Christmas

The Christmas season is such a wonderful time! It would take me too long to mention all the great things that happened during this year's Living Christmas Tree, our Sunday morning services are so joyful as we sing the music of Christmas, the lights on houses are festive, the baby gate around our tree at home keeps the little ones from hauling off all of the ornaments or climbing up the tree, family and friends are all smiles as each new Christmas event takes place ... it's just a great time of year.

I hope you are taking time from the hectic pace of the holidays to relax a little and enjoy all the things happening around you. And then don't just be a spectator, join in the song and the fun and the festivities and the food.

We'll be singing some of your favorite Christmas carols and songs this Sunday morning at 8:30 and 9:45 and then again on Christmas Eve at 5:00. Bring your family. Sit with your children (they need to be with you in a service now and then - and more often than not if you ask me - which I guess if you're reading my blog, you did ask me. hahaha)

Here are two of my favorite pictures from Christmas. Can you find the differences?

BIG Rehearsal Night

Tonight's rehearsal begins at 6:00! This is earlier than the usual time. Spread the word.

If you have a student or family member as part of the cast please have them bring their costume tonight. They don't have to wear them for the rehearsal, but they need to be seen in them to make sure everything is ready for dress rehearsal tomorrow.

We are expecting REALLY BIG crowds. We have given away more tickets than we maybe should have. The excitement has caught on and we are getting tons of calls every day asking for more tickets. We're out! (And we printed a few more than we actually have seats for.....)

See you tonight at 6:00.

Rehearsal Schedule

I hate not posting regularly, but the last few weeks have been pretty crazy! If Abe Lincoln had followed the church calendar he wouldn't have put Thanksgiving so close to the beginning of Advent! Too much to do to take a weekend off.

Here is our rehearsal schedule if for some odd reason you have missed it.

Sunday, Dec. 6, 5:00 - all choirs walk through (and sing some) the whole program

Monday, Dec. 7, 6:00 - orchestra rehearsal - soloists can come by and sing their song

Tuesday, Dec. 8 - take the night off - go to supper with your family

Wednesday, Dec. 9, 6:00 - ALL choirs, church orchestra members, all cast

Thursday, Dec. 10, 6:00 - dress rehearsal with EVERYONE and orchestra

Friday, Dec. 11, 6:30 call, 7:00 performance (whichever children's choir is singing pre-tree needs to be here at 6:00)

Saturday, Dec. 12, 6:30 call, 7:00 performance (whichever children's choir is singing pre-tree needs to be here at 6:00)

Sunday, Dec. 13, 2:30 call, 3:00 performance (whichever children's choir is singing pre-tree needs to be here at 2:00)

We have given out over 850 tickets for every performance so far and that is before the door knockers go out Sunday and radio ads start and newspaper article is printed. Tell your family and friends to come early to get a good seat!

WOOOHOOOOO! It's gonna be great!

Dreaming of a White Christmas

If you click this picture it will open up in a larger size - Perfect for copying and using as a poster to invite family and friends.

Christ the King

Baptists don't generally follow the liturgical church year as many other denominations do. Probably because of years of trying to show that we are independent and not a break off of the Catholic church. And that's OK. But I have discovered over the years that there are some very nice things about the church year.

For one thing, you don't accidentally skip important church teachings. I suppose it would be possible - well, actually, I know from experience - to not talk about the Holy Spirit for an entire year. (Names will not be shared to protect the guilty.) Knowing when Pentecost is and singing and preaching about the Holy Spirit on that Sunday helps make sure the church knows about the work and power of the Holy Spirit.

For the past twenty plus years I have led the churches I have been serving in to celebrate Advent. I'll post about Advent later.

Advent is the beginning of the church calendar.

The last Sunday of the church calendar is "Christ the King" Sunday. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christ_the_King

Here are some verses that refer to Jesus as our King.

