Sunday Setlist: 8/02/09

Mathematically, one is a cardinal whole number. In computer programming, one combined with zeroes become a binary code. Relationally, the 1970′s band Three Dog Night wants you to believe that one is the loneliest number. It can also be a very selfish number of we are only looking out for “numero uno.”

Biblically, the number “one” is pregnant with meaning. The Scripture teaches that God is one. One captures the heart of Jesus’ prayer for the church (John 17). The apostle Paul urges believers to guard the unity of the church in Ephesians 4:3. The Spirit’s emphasis on “oneness” inspires Paul to rehearse all the other “ones” that should matter to us: there is only one body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all.

We are unpacking the concept of “One” laid out in Ephesians 4:4-6 over the next weeks. This week we looked at the how there is only one body of Christ. Even in our small town, there are 30 different churches listed in the phone book. Yet the Bible teaches that there is only one true Church, and it is important that we grasp what this means.

Service Flow: (Song links go to AmazonMp3 where the songs are $0.99 and DRM free.)

Hosanna (Baloche/Brown)
Greeting
Weekend Report Video (to be posted later available here)
Series Intro/Call to Worship
We Believe (Kendrick)
Revelation Song (Riddle)
Prayer
All Who Are Thirsty (Brown/Roberttson)
Offering (showed a highlight video from Vacation Bible School 2008 to prepare for this year)
Prayer for Vacation Bible School
Message (Eph. 4:3-4; Eph. 2:14-18; Gal. 3:28; 1 Cor. 12:12-13)
Response Activity (check it out below)
The Church’s One Foundation (Stone/Wesley arr. Chapman from HymnCharts Band)
This Reading from theopensourcebook.org
Dismiss (Romans 15:5-7)

For me personally, this week was a vast improvement over last week. While I still don’t feel great, I felt much better than last week and was able to be engaged and cognizant of what was going on. It was great to not feel as bad or be as mentally foggy.

It was a great start to a new series. Our senior pastor was back after missing a couple of Sunday due to vacation. He did a great job kicking off the series and focusing the attention of people on the concept of one. As a creative team, we are excited about this series and what it will cover and what it could potentially mean for the people of the church. Songs were chosen for the beginning and ending of the service that reinforced the common beliefs of the Church and the foundation we all stand upon in Jesus Christ.

This was another Sunday with a great (the next comment is entirely subjective and unquantifiable) feel. It really seems that over the past few months that as we gather that people are engaging, participating, and eager to worship and respond. We’re still having a lot of fluctuation in attendance and who’s there because of summer and vacation, but the feel has been consistent. We’re very encouraged and praying that God will continue to draw people and move in us as we gather. Folks were a little hesitant on “We Believe” since it had been a long while since we did that, but as we started “Revelation Song” things really came alive.

In response to the theme of we are all part of the Body of Christ as the Church, we asked for prayer requests from a few different local, regional, and international churches. We didn’t get all the responses we were hoping for, but received requests from one local church, one regional church, and one international church. We gave each person a card representing one of these churches and asked them to commit to pray for that church and their needs during the series. We also asked that they would take some time to write an encouragement card.

Thanks for stopping by. If you were there, please leave a comment about what stood out to you.

For more insight into what other churches are doing, check out Sunday Set-lists over at Fred’s blog.