, "In my distress I called out to the LORD; to my God I cried for help. From His temple He heard my voice, and my cry to Him reached His ears." The true worshiper understands that our "help comes from the LORD; maker of heaven and earth" (Ps. 121:2). And not only that, but God hears His children!

Hannah was a worshiper of spirit and truth. To worship in spirit is to let the Lord in the most inner part of who you are...YOUR SOUL. As Hannah met with the Lord that day, Eli saw her as she prayed and asked, "How long will you go on being drunk?(1 Sam. 1:14). Hannah replied, "No my Lord, I am a woman troubled in spirit. I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but I have been pouring out my soul before the Lord,"(1 Sam. 1:15). Just as alcohol has the ability to take over ones actions, her actions were overtaken as she cried out to God! What a powerful picture of a worshiper in need of what only the LORD can give!

1 Samuel 1:19 states, "they rose early in the morning and worshiped before the LORD." Before anything Hannah worshiped the Lord God who is worthy of praise. Yes, she had desires for her life on earth, but none of that came before worshiping her Jehovah God! I love the picture of worshiping the Lord early in the morning before anything. This is a discipline I am currently working greatly towards in my own life. Hannah's prayer in distress contained a vow to God, that if He would bless her with a son, Hannah would "give him to the LORD all the days of his life..."(1Sam. 1:11). Well, before long, God blessed Hannah with a son, whom they named Samuel, meaning "I have asked for Him from the Lord,"(1 Sam. 1:20).

Another aspect of Hannah being a worshiper is that her treasures were stored up in the LORD. Imagine having a son, after being unable to have children, and taking a few years to raise that son. I'd say we would all become pretty attached to him. Well, as Hannah vowed to the LORD, she raised Samuel until he was a young child and took him to the temple to leave Him there with Eli in dedication to the LORD (1 Sam. 1:27-28)! As much as she probably loved and adored Samuel, her love, adoration, and dedication to the God of the universe was far greater. A true worshiper realizes that the blessings here on earth are for God's glory alone, and pale in comparison to God's greatness. Naturally, Hannah had earthly desires, like having a child....who doesn't? But Hannah's true satisfaction was found in the LORD, and her ultimate goal was that he was worshiped.

And finally comes the cream of the crop concerning Hannah the worshiper. Even after dropping off her only son who was but a child, Hannah prays a beautiful prayer of adoration and worship to God! She begins in 1 Samuel chapter 2:

My heart exults in the LORD;

My strength is exalted in the LORD.

My mouth derides my enemies,

Because I rejoice in my salvation.

There is none holy like the LORD

There is none besides you;

There is no rock like our GOD...1Sam. 2:1-2

Hannah continues and I ask you to please read through this incredible prayer of worship in 1 Samuel 2:1-10. Then, read through a second time as a prayer from your own heart. Hannah worshiped in the greatness of our God! She got the vastness of who God was. She recognized that God worked toward every extreme, such as "The LORD kills and brings to life...the Lord brings low and he exalts,"(1Sam. 2:6-7). Hannah recognized that even in a time that was probably difficult for her, God was steadfast and unchanging and worthy of her worship! O how I long to harness this attitude of worship and perfect it in my own life.

Let us strive to respond to every blessing in our lives in worship to our God. When we are in need, may we cry out to God. Psalm 116:2 says, "He has inclined His ear to me, therefore I will call on Him all the days of my life." May every aspect of life, lead us to our Sovereign King and Loving Father, that we might cry out to Him in adoration, praise, and divine worship. I praise God for the example of Hannah the worshiper. I pray that as worship leaders, we would portray the qualities found in Hannah's worship, and that we would effectively lead our people to a proper understanding of what it means to be a worshiper of Christ!

GET YOUR WORLD ROCKED.

2010-01-26T20:49:00.000-06:00

Watch this.

"we need to mature at the rate of need, not of convinience"

...and listen to this (not quite as convicting!).

Marc Broussard will hopefully get saved one day.
Until then, this guy 'Chris Mcclarney' hit the ball OUT THE PARK!

Chris is actually the writer of 'Your love never fails', recorded by Jesus Culture which i posted the video of a few weeks back.

Here's a video from one of the tracks from the record:

WEEKEND REVIEW - ELGIN

2010-01-26T16:17:00.001-06:00

80+ people came to Christ this weekend. That's the high point.
James preached an incredible message in his continuation through the book of Revelation. He also mixed in a report from his trip to Haiti, with pictures - and ultimately, a challenge for us to act and to repent.
Here's the rest...

In the content+creative world, this weekend worked great. On all campuses the worship teams responded well to the plan as they used it to lead.

We tried two new things this weekend:

1. We regularly have 'God at Work' video's in our worship sets. Usually we roll them in between songs, people are seated, and each video lasts around 3-4 mins. This weekend we tried a condensed version within a song that ran just under 2mins - people stayed standing.

2. This was the first week we rolled out a new version of 'Hallelujah for the cross'. James suggested to me a while ago that we bring it back. I had some major reservations, mostly on the lyrical side - so i got my head together with Jacob and Josh and ended up changing 30% of the lyrics, the 4/4 time signature to 6/8 and made (what i think) to be some major melody upgrades.

I've uploaded below here a large part of the set. Let me break it down...

- 'Hallelujah for the Cross' (new version)
- transition into 'You alone can rescue' - Bethany Smith reads from Psalm 145 v13-21
- The band is playing a groove i've affectionately called 'John'. It's the combination of a drum groove with the snare turned off, the keys playing pads, and guitars adding some etherial sound over the top. It takes a while to finesse it - and now i just refer to it as 'John' and everyone seems to get on board. Not the best choice of names i know.
- After v, v, ch - we roll into the shorter 2 min 'God at work' video w/ Bill Weter
- out of that we reprise the rest of 'You alone can rescue'

(it's a whole 8mins of service - so be patient to let it load)

Outside of this, we played 'Awesome King' going into 'Hallelujah for the Cross'
After 'You alone can rescue' we went into 'the stand' and a chorus of 'I surrender all'

At the end of the service we prayed a prayer that was written for us by Josh Caterer.
Josh did a great job with this. It worked beautifully - and totally got us to a vertical place at the end of the set.

here it is:

(Prayer NOT on screen. Worship Leader prays after
“I Surrender All” to close worship set.)

