I continue to thank God for His provision of a worship leader for the kids.  It was great seeing all of them worshiping with the adults at DEC a couple weeks ago.

We will not have SS Worship time this Sunday, Feb 14th.  On the 21st & 28th we’ll be learning the worship song, “Friend of God.”

Diggin’ Deeper ……………………

Scripture:

1 John 4:7 -”Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God.  Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.”

John 16:27 -”No, the Father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God.”

Psalms 17:6 -”I call on you oh God, for you will answer me; give ear to me and hear my prayer.”

Psalms 66:19 - “but God has surely listened and heard my voice in prayer.”

Some questions to think about …

What does “mindful” mean?

How do we call God?

This song says that God’s love is amazing … give an example of God’s amazing love in your life.  (do you know what “amazing” means?)

If we are a friend of God, who would be God’s enemy?

Lyrics to song …..

Friend Of God

Who am I that You are mindful of me
That You hear me
When I call
Is it true that You are thinking of me
How You love me
It’s amazing

I am a friend of God
I am a friend of God
I am a friend of God
He calls me friend

(BRIDGE)
God Almighty
Lord of glory
You have called me friend

Chorus 2

I am a friend of God
I am a friend of God
I am a friend of God
You call me friend

CCLI Song No. 3991651
© 2003 Integrity’s Praise! Music | Vertical Worship Songs | (Admin. by Integrity Music, Inc.)
Israel Houghton | Michael Gungor
For use solely with the SongSelect Terms of Use. All rights Reserved. www.ccli.com
CCLI License No. 455070

DIGGIN’ DEEPER ………..

A Little History about “Silent Night” (German: Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht) The original lyrics of the song Stille Nacht were written in German by the Austrian priest Father Josef Mohr and the melody was composed by the Austrian headmaster Franz Xaver Gruber. In 1859, John Freeman Young published the English translation that is most frequently sung today. The carol was first performed in the Nikolaus-Kirche (Church of St. Nicholas) in Oberndorf, Austria on December 24, 1818. Mohr had composed the words much earlier, in 1816, but on Christmas Eve brought them to Gruber and asked him to compose a melody and guitar accompaniment for the church service.

Isaiah 7:14 (New International Version)

¹⁴ Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.

Matthew 1:22-24 (New International Version)

²²All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: ²³“The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”—which means, “God with us.”

Luke 1: 28-35 (New International Version)-The Birth of Jesus Foretold

²⁸The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” ²⁹Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. ³⁰But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. ³¹You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. ³²He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, ³³and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.” ³⁴“How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?” ³⁵The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the Holy One to be born will be called the Son of God. “

Luke 2:7 (New International Version)

⁷and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

TO THINK ABOUT THIS WEEK:

Just for fun: Can you find Oberndorf, Austria on a map? What continent is it on?

About how many years before Christ’s birth did Isaiah make the prophecy in Isaiah 7:14?

What is ALWAYS true about the prophecies of Scripture?

What do you think ‘round yon virgin, mother and Child” might mean? This may be a toughie!!!

The Baby Jesus is described as “tender and mild”; however, that Baby grew up. Did He change, or do you think of our Lord Jesus as being tender and mild today?

Why do you think the Baby Jesus could “sleep in heavenly peace”? Do you think it has anything to do with knowing where He came from?

Lyrics to the song ……

SILENT NIGHT

Silent night, holy night,
All is calm, all is bright
Round yon virgin mother and Child.
Holy Infant, so tender and mild,
Sleep in heavenly peace,
Sleep in heavenly peace.

Silent night, holy night,
Shepherds quake at the sight;
Glories stream from heaven afar,
Heavenly hosts sing Alleluia!
Christ the Savior is born,
Christ the Savior is born!

Silent night, holy night,
Son of God, love’s pure light;
Radiant beams from Thy holy face
With the dawn of redeeming grace,
Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth,
Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth.

Silent night, holy night
Wondrous star, lend thy light;
With the angels let us sing,
Alleluia to our King;
Christ the Savior is born,
Christ the Savior is born!

Good afternoon!  I have some very exciting news ……. this past Sunday, we started worship time during all three services of Sunday School.  We have been without corporate worship in the SS program for a while now which has really saddened me.  We’ve been praying for that to change.  This past September a couple SS teachers mentioned that they wanted worship back, I said “knock your self out” and they did!  (Way beyond what I expected!!)  We are blessed to have Mark LaBranche as our worship leader.  Thanks Mark  “)

Each week, or when we start a new song, I will post the lyrics to the song, scripture readings and a couple of questions to think about (these questions will be discussed on Sunday morning).  While thinking through what we hope to accomplish in Sunday morning worship and through this blog, we decided our main goals are;

• to bring glory to God
• encourage worship in our kids (not just singing songs)
• encourage family worship time
• create a bridge between Sunday School worship (downstairs) and adult worship (upstairs)
• move worship beyond 15 minutes on Sunday morning

Enjoy worshiping!

Diggin’ Deeper Into…………

Joy To The World (will be singing December 6th & 13th)

Scripture Readings:

1 Chronicles 16:33 (New International Version)

³³ Then the trees of the forest will sing,
they will sing for joy before the LORD,
for he comes to judge the earth.

2 Chronicles 30:26 (New International Version)

²⁶ There was great joy in Jerusalem, for since the days of Solomon son of David king of Israel there had been nothing like this in Jerusalem.

Psalm 28:7 (New International Version)

⁷ The LORD is my strength and my shield;
my heart trusts in him, and I am helped.
My heart leaps for joy
and I will give thanks to him in song.

Psalm 66:1 (New International Version)

Psalm 66

For the director of music. A song. A psalm.

¹ Shout with joy to God, all the earth!

John 15:11 (New International Version)

¹¹I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.

Questions:

What makes you so happy that you could sing?

What is the most joyous thing about Christmas to you?

Joy To The World

Verse 1

Joy to the world
The Lord is come
Let earth receive her King
Let every heart prepare Him room
And heaven and nature sing
And heaven and nature sing
And heaven and heaven
And nature sing

Verse 2

Joy to the world
The Savior reigns
Let men their songs employ
While fields and floods
Rocks hills and plains
Repeat the sounding joy
Repeat the sounding joy
Repeat repeat the sounding joy

Verse 3

He rules the world
With truth and grace
And makes the nations prove
The glories of His righteousness
And wonders of His love
And wonders of His love
And wonders wonders of His love

CCLI Song No. 4194811
© 1997 Everyday Hero Music | John Andrew Schreiner Music (Admin. by Lori Kelly Rights & Licenses) | (Admin. by Lori Kelly Rights & Licenses)
George Frederic Handel | Isaac Watts | John Andrew Schreiner | Junko Nishiguchi Cheng
For use solely with the SongSelect Terms of Use. All rights Reserved. www.ccli.com
CCLI License No. 455070