1 Timothy 1:17 CSB
Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.
Read 1 Timothy 1 View in parallel Compare Translations

Revelation 15:2-4 They held harps given them by God 3 and sang the song of Moses the servant of God and the song of the Lamb: "Great and marvelous are your deeds, Lord God Almighty. Just and true are your ways, King of the ages.

Revelation 19:16 NIV
On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.

Matthew Mark and John all have verses where Jesus is called "King of Israel."


Sunday we are singing songs about Christ the King.

Sing to the King
O Worship the King
You Are My King

Join us Sunday as we Sing to the King!

Music for November 15

As I was sitting here thinking about tomorrow's music I wondered how late Mrs. Irene checks the blog. She always likes to see ahead of time what we will be singing in worship. I think she practices the ones she doesn't know and looks up the ones that may be new. A good example for all of us.

Tomorrow morning we are singing B.B. McKinney's great song "Glorious Is Thy Name" with a chorus I wrote years ago called "Glorious Mighty God."

The choir is going to sing "Our God Saves" and the congregation will follow that with "Mighty to Save."

The last set of music will be songs about the blood of Jesus - "Nothing but the Blood," Are You Washed in the Blood" and "The Blood will Never Lose Its Power" followed by one of my favorite new choruses "Covers Me for Life."

Believe it or not, some denominations have taken references to the blood of Christ out of their hymnals. They think "bloody" hymns aren't appropriate for modern people. They have turned their back on the Gospel. Hebrews 9:22 says, "In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness." People don't like to hear about the blood because they don't want to admit they are sinners in need of a Savior.

A Day in Nashville - Some Balance?

I love Nashville. It's a great city. Today, MLW (my lovely wife) and our girls (daughter and daughter-in-law and Hannah) are going to Santa's Village. Fun! I'm spending the morning as Papa with the two three year olds - Elam and Benjamin. Hmm, now that I think about it, Benjamin won't be three until February.



I have tons of things to do to get ready for "the Tree" but it's also important to spend time with family. We need balance in our life. In our work, work, work society our work - our jobs - are considered the most important thing in life.



Guess what. It's not! Your relationship with our Lord Jesus is most important, then your spouse, then the rest of your family (grandbabies, kids, parents, etc.) THEN perhaps work.



There are times that you have to spend more time at work. I add a lot of hours to my work week during "the Tree" and the Passion Play, but even during those times I have times that I give undivided attention to my family.



Even though I am going to spend time at the park with the three year olds, while I'm in Nashville I'm going to JoAnn's for fabric for costumes and to Old Time Pottery for tree stuff.



OK, this is a really boring post. Oh well, I thought it was important for you all to think about work and family. Check your life and see if you have some balance. Do your best at your work. Give your family time for just them (no work in the background).

November 8 - Music for Worship

November 8, 2009 AM

All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name
Let the Worshippers Arise - The choir has sung this a few times and it was so powerful when we sang it with the Nashville Praise Symphony. Now it is the congregation's turn to sing it!

Here is Phillips, Craig and Dean singing. I don't know who put the video together.


Choir – Revive Us Again

Fellowship song – Holy Is the Lord

Blessed Assurance
My Hope

Special Music – Diane Carroccia

Message – Dr. Larry D. Robertson

Invitation – Have Thine Own Way, Lord

Offertory – Mary Beth Mathews

Closing – Bro. Tony Lewis

Why You Should Go to a Funeral

Ecclesiastes 7:2 It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, for death is the destiny of every man; the living should take this to heart. 3 Sorrow is better than laughter, because a sad face is good for the heart. 4 The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of pleasure. Study This Chapter


Now why in the world would Solomon say it is better to go to a funeral than to a big party? Bro. Larry mentioned that in his funeral sermon today and it got me to thinkin'.

Besides the obvious reasons of 1. honoring a friend or loved one by being there and 2. bringing some comfort to the family, here are some things I thought of.

Why you should go to a funeral.