Lord Jesus, we surrender our ALL to You;
You who laid down your life for us, to pay for our sins;
You who are now exalted to the highest place,
far above all thrones and powers and rulers and authorities.
You are the Sovereign One, the One who made the universe and who sustains all things by your powerful word.
You are the Matchless One, the King of kings
and Lord of lords, who alone is immortal
and who lives in unapproachable light,
whom no one has seen or can see;
and yet you call us into fellowship with yourself;
you invite us to come before your throne.
And so we come, with reverence and humility,
and we surrender our ALL to you, the All-Powerful God,
who is able to keep us from falling
and to present us before your glorious presence
without fault and with great joy.

“Now let’s lift our voices together and read this out…”
(Scripture verse ON SCREEN)

To the only God our Savior,
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
be glory, majesty, dominion
and authority, before all time,
now and forever. Amen.

(Jude v25)

GEEK SQUAD BROWN BAG-IT

2010-01-21T12:28:00.000-06:00

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Worship leaders, please pass this on to your production staff/volunteers.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Calling all production team members/leaders-

Let's have a Brown Bag-It lunch together!

We're all serving in our own respective "trenches" and we need to pull up, see what others are doing, and form a little community outside of the stress of the weekend services. We want to talk about the latest and coolest gear, discuss training methods, and have some fun. It's going to be a great time!

Just as all Harvest Bible Chapel worship leaders have created a community that fosters development, we want to do the same. Granted, we probably won't look as cool in our black SHURE t-shirts and jeans, but at least we can try!

So, for those of you that are within driving distance of the Elgin Campus, here's the details:

Thursday, February 18 @ 11:30am-1:00pm

Harvest Bible Chapel, Elgin Campus - Worship Center
1000 N. Randall Rd.
Elgin, IL 60123

You bring your lunch, we'll provide the drinks.

Please RSVP to jasmith [at] harvestbiblechapel [dot] org

SONG OF THE ANGELS - JOSH SELLER

2009-11-05T10:27:00.000-06:00

Congratulations to Josh Seller from Harvest in Oakville, Canada - who was nominated and then recently awarded the Scripture Song Award by the Canadian Gospel Music Association.

Josh deserves this more than for the song itself - but because he puts the energy into continually developing his craft as a writer - and this song is a glimpse into that pursuit. With that said, i hope that for the remaining years i'm entrusted to lead God's people in worship and beyond- Josh's songs will be shown favor on and used by many worship teams wanting to sing truth to God in new, creative fresh ways.

I had the honor of partnering with Josh to record this song. Here's the video of the song from the 'Lift up the name' DVD and the news report from the Canadian Bible Society...

"More than 350 songs were submitted to the competition for the categories, Song of 2009 and Scripture Song of 2009. The judges narrowed the list down to six finalists for both categories and Joshua Seller was the Scripture Song winner for his song entitled, Song of the Angels. The Scripture in the song is found in Revelation 4.8 and 4.11.

Joshua serves, as worship leader at Harvest Bible Chapel in Oakville, Ontario and it is his desire to write songs for the church and to see God glorified through his ministry. About winning the Scripture Song Award Joshua says, “2 Timothy 3:16 tells us that, ‘All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness’. God will draw men and women to himself and use His Word to help us better know and love him. Writing songs that are theological and doctrinally sound is a key component in seeing our Saviour displayed both Biblically and accurately. This award brings such honor and joy to know that my Lord would use music to display His glory throughout Canada. Our Country needs Jesus Christ and what better way for people to understand Him better than through His Word. I commend and count it a privilege to partner with the Canadian Bible Society in their endeavor to see God’s Word go out across Canada.”

Joshua Seller will be the guest of honour at the CBS office in Toronto on November 17, 2009 where he will share his testimony and his song. On this day, Joshua will receive the custom Nova Scotia Crystal Award and a complete CD recording package at AME recording Studio from CBS National Director, Ted Seres. Rev. Seres says, “CBS is thrilled to have sponsored this award and we look forward to doing this for years to come. It is critical for God’s Word to be impacting our culture and this is just one example of how the Canadian Bible Society is partnering with individuals and organizations to accomplish this goal.”

WORSHIP TIME IN GRANGER!

2009-10-28T12:28:00.000-05:00

So a couple months ago, we filmed a worship time on a Sunday morning, particularly for the electric guitarist school audition video. The sound quality turned out pretty decent for being on a little camera and I was excited to hear: 1.) the band from off the stage and 2.) the congregation singing! I wish we would have panned the congregation, but its just a still camera throughout the set, but I was brought close to tears as a gym full of worshiping voices declared "I'll stand with arms high and hearts abandoned..."

The set in the video is:You Never Let Go, Blessed Be Your Name, The Stand, My King(chorus)

I praise God for my church family and for all that he is doing in Granger. If you have a free 20 min, worship with us!

Service In Granger from Micah Klutinoty on Vimeo.

