5/2/10 worship set

Let the Praises Ring
Awesome is the Lord Most High
Jesus Messiah

Won't You Be My Love? (Tommy w/band accompanying)
   **tag after message w/Tommy and/or praise team**

medicine for the soul...

Aren’t you glad we are finally out of the cold and flu season?  So many people were “under the weather” and the term “H1N1” became a new part of our daily vocabulary.  We experienced some of that in our house as well.  There was a particular time when Callie battled with a cold and fever for about a week.  Callie brings such joy to our home.  She is so full of life and loves to sing and write stories.  One thing she enjoys is to give us all beautiful pieces of art that she creates.  She is our little encourager!  When she first developed her fever, she immediately got quiet and just wanted to lie around.  Well, anyone who knows her well understands that this is not normal behavior for her.  I took her temperature and sure enough it was 101.  I gave her medicine and within an hour she was back to herself.  Smiling with those big dimples and just being Callie.  As the medicine would wear off, she would feel bad again.  This went on for quite a while.  As long as she had medicine, she felt great, but when it would wear off, she felt awful again until finally she was over it.  That medicine was a wonderful thing!  I hated seeing her like that and it broke my heart to see her in pain.  

I started to think about the people we encounter on a daily basis.  We have those people around us that are always cheerful and have such joy that you just love being around them.  It is infectious!  Then you have the people that just seem to be miserable.  They can’t find a positive thing to say and everything appears to be gloomy.  They are the “glass is half empty” kind of people.  You almost want to go the other way when you see them coming or go crawl in a hole and have a good cry after you have spoken with them.

Proverbs 17:22 says, “ A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.”

What kind of people do we want to be?  Do we want to be good medicine or do we want to dry up bones?  Well I want to have the cheerful heart that is medicine to the soul, of course.  I want to be an encourager; I want to welcome people into the church by showing them the love of Christ.  I want people to know that whatever the future holds, we have the joy of the Lord, because he is in control.  I want to be “uncommon”!  When we stand up and sing about Jesus Messiah this Sunday, we can sing with all assurance that his Name is above all names.  He is the Rescue for sinners and the Ransom from heaven!  That is what makes my heart cheerful!

Just as the medicine Callie took brought her relief, our cheerful hearts can be just the dose of good medicine that so many hurting people need.  Let’s continue that infectious spirit of God’s love and enjoy seeing the Great Physician heal those that are hurting!

Have a blessed week! 

Allison Jordan

SHBC Praise Team

4/25/10 worship set

You, You Are God
Everlasting God (Lincoln Brewster)
Enough

Uncommon (Tommy and/or praise team w/band accompanying)
Surrender (Tommy and/or praise team w/band accompanying)

What's my plan?

I love to have a plan!  I have found that if I don’t have a plan, then life gets a little chaotic.  So, with 3 kids, 2 jobs, a husband and many other wonderful responsibilities, I have to be very organized and have a plan.  Webster’s dictionary defines plan as this:  a method for achieving an end.  Pretty simple and exactly correct.  We plan and organize in an attempt to achieve our goal.  In the morning and again on our way home from school, we all go over our “game plan” for doing our homework and chores so we will have time to “play” a little as well.  We had returned home from school one day and everyone went about working their plans and Caleb came to me in the kitchen with a bewildered look on his face and said, “What’s my plan, Mommy?”  He was ready to complete the task but couldn’t quite remember the plan of action.  

Well, there is nothing like “life” to get in there and reorganize our plans.  Have you ever had one of those weeks where things were going along pretty smoothly and then there is a “bump” in the road?  Well, you make it over the bump, and then there is a “pothole” around the corner, so you make it through that, and then there is a “sinkhole” straight ahead? Oh, yes, I had one of those weeks and by the grace of God, I missed the sinkhole!  You know, nothing major, just plans thwarted.  But for me, it threw me off my master plan.  My very organized scheduling was thrown completely out of whack, but praise God that in my time of “reorganizing” he reminded me that HE is the Master Planner of my life.

Jeremiah 29:11 reminds us, “For I know the plans I have for you”, declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

In the midst of my trials, God so sweetly whispered encouraging words in my ear and led me to cling to his Word.  As organized as I try to be, God holds my plan and it is a plan that gives me hope and a future.  It is good to have a plan and be organized in our daily lives, but we also need to realize that God is in control and He holds the future.  We need to be grounded daily in his Word so that when plans get thwarted we can trust in Him who holds the world in His hands.  Pondering on this verse of Scripture has made me appreciate so many things this week.  Through my little “adventure” down a wobbly path, God showed me how blessed I am to have such a wonderful, godly mother, how honored I am to have a husband that loves me and works so hard to provide for our family and a Savior who gave His life for me and loves me more than anything!  Thank you, sweet Lord!

Have a blessed week and remember to rely on God and ask him “What’s my plan, Daddy?”

Allison Jordan

SHBC Praise Team

4/18/10 worship set

Everyday
You're Worthy of My Praise
Sweeter (choir special)

I Give You My Heart (praise team w/band accompanying)
Love Never Fails You (Katie Schlipp w/track)

prayer...

Remember as a child always reciting the same prayer at meal times?  “God is great, God is good…”  Though we always said the same thing, we were learning how to pray.  As we grew older and more mature in our spiritual lives, our prayers became more intimate, personal.  That is because we learned that prayer is our communication with our Creator.  It is an intimate and glorious time!  