1. It reminds you where you're headed, so before you go...
How do you want to be remembered? I have a t-shirt that says, "Live your life so the preacher doesn't have to lie at your funeral."
What do you want to accomplish in life? Are you doing something worthwhile or just killing time? Are you spending time with family? Are you investing yourself in the lives of others - children, friends, younger people?

2. It reminds you to take care of yourself spiritually. It reminds you that you are headed someplace. It reminds you that you need a Savior. This life isn't the end. There are links on the sidebar that do a great job of explaining this. Click where it says "Good News."

3. It reminds you to take care of yourself physically. Some funerals happen because of drunk drivers. Some because the person was unhealthy for any number of reasons. Are you taking care of yourself? I blogged quite a bit last year about the need for a colonoscopy after you turn 50. THIS IS IMPORTANT! colonoscopy posts
Do you exercise? Are you taking care of your heart? God has plans for you while you are here. Is your health going to cut them short or keep you from doing things?

Well... Christmas is calling. I have "stuff" to do. Come up with a couple of reasons by yourself. I shouldn't have to do everything for you. Hahaha.

Billboards Going Up Next Week

And here you get a sneak preview!

Ooooo. Aint it purty?

Congratulations Brenda!

Many years ago I lived in the rolling hills of Northeast Oklahoma in the great city of Tulsa. My dad was the Minister of Music at Eastwood Baptist Church. It was back in the day of huge youth groups and even bigger youth choirs. There were hundreds - and I mean that literally - in our youth choir. We made lots of friends and went on singing/mission tours and had small ensembles that traveled around singing at revivals... It was great.

When you are active in your youth group you make life-long friends. It has been so much fun being on Facebook and reconnecting with people I haven't seen in twenty years. But somehow - I don't remember right now - before Facebook took off, I had already found some old friends. One of them is Brenda. Cheryl and I moved away from Tulsa when our children were little, but before that I have pictures of Brenda and Richard and Mary and David and Tom and Debbie and so many others at ensemble rehearsals and concerts and holding our babies. It was a really great time in our lives.

Then, when we lived in Denver one of our friends from Tulsa ended up marrying the brother of one of our Denver choir members. (I'm not going with the old cliche "It's a small world" but you can hum it in the background if you want.)

Well... all of that to introduce our winner. If you have been reading along, you know that the person to get to hit 40,000 on the counter down there at the bottom of the page would be our winner. I got a message on Facebook and here on the blog from Brenda H. One of our old friends from Tulsa who later was my dad's secretary and a great choir/ensemble member and friend and she's the one that married the guy who's brother was in Denver. I'm glad she won. She's been a faithful reader of our worship blog for a year or so.

I hope all of this is making sense because I still have a lot of drugs trying to kill off the acute bronchitis and I'm trying real hard to not fall asleep while I type this.

I have an early Christmas present for our 40,000th hit. A little Christmas stained-glass panel. It has pretty swirled green glass and an etched bevel in the middle. (Brenda, I'll get your address on Facebook.)

Is Today Your Day?

This is a repost from Nov. 1, 2007 originally titled "Today Is Your Day."

Today is "All Saints Day".



It's a day to remember the Saints who have gone before us. (Hebrews 11 is a great place to start.) And I like to think of it as a day to remember that we are all Saints. Some of our friends in other faiths believe you have to be nominated by a really important person and then a group of folks check to see if you've had any miracles attributed to you or to your likeness (or something like that) and then somehow you get bumped up from regular heaven attendee to Saint and you get to put St. in front of your name.

Then , if people like you, they'll paint pictures of you like these and they might even pray to you.

However, if you check scripture (always the best place to go for such matters) you'll find that those of us who know Jesus as Lord are ALL saints! Yes - even you!



And there's some cool stuff about being a saint.

You are called as a saint Ro 1:7

Jesus intercedes for you Ro 8:27

You've got an inheritance Eph 1:18



There's also some responsibility with being a saint!