THOUGHTS FROM THE WEEKEND

2009-10-18T23:30:00.000-05:00

Here are some of my thoughts from the weekend in Oakville,

Thinking through the song to follow your call to worship only serves the Scriptures greater by immediately singing what you just said. I read Psalm 100, giving 4 "requirements" we can see that God is asking us to bring when we come to worship Him. It forces people to choose if they will really worship or simply miss out on the blessing that is promised to the obedient heart.
An song order of the Harvest "1 - 5" proves again to be a practical way in leading people upward from gathering to exalting.
I'm not really big on trying to match the special with the sermon text because sometimes it is a far stretch and comes off cheesy. This weekend though we did "Teach us to Pray" which went over really well, and set up the sermon greatly. Thanks to this guy who wrote it.
Our rehearsal time Saturday night was noticeable powerful and free. A sense of what God was about to do was even sensed while we were finishing the arrangements and final touches to the service.
This weekend especially, there was a huge out pouring of the Holy Spirit. Our senior pastor was overcome with tears for the entire sermon on Saturday night. It was amazing to see the congregation respond at the end of the message when he gave an invitation for people to come forward for prayer and salvation.
We sang "as children" over the congregation (words on screen but everyone seated) and gave them time to reflect on what God was presenting to them through His Word.
The struggle to allow the Holy Spirit to lead all 3 services in the way He wants rather then what we know could possibly happen is so important. Knowing the close of your service could equal a huge crowd of people responding to God at the front of the worship centre shouldn't be the goal if it happened before. The goal should be to remain faithful to the a clear gospel presentation and then by faith believe the Holy Spirit will do the rest.

Call To Worship: Psalm 100

Bless His Name (Chorus 2 times)
Blessed Be Your Name
Worship Rises
None but Jesus
Holy Holy Holy

Special: Teach Us To Pray
Sermon: Prayer is Essential

Close:
As Children
Invitation
We Are Hungry

TURNING STAFF INTO MULTIPLIERS

2009-10-16T09:29:00.000-05:00

I received this article from our executive Pastor. It's an amazing way to look at ministry and your role if you serve in vocationally or not. One of the things we say at Harvest Oakville is, "if you are away for a weekend or event and no one notices, then you're doing a good job."
Translation.
If I'm not here on a weekend or special event and things run smoothly, are Christ centered, and those filling in are properly equipped to lead God's people then that's a really good thing.
It's not a pat on my back or a, "Job well done Joshua", but rather the standard and norm we are trying to translate across the board in all ministries.
I know that's a big shift in thinking for many of you. The pressure to "perform", to live up to the worship leader status is obviously a much used ploy by the enemy that lies to us by saying we must sing more, do more, write more, record more or else our worship ministries will fall apart.
Turning our eyes outward instead of inward helps me look for people that I can affirm, elevate and give opportunity to in our church to use their gifts for Christ and the edification of the body.

"If we catch you doing ministry, you may lose your job." That's what one pastor tells the paid church staff. I was stunned until I heard the reasoning behind such a warning. It's all about multiplying ministry.
At a "Me to We" training at Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas, I met an incredible couple, Pastor Vernon Armitage and his wife, Charlene. Vernon and Charlene have been at Pleasant Valley Baptist Church in Liberty, Missouri, for 38 years. The church has grown from around 100 to more than 4,000, and it's one of the best examples of an equipping church in the country.
One of the fundamentals at Pleasant Valley is that paid staff members aren't hired to "do" ministry; they're hired to train and equip others to do ministry. While most churches are constantly on the prowl for ministry talent, Vernon and Charlene have come to realize that they don't want adders; they want multipliers. That means they want to find people who understand a certain ministry but also have the skill set to develop teams and individuals, who are the frontline people. Prima donnas and superstars need not apply.
Imagine getting fired because you were doing ministry. But if your job is to be developing others, than yes, it makes sense. When it comes to embracing the equipping value in churches, the strongest resistors are often staff members because the transition to equipping ministry requires them to revise their self-image. That's because the traditional ministerial mindset is "I'm here to use my talent and to serve you." But that's adding ministry. No wonder so many churches feel stuck, so many staff members feel overworked, and it seems like you never have enough people to cover the bases.
Obviously, this transformation has taken a few years, but now Vernon and Charlene no longer look for staff members who are the best talent and "doers." They look for people who understand a skill or ministry and also have the ability to develop others. This is a different approach than most. The more difficult areas tend to be in worship, technology, and administrative assistance. Not everyone made the transition. For example, informing a typical administrative assistant that his or her new job is to develop a team of unpaid officer workers doesn't seem to make sense. But it works.
One of the biggest challenges is that staff is used to enjoying the benefits that come from being ministry doers. We get more strokes for "being there" and "sharing our gifts." It's far more humbling to watch others get affirmations and be perceived as God's servants. But that's what multiplication is all about. In Exodus 18 Moses began taking a backseat as he started developing those who'd oversee groups of 10, 50, 100, and 1,000. This sort of logarithmic progression helps us to avoid pastoral burnout and minister far more effectively. Plus, by developing others we raise their commitment, provide them with fulfilling roles, and create a culture people enjoy.
Start thinking about what you can do to move your ministry leaders into minister developers, not doers. Help them discover the joy of serving behind the scenes, knowing that they're ministering to far more people when they equip others for ministry. This is a natural ego-checking process, requiring that we step out of the limelight at times and share the ministry stage with many others."

PROJECTION RESOURCES

2009-10-15T14:56:00.000-05:00

Here are 2 backgrounds we just created for upcoming nights of worship and prayer services. Feel free to add the date, time and any info to fit your needs. Hope they are cool enough for you. :)
Love from the North-

HOW TO RATE YOUR WEEKEND SERVICE

2009-10-10T13:25:00.000-05:00

The staff at HBC were given a ministry checklist to ensure, and keep us accountable to how we are doing in our area of ministry. As young leaders, you want feedback, debriefs and ways to make your role more impactful and meaningful.....but how do you get that without bugging people with the question, "What did you think of the weekend worship?"
The below headings, if answered honestly, will keep your weekend services and ministry about the main thing, Jesus Christ and His glory!
I pray this is a great resource for you and your ministry.

