http://www.almondvineyard.co.uk/essentialsblue/WM_Our_Fathers_Voice.mp3

 To:  http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http://www.danwilt.com%2Fessentials-blue-spring-09-vineyard-creative-projects%2F

For: The Institute of Contemporary and Emerging Worship Studies, St Stephen’s University,Essentials Blue Online Theology Course with Dan Wilt                          

Here’s my creative offering. It’s a simple song which praises God as our creator and acknowledges who we are, who we belong to and all that we have to be thankful for.

It’s only words and a chord sheet.When I  find out how to post it as an mp3 I’ll add that too.

                                   Our Father’s Voice

E                                  Eb/ B         A               B                                    E

Hear the praise of all creation   Know our hearts and hear our cries

E                                         Eb/B         A                B                              E 

We are called to be your children   Mirrored in our Father’s eyes.

 

E                             Eb/B           A                B                     E

See your glory all around us   Know   the reasons to rejoice

E                                     Eb/B             A           B                        E

See the beauty that surrounds us   Echoes of our Father’s voice

 

C#m   Eb/B         A               E          C#m    G#m        A

Lord make   your Kingdom known   Release your power

C#m    Eb/B   A            E             A       E                   A           E

Accept the lives you own   as truly yours,   completely yours

A                    B           E

Our lives are wholly yours.

 

E                                    Eb/B                A                B                E

Know the gift of true redemption ,   know the truth and understand

E                                    Eb/B          A             B                         E       

Know the beauty of a Saviour ,    who fulfils the Father’s plan

For:The Institute of Contemporary and Emerging Worship Studies, St Stephen’s University, Essentials Blue Online Worship Theology Course with Dan Wilt

A reminder from Don Williams this week about the sacrificial nature of worship. “Worship is giving it is not getting ” It’s about offering your whole self. Our choices ? Conform to the World or offer yourself to God to be transformed and grown up into maturity in Him.How many people, Williams asks, would say “I go to church to offer myself to God?” I want to know and believe that I do above all other reasons.

“It’s all about You,  Jesus
 And all this is for You, For Your glory and Your fame

It’s not about me as if You should do things my way
You alone are God   and I surrender To Your ways” – Paul Oakley

For: The Institute of Contemporary and Emerging Worship Studies,St Stephen’s University,Essentials Blue Online Worship Theology Course with Dan Wilt

Quote of the Week…(for me)

“The first Golden Rule at the heart of spirituality “ is that “you become like what you worship.” Wright, Tom, Simply Christian (London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 2006) p.127.  As “Image Bearers” of God, the more we worship God and seek a deeper relationship with Him not only will we become more like him but we will, as Wright points out,  become  “more truly human.”

Never stop worshipping….

For: The Institute of Contemporary and Emerging Worship Studies, St Stephen’s University, Essentials Blue Online Worship Theology Course with Dan Wilt

Older and wiser by another week.Well, certainly older. It’s been a week full of opportunities to examine the way in which we view the nature of God in ways we might not otherwise have done. It’s also been a week of memorable  quotes such as this one from Don Williams and Brenton Brown in Who is the God we Worship (Inside Worship Magazine)  – “God is greater than our minds or any formula we construct about him. We cannot package him. He exists in unapproachable light.He is scary and fascinating at the same time. He is magnificently vast ,eternal and mysterious.Yet he allures us in his love.”    

Truly we don’t know what we don’t know.

Here’s another one which I came across elsewhere but which is really relevant to what we’ve been thinking about this week:

“…But if the Kingdom of God is truly among us here – and that is what Jesus has told us – should it be any wonder that some of its uniqueness will occasionally filter through in the midst of our everyday experience, even on a planet besieged by chaos and conflict, reminding us of another world beyond ours.” Here’s where I found it -http://www.stpaulsnorwalk.org/sermons/sermon20060806.html

For: The Institute of Contemporary and Emerging Worship Studies, St Stephen’s University, Essentials Blue Online Worship Theology Course with Dan Wilt.

One week down and already feeling challenged, which is good is’nt it? Firstly there were the words of Don Williams in “Why Theology.”  Words such as – “God is true. You don’t want to sing falsehood about the God who’s true.” I had to ask myself if I’d ever unwittingly done that over the years because it’s the last thing I would ever knowingly do. I really am going to take his advice and read the Vineyard Statement of Faith again.

Brenton Brown spoke in a similar way and emphasised the need for good Theology  when he reminded us of our responsibilities as worship leaders and musicians – “The way we think about God in church is shaped more by the songs we sing  than the sermons we listen to.” I remember that as being true of my own early experience of becoming a Christian. We really have a great responsibility.

I began by speaking about challenge, so here’s another one – The challenge I faced in setting up all of the web-based components for the course. I really struggled with this and have to thank everyone who I’ve moaned to and asked for help over the past week – notably Will, Ryan and Fraser (you’ll all know who you are) If I had’nt been bald already I would have been pulling my hair out!  Creativity sometimes thrives in the face of adversity, however,  so I’d like to leave you with a song about being clueless about setting up blogs and other such stuff. As we’re all musicians all I need to say is – Style of a slow blues in the key of your choice.

Oh baby can you help me for I don’t know what to do

I said now baby won’t you help me or my mind I’m gonna lose

You see I wanna walk my dog but I’ve gotta fix my blog

I got Worship Essentials Blue(s)

God Bless.

Hi everyone, my name’s Willie Morrison and this is Willie’s Blog  (as opposed to Willie’s Dog which is the picture at the top.) She’s in the header because she’s better looking than me. Look forward to the next five weeks of Essentials Worship Blue.

God Bless