You need to fight (contend earnestly) for the faith Jude 1:3

Love the saints Col 1:4

Support the saints 2Co 8:4

Live without immorality, greed and other bad stuff Eph 5:3



Hebrews 12:1 (HCSB)
Therefore since we also have such a large cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us lay aside every weight and the sin that so easily ensnares us, and run with endurance the race that lies before us,

Oh, and if you want your "official saint" picture painted, you might want to work on the official saint hand signal all of these guys have.

Now... go live like a saint! If you are a follower of Jesus Christ, you are one!

More Pairings

This Sunday, Nov. 1, I've paired up a couple more old songs with new songs. In fact, the old songs are really old songs.

The words to "All Creatures of Our God and King" were written in 1225 by Fancis of Assisi. the tune was written in the 1600s. It has a wonderful text and I really like the tune.

"All creatures of our God and King. Lift up your voice and with us sing Hallelujah!"

One of the things I like about singing these really old hymns is that in a way it connects us with centuries of Christians. Our voices join theirs through the ages. I picked these old hymns for this Sunday - well, partly becasue I really like them, and partly because Sunday is All Saints Day. Traditionally this is a day to remember all the Saints who have gone before us. What better way than to sing songs that have been used to praise our Lord Jesus Christ for centuries and have been sung by countless saints?
We join them in worshiping Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today and tomorrow.


David Crowder Band


I've paired this ancient hymn (All Creatures) with a fairly new song "God of Wonders."
"God of wonders beyond our galaxy - You are holy.
The universe declares Your majesty - You are holy."

The other old song with new combination is "Fairest Lord Jesus" and a new setting of "For the Beauty of the Earth." I don't remember right now who wrote it. I'll look it up and add it later.

"Fairst Lord Jesus" words were written in 1677. Music - 1842.

That's all the internet I can get out of this today. I'll add to this Monday. I'll be looking for all the Hilldale people Sunday morning as we sing these great old and new songs together.

Close to 40,000

Wow! We're closing in on 40,000 hits on our worship blog. How fun is that?

How do I know such things? Look way at the bottom of the page. See the counter? If you see 40,000 when you scroll down there post a comment that you were number 40,000.

I'll have to come up with a nice prize for our 40,000th hit.

No... it won't be this Corvette. hahaha.

I painted a little ACEO for number 30,000. Maybe I'll paint something again.

Well... back to work. Christmas will be here before we know it! Much to do!

A Perfect Pair

Last Sunday we sang a couple of songs that make a perfect pair. One was written in 1997. The other was first published in 1826.

But notice how the text of one leads right into the other.

Holy, holy, holy. Though the darkness hide Thee.
Though the eye of sinful man Thy glory may not see.
Only Thou art holy. There is none beside Thee.
Perfect in power, in love in purity.

Open the eyes of my heart Lord. Open the eyes of my heart, I want to see You.
To see You high and lifted up, Shining in the light of Your glory.
Pour out Your power and love as we sing "Holy, holy, holy."

I pray that as we sing these together our congregation connects those thoughts of our sinfulness clouding our eyes where we cannot see God in His glory but that as we get a glimpse of Him we want to see Him more.

Open the eyes of our hearts Lord!

Now for you music people out there who wonder how we put these two together, here's how we did it last Sunday. We sang the first verse of "Holy, Holy, Holy" (and I told the musicians to perk it up, not to play it like an old hymn) Then we sang the third verse - which is the one I quoted above - unaccompanied, slower - hopefully thinking about what we are singing. As we sang the last word of that verse, "purity," the pianist played the first measure of "Open the Eyes of My Heart, Lord." Then after singing that through a couple of times we sang the fourth verse of "Holy, Holy, Holy" with the same tempo and drum rhythm then went back to "Open the Eyes of My Heart." We sing them both in "D" but I suppose you could do them both in "E" if you want to sing a little higher.

I love how it works together.



Totally unrelated...
Give me a knife and I'll pare the pair of pears. And we wonder why it's difficult for people to learn English.

Since I like to include pictures in my blog posts, here is another perfect pear.