Music/Worship Ministry Checklist:
Biblical; Was it clear that every element in our service was rooted in Scripture. Were the songs biblical, was the scripture read, was the word preached was the giving and the invitations to involvement tied to biblical prescription?

Excellent: Was there an obvious quality about everything that happened during the service? Were the speakers, singers, ushers greeters and every participant obviously gifted, trained and personally prepared to make sure that their role was fulfilled with a level of quality that speaks to supremacy of the One we worship.

Variety: Does each service give evidence of being made “from scratch?” Is their variety of moods, i.e. reflection, remorse, rejoicing? Variety of themes, cross, holiness, person of Christ, season elements, a particular attribute, a comforting portion of Scripture? Variety of content, and service order, and creative elements? Etc. Was the prelude, postlude and "call to worship" thought-through and engaging?
Verticality: Did the service "get there"? Was there an intentional progression to a prolonged and reverent time of pure ascription, where "who God is" was celebrated and we were "resized" acknowledging the difference between Creator and creature?

Vocal Participation: Were the vocalists, excellent, humble in deportment and dress on and off the platform? Were they emotionally participative and authentically engaged in modelling worship to the congregation not only while they participated but as they listened to the word preached etc.?

Instrumental Participation: Did our musicians give evidence of significant giftedness and excellence in their participation. Were they humble in deportment and dress on and off the platform? Were their transitions easy and natural and free from distraction or disruption to the flow of worship?

Creative Elements: Were there additional elements chosen for the service, such as and invitation to prayer, a responsive reading, or media element, a story of God at work in our church or one of the ordinances, or variety of the order of the elements, at least one traditional element each week? etc. Were elements added to avoid predictability and negative reliance upon routine?

Exemplary: Were our pastors and worship team obviously aware of the need to model before others our passion for authentic participative worship. Was everyone “on the team,” from the drummer to the preacher, obviously engaged in the service on a personal level. Eyes, closed, hands raised, bibles open, notes taken, etc?

Volunteers: Is there an increasing number of gifted and well trained people participating in the worship ministry both visible and serving behind the scenes. Does the ministry itself give evidence of recruiting, training, deploying and reviewing effectiveness of their volunteers and also discipling them.
Testimonies: Have we included testimonies of God's transforming power over the past few weeks? Baptisms? Salvation testimonies? Healed lives and marriages? Have the stories been told in diverse and creative ways, live and through media, and in a way that gave the credit to God alone at work in our church?

WEEKEND REVIEW - Rolling Meadows

2009-10-04T09:46:00.000-05:00

Prelude: Beautiful One
1. Glory of God (harvestsong)
2. All hail the power of Jesus' name (with new chorus)
3. You alone can rescue
- call forward for prayer
4. (reprise) You alone can rescue
5. Your name
ss: Lord Most High (C, C)

announcements

special: Made me glad

Message

Close: All Glory / Soon.

Great Service In Granger!

2009-09-29T21:53:00.000-05:00

We had one of our best services this past Sunday at Harvest Granger! God showed up as did a record number of people for us in our 8th month of actually being a church. Everything flowed so great and it was just a great morning. First off, when we were setting up, I was randomly playing and singing Crowder's "How He Loves" off the new CD and the band just started playing along. Before we knew it, we had it down like perfect, and decided to just play it as a prelude as people came in. It was different for them, but it sure got people in their seats quicker and it prepared my heart greatly. Such a great song.

From there it went:

Here I Am To Worship (music started big, then with music playing I gave an upbeat call to worship)

The Solid Rock (Charlie Hall's version, revised a bit, of the hymn....awesome!!!)

At the Cross- Hillsong

When I Survey (The Wonderful Cross)

We Fall Down (Chorus repeated declaring he is Holy)

Time of Prayer: Pastor Trent came and everyone got on their knees to seek the Lord in worship as we were led to His throne!!! Prayer and reflection

Message: "God's Blueprint for Marriage" Gen. 2

Creative Movie clip: "When Harry Met Sally"

Center- Charlie Hall

Announcements

The Solid Rock

It was a great service and things flowed extremely well. Praise God!

Weekend Review - Harvest, Elgin

2009-09-20T12:09:00.000-05:00

Back on stage with the choir this weekend. Split worship set - love it! New song by Hillsong 'Soon' as James is preaching through Revelation - such a strong song!

We have a problem though, being a video campus in Elgin on Saturday night - that when the worship team at the Rolling Meadows campus goes long - we have to make up some content on the spot so that we can 'take' James live and not clip into them finishing up their worship set. This is something i am not afraid of - in fact, i really love to have that little extra room to be free and let the spirit lead me in leading a few more songs.

With that said, this exact problem happened this Saturday night and i had to make up 6mins on the spot. I lead our church in time of personal prayer on our knees before the Lord and then we sang 'so let Your name be lifted higher' from 'Stronger'. The spirit was moving strong in the room, you could feel it. But it reminded me of this - Music is powerful tool in the hands of a Worship Leader. Music can connect with the mind and manipulate the 'vibe' and even emotion of the congregation. However, music is just a form - and the Holy Spirit cannot be manipulated - only He can speak lasting change into the soul. I've seen too many scary Worship Leaders over the years that have got this wrong. We are just a tool in the hands of a Holy God, entrusted with His Word and a form that God uses to do much more in hearts than just evoke singing and clapping. Enough said.

Here's what we did...

Special: Souled Out - Choir
1. Awesome King (harvestsongs)
2. I call You faithful
3. Stronger
4. You name (2 choruses)

Announcements

Special: The Lord is my shepherd - Choir

Message: Rev 1:12-20 - James

5. How Awesome is Your name (V1, Ch, Ch,)
6. Soon (V1, V3, Ch)
7. Song of hope.

BLOGS: MATT BOSWELL

2009-09-11T12:23:00.000-05:00

At the recent WG09 conference, Matt Boswell came up and introduced himself to me. Such a nice guy. He knew a lot about Harvest and i recognized his name from reading some of his blog posts. Matt is the Worship Pastor in Keller, TX. I subscribed to his blog, living worship directly and have been blessed and impacted by his wisdom in worship leadership. Below is a new post from Matt - giving some wise words to church planting worship pastors...

