Speaker: L-T Hopper
Passage: Acts 23:25 – 26:32

We’re picking up where we left off last week. Another trial for the Apostle Paul. He’s gone to Jerusalem and been falsely accused. He’s been in front of a lynch mob, he’s been slapped around by the Jewish Sanhedrin; and because Jerusalem is under the Roman empire, he’s passed on for trial to the Roman governor. First Felix. Then  when two years later Felix moves on, Governor Festus. And Festus is perplexed. Because for the life of him, he can’t see the problem.

 

 Trial upon trial [42:42m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (3)
 Trial upon trial: Download (2)

Speaker: L-T Hopper
Passage: Acts 21 – 23

This week we see that it is God who keeps the unstoppable Gospel going by keeping His messengers going.

 

 O Jerusalam, Jerusalam [43:15m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (9)

Last week the Lakeshore Music team from Lakeshore@9 and Lakeshore@Night got together for a team night. We spent some singing — without all our instruments –  praying and reading the Bible together, and we worked on a few new songs. We also looked at a definition of what exactly our job as a Church Music Team is.

I took our definition straight from Bob Kauflin’s excellent book, Worship Matters. This is the best book I’ve read so far on Church Worship, I highly recommend it. The whole definition is listed first, followed by a point by point list with some bible verses that we checked along the way.

So What Does a Church Music Team Do?

“A faithful church music team magnifies the greatness of God in Jesus Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit by skilfully combining God’s Word with music thereby motivating the gathered church to proclaim the gospel, to cherish God’s presence  and to live for God’s glory.”

• A faithful church music team… (1 Cor 4:1-2)
• Magnifies the greatness of God… (Ps 34:3, Ps 145:3)
• In Jesus Christ… (1 Cor 2:2, 2 Cor 4:6, Col 3:17)
• Through the power of the Holy Spirit… (Phil 3:3)
• By Skilfully combining God’s word… (Col 3:16)
• With music… (Eph 5:19)
• Thereby motivating the gathered church… (Heb 10:25)
• To Proclaim the gospel… (1 Pet 2:9, Ps 96:2)
• To cherish God’s presence… (Eph 2:22, Matt 18:20, Ps 105:4, also Ps 139:7-8, Gal 2:20)
• And to live for God’s glory… (2 Cor 3:18)

Bob Kauflin also has a helpful blog at http://www.worshipmatters.com/

Ephesians 5:19 says, “Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs.” Exactly what Paul was referring to as hymns and spiritual songs isn’t clear, but a principle is clear: as we sing together, we should use a variety of different songs. This is one of my favourite ‘music verses’ in the bible — Paul continues, “Sing and make music in your hearts to the Lord.” This is a central aim of our church music: encouraging corporate worship both outwardly (“sing”) and inwardly (“in your hearts”).

If singing is important, it’s important that we sing good songs! Some songs will help us put Ephesians 5:19 into practice, other will not. How do we choose which songs we sing here at Lakeshore? Here are 5 different criteria:

1. Theology: Are the lyrics biblically true?
2. Helpful: Is it a theme we want to focus on? (e.g. Jesus / the cross / the gospel, Adoration, Mission etc)
3. Current Need: What sort of songs do we need variety in right now? (e.g. energetic songs, reflective songs, hymns)
4. Singable: Does it encourage, invite and allow everyone to sing with enthusiasm?
5. Playable: Can our band play it well with our current level of skill, our band make up and our amount of practice time?

I don’t find it easy to track down the right songs for our church! It certainly takes patience — there are enough songs available that pass all 5 tests for our church situation, but it seems like I  have to listen to plenty that don’t before I find the winners…

Speaker: L-T Hopper
Passage: Acts 18:23-20:38

Once the Apostles preach the Unstoppable Gospel, leaders are appointed to follow Paul’s example by teaching the Word of God and sharing their lives to strengthen and protect the churches.

 

 A Model Ministry [46:05m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (11)
 A Model Ministry: Download (5)

Speaker: L-T Hopper
Passage: Acts 16:6 – 18:22

We looked at the MESSAGE last week and this week we are looking at the METHOD of making the message known.

We are to be unbending in our commitment to the Gospel of Jesus so that we end over backwards to make it known.

 

 The 5 City Tour [34:55m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (21)
 The 5 City Tour: Download (10)

Speaker: L-T Hopper
Passage: Acts 15

The Gospel is like the captain of the ship. It gives us our bearing and steers us the right way. Even a small change can result in a different destination. Turning the ship a few degrees at the beginning of the trip can mean the difference between arriving in England or Spain.

 

 The Gospel [35:23m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (27)
 The Gospel: Download (14)

Speaker: L-T Hopper
Passage: Acts 13:4-14:28

We are to persevere in our proclamation of Jesus to push out beyond the edge

 

 Push out beyond the edge [30:02m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (29)

I’m reading a booked called ‘John Calvin - Selections from his writings.’ It is a collection of letters and other writings including the Introduction to his commentary on the Psalms. These writings give some insight into the heart of the man that shows warmth and compassion. Here’s an excerpt from the Introduction to his commentary of the Psalms. He calls the Psalms “An Anatomy of All the Parts of the Soul.”

“Although the Psalms are replete with all the precepts which serve to frame our life to every part of holiness, piety, and righteousness, yet they will principally teach and train us to bear the cross, and the bearing of the cross is a genuine proof of our obedience, since by doing this we renounce the guidance of our own affections and submit ourselves entirely to God, leaving Him to govern us and to dispose of our life according to His will, so that afflictions which are the bitterest and most severe to our nature become sweet to us because they proceed from Him. In one word, not only will we here find general commendations of the goodness of God which may teach people to repose themselves in Him alone and to seek all their happiness solely in Him, and which are intended to teach devout believers with their whole hearts confidently to look to Him for help in all their necessities; but we will also find that the free remission of sins, which alone reconclies God toward us and procures for us settled peace with Him, is so set forth and magnified as that here there is nothing wanting which relates to the knowledge of eternal salvation,”

Speaker: L-T Hopper
Passage: Acts 11:19-30

The unstoppable Gospel has been spreading through the preaching by the Apostles. In this section we have ordinary people playing a role in the continued spread of the Gospel.

 

 The Mother Church [34:07m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (29)
 The Mother Church: Download