We’ve all seen it on the news…a reporter standing in a war zone talking into the camera – gunfire and bombs going off in the distance. He or she knows the gunfire and bombs are there, but keeps talking – giving the news, describing their surroundings. Suddenly, the gunfire or bombs are no longer in the distance…we see them “hit the deck” – now, they are fully aware of their surroundings. We say to ourselves (or the TV) – “hello, don’t you know what is going on all around you?”

Sadly,  it is often like that for us…with GOD? We know He is THE Almighty and Sovereign Creator – but we miss the obvious affirmation of HIS creation!
O, the Psalm 19-of it all! We take for granted the mind-boggling fact that He was and is so creative by not fully “seeing” everything around us – at any given moment, whether you’re standing on the beach or (like me right now) sitting in front of a computer (“I’m a PC!”  But I love my iPod & iPhone – guess I’m conflicted.)

Think about the snowball effect of our Awesome God’s Genesis 1:3 command. The person sitting next to you, the one on your mind right now, the phone you’re holding, the car you’re driving down the freeway in at 65.1 MPH…while Twittering, the iPod you’re listening to, the amazing creation that you are about to shuttle to soccer/baseball/gymnastics practice, the beans that were cooked/ground up/brewed that you are drinking, the very ground/carpet/pavement you’re standing on…all a result of those four, powerful, monosyllabic words: Let there be light!

BOOM! Do you see it? Do you fully appreciate it? How do we react?  Even more, how do we respond to a God this insanely creative, powerful, and loving?  Do we even consider what a sufficient response would be?  BTW, the only truly appropriate response is offering our whole life to Him to use as He wills. BOOM!

The lyrics of this Phil Wickham song (from his Cannons CD) are so COOL and PROFOUND!  Awesome, Almighty, and Sovereign Creator, His affirming creation, and my/our appropriate response: “I’m unworthy…You love me….forever my heart will sing [read worship here, which is way more than singing]…All glory, honor, power is YOURS!”

May we soak these lyrics in…and respond!

Cannons
It’s falling from the clouds
A strange and lovely sound
I hear it in the thunder and rain
It’s ringing in the skies
Like cannons in the night
The music of the universe plays

You are holy great and mighty
The moon and the stars declare who You are
I’m so unworthy, but still You love me
Forever my heart will sing of how great You are

Beautiful and free
Song of Galaxies
It’s reaching far beyond the milky way
Lets join in with the sound
C’mon let’s sing it loud
As the music of the universe plays

You are holy great and mighty
The moon and the stars declare who You are
I’m so unworthy, but still You love me
Forever my heart will sing of how great You are

All glory, honor, power is Yours amen
All glory, honor, power is Yours amen
All glory, honor, power is Yours forever amen

© 2007 Phil Wickham

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A final thought:

“Isn’t it a comfort to worship a God we cannot exaggerate?” - Francis Chan

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BOOM! Do you see it? Do you appreciate it? How do you respond?

I tried to keep this service close to an “unplugged” level, using only keyboard on some songs (Pastor John) and acoustic guitar (me) on all.

My prayer and desire was to really make the service a time to personalize what Christ went through/accomplished that day so long ago – a lot of You (God & Christ) and me/I/my/us lyrics. Since there is typically a mix of Christian and non-Christians in attendance at this service, I wanted all in attendance to know Christ’s death was for them – whether it was a reminder or a realization/revelation.

Set List:

• Here I Am To Worship [Hughes]
• Above All [LeBlanc/Baloche] (I had Dan [great bass voice!] read the verse and we came in on the chorus)
• VIDEO (Wonderful Cross)
• Because of Your Love [Wickham]
• At The Cross [Butler]
• Special Music (me): True Love [Wickham]
• Service Closer: The Wonderful Cross [Watts,Walt,Reeves,Mason,Tomlin]

I originally had planned to use a video background for the special music.  When I showed it to my wife, she liked it, but said that it may be distracting.  After thinking and praying about it, I listened to her!  I really wanted people to focus on the deep lyrics and the video probably would have detracted from them.  The video (which is a powerful interpretation of the song) is below.

I think the service went well – I pray it was a good time of reflection and remembrance, even realization and revelation. [I am always critical of myself...but Karen said I did fine.]

amen

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O Gracious Savior,

On this day when You died so long ago for my past, present, and future sins, my heart is thankful, humbled, and in awe. On my “best” day, I am unworthy of such kindness; yet You, who were sinless and perfect, paid the price I should have paid – out of Your love for filthy and imperfect me.