Think like a pastor in the way you lead worship.

If you have the title of worship pastor, then be a worship pastor. As a worship leader, you have a sacred trust in leading the people of your church in worship on a weekly basis. This is your most visible form and influential scope of pastoral ministry. With this in mind, use your stage time wisely.

In scripting liturgy, you should clearly think through the songs you are choosing so that they are biblically faithful, Theocentric, Gospel-centered, and evangelical. Begin to ask yourself if the songs you are choosing are the best songs for your church to be singing. There are so many songs available now to the church, we have to be specialists at narrowing the scope. This is a pastoral function, just as your lead pastor filters through commentaries to separate truth from error. How do the songs you choose affect and teach the theology of your people?

Look for opportunities to serve your people in a pastoral function. Modeling corporate prayers, and praying the scriptures are a great way to teach your people how to pray. Champion and teach on the scope of worship in the church, the family and in personal devotion. The more you think pastorally, the more you serve your lead pastor. These are great ways to start thinking like a pastor.

Think like a pastor in the way you lead volunteers.

As a church planter, you don’t have the opportunity to specialize, you have to function as a generalist until you are leading enough people to help shoulder responsibilities. As the worship leader, you are dealing with many of the same tensions.

You may be the worship pastor of a small church, and also doing student ministry, or helping with small groups. You are probably responsible for all media elements of a weekend service. This can be overwhelming if you are expecting to be able to show up with a guitar, plug and play. The refining process of having to build something will forge the foundations of character. Embrace this season of ministry and allow God to use these things as both a means of sanctification and also a tremendous opportunity to grow as a leader.

Recruit as many people as you can to serve in ministry. I am not calling for mediocrity when it comes to excellence. I am calling us to be better equippers of men rather than assessors of potential. Early on, I did everything except run sound during our services. I wasn’t qualified, but I was available and wanted to serve. As our church grew, I recruited people to help with everything, and have tried to empower them for ministry. Many worship leaders bottleneck their ministry growth by only allowing a few select people to participate in worship ministry rather than actively recruiting people. Think like a pastor in the way you lead.

Think like a pastor in the way you live.

Live the Gospel out in front of your people. Without a heart to see your community impacted by the Gospel, you will end up being a hindrance to the mission of your church. Look at how your lead pastor lives and imitate what he does. What comforts has he sacrificed in planting a new church? There is great sacrifice required in the process of church planting. There is also great reward. Where does he spend his time? Many worship leaders miss the opportunity to invest quality time in strategic leaders within their church. If you are not spending regular and consistent time with people in your church, make it a priority.

Look at your role as worship leader more as a partner in ministry rather than a musician for hire. This again is a different way of viewing your role in the church, which needs to be clearly defined and communicated from your lead pastor. What we need to avoid is pulling the musician card as an excuse for things we are comfortable with, or things that don’t come natural. There are no excuses to not living out the Gospel in a sacrificial way.

My prayer is that we as worship leaders will embrace the fullness of our roles within the context of our local churches. There is a price to pay in spiritual growth, but the prize is Christ. I pray we will walk with a renewed awareness of our priesthood, and operate in its fullness. I pray that you will be a blessing to your church and serve her in a Christ like way, in laying down your life for her – the greatest demonstration of pastoral love.

HALLELUJAH, OUR GOD REIGNS - MICAH KLUTINOTY

2009-09-11T11:00:00.000-05:00

Micah, Worship Pastor at Harvest Bible Chapel in Granger, Indiana just wrote this new song "Hallelujah, Our God reigns'. Micah is a strong worship leader and growing song writer with his heart fixed on knowing Jesus more and more each day - this song spilled out of his quiet time with the Lord yesterday. I listened to it last night and found myself singing it on the way home in the car. Great work Micah, great song! thanks for blessing us with it.

Hallelujah, Our God Reigns from Micah Klutinoty on Vimeo.

Hallelujah, Our God Reigns
Music and Lyrics by M. Klutinoty

Verse 1:
In you name there’s hope
A love beyond compare
With each passing day
Your mercy finds a way.

Verse 2:
A King Beat and Bruised
Led to the Cross
Was nailed there to die
And He was crucified

Pre-chorus 1:
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Our God Reigns

Verse 3:
The King placed in a grave
Sealed behind a stone
The ground began to shake
On the third day He rose (begins to build)

Pre-Chorus 2: (building)
Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Chorus: (Band Big)
Our God reigns, forever He reigns
Power and strength, are found in his name
In Christ the Son, Victory is won
With angels we sing, the wonders of our King
Our God reigns….

Verse 4: (beginning riff driving)
By the cross I’m free
In your death there’s life
Through your blood I’m cleansed
And given life Again!!!

What "Up Tunes" are Winners?

2009-09-10T16:32:00.000-05:00

I could use your help!

We are going to be adding some new up-tunes to our repertoire. I'm looking for some tunes that have worked exceptionally well for your church. I'd love to know what up-tempo, call-to-worship songs you are using that seem to really connect with your Harvest.

Currently we are having a good response to:

Everyday
Everything That
Hosanna - Praise is Rising
Love the Lord
Majestic
Sing to the King
He is my Fortress

I look forward to your comments.

5 QUESTIONS VOLUNTEERS ASK

2009-09-09T10:22:00.001-05:00

1. When do I serve?
A central place with an updated schedule helps your volunteers know when they are on. We try and book in a 3 month increment to give people the chance to plan ahead. planningcenter has a brilliant way of giving users the chance to block off dates they know they will be unavailable to serve.