This is a painting by a friend of mine, Jean Hood, who lives in Texas. You can check out her other paintings on her blog. http://jeanleverthood.blogspot.com/2009/10/oil-painting-study-pears-and-cherries.html

Looking Ahead

The pastoral staff of Hilldale just completed our annual planning retreat. We get together for a few days each October to plan and dream about the upcoming year. We had a lot of fun together, talked about some serious issues, streamlined a few things, developed an evangelism strategy, prayed together, laughed together... it was a great time together.

Some things are the same - well, they are the same kind of event - such as the Passion Play and "the Tree." VBS, the Fall Festival and those kinds of things will continue too. They are great outreach opportunities to our community and great projects for us all to work on together.

Other things may be new or changed a little.

But through all of it, our prayer is that the Kingdom will advance, the lost will be saved, the saints will be encouraged and will grow in their faith and their walk and that at the end of 2010 we will be able to look back and see the great things God was able to do because the people of Hilldale were willing to follow His call.

Here is your challenge. Will you wait until someone comes after you with a cattle prod or a guilt trip to do something for the Kingdom or will you get excited about what God is doing and join Him now? Don't wait for one of your pastors to say, "will you?" Jump in there and say, "Let me join you. How can I help? I've invited my neighbor..."

See you tomorrow night. Choir is at 6:30.

Music for October 18th

October 18, 2009 AM

Dan Dickerson leading worship

How Great Is Our God
How Great Thou Art
How Great is Our God (chorus reprise)

Fellowship Song – Forever

At Calvary
The Wonderful Cross

Special Music – Angie Thomas

Message – Dr. Larry D. Robertson

Invitation – I Have Decided to Follow Jesus

Offertory – Gena Tate

Baptisms - Pending

Closing – Bro. Tony Lewis

Being in the Right Place at the Right Time

but without my camera. sigh


Last night I was definitely in the right place at the right time.

Wow! What a wonderful evening! The Nashville Praise Symphony was fantastic! Our Hilldale Baptist Church choir was in full force and sang WONDERFULLY!


Chasing a rabbit - we need a fancier name for our choir. Perhaps I'll put a poll up over there on the left. Yes... that's what I'll do.


So, back to the point.

I had a blast last night. Playing in the orchestra was so much fun! I haven't had the opportunity to play in an orchestra in a very long time. Even though I was sight-reading most of the notes (I did look at the music one day, but did not get to spend much time with it) I didn't play any unwritten solos and only had to skip over a few really fast notes.

Then, having the privilege of directing that fine orchestra and our unnamed adult choir, that was just THE BEST!


We often use the phrase "in the right place at the right time" to talk about some one's lucky happenstance and fortune coming their way unexpectedly. But I've found through the years that being in the right place at the right time usually isn't a chance thing. People who are in "the right place at the right time" have usually studied, practiced, worked hard and have ended up at the right place at the right time because they planned on getting there. Keeping with our rabbit theme - you don't get there with chance or with a lucky rabbit's foot. (Who made that rabbit foot thing up anyway??)



Last night's event wasn't by chance. The orchestra rehearsed on more than one occasion before last night and individually the players have spent many, many hours learning to be the best at their instrument. I didn't learn how to direct a choir and an orchestra one afternoon when I didn't have anything else to do. I went to school and studied and learned the instruments and have been doing that for many years. The choir rehearsed our songs (good thing we knew them since the words messed up) and sang well because we have spent time together singing.



And most importantly - God honored our efforts and our rehearsing and practice and planning and prayers and blessed us with His Spirit singing and playing and moving through us and we shared a wonderful evening of beautiful music and a great time of worship.

All of that to say.


Don't wait around life hoping that some day you're going to end up "at the right place at the right time." By the way - I'm not just talking about music here. This applies to EVERYTHING in life.


Dream


Plan


Practice


Study


Work hard


Pray





Don't be a victim of circumstances. DO something grand!

Great Opportunity - Copy of E-mail 10-9-09

Sometimes my e-mails don't go through. If you read this blog regularly you have seen some posts about that.

