This Sunday Feb 7th

Coming up this Sunday...

Jordan House & a combined TEEN choir from Woodmont Hills and Otter Creek youth groups are leading worship....this will be great!

Cool new "call to worship" video from Igniter Media....

New video about the upcoming Financial Peace University class beginning two weeks after the Colts win the Superbowl...

Exciting announcement about summer happenings at Otter Creek (can't give anymore details than that!)

We're singing "God of this City" just after Josh kicks off his new series on Luke/Acts...

You've just GOT TO BE HERE!

All Creatures of our God and King

Josh & David are speaking this Sunday morning about VISION 2010- past, present, future. Tim Woodroof is our special guest, it should be great!

So to honor our heritage, I chose as one of our songs, the hymn "All Creatures of our God and King".

Found this on www.sermonindex.net & www.gospelpiano.com about this hymn:

All Creatures of Our God and King

Author --Francis of Assisi, 1182-1226
English Translation --William H. Draper, 1855-1933
Music --From the Geistliche Kirchengesäng of 1623
Tune Name --"Lasst Uns Erfreuen"
Scripture Reference --Psalm 145

In 1225, a devoted Italian monk named Francis of Assisi wrote the lyrics for “All Creatures Of Our God and King." The music portion was added much later. Praise of God is the theme surrounding this lovely hymn and it echoes Francis' love for the world God created. All earth's creatures get life from God and all depend on Him for their existence. Saint Francis of Assisi, as he was to be later known, had a deep abiding love of nature and saw God’s hands in everything. The wonderful music and lyrics of “All Creatures Of Our God And King” reflect the grateful heart that penned the words.

Throughout his life, Saint Francis of Assisi demonstrated a humble and forgiving spirit. The beneficiary of inherited wealth, Francis lived the self-indulgent life of a soldier until the age of twenty-five. Then, he renounced his birthright and chose to live a poor, meager lifestyle as his honor to Christ’s selflessness. One psalm comes to mind when referring to Saint Francis of Assisi: Psalms 145:10,11 "All thy works shall praise thee, O Lord; and thy saints shall bless thee. They shall speak of the glory of thy kingdom, and talk of thy power."

Desert Song

Hey everyone,

We sang "Desert Song" from Zoe's new Inside Out CD, released last October. Accomplished songwriter Brooke Fraser wrote Desert Song, and as usual, Zoe did a great job at creating an a cappella arrangement as an option for churches in our heritage.

I got one comment that the words were great (which I agree totally) but the arrangement took this person back to the "old fashioned c of c" feel...The person said further that they just felt flat after we sang it.

I'm not crazy about the melody line and feel of the chorus without instruments, but I want the song to stay in our repertoire b/c of its meaning...

Thoughts?

Sunday Jan 10th at OC

I'm trying to talk J.R. Allen into letting me post his beautiful opening prayer on here. The mic wasn't working for a good bit of it, and he had obviously worked hard to prepare it.

We also missed the first part of Chase Meador's scripture reading. Thank you Chase for carrying on! You and your mother did a great job presenting I John 4.

Enjoyed hearing from Rubio after a long break / busy travel season. Love that guy. He's grown so much since he was 7 years old. (when I first met him)

I love Joe White! Thanks for the thoughtful communion thoughts/scriptures. Most of the time, less is more, and less was certainly more on Sunday.

The church did well on our first time through "We Believe" by Chris Lindsey. Great song.

And wow, does Otter Creek love "From the Inside Out" or what? Didn't sound new or unfamiliar at all!!! Love that song. I can't wait to sing Sheryl Thomas & Randy Gill's song, "Inside Out", similar theme.

Songs for this Sunday, Jan 3

Joyful Joyful We Adore Thee (enjoy Steve Raney, Pat Ward & Marilyn Switzer!)

Doxology

We Shall Assemble

Stand and Shout

Shout to the Lord

There's A Stirring

Be Thou My Vision (starting our 2010 Vision series this Sunday)

Our God He Is Alive

It Is Well With My Soul

Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus

All Hail the Power of Jesus' Name

You are invited to Rocketown on Sunday, Dec 13th!

Why so many hymns?

Wow, we sang a lot of really old hymns today at Otter Creek. I just never can resist some of these classics on the Sunday before Thanksgiving:

Now Thank We All Our God

We Gather Together

Praise to the Lord, the Almighty

Count Your Blessings

We also sang "Be Thou My Vision" as it fit perfectly with Josh's message.

Why so many?

Well, I'm developing an entire litany of reasons but try this one on: Many of the people I love, respect & admire...many of the people whose marriages I want mine to mirror, many of the Christians whose example I want Faith & Eli to see...these people are all steeped in the classic hymns! And in our tradition, many of those hymns can be found in "Great Songs of the Church", the hymnal Otter Creek used for many years when Buddy Arnold was the lead worshipper.

All of the hymns mentioned above are in that hymnal.

Do I want to go back & relive the glory days? Do I want to take us back 4 decades and stay there? No no no. But I long for us to find ourselves in the greater story (the meta-narrative is the new buzzword for this, right Josh?) of the Otter Creek family and of the body of Christ universal.

I love the new songs, and we'll continue to keep learning them and singing them. But I will not leave these classic, faith-shaping legends behind.

Tomorrow I'll tell you more about "Nun Danket" (the german name for the tune & hymn, "Now Thank We All Our God"). It has it's roots in the bloody Thirty Years War in Germany that raged from 1618 to 1648.