Isn't it funny how you never think about how much you take something for granted until you can't have it?  We're 10 days into this season of prayer.  36 to go.  I know that it's already been very interesting for me.  Last Wednesday I wrote that I was drinking nothing but water for Lent in support of blood:water mission.  I know others who are doing all sorts of other things, from giving up sweets or red meat (or FACEBOOK! *gasp!*) to full-fledged Biblical fasting.  There seems to be a pattern to fasting... the first couple of days are usually pretty easy... but then you start to want that thing that you gave up.  Your body is wondering why you haven't given it any of that thing that you've taught it to love so much... 

And then you start to notice it everywhere. 

Friday night I spent 9 hours in a club that offered just about any alcoholic or nonalcoholic drink you could want... I spent the whole night working on a Nalgene full of water.  On the way home, I blew through the Steak 'N Shake drive-thru: talk about TEMPTATION!  Something about a burger and a bottle of water just doesn't feel right!

...And yet, I've been able to keep myself on track.  I've also been fairly amazed at how quickly the dollars have added up for blood:water mission, which is very cool. I'm sure most folks are still doing well at this point.  And it gets easier... you get used to not having that thing, and you learn to live without it.  But that's not the whole point.  I still want that root beer in the fridge.  I still desire that milkshake.  The point of Lent is to refocus that desire on God, to go deeper in our pursuit and love of Him.  That's the hard part.  I can drink water for 46 days, and it will be good for me.  I can donate the money I saved to blood:water, and it will support folks in Africa who don't have clean water.  Until it draws me closer to God, though, it's still pointless.  Tomorrow night, when I'm sitting at a table with friends listening to the music and sipping on a water (that bartender is going to HATE me... have to leave a good tip!), I hope I can remember the real reason why I'm doing it.  I hope I'm thinking about the reason why I'm drinking water, rather than how much I wish I had a beer.  Because it's not about me, and it's not even about others (as cool as it is that I can support some folks in the process).  It's about refocusing on my Creator.

Lord, as we continue in this season of prayer and fasting, may You be the sole desire of our hearts... may You fill the voids we have created in our lives, and may we know You more.

A while back I wrote about an article in Worship Leader magazine that posed this question:

"If you knew you and the people you were going to lead in worship were going to die within days, what songs would you sing?"

I've been thinking about that, and here's what I've come up with: (understanding that this list could easily change pretty quickly over time!)

Unashamed Love - This song is so moving that I could probably use it every time I lead worship.  Such a great reminder to lay aside our worries and come before our God in truthful, unashamed love.

Blessed Be Your Name - A great reminder to praise God in the good and bad times.  Thankful for the blessings we've been given, and hopeful for what lies ahead.

Give Me Jesus - Jeremy Camp introduced this song to me and I fell in love.  It's so simple, yet so profound.  No matter what else is happening in the world around us, no matter what we're doing - give me Jesus.

Blessed Assurance - This hymn gets me every time.  In that situation, I think I would want to remind the group of that assurance, that we belong to Jesus and He will never leave us.

So there you have it - my "final set list" as it stands.  I'm curious - what would yours be?  Please feel free to post them in the comments.

Worship can take so many different forms.  So often it's planned, organized, and rehearsed, and there's nothing wrong with that (if there was, I'd certainly be out of a job!).  Countless people have experienced God in truly powerful ways through planned corporate and personal worship (including myself).  Sometimes, though, the Spirit just overtakes you, and you have to stop what you're doing and just worship God.  I had a moment like that tonight.  I was sitting at the computer working on Sunday's service order, and a certain song came on in the shuffle, and suddenly all I wanted to do was sit back, close my eyes, and sing along.  I don't cry much, but in that moment, tears filled my eyes.  How could they not?  God had met me where I was.  The sad part is that I wasn't really looking for Him, but those unsuspecting moments can turn into the most powerful times of worship for me.  It's the type of thing that leaves you no choice but to write a little blog post about how amazing God is :-P  I had a moment like that tonight.  When was the last time you had one?

As always, this post is part of Fred McKinnon's Sunday Set Lists project.  Head over to Fred's blog to check out more sets!

Centerpoint Church 3/1/09

Opening Set
    -Not To Us - A - (Chris Tomlin, Jesse Reeves)
    -My Savior, My God - D - (Aaron Shust)
    -Center - E - (Charlie Hall, Matt Redman)

Response Song
    -Letting Go - E - (Jeremy Camp)

Closing Song
    -Unashamed Love - G - (Lamont Heibert)

We started our Lenten series today with a message called "I'm Giving Up My Job For Lent".  Pastor Dave gave his message in the form of a "resignation letter" to God which he read to the congregation.  It was very different, but definitely effective - I think it got the point across very well.  At the end of the message, we gave the congregation an opportunity to write their own "resignation letters".  We had a big desk in front of the stage and we encouraged folks to bring their letters forward and lay them on the "boss's desk".  I thought it worked really well - the response was really good.

This morning was especially exciting for me because we were blessed to have my good friend Mike Sooy in town to lead worship this morning.  I led at his church two weeks ago, and he was gracious enough to return the favor today.  Our band was really on top of it today, and I was able to just hang back and play bass.  Very cool.  We did a couple of our "Centerpoint Favorites" - "Unashamed Love" & "Not To Us".  We also did "My Savior, My God" for the first time in a LONG time, and introduced Charlie Hall's "Center" - a song that I've been wanting to get into our rotation for a while now.  Everything went really smoothly, the music sounded great, and the congregation was really into worship this morning!  We also played Jeremy Camp's "Letting Go" as a special while folks brought their "letters" forward.

All in all, it was a great time of worship and a great start to our series!