So... just to make sure the message is getting out... here is a copy of an e-mail I just sent to the choir. If you aren't in choir you may find it somewhat informative or you can just click on to something else. If you are in choir you should read it just in case the e-mail doesn't make it to your inbox.

Just a quick reminder about Sunday night.

This is a GREAT opportunity for us. Churches all across Middle Tennessee have tried to get the Nashville Praise Symphony to come to their church for a concert and for the chance for their choir to sing with them. But we are one of the few churches who will actually get to hear them and sing with them.

The NPS has members from churches all across the state (mostly middle TN) and some that even come in from other states. I'm excited that they will get to see our church and hear you all sing.

If you work in AWANA I'm sure the other workers will be happy to cover for you since they will want us to be at our very best. We have been advertising on the radio and the Fisher House has been telling people about the concert, so we should have several guests. Let's let them see a big, wonderful choir. I'm sure you'll want to have your children in there too since this is a once-in-many-years event. How often do your children get to see a live orchestra?

So we will look nice without wearing robes, we're going to wear black and white. We will sit in the congregation (so you can sit with your spouse and your children) and then we will move to the choir loft toward the end of the program.

We will go over our songs ("Let the Worshippers Arise" and "Our God Saves") at 4:30. Come a little early so we can begin singing at 4:30.

Don't forget that we will be sharing a snack supper with the orchestra immediately after the concert. Lil Smith had sign up sheets Wednesday night for sandwiches and desserts. She can tell you what we need if you didn't get to sign up.

See you Sunday!

VBS and CMS

Look at this! Our very own Angie Thomas is famous!
She's on a commercial for CMS!

"What's CMS?" you may ask. It's the Children's Music Series from LifeWay. Great music, great curriculum, fun activities and they learn about music and worship and scripture and biblical truths and more.

Our Children's Choirs are on Sunday nights at 4:30. Are your children in choir?

Pics from our Choir Retreat

Our retreat was a few weeks ago, but my church computer didn't like talking to my camera so I couldn't get the pictures. I know all of our curious readers were waiting with great anticipation for some details of the retreat and some fun pictures.


Lining up the words game.



Yummy snack food!

Haha. The only difference between a room for two and a room for four was how many of the bunk beds had sheets on them. You might give me a call before you book a group here.

My favorite game of the weekend - Follow the Light. It was really cool.

Notice the red lights in the mirrors.

The Choir Joins the Symphony

Not joins as in we are all learning to play the violin, but joins as in we're going to sing some songs together!

I just got word today that a couple of the songs that we know as a choir will be on the program Sunday night when the Nashville Praise Symphony plays here! So we'll be singing "Let the Worshippers Arise" and "Our God Saves" as they play.

How cool is that? I love both of these songs!! And with it being a Sunday night we can have the whole choir singing together instead of two halves like on Sunday mornings! Woohoo! I'm all excited about it.

Here's a link to an article on the Leaf Chronicles web news page that tells about the concert. Add a comment and drum up some excitement. http://www.theleafchronicle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/200910061200/NEIGHBORHOODS01/910060354

Bring someone with you to a great evening - Sunday, 5:00, Hilldale Baptist Church - be there!

Here's another great choir and orchestra combination.

Nashville Praise Symphony

A Press Release

THE NASHVILLE PRAISE SYMPHONY will play a concert on Sunday, October 11 at 5:00 PM at Hilldale Baptist Church,
2001 Madison St., in Clarksville TN 37040. The concert is free, but an offering will be received to benefit the Ft. Campbell Fisher House, a special place which assists wounded veterans and their families ( www.fortcampbellfisherhouse.org/ ).

The NPS is a 50-piece orchestra made up of some of the finest church musicians in middle Tennessee, and directed by well-known conductor and arranger, Mr. Camp Kirkland. The orchestra plays a variety of classical and popular music, plus arrangements of hymns and praise songs. The concerts are designed to be worshipful as well as entertaining.