2. Who is on my team?
Serving with people you don’t know is ok for a while, but helping people know each other will only benefit their performance. Remember your first day of high school? Have parties, dinners, prayer time, special events, anything to grow unity and love amongst your volunteers. Hearing what people are asking comes much clearer if you already have a relationship with them.

3. How do I do my job?
We did a small poll and found that some of our current volunteers knew the equipment they were being asked to use on a scale of 10 about a 3. That’s a bad number and poor leadership. Since then we have brought in a pro audio engineer for weekly training and courses, found video tutorials, blogs, links to sites that can help our users how to get the most out of the equipment. Keeping the gear at maximum running condition is vital too. Check for software updates, do an inventory, dust the gear, store the equipment properly. Do something so those who serve under you are equipped to serve with good working equipment.

4. Who is in charge?
This is huge. Do the volunteers know who is making the final call? There has to be a point person, someone who has caught the vision and loves the mission of the ministry. They need big picture, big motivation and a desire to love people through leading them. Outside of the weekend, volunteers need a place to debrief, request more training or speak frankly. Do they know who is in charge and feel they can approach with anything?

5. Who helps me technically?
If there is a technical error or issue, does the team members know who to go to or ask for help. Especially if the issue is during a worship service.

"The Mediation of Christ" in our Worship

2009-09-09T09:57:00.000-05:00

Okay...Worship Leaders need to read this article from 'Worship Leader Magazine,' entitled The Mediation of Christ. Most of you just checked out, but check back in and take 20 minutes to read through the article. I plan to go through it with my worship teams, and would love to communicate it's truth to the entire congregation here at Harvest Granger.

The focus is on the fact that our worship is simply joining the worship of Christ, and our songs and prayers and declarations go straight to Jesus, our High Priest and mediator, that He might offer them wholly and perfectly to our God. One quote from the article says, "The common emphasis on excellence in platform presentation or liturgical leadership portrays a view of worship that has shifted the basis of worship from the mediation of Christ, to the mediation of the worship team or the Pastor." I never want to lead people to believe that their chief source of worship is in a Sunday morning song-service! Rather, I long for congregations to understand the gospel, and the mediation of Jesus, that they might offer their worship 24/7, knowing that Jesus is the infinite, holy, and perfect worshiper, and is there on our behalf.

Take the time to read through it:
http://www.worshipleader-digital.com/worshipleader/200909/?pg=22

9-6-9 Set in Prescott

2009-09-08T16:16:00.000-05:00

Prelude
Picnic Video
Worship Set #1
· Love the Lord
· Your Grace is enough
· Blessed Be Your Name
Pastoral Prayer
Friendship Folders
Simulcast Announcement and Video
Men at War Announcement and Video
Offering
Worship Set #2
· Song of the Angels
· Praise the Father, Praise the Son
· Stronger
Message
Closing Song - Stronger (Reprise)
Postlude

Here is a nifty little announcement video we used to get men interested in our upcoming Men at War Bible Study. Simple videos like this one seem to work for us and are not very difficult to create.

Oh yeah...I got the local Christian radio DJ to say the words "Men at War" for me.

Weekend Review - Harvest Rolling Meadows

2009-09-08T09:26:00.000-05:00

For a service without a sermon, I was extremely nervous (see 2 posts down). It'll never be a format that will even be regular - but it turned out to be a powerful service reflecting on God's faithfulness.

Redman's new communion song went down great. Such powerful lyrics.
more video to follow as i get hold of it.

Prelude: (piano)

1. Blessed Assurance / This is my story (V1, C)
Video: (with James & Kathy intro section in the middle)
Blessed assurance (V2, C, V3, C)
Video: James & Kathy Testimony video

2. Holy, Lift Up His Name
3. Salvation Is Here

Video: Josh Caterer’s testimony video

Testimony: Tara
5. Befriended

Friendship Reg./Announcements/Baloche Song: John Smith

Offering Special – Jesus Saves – Andi/Tara w/loop

Testimony: Andi
6. Thank You, Jesus, For The Cross
7. Tis So Sweet

Testimony: Dave & Diane Learned
Set Up Communion: Dave Learned (Campus Pastor)

8. Communion Song (Redman)

Receive Communion: Dave Learned
9. Nothing But the Blood (Redman)
10. Glory to God

Close: Dave Learned

WEEKEND SET IN OAKVILLE

2009-09-06T11:12:00.001-05:00

Hey worship leaders- I wanted to let you guys know the music set in Oakville this past weekend. It was a rocking set, and a theme of authority and power in our God. I saw people, in all 3 services respond greatly to the truth found in these lyrics. We kept the first 3 songs in the same key which was great making the transitions for each seamless. Glory to God and Lead me to the Cross were sung as specials. Both are great songs but not familiar enough or singalong-able (I made up that word) as the rest of the set. I direct linked each to the itunes files.

Bb How Great Thou Art:
Bb Lord of All:
Bb Not a god (You are God alone)
C Stronger
B Glory to God
D Lead me to the Cross
B Bless His Name:

THIS WEEKEND...

2009-09-04T15:52:00.000-05:00

... will be interesting! A long, long, long time ago i worked for a church where the Senior Pastor would every once in a while boycott the message because he believed the Lord had something to say to us prophetically through the songs. Bells rang so loud, i got a headache. Bottom line, he had nothing prepared. The exposition of God's word is also prophetic bro (to be clear, forth-tell, not foretell) (1 Cor 14:26).