As a parent, I love to hear my children pray.  In the beginning, each of their prayers were the same.  I could almost quote Ben and Callie’s bedtime prayers because they said the same thing every night.  It really was monotonous, but at least they knew the importance of prayer. It is so sweet to see them grow in their relationships with the Lord.  Their prayer times are really becoming a personal experience between them and their God.  

I remember a time when we had just been home with Caleb for about a month and he was helping me in the grocery store.  He loved to help me check off the items on my list and looked forward to that fun time in the grocery cart.  Well, this one particular day, we had a lot of groceries and had been there for quite a while when he asked if we could go.  I told him in just a minute that we had to PAY first.  He immediately bowed his head, folded his hands, and began to PRAY just as loud as he could (of course, at the time, it was mostly in Chinese so I didn’t understand it).   He thought I said that we had to pray first and he didn’t care who was watching or listening, he was praying!  That made me laugh but at the same time was a reminder that no matter where or when, we can lift our prayers and praises to our Father.  I joined him in prayer right in the middle of the grocery store and then we proceeded to PAY as well!  

God’s Word tells us in Ephesians 6:18, “And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and request.  With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.”

Our lives should be in a constant attitude of prayer.  How many opportunities pass us by where we could have lifted up a request or praise?  The people we pass on the street, the friend that is burdened, our fellow brothers & sisters, our families, our pastors, the church, the blessings we see day in and day out, all these and many more are opportunities that we have to talk to our Heavenly Father.  We don’t have to pray just at meal times or bedtime; we GET to engage in a one-on-one conversation with our Creator any time, any place!  Okay, now I’m overwhelmed!  WOW!  We, who don’t deserve it, get the honor and privilege of presenting our requests and offering our praise to the One and Only God of the universe!

I Thessalonians 5:17-18 says, “Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

Take advantage this week of the wonderful blessing we have been given to talk to our God.  Sweet, sweet fellowship!

Have a blessed week!

Allison Jordan
SHBC Praise Team

4/11/10 worship set

Alive Forever Amen (choir special)
Majestic
King of Glory

Everlasting God (praise team w/band accompanying)
Just As I Am (Tommy w/Sherry accompanying)

Onward, Christian Soldiers!

One morning I was helping my son, Caleb, brush his hair as we were heading out the door to school and he was singing the song “Onward Christian Soldiers.” He learned this at school as they sing it everyday after they say the pledge to the Christian flag.

As soon as that tune was in my head, I could not stop singing it. I found myself singing it in the car or washing dishes. I looked up the story behind this classic hymn and found out that it was written in the late 1800’s by a pastor who wrote it in about 15 minutes. During that time, there was a festival called Whit Monday where the children would walk from village to village with crosses and banners. Well, Pastor Sabine Baring-Gould wanted the children to have a song, or hymn, to sing as they walked to encourage them. He sat down the night before and wrote this hymn in about 15 minutes. He apologized later saying that he wrote the hymn in great haste and that he thought some of the rhymes were “faulty”. Can you believe that? Of course, this song has become such a classic Christian hymn today. Take a look at the words:

Onward, Christian soldiers, marching as to war,


With the cross of Jesus going on before;

Christ the royal Master leads against the foe;


Forward into battle, see, His banner go.

At the sign of triumph Satan’s host doth flee;

On, then, Christian soldiers, on to victory!


Hell’s foundations quiver at the shout of praise; 


Brothers, lift your voices, loud your anthems raise.

Like a mighty army moves the Church of God; 

Brothers, we are treading where the saints have trod.


We are not divided, all one body we-


One in hope and doctrine, one in charity.

Onward, then ye people, join our happy throng; 


Blend with ours your voices in the triumph song.


Glory, laud and honor unto Christ the King -

This thru countless ages men and angels sing.

Onward, Christian soldiers, marching as to war, 


With the cross of Jesus going on before!

Powerful and encouraging words! I thought about Paul’s first letter to Timothy as he encouraged him and gave him instruction. What a great friendship they had and Paul gave him such godly advice that is so valuable to us as well. He reminds him to keep fighting the fight for Christ.

“But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called…” (I Tim. 6:11-12)

We are Christian soldiers and in this day and age marching in “war”. We do have the cross of Jesus before us as the Royal Master leads us against the foe. As Paul encourages Timothy to fight the good fight of the faith, we too should continue fighting. We are in the “battlefield” but Christ is on our side! As we go about our week may we be encouraged in God’s Word when struggles abound. May we go into “battle” armed with his Word and a strong prayer life so that the enemy will be defeated! Our lives are to pursue righteousness and godliness in all we do!

I am so thankful to be a child of God! As we so gloriously celebrated Easter this past weekend, I am constantly in awe of his love for me and what he did for me on Calvary. I count it an honor to go into battle for him because he is the reason I live! So my prayer for you this week is to move onward all you Christian soldiers and fight the good fight of faith!

Have a blessed week in the Lord!

Allison Jordan
SHBC Praise Team

4/4 worship set

My Savior Lives
You, You Are God
How Great is Our God
   -- with How Great Thou Art

It is Well (praise team w/band accompanying)
It's Your Love (praise team w/band accompanying)