Well... I guess you can tell I didn't write that. Boring!

Here's the deal. This is a great event for Clarksville! The Nashville Praise Symphony puts on a great concert that is fun, has some great music and also some wonderful times of worship as the music helps you worship and praise the Lord.

Their director is the famous Camp Kirkland http://www.campkirkland.com/ - known all over the world as a great choral and instrumental arranger. Our choir sings songs he has written all of the time.

I told David Winkler, http://davidwinkler.com/ their pianist and arranger that I'd love to play with them some time but that it was difficult to add another rehearsal every month to my schedule - and get this! - he sent me the music and I'm going to play with them this Sunday night! How fun is that? Well, at least it's fun for me! I know you will really enjoy the concert and at the right moment you can holler out. "Hooray for Bro. Lyndel! Look at him play that fiddle!"

I'm really excited about how this concert will benefit the Ft. Campbell Fisher House.

www.fortcampbellfisherhouse.org/

Invite all of your army friends to come support the Fisher House this Sunday night.

See you then.

Crazy Week

Last week was crazy busy! I took off Monday since my mom was in town and then was behind the rest of the week.

Last Friday and Saturday was the Kids Choral Connection. I'll post some pictures later today (if my camera and computer decide to talk to each other.)

I'll be adding another post as soon as I finish this one which will advertise the Nashville Praise Symphony concert next Sunday night. Use that link to invite people to come enjoy a great evening of music.

Come, Just As You Are to Worship

"Come, now is the time to worship.

Come, now is the time to give your heart.

Come, just as you are to worship.

Come, just as you are before your God.

Come."

Some people interpret this to mean that you can show up for worship in your shorts and flip flops - you know, just as you are when you were out mowing the lawn.

This is bad theology. Our great, holy God deserves and requires our best in worship. If you look at the Old Testament worship the singers were paid like the priests were so they could devote themselves to worship and preparing to lead in worship. They washed themselves and put on clean clothes before they entered the temple to show that they were coming before God with pure and clean hearts.

What "come as you are" means is that you don't have to be sinless and "good enough" to come to God. He takes us as we are then makes us "new creations." 2 Corinthians 5:17 NIV

Many people use the excuse "I can't come to church, you don't know what all I have done" or "I'm not good enough." This is exactly what this song is speaking about. Don't use not being ready or good or smart or holy or whatever as an excuse. Come as you are to worship. God is the one who will change you and make you into the person you need to be.

What this doesn't mean is that you show up to Sunday morning worship with a cup of coffee and the morning paper in your bathrobe and house shoes. The God of the universe, the great I AM deserves better from you.

Does this mean you need to show up in a three piece suit and a $100 silk tie every week? I don't think so. What would you wear to see the President of the United States? You might be a little more casual if he were a personal friend, but you still wouldn't present yourself at the White House in ratty jeans and a holey t-shirt. The attitude of the heart is what is important, but the attitude of the heart is often reflected in outward appearance. Only you and God can judge your heart, but our casual, try to be sloppier than your neighbor culture shouldn't carry over into sloppy flipant attitudes in worship.

I'm not going to tell you how you should present yourself before God when you come to Him in a corporate worship service. I think if you are honest with yourself and with God you'll know. Obviously there is considerable more that could be - and perhaps should be said about this, but I like to get my readers started thinking and let them sort through things themselves. I'd be interested in your comments.

My original thought for this post was to list Sunday's order of worship for you. So, here it is.

September 27, 2009 AM

Come, Now Is the Time to Worship
Crown Him with Many Crowns

Fellowship song – Your Grace Is Enough

Choir – My Offering

Great Is Thy Faithfulness
Made Me Glad

Special Music – Shannon Jones

Message – Dr. Larry D. Robertson

Invitation – Change My Heart, O God

Baptism – (9:45)

Closing & Announcements – Bro. Tony Lewis

A Little Inspiration - Smile

It's sometimes difficult to smile when you are up in a choir loft. (We have video to prove it. hahaha.) If you are in my choir you'll often see me mouth the words "smile, your still on camera!"