But i equally have a many problems - one of which is swinging to extremes like a pendulum - so since then i've been a little wary of never having some kind of sermon in the service. This Labor Day weekend however, our senior pastor is away for one more weekend before he jumps into the mighty task of leading us through the book of Revelation. We're taking a chance and having a whole service based on God's Faithfulness through testimony. Psalm 71:15 says 'My mouth will tell of your righteous acts, of your deeds of salvation all the day, for their number is past my knowledge." In the last few years we've made a stronger move toward the consistent sharing of testimony in our services. If testimonies are about us, they are just stories - if they are about God and His grace, His Mercy, His love - and bathed in scripture then it can bring powerful truth into other people's lives. I'm excited about it. They'll be 7 testimonies on each campus.

Then at the end of the service, our campus pastors will encourage the church to write their own testimonies out in 3 sections...

1. I was...
2. But God...
3. And now...

It's a good practice to have. Know your testimony. Know the point that you came to Christ. Know what you were and who you are now because of grace. Great application.

We're also singing 2 new songs i'm really excited about.

Remembrance (Communion Song) from the new Matt Redman album

and this one...

Song of the Angels

2009-09-02T17:10:00.000-05:00

Do any one you guys have a chart written for the "Song of the Angels" tune off the Lift Up the Name (Live Worship) album?

September Update

2009-09-01T20:40:00.000-05:00

I've been so encouraged over the last few months to see J424 really begin to pick up some speed. It's been a goal of mine to connect Harvest Bible Chapel's worship leaders together for a long time now. It's a small step of how far we could create functional connectivity between all of us - but it's one step forward - and since this site has been active, it's been so great to see some of you guys using this tool and then to read the responses that follow. We all stand shoulder to shoulder in ministry, we all have very similar job descriptions, undertake the same tasks during the week and obviously at the weekend - and also share in some of the same struggles of leading the worship ministry within our church. I hope that as we pick up some pace we can begin to benefit from each others knowledge and experience.

There are 27 leaders on the contributors list so far. That's great! I've asked around a little about what people want from the blog - and the general vibe is:

- weekend reviews
what songs are you using every weekend. how do you use scripture, prayer and other forms within your services?

- building teams
how do you recruit and disciple people serving in your ministry?

- resources
what music are you listening to, what books are you reading?

- needs
prayer requests, council on purchasing equipment etc

if you can, please try to take a few minutes to update the blog now and again.
it appears that there are about 35 on average unique visits per day - so if you're not reading it every day - someone is! :)

have a fruitful month ahead in ministry.
cheers, andi.

Christ-Centered Worship

2009-08-28T12:26:00.000-05:00

Bryan Chapell, President of Covenant Theological Seminary, just published his brand new book called, "Christ-Centered Worship: Letting the Gospel Shape Our Practice." I ordered this book and can't wait for the insight from it. It sounds as if it will be a great resource for congregations and pastors and anyone trying to align their worship with biblical principals. Take three minutes and watch the video below, to understand where the book is coming from.

Spirit and Truth Worship...

2009-08-26T07:50:00.000-05:00

Probably something that we as worship leaders frequently remember and turn to is worshiping in spirit and in truth. However, there are so many different views of what that truly means in our worship. Here's a little worksheet lesson I put together for the worship team time this week, explaining what it truly means to worship God in spirit and in truth. (Sorry the formats a little thrown.)

Spirit and Truth Worship
John 4:23-24:
But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the father in spirit and in truth; for the Father is seeking such people. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth.

*Spirit and Truth worship of God is not a desirable element and guideline, but that which is absolutely necessary!

1. Worship in spirit-
a. Worshiping in spirit speaks of the human spirit
b. “Jesus’ point here is that a person must worship not simply by external conformity to religious rituals and places (outwardly), but inwardly (“in spirit”) with the proper heart attitude.” J. Macarthur
c. Worshiping in spirit means meeting God on a soul level.
1. “The soul represents the deepest part of who we are. That’s the level on which God wants to relate to us, the point at which we meet him in worship.” R. Noland
2. True Christianity starts with surrender!

2. Worship in truth-
a. Worship of God consistent with the revealed scriptures
b. Centered on the “Word made flesh…”Jesus Christ...
1. To worship in truth we must have a proper view of who we are called to worship.
2. Scriptures often say, “Worship God through His Son Jesus Christ. We must understand the relationship between Jesus and his Father.
3. Jesus ultimately revealed who His Father was (Jn. 14:6)
c. Worshiping in truth means we worship God for who He truly is.
1. “Becoming a worship leader isn’t about the pursuit of a ministry or a career; it’s the pursuit of a person. Out of knowing God, we make him known—we are first worshipers and then worship leaders.” Andy Park

Worship Backgrounds 1.1

2009-08-25T12:47:00.000-05:00

Here are some worship backgrounds I used last spring for a series we did called "The Glorious Battle." Feel free to use them if they are useful to you:

NEW PLANNING CENTER OPTIONS

2009-08-14T08:56:00.001-05:00

Planning Center Online has introduced some new user options to make it even easier to work with muli-servant ministry. It really is one of the best resources for any worship leader and their ministry, especially if you're "artsy" and lacking in the "administrative" area. We use planning center for our Youth, Young Adults, Children and Weekend services and it keeps everyone informed, involved and up to date. They have a blog where the post any new updates or options available to existing PCO accounts. Check out the text message option! Brilliant.

FROM HEAD TO HEART

2009-08-09T16:13:00.000-05:00

One of the best pieces of advice I took away from the WorshipGod09 conference was how to help the congregation connect with the meaning by explaining a specific truth of the song. That might look like a scripture that supports the lyrics, or a small exhortation to help the point click.
Recently one of my favorite albums is Hillsong: Faith+Hope+Love. Favorite track? "Yahweh"
I came across this video on my friends blog and wanted to share it with you along with giving a great visual to how a simple song can bring new meaning when the lyrics are better explained.

Yahweh - Hillsong Faith+Hope+Love from Fred McKinnon on Vimeo.

