Worship in Song Conference - March 1, 2008

Every once in a while we have folks asking us about how and why we sing the way we do at Grace Fellowship Church. This is actually something we have thought a lot about and worked very hard at developing; in fact, it is an ongoing project for us!

As churches think about how to sing in a Gospel-centered and culturally-relevant way, they are faced with a whole string of questions. My experience has been that most people answer those questions out of their preferences rather than the objective Truth of Scripture.

I teach a course on Worship at Toronto Baptist Seminary and it is always exciting to see my students wrestle with what the Bible actually has to say on the subject. We had the idea not long ago to provide the church-at-large with the brunt of this material in a very practical one day conference. We are calling it (quite originally!) "Worship in Song Conference."

The day will include workshops for everyone from keyboardists to sound guys to service planners and we also hope to model (as best as we can) the principles in action with 4 times of worship in song. I plan to give three messages: Why we sing, what we should sing (how to find and choose songs) and how to lead corporate worship singing.

The whole thing is going to take place, Lord willing, on Saturday, March 1, 2008 here in Toronto and we invite you to reserve that date now. Registration will open soon and be open to the first100 registrants only – we want to keep this as practical and as personal as possible. Stay tuned here and to our church website www.gfcto.com for details!

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SermonAudio.com - Why You Must Believe on Jesus

Why You Must Believe on Jesus

I hope you don't find it odd that I am giving you a link to the audio of a sermon I preached last week. I generally think bloggers are a little odd for doing just that - hypocrite that I am. But we had lots of folks miss our Sunday worship services due to a sudden snow storm, and I am convinced that there are many others who might profit from considering John 3:31-36.

I sought to give 5 reasons from this text of the Bible why you must believe on Jesus Christ. If you are already a Christian, I think you will find some encouragement from the Word. If you have not made an about face from trusting in yourself to trusting in Christ yet, then I think you would be wise to listen. If you don't want to listen, then just read the words written by John long ago:

"He who comes from above is above all. He who is of the earth belongs to the earth and speaks in an earthly way. He who comes from heaven is above all. He bears witness to what he has seen and heard, yet no one receives his testimony. Whoever receives his testimony sets his seal to this, that God is true. For he whom God has sent utters the words of God, for he gives the Spirit without measure. The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him."

The Blazing Center: 8 Ways to Get More out of Your Bible

The Blazing Center: 8 Ways to Get More out of Your Bible

My friend Mark Altrogge has a really helpful little post on how to read the Bible.