Behind the Praise - Sunday October 31, 2010

“Here I Am to Worship” - FBC Handbells

If songs are like children to their writers, then 25 year-old Englishman Tim Hughes carried "Here I Am To Worship" to full term, letting the reverent tune take perfect shape over a nine-month period. Back in 1999 while still in college, he first sat down to craft a musical response to his reading of Philippians 2:5, which says, "Make your own attitude that of Christ Jesus." And from the start, he had the humility part mastered.
"I was playing around with my guitar when the verse just came out," he modestly recalls. "However, I couldn't get a chorus that I was happy with. The original one was embarrassingly bad!"
Thankfully, Tim recorded the verse into his Dictaphone, and months later during a quiet creative time, he patched it together with another strong melody idea and brought "Here I Am To Worship" to fruition.
"I'd been reading about the cross and thinking through Jesus' amazing sacrifice," Tim says of the lyrical theme. "Sometimes when God meets with us we don't quite know how to respond properly. It's often too much for us to take in. Hopefully in a small way the chorus captures that: 'Here I am to worship. Here I am to bow down. Here I am to say that you're my God. You're altogether lovely, worthy, wonderful.'"
Although the song had been completed, the writer was still not convinced of its potential. Leading worship at his Soul Survivor home church one day, Tim sang "Here I Am To Worship" for his fellow members and was duly advised by his pastor Mike Pilavachi to start using it more often. Since then, Hughes - who built his own chops leading Delirious and Matt Redman favorites - has seen the song take on a life of its own.
It must be a God thing.... People have seemed to really connect with it, and we've had some special times in worship using the song," he admits. "I remember one time at the end of a Worship Together conference in San Diego when we'd been performing the song. The band stopped, and then the congregation just kept singing the chorus for about 15 minutes."

Click here to listen to the story behind the song by Tim Hughes.
www.theheartofworship.org/stories/Story-196-HereIAmtoWorship-Hughes.mp3

Click here to worship along with the Hillsongs ministry:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=klxcJaOooPI

Click here to read more about the composer Tim Hughes
www.crosswalk.com/spirituallife/worship/1227531/

"Our God"

Click here to listen to this song by Chris Tomlin:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlA5IDnpGhc

"Christ Be with Me" - Worship Choir

Click here to listen to the song:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKaw7dRDFvM


"Hallelujah, Your Love is Amazing"

Listen to Brian Doerkson tell about the writing of the song
www.theheartofworship.org/stories/Story-219-YourLoveisAmazing-Doerksen.mp3

Listen to Brenton Brown tell about writing the song with Brian
www.theheartofworship.org/stories/Story-316-YourLoveisAmazing-Brown.mp3

Prepare your heart for Sunday by singing along and reading some great sayings by children
www.youtube.com/watch?v=gTaSVXMtoZs

"Cannons"

Click here to listen to this powerful song by Phil Wickham:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSo46FWGh8g

Check out Phil Wickham here - www.philwickham.com

Purchase tickets for the ONELIFE with Phil Wickham here -
www.itickets.com/search.html?selectName=1&sw=Phil+wickham

"The More I seek You"

This worship song was written by Zach Neese, here’s a little background information on Zach.

Education: I got my B.A. in English from UT Austin (after trying art, advertising, pre-med and astronomy), then became Secondary Ed certified.
Previous Lines of Work: I mostly worked as a teacher of one stripe or other before entering fulltime ministry. I also worked with emotionally disabled kids and was an Autism Therapist. I served as a Youth and Worship Pastor for five years before becoming the Director of the Christ for the Nations Institute (CFNI) School of Worship. Since then, I have primarily been leading worship and training worship leaders.
One of the Things I Find Most Fascinating: The cross never ceases to amaze me.
Best Thing Someone Said to You: “You make me love Jesus more.”
Life Motto: He who knows, knows that he knows not.
People I’d Like to Meet: After you meet Jesus, everyone else is pretty unimpressive. I guess I wouldn’t mind picking David’s brain, Moses’, or Jesus’ parents (Mary and Joseph). I have two sons in heaven that I am looking forward to meeting very much.
Most People Don’t Know This About Me: My grandmother was a synchronized swimming coach. I was too young to know that it wasn’t a cool guy pursuit, so now I’m the only man I know who can do a Flamingo Bent Knee.

Zach Neese likes to place himself in the middle of a biblical story and see if a song comes forth. This song came out of Johns’ emotion at the Last Supper.

Click here to visit Zachs’ myspace:
www.myspace.com/zachneese

Click here to read more about Zach Neese who wrote this powerful worship song
www.gatewaypeople.com/churchinfo/index.php?action=staffbiodetails&sid=180

Click here to worship along with Kari Jobe
www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3GijrnfStk

Testimony of Fanny Crosby
www.marshillchurch.org/media/rebels-guide-to-joy/the-rebels-guide-to-joy-in-poverty/fanny-crosby-bio

"To God be the Glory"

Fanny Crosby.Fanny Crosby was probably the most prolific hymnist in history. Though blinded by an incompetent doctor at six weeks of age, she wrote over 8,000 hymns. About her blindness, she said:"It seemed intended by the blessed providence of God that I should be blind all my life, and I thank him for the dispensation. If perfect earthly sight were offered me tomorrow I would not accept it. I might not have sung hymns to the praise of God if I had been distracted by the beautiful and interesting things about me."

Click here for a newer arrangement by Tommy Walker:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qlfNZiDV4A

Click here a more traditional arrangement of the song:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ymrZO1PZbU4

Offertory "You are My All In All" - Handbells

This powerful worship song was written by Dennis Jernigan. Dennis Jernigan is a singer-songwriter of contemporary Christian music. He is native to Oklahoma, and headquarters a music-based ministry from there. Self-avowedly ex-gay, Jernigan now lives in Muskogee, Oklahoma with his wife and their nine children. Jernigan has been married to his wife for more than twenty five years.
A primary source of inspiration for Jernigan's message and music is an experience he describes as his "deliverance from homosexuality". Jernigan states that this began during a 2nd Chapter of Acts concert in Norman Oklahoma.Jernigan believes his prior identification as homosexual was related to an erroneous childhood perception that he had been rejected by his father.
As a boy I needed a role model to show me the way to manhood. But because I felt rejected by the main man in my life I, in turn, rejected him and began to yearn for intimacy with a man in perverse ways. Because of this wrong thinking I came to believe I was homosexual. It must have begun early in my life because I remember having those feelings for the same gender at a very early age.
It was then [during a critical moment at the 2nd Chapter of Acts concert] that I lost the need to be accepted or loved by others because I realized Jesus would love me and accept me no matter what, even when I was rejected by others! It was also at this same time that those sexually perverse thoughts and desires were changed...and He began to replace them with holy and pure thoughts about what sexual love was all about.
Following the experience at the concert, Jernigan developed a ministry based on his personal experience, which he shares at churches and other locations around the world.
Dennis has written many of the worship songs we sing including "Who can Satisfy", "We will worship the Lamb of Glory", "I belong to Jesus", "When the night is Falling" and "You are my all in all". Here are some links that will share more about Dennis' ministry.

Click here to listen to Dennis share about the song; http://shareyourstorynow.org/2007/09/19/dennis-jernigan-jesus-worth-every-struggle/

Click here for an article about Dennis
www.okbu.edu/news/view_article.php?id=1127

Click here for Dennis' website
www.dennisjernigan.com/