Thanks for coming stopping by from Fred McKinnon’s blog. Here’s the setlist we put together from our Easter morning:
(click the song titles to hear samples of the songs)1. There Is A Redeemer (B/E) – We started the day very differently than we normally do. We began this worship song while everyone was still coming in and being seated. I sang the first verse of this song, and then my son, Jesse, sang the chorus. He sang it beautifully, and then we key changed into E and sang the chorus together. Hopefully we conveyed a small picture of the Father and Son and the importance of the power of their relationship on this Easter Sunday.
2. My Redeemer Lives (Hillsong kids version) w/ My Savior Lives (E) – As we began this, our kid’s choir came in from the side and helped my wife, Felicity, to lead us all in worship. Then, we kicked into the bridge from My Savior Lives and finished off by singing the chorus from My Redeemer Lives. This transitioned nicely into the next song.
3. God So Loved The World (E) – This was another song we found from Hillsong Kids’ CD Tell The World. This is an older Hillsong song, but it went very well and just restates in its lyrics, what John 3:16 tells us – that “…God so loved the world that He gave His only Son…” This was a very powerful moment as we finished this song and then sang again the chorus of There Is A Redeemer to close out this first half of our worship service.
4. Jesus Paid It All & Before The Throne (B) – Before I describe this part of the service, I’ll just say that we were looking to include some hymns this morning so that we covered the full spectrum of what helps our multi-generational congregation worship. So we included these “modernized hymns”. One of our altos, Molly, led Jesus Paid It All and did a great job with it. I picked up the new bridge and then went directly into the chorus of Before The Throne. If you have not yet tried this song, you should at least consider it. The verses are pure hymn truth-y goodness followed by a compellingly, simple chorus.
This morning was a beautiful time of remembrance and celebration in our church. Personally, I was moved to be able to sing with my young son and lead our church in worship together. It was a powerful moment for me as a father – looking ahead to the day when Jesse will fully come to realize the Truth of whom we sang about this Easter morning. This was our worship service – how was yours?
I appreciate your comment about including hymns to cover the full spectrum of what helps a multi-generational congregation worship. We do a least one hymn each Sunday for our contemporary service. For our combined service which included our traditional hymn based service, we had four hymns out of the eight songs we did; and it was not a compromise to do it. We wanted to make sure the traditional folks were not left out even though we presented the songs a little differently than they are used to. It brings joy to my heart to see all the generations worshipping together instead of in separate services.
Doug
Doug – thanks for your helpful comments. I grew up singing hymns, but then in college, fell away from including them in our worship sets. Over the past few years though, I have really grown to love singing them and bringing them to our local church. We love to change them up a bit (i.e., melody, chords), but still keep the “meat” of the the theology and the overall feel of the songs. I agree with you – it is great to see everyone unified in worship.
LOVE God So Loved The World – a kinda-forgotten Hillsong gem I think.
And I know what you mean re hymns. We don’t have any, but on the other hand, it’s our older folk who often most enthusiastically embrace the new music (and many are from orthodox denominations originally)
The important thing is to know your congregation and what will help them enter into the presence of God, and I love that you do that. Bless you.
How awesome was that first song! I bet that was a moment for you and the congregation- Very cool. Great songs you guys did! and being one of those progressive whipper-snappers, I really do appreciate your adding hymns to your set- I’ve realized that it is VITAL to minister to everybody in your congregation regardless of your own personal taste…and I’ve acutally come to love hymns (especially those two you sang today)
@David – Thanks for posting! At first, our church was predominately older when I began here, and so I was including 2 & 3 hymns per service. Then one day our pastor (who is also a bit older) approached me and said something to the effect of “you don’t need to sing so many hymns each service; you can sing more songs that you like.” That was about 4-5 years ago, and since then I feel like we have begun to find the balance a bit more now. 😀
Love the idea for There is A Redeemer as well as the songs that followed, Thanks!
Thanks Ellen!
@Justin – Yeah, it was a great morning! Plus (and I didn’t include this in my original post) we pulled out my CP-70b piano, whom I lovingly call “Floyd”. He has so much character, and an amazing sound. You can go here to see a few pics of this guy. Thanks for giving a shout-out from us whipper-snappers!
Sounds totally awesome! Totally special to be able to sing with your son.
Awesome D! I was blessed and emotional thinking about you and Jesse leading worship together. Thank God for genuine legacy!
@ Steff & Don (aka, my dad) – it was pretty much the best part of my day!
I love reading this, Dan, and seeing not just what you did but your thought process behind it. I loved being with Michael’s family for Easter, but I sure missed this worship style – especially on such a day. Wish I’d heard that Jesse!!
@Serenity – thanks for stopping by from your über-cool site! We record all the services, so by next week I should be able to post a video for all our family (and friends) to see. 😀
#4, you’re very generous with that one, Dan.
I had to try so hard not to blubber like an idiot when you and Jess sang together. The picture of Father and Son was just so powerful. Not to mention you both did a beautiful job!
@molly – sorry I missed commenting on this last week. I think you did a great job and it ended up working out mah-velously! I’m with you though, I had to try and not get choked up while singing with him.
Hey Dan,
Nice set. We actually did Jesus Paid It All as well. I’ve been a bit busy but will try to start posting my setlist again next week. Love ya bratha!
i’m looking forward to “hearing” what you guys are doing. i’ll be checking out the blog to see what’s happening in wyoming. much love!