“Oh sing to the LORD a new song, for he has done marvelous things!  His right hand and his holy arm have worked salvation for him.” (Psalm 98:1, ESV)

I’m excited that God is continuing to provide new music for His church as ongoing demonstration of His newly-shown mercies through Christ.  It has been my goal (and challenge!) to teach the Grace & Truth family new songs on a semi-regular basis, especially to coincide with our sermon series and direct our attention to various facets of the Gospel.

We began to learn a new song this past week  in preparation for our gathered worship on Resurrection Sunday, with the desire to have a few weeks to have everyone really learn it well for that day.  My prayer is that this song would bring to our minds the present realities of the resurrection of Christ, and provoke us to worship Him afresh for those truths.  Take some time this week to meditate on the lyrics below and pray for the Spirit’s work of application to your life.

“I Will Rise”
There’s a peace I’ve come to know
Though my heart and flesh may fail
There’s an anchor for my soul
I can say “It is well”

Jesus has overcome
And the grave is overwhelmed
The victory is won
He is risen from the dead

And I will rise when He calls my name
No more sorrow, no more pain
I will rise on eagles’ wings
Before my God fall on my knees
And rise
I will rise

There’s a day that’s drawing near
When this darkness breaks to light
And the shadows disappear
And my faith shall be my eyes

And I hear the voice of many angels sing,
“Worthy is the Lamb!”
And I hear the cry of every longing heart,
“Worthy is the Lamb!”

© 2008 Vamos Publishing
Chris Tomlin, Jesse Reeves, Louie Giglio, and Matt Maher

This video contains a bit of the background behind the song, along with a cross centered perspective on trials in light of the worthy Lamb who was slain and will be praised for all eternity:

And they sang a new song, saying,  ”Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation” (Revelation 5:9, ESV)

Josh

Today four men from GTBC and I attended the Spurgeon Fellowship at Western Seminary where Art Azurdia preached on Revelation 4 & 5.

In a word, astonishing!

It’s difficult to select just one excerpt to share, but perhaps these closing words will encourage you to listen for yourself:

“My dear brothers, for all of our talk about reformation – and we need to talk about it – perhaps the place to begin is by letting the worship of heaven set the agenda for the worship in our churches.  And this is where it must begin:

There.  Is.  A Worthy One.“

You can download/listen to the messages here or stream them using the players below.

Part 1 (Revelation 4)

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Part 2 (Revelation 5)

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Mike

February 8, 2009: “Power and Boldness” from Acts 3:1 – 4:31

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We’ve all seen dramatic “before and after” pictures that show radical transformations. In this text, we see two different before and after pictures: the lame, spiritually-dead man becomes a leaping man who is made alive in Christ; and Peter supernaturally sheds his cowardice to become a bold proclaimer of the gospel.

The lame man’s story shows us the transforming power of the gospel. When the gospel collides with a life, things change instantly and people notice. Does your life provoke people to wonder about the gospel?

Peter’s path from cowardice to boldness shows us that the Holy Spirit gives boldness in proclamation. The change in Peter wasn’t instant, but progressive; as believers, our lives should be a series of before and after pictures as we grow in sanctification by the power of the Holy Spirit.

When Peter and John were released from prison, the believers gathered and prayed for continued boldness and received it through the empowerment of the Spirit. We, too, must plead for the supernatural filling of the Holy Spirit—we can never experientially know enough of the Spirit’s power.