What can I give You in response to such love?  What is sufficient to show my gratitude?  The greatest I have to offer is me…everything…all of me.  So kind Savior, I lay myself at Your feet – broken and filthy – but perfect in Your kind eyes.  May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to You – for You alone are worthy of my praise and undying affection in response to Your great love.

“Thank You” seems such an inadequate phrase for such unconditional, pure, holy, and (some would say) crazy love…but THANK YOU.

dennis

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Because of Your Love
Phil Wickham

Jesus you endured my pain
Savior you bore all my shame
All because of your love
All because of your love

Maker of the universe
Broken for the sins of the earth
All because of your love
All because of your love

Because of your cross my debt is paid
Because of you blood my sins are washed away
Now all of my life, I freely give
Because of your love, Because of your love I live

Innocent and Holy kind
You died to set the captive free
All because of your love
Lord you gave your life for me
So I will give my life for you
All because of your love
All because of your love

Because of your cross my debt is paid
Because of your blood my sins are washed away
Now all of my life I freely give
Because of your love, because your love I live

You did it for me, you did it for love
I’ts your victory, Jesus you are enough

Because of your cross my debt is paid
Because of your blood my sins are washed away
Now all of my life I freely give
Because of your love, because your love I live

cx

If you are not familiar with the show (or won’t admit it), here is the show’s description from the ABC website:

The series will determine the True Beauty of six stunning females and four handsome males who will live together in a spectacular Los Angeles mansion as they undergo a series of challenges to determine who is truly the most beautiful.

The gorgeous contestants assume they’re being judged solely on their outer appearance. They’re only half right; outer beauty is one component the judges are looking for, but contestants are also being evaluated — unbeknownst to them — for their INNER beauty as well when they’re put through scenarios and situations that require them to make moral decisions.

I will spare you the details on the show (actually you can “research” it for yourself on ABC’s website.) Most episodes were pretty sad in showing how people acted (although there was some good behavior exhibited.) I’m not completely judging, since basically we are all the same – albeit in varying degrees – and nobody’s perfect except for GOD. Honestly, I’m probably just as guilty of the vanity, selfishness, etc. that was exhibited by the show’s contestants.

The bottom line is that in addition to being a GUT CHECK for me (my heart and my actions), the show really reminded me of what true beauty is – or actually WHO true beauty is: Jesus Christ. His beautiful love for us was and is shown in SO many ways (the biggest of which was His death on the cross for you and for me).  In truth, I only truly see but a glimpse of it through my sin-clouded vision (O to Grace how great a debtor…am I).

The little that I am blessed enough to see makes me want to cry out in praise:

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“AWESOME GOD AND GRACIOUS SAVIOR,
YOU’RE BEAUTIFUL!”

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Soak the lyrics below in…but also check out the great video and song story at the bottom.

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You’re Beautiful
Lyrics Phil Wickham

I see Your face in every sunrise
The colors of the morning are inside Your eyes
The world awakens in the light of the day
I look up to the sky and say
You’re beautiful

I see Your power in the moonlit night
Where planets are in motion and galaxies are bright
We are amazed in the light of the stars
It’s all proclaiming who you are
You’re beautiful

I see you there hanging on a tree
You bled and then you died and then you rose again for me
Now you are sitting on Your heavenly throne
Soon we will be coming home
You’re beautiful

When we arrive at eternity’s shore
Where death is just a memory and tears are no more
We’ll enter in as the wedding bells ring
Your bride will come together and we’ll sing
You’re beautiful

I see Your face, You’re beautiful,
You’re beautiful, You’re beautiful

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From Jesusfreakhideout.com:

“I wrote this song while leading worship at a youth camp. The theme of the Bible study that night was about how God has revealed bits and pieces of Himself in creation. “Beautiful” was born out of that night. I wanted this song to have a hymn feel to it. Mostly because the imagery in the lyrics reminded me of other hymns we sing. There are four verses in this song and each song is part of a progression. The first verse is about how we see the Lords beauty manifest in the morning/daylight. The second verse is about the night sky, and how His beauty is displayed in it. So there in the first two verses there is a “from morning till night” thing going on. The third verse goes on to speak of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross and how through his work there He has allowed us to be apart of His pure and blameless beauty. The last verse is the sum of it all. When we reach heavens shores and see Jesus for who He really is… Beautiful.” – Phil Wickham