Ever have someone better explain a song and the lyrics, I'd love to hear about it...Comment!
Too, what are lines or songs that you would like help with better understanding or creative ways to explain them. Post and reply if you see one that you might be able to shed some light on....

WORSHIP TEAM VS. PRODUCTION TEAM?

2009-08-04T08:38:00.000-05:00

Mike Silliman posted this video on his blog. Great discussion starter and so funny.

WHY WE SING | A MUST HEAR

2009-07-31T09:28:00.000-05:00

I just listened to a talk by Rob Bell (the NOOMA guy) from Mars Hill.
He explains a very practical topic of why we sing songs and what kinds of songs we sing in church.
Throw out your view of Rob Bell and listen to this talk.
I am interested to hear peoples thoughts
Comment!

Hear is some verse references regarding singing too

USING LOOPS WITH YOUR BAND

2009-07-31T09:11:00.000-05:00

Does your band use loops in your services?
Loops can be a click track dialed in to 1 tempo or more complex with a digital beat or added instrument to give a more "fat" sound.
It seems that in a digital world, many bands are finding the benefits of loops and click tracks.
I will admit that it is a hard transition and many churches don't make the move because of pure technical know-how or fear of having a "oh crap" moment when it royally messes up.
I have followed this website for about a year and this guy has great, practical hints to help people like you and me to get over the technical hump and on our way to a tighter, more locked in sound.

Check out the WorshipLoops blog here and follow there twitter here

Small Group Testimony Video 1.0

2009-07-30T14:32:00.000-05:00

We made a few promo videos for the weekend to announce small groups. Here is one of them. It is spliced together testimonies - professionally shot from sermonspice.com. Let me know if this would be helpful for you.

WHEN EMAILS LIKE THIS COME

2009-07-28T09:10:00.000-05:00

If you've been in church ministry for any length of time you notice people love to spill their heart to you.....via email. I think it's just something that we need to get used to. People won't just stop sending emails, voicing their "concerns" and not thinking how words can so deeply hurt you. As worship leaders, and growing in our leadership development I think this letter will can serve as a "case file" for how we are to react, or not react and all the while doing it in genuine love for our congregation.
What's key is you know why you do what you do and you can explain it to someone who asks.
Why do you clap your hands, have the lights down/up, ask people to greet one another?
All these are generic questions to your service and worship environment and are valuable things to think about.
Here is a letter I recently got from someone I have never met nor anyone else on staff knows who they are, but they put their name, which was good (I removed it for their privacy).
So here is the question, do you have a plan in place to answer emails like this? If so, share it with the rest of us.

The Email:

As a lifelong musician I have a passion for music, especially music which is God glorifying and Christ exalting. I have had the privilege of being involved in public worship ministry within Christ’s church in varying capacities. I would like to begin by saying that the music team at Harvest Oakville is exceptional. They are an extremely talented and gifted group. I appreciate the fact that the team is multi-faceted, using the abilities of many and not just a select few. They are polished and well-prepared in their delivery. The selection of music is biblically sound, theological, and grounded in the Faith. The sound team does a great job with the balances and the volume levels. In short, Harvest is blessed to have such a fine music ministry team.

As a personal note of insight, my experience has taught me that a good music team is only part of the equation for effective, Spirit-filled worship. Too often the worship team takes the place of prominence and the congregation gets overlooked as a major component of the church’s worship. What I mean is that the worship team should act merely as the vehicle through which the Body of Christ enters into a passionate expression of worship, praise, repentance, and adoration. During congregational singing, the worship team should virtually disappear and the congregation should become the prominent worshipping Body of its exalted Head. When this doesn’t happen effectively then the worship team is not doing its job properly. So, what exactly is the worship team’s job?? The best answer to this question is Christ’s own example:

John 13:4 He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist.
John 13:5 Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him . . . .
John 13:12 When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, "Do you understand what I have done to you?
John 13:13 You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am.
John 13:14 If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet.
John 13:15 For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you.

The main role of the worship team should be humble servant hood of the congregation. Not showmanship, not entertainment, not a stage show, and definitely not a one-sided concert where the congregation become spectators. A worship team, or any ministry, is most effective when it takes up its towel, ties it around the waist, and begins serving the saints in lowly humility and love. As it relates to Harvest music, I have noticed that many of the song selections fall into the classification of “complex” or “difficult” when it comes to the sing-ability factor. Whenever these songs are played, noticeably many fewer of the saints sing along, including myself and my wife. The time of worship then becomes a time of concert watching and the congregation is no longer being served effectively. As a servant role, the worship team should think of itself as a car. It is there to serve the transportation needs of the congregation. If the car is not user-friendly or is too complex to operate, then the congregation will not be easily and readily transported into the corporate participation of Christ exaltation.

Please do not receive this as negative criticism. Rather, I speak in great love and gentleness. I am not discrediting the music team or its members. They are a gifted group. However, some of the song selections are indeed better suited to accomplished musicians and recording artists. These songs tend to have complex melody lines, unconventional versification, and unpredictable structure. This dynamic, combined with the high skill of the team, often leaves the rest of the congregation in the dust, so to speak. This results in noticeably much less participation in these songs.

Additionally, it is difficult for the common saint to sufficiently learn the complex pieces when there is a high turn-over of music selection from week to week. It would be helpful for the whole congregation to sing a healthy number of familiar favorites. I’m not suggesting that we sing only retro worship songs. It’s just that too much “just new released” music can greatly hinder those who are not on the cutting edge of the contemporary worship scene from worshiping with their whole heart.

As a word of friendly brotherly insight, Harvest would be far greater served and blessed in their worship of Christ if the mission statement of music selection was ‘Servant hood In Simplicity.’ There is nothing wrong with contemporary Christian music as long as it is sing-able, readily learnable, and not overly complex for congregational singing. Let us then be vehicles of worship so that we may, together as one Body, be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Ephesians 5:18-20