Lent Week 4 Worship (Angela Lockett)
I was so stoked to have Angela back leading us after her surgery in January and I think she was too! As always Angela shared her raw and honest spirit by leading us through a story from hard times to redemption.
In Feast or Fallow - sandra mccracken
We're continuing to sing this song through Lent. Today we took a little more of a gospel lilt to it.
God I Look to You - jenn johnson
On Allison Moll's last Sunday at Forefront Brooklyn she taught us this song. The Moll family made a tough decision to move away from New York and from the church they founded and it was easy to feel the emotion running through Allison as she led us in these lyrics:
"God I look to You
I won't be overwhelmed
Give me vision to see things like You do"
Holy are you God / I just wanna say baba o ese
This song is an arrangement from Nikki Lerner and Bridgeway Community Church. They mashed together two songs to create a stunning worship moment. The first is the bridge from Hillsong's "A Beautiful Exchange" (on the left) and the second is an African hymn (on the right).
At Forefront we sometimes do songs in languages other than English to remind us that God is a God of all cultures, languages and tribes.
I'm so excited to have Nikki come back up to lead us this coming weekend and I'll be sharing more throughout the week on that. In the meantime check out Bridgeway's NEW worship album!
Redeemed - Big Daddy Weave
Angela shot me this song on SMS after I shared the big idea of our service with her. I have to confess that I'm totally amused by this guy's big southern accent but I'm glad we tackled our own arrangement of this song. After Jonathan had reminded us to not get stuck halfway but to hang on to God for the full story of redemption in our life this was just a perfect moment over communion. Thank God that he takes our false and weak declarations of "Marah" (bitterness) and turns them into his perfection ("better than seven sons")!
I need you to survive - david frazier
Its rare to see moments of complete vulnerability and beautiful awkwardness (thanks for that phrase David Portalatin) in church. But Angela called us into one unashamedly at the end of our service. After sharing how she felt cared for and loved on after her surgery she encouraged us to embrace each other and to sing these lyrics about needing and loving each other over the people around us. As we reflected on how Ruth, Naomi and Boaz all needed each other to survive we're being called into a place where we should not be self sufficient but instead reach out to ask for help and hope in times of need. We need each other.
Thank you Angela for being you, complete & unashamed. You're a talent and a treasure. We love you.