I was sent a video the other day that shows just a little of what we are looking for on a Sunday morning so that our choir looks great on camera. Be sure and watch to the end (or fast forward if you have a short attention span) because it has a really cool ending!



Don't forget choir rehearsal tonight at 6:30. We'll sing some Christmas music tonight as well as get ready for the next few Sunday mornings.

Sunday, September 20

September 20, 2009 AM

Welcome to HBC & Opening Prayer

Sing to the King

O Worship the King


Choir anthem – Our Great God

Fellowship Song – I’ll Fly Away


When the Roll Is Called Up Yonder
When We All Get to Heaven
I Will Rise

Special Music – Angie and John T., Lynn B. and Bro. Lyndel

Message – Dr. Larry D. Robertson

Invitation – Lord, I’m Coming Home

Offertory – Gena Tate

Closing - Bro. Tony Lewis

If It Wasn't Written Last Week It's Too Old

I actually have heard of a music guy who actually said that. "If It Wasn't Written Last Week It's Too Old." Seriously?!

I totally believe in singing all the newest and latest songs. There are so many wonderful new songs being written. I've written a few myself and we have sung them at Hilldale (I just don't announce, "O, by the way, I wrote this next song. Sing purty now!")

However, those who want to throw out the old songs just because they are old are missing out. I've come up with a short list of things they are missing.

1. Great, deep, theological truths expressed in rich language

2. A connection with the Saints who have gone before us, (this is important) the great cloud of witnesses of Hebrews 12:1 NIV

3. Many people in each congregation like some of those songs that weren't written last week

4. Just because it's new doesn't mean it's good. A song should be judged on it's text and the craftsmanship of the song. A bad melody or uninteresting chord structure can't be overlooked just because it's new. Bad theology is never excusable just because you or even someone famous wrote it and you like it.

Hmmm. My list changed from things missing to other things too, but you get the idea.

My latest poll gives you a chance to vote on your favorite hymn written before 1800. Wow. We still sing a lot of these.

The Winning 9

Our poll about your favorite 9 has closed. In case you missed it, here are the results of the voting. We had a tie for first place.

Pluto before it was demoted - 6
Months before Jr. arrives - 6

Third place went to Innings in Baseball - 5

We tied again for fourth place
Beethoven's last symphony - 4
September - 4

From there:
The atomic number of florine (whatever that is) - 1
Cat's lives - 1

I was surprised that a NASCAR option came in dead last with zero votes.
The number on Kasey Kahne's car (not that I know who that is - sorry, Kasey)

Thanks to everyone who voted.

Time for a new poll.

Directions to Jonathan Creek

This coming weekend is our annual Choir Christmas Retreat. We have some really great music to learn this year and all those going on the retreat will have a good head start in learning it.

It's not too late for you to join us. We have a couple of empty beds reserved.

Directions:
Please Note: Although our address is 3043 Beal Road, Hardin, KY, DO NOT go to Hardin, KY to find the conference center.
Jonathan Creek is located approximately 4 miles west of Aurora, KY.
We are approximately 120 miles northwest of Nashville, 200 miles southwest of Louisville, and 200 miles southeast of St. Louis.

1. Take Interstate 24 West to Cadiz (Exit 65)

2. Turn left off exit and proceed west on Highway 68/80.

3. Cross Lake Barkley and Kentucky Lake (Two bridges)

4. After crossing the second bridge, turn right at the top of the hill onto Highway 68 (it is poorly marked).
Stay on Highway 68 and go approximately 5 miles until you reach the Dinner Bell Restaurant on the left.
The Dinner Bell is approximately 2 miles from Aurora.
(If you come to a small bridge called the Jonathan Creek Bridge, you have gone too far)

5. Turn left onto Beal Road immediately past the Dinner Bell Restaurant. It will look like you are turning into