Worship Wise (Whys) - Music Resources at CPC

"I loved that new song today. Where did you first hear it?"

I have heard that comment several times over the years as a part of my responsibility as Worship and Families Pastor at CPC (I have heard other comments too, but I will have to write about those later!).

I want to take the opportunity to introduce several resources to you and invite you to introduce your favorite worship resources to me too!

Over the next couple of weeks, I want to:

1. Highlight new music
2. Describe some of the why behind songs we employ at CPC.
3. Point you to the place on the internet where you can hear samples and even purchase some of the music if you desire. (clicking on the links below should direct you to the particular album)

One of my favorite music resources is Sovereign Grace Music.

Their home page reads: 'Sound + Doctrine: 20 years of providing songs for the local church'. Over the years CPC worship leaders have discovered and presented songs like I Stand in Awe, How Great is Your Love (you might call it 'How High and How Wide' in your house), How Deep the Father's Love for Us and Before the Throne of God Above.

In recent years, we have introduced a host of new songs from the creative artists at Sovereign Grace.

In 2003, they released an album of updated hymns - Upward: the Bob Kauflin Hymns Project. I enjoy singing and playing Come Now Almighty King (the instrumentation reminds me of the computer game, The Hobbit) and the beautiful rendention of Hallelujah, What a Savior. This album also contains a different (more mellow) version of the classic hymn, A Debtor to Mercy Alone.

Their 2004 album, The Cross-Centered Life was written to exalt with song in the finished work of Jesus on the cross for sinners like you and me. The lyrics give us opportunity to marvel together as a congregation at the gift of God's amazing grace. I love the simple way in which the substitutionary atonement of Christ is presented in The Gospel Song. Just about every one of the songs on this album are 'keepers'.

I would love to have more of their 2006 Christmas album, Savior: Celebrating the Mystery of God Become Man in CPC's corporate repertoire, but Hope Has Come will have to suffice for now. I think Sleep Jesus Sleep has become one of my favorite Christmas tunes of recent years.

In 2008, SGM released Come Weary Saints and Psalms. When I am in need of a reminder of God's sovereign goodness (which is frequently), I pull out the guitar and worship Him with As Long as You Are Glorified and Bob Kauflin's reworking of Oh the Deep Deep Love. The Psalms set to music help my heart to connect to the One who knows my inner struggles. Out of the Depths, Blessed Is the One and The Lord Is cause my focus to be brought back to Him who loved me and gave Himself for me.

The latest release, Sons and Daughters emphasizes our adoption into the family of God and the inheritance we have in Christ. I have enjoyed hearing more and more of my CPC family rejoicing together singing The Father's Love and Completely Done in corporate worship.

I have been given the privilege to prepare the order of worship for our weekly gatherings. Please continue to pray for me as I seek to construct services that primarily present Christ and Him crucified (1 Corinthians 2:1-3).

Pastor Tim

Time in Portland

I am a week away from another trip to Oregon. Our transition into the next phase of our ministry is becoming more and more real. This is bittersweet for me.

God has been very busy in our time here in Columbia. You are sending away a much better man that you received 21 years ago. God has done His work in me, and in my family, largely through your ministry to us over these years. Thank you for how He has used you in this. It is hard to leave those whom God has used.

Yet, we go to the ministry God is clearly calling us to undertake. We are excited about what He is already doing to lay the foundation for our next ministry. I am going to teach a seminar on Marriage next week in Eugene, Oregon, and a seminar on Relationships the following week in Vancouver, WA. Reports are that the seminars are going to be well attended and that folks are excited to come to hear how the gospel shapes our marriages and relationships. I enjoy helping folks see the gospel in the day to day reality of their lives!

Please pray for my family while I am away. They will be very busy, and if they miss me in their busy-ness it will likely be for what they are covering for me instead of my cheerful personality.
I am so grateful for their willingness to take up the slack.

Once again, if you would like to get more regular updates on our transition, send me an e-mail at Steve@ImpactBiblicalCounseling.com and I will gladly put you on the list for our updates!

gratefully,
Steve

Seeing Christ in daily life: Gospel and the Heart

Many years ago Allen, John Lyons, and I went up to visit Redeemer PCA in Manhattan to learn more about how they were running their small group ministry. We met with several of their pastors, and heard Tim Keller as he led a meeting with his ministry leaders.

I believe the most significant aspect of that trip for Columbia Presbyterian was learning about the study of Galatians that they had recently prepared for their group leaders. Pastor Keller had preached through the book (an excellent series!!) and had prepared a study on the book for his group leaders. He had also prepared a study for the congregation that he called Gospel and the Heart. We adapted his study and began running a weekend seminar by the same name. We have offered this seminar every year since that time.

We are drawing close to the time for this seminar. Once again we will spend time looking at how we live by the power of the gospel in the reality of our day to day lives. If you are newer to CPC and have never taken this seminar, I strongly encourage you to register. If you took this seminar years ago, I encourage you to register for two reasons: to see how you have grown in your understanding and appreciation of the impact of the gospel on you daily, and more importantly because of how I have grown in my appreciation for the gospel. Quite frankly, this seminar has grown over the years because of how God has grown me, the teacher, in the riches of His gospel.

We are going to spend Friday evening looking at the two topics: what is the gospel? and how does my adoption into God's family transform my life? Saturday morning we will look at how the gospel frees me to live in faith and gospel power, what saps the gospel's power in my life, and lastly, living with hope beyond our circumstances.

Because of my move to Portland, Oregon this summer this will be the last scheduled time for me to teach this seminar. I hope you can join us to benefit from how God has been shaping me through the gospel for the past 21 years, and to grow in our love for God's gracious gift of redemption. If you have any questions about this seminar send me an e-mail at Steve@ColumbiaPres.org or call me at the office (410-730-6004).

Steve

Status Report on our transition to Portland

I thought I would write a blog to bring you all up to date with how God is leading in our family's transition to our next ministry. Many of you have stopped me and asked what is going on and expressed your support for our family. I am very grateful for your friendship and support.

I realized this week as I was praying that this blog site is a great vehicle to keep you current with what God is doing as we prepare to launch Impact Biblical Counseling in the Portland area. I also want to help you to know how you can be praying for us in this transition.

One of the things I would like to do is provide regular prayer requests for anyone who would like to be part of our prayer team. I would like to provide up to date prayer requests (weekly?) to anyone who would commit to praying for us. If you are interested, simply send me an e-mail at: Steve@ImpactBiblicalCounseling.com and I will send out a weekly e-mail that gives you our current prayer requests.

In the meanwhile I would like to ask you to pray for us in three areas.

• The first is that God will keep me focused on the responsibilities I have here at CPC. I am still fully engaged with the ministries here. I would love prayer for my work with the Building Executive Committee. I am pulling together a team of ministry leaders to plan for life when we move off site for Sunday ministries. Ask God to give us time to meet while we are all busy with the ministries we oversee. I would also love prayer for the Gospel and the Heart seminar on March 26-27.
• Secondly, pray for us as we develop Impact Biblical Counseling and establish relationships with churches in the Portland area. I will be going to Oregon March 11-22 to present two weekend conferences and to meet with more pastors to present our ministry.
• Thirdly, I ask you to pray for the logistics of moving. Ann and I are excited about God's call to this new ministry, but we recognize that this is completely beyond our ability to manage as finite people. Ann has described this as the "coming tsunami." I think I better understand the Hebrews' response to the spies who reported on their trip into Canaan in . Numbers 13 and 14. I agree with Joshua and Caleb's message that the land is filled with good things and will be a wonderful home, and there are giants that God will defeat for us. I want to see more of God who is leading us into this new home, and less of the giants! Please pray that we will be able to sell our home in this unstable market; buy a home (and get a mortgage in a tight credit market); be settled in as the fall starts; and, that God will use our ministry to serve the churches in Portland providing solid care for folks who want to grow in their understanding of how the unchanging grace of God changes us and matures us spiritually .
  

Thank you for your love and support. As we continue in our ministry here we are grateful for the opportunity you are giving us to move on gently. You are investing in kingdom ministry, the benefits of which you will not personally experience. Ann and I believe that God is going to do good things for His kingdom through the investment you have made and are making.

Steve

Lonely this Valentine's Day?

Lonely this Valentine's Day? Find the intimacy you desire!

The following link is to a small booklet produced by the Christian Counseling and Educational Foundation:
http://ccef.org/single-and-lonely-finding-intimacy-you-desire

A Song for our Month of Missions

A couple of hours ago we announced that all our activities this weekend at CPC are cancelled because we are expecting a "storm of historic proportions" to blanket our area with a whole lot of snow. That means (for those keeping track out there) that the start of our Month of Missions will have to wait yet another week to begin.

One of the things that I will have to put off until next week is my plan to introduce (or 'revive' depending on your familiarity with the Trinity Hymnal) a song entitled, How Sweet and Aweful is the Place written by Isaac Watts in 1707. I love the beautiful melody in the Trinity Hymnal, but it is the lyrics that I want to bring to your attention in this post.

The hymn takes us on a journey of wonder as the singer (sinner) discovers God's mercy and loving-kindness to sinners, marvels at God's transforming grace, and proclaims the Holy Spirit produced phenomena that causes our hearts to desire to participate with Him in His ministry of reconciliation (see 2 Corinthians 5:11-21).

Verse one describes the assembly of the saints in worship marveling at the glorious Bridegroom:

How sweet and aweful is the place with Christ within the doors,
While everlasting Love displays the choicest of her stores!

Although the updated Trinity Hymnal lyric says 'sweet and awesome', the original phrase was sweet and aweful. The first time I encountered this song several years ago that definitely caused me to pause and consider what I was hearing. The term, awful is commonly used now-a-days for something unpleasant, or of poor quality, but it literally means something that is full of awe or awe inspiring. The place where Christ is lifted up and adored is a sweet and aweful place.

Verses two through four reflect the jaw-dropping realization of the predestinating, unconditionally electing, undeserved favor that believers receive as a free gift of God's amazing grace:

While all our hearts and all our songs join to admire the feast,
Each of us cry, with thankful tongues, "Lord, why was I a guest?"

"Why was I made to hear thy voice, and enter while there's room,
When thousands make a wretched choice, and rather starve than come?"

'Twas the same love that spread the feast that sweetly drew us in;
Else we had still refused to taste, and perished in our sin.

We are reminded of what the 11th hour worker might have experienced in Jesus' parable in Matthew 20:1-16 as he was given according to his need, NOT according to what he deserved. Amazing!

Then the hymn takes an interesting turn to look outside of ourselves to the world around us and Watts gives us voice to intercede on behalf of the nations. Note the ordinary means of God's Word preached that is the vehicle by which the 'strangers will ultimately be brought home.'

Verses five and six are the reason why I wanted us to sing this as a congregation during our month of missions:

Pity the nations, O our God! constrain the earth to come;
Send Thy victorious Word abroad, and bring the strangers home.

We long to see thy churches full, that all the chosen race,
May with one voice, and heart and soul, sing Thy redeeming grace.

I have to be honest here - is that my 'heart for missions'? Do I long to see His churches full of persevering pilgrims awaiting the glorious return of the King who came to deliver His people from their sins? I want to grow in that.

Over the last week as it became clearer every day that we were in for a major snow event. We were warned to be prepared. If you ventured into a grocery store in recent days you saw many people heeding those warnings (I was in both Food Lion AND Giant twice each - ask me later why). We won't know the extent of this storm until Saturday or Sunday. However, there is coming a Day when all humanity will be judged by the righteous standard of a Holy God. Not only do we have the clear warning of the Scriptures to prepare for that Day, we also have the exceedingly good news of great joy which shall be for all people - both locally and globally.

I look forward to being able to sing How Sweet and Aweful is the Place with the congregation of CPC and, by God's grace, to live out the song together.

Pastor Tim

Clarifying comments on Sun Jan 31

Last Sunday one of my applications of Matt 20:26-28 was to folks who have come to CPC for a long time and have not gotten involved. I raised the question of whether that might be because these folks want to avoid serving by remaining peripheral. I think that is a valid question to ask if you have been visiting CPC for years and still see yourself a simply a visitor.

However I want to clarify a couple of things:
1. I realize that there may be a number of reasons why you could choose to continue to visit CPC, and not join or get more involved that have nothing to do with your avoiding serving. I was not assuming I knew your motive.

2. I also realize that some of you are not members and yet serve as much or more than some members. The question was not about membership but serving.

3. I am not judging the hearts of people who visit CPC for some time without getting involved. I was simply raising that question among several others as applications of the text for self-examination.

I am convinced that obedience here, as in every one of Jesus's words to us, will increase our joy,not decrease it.

So I offer these words to all who heard me on Sunday with a prayer that we will all hear Jesus and raise difficult questions that draw us closer to Him in our recognition that we need Him to change our self-centered-want-to-be-served hearts. (By the way no one complained to me about what I said! I simply thought a clarifying blog might be in order.)

Enjoy a White Weekend!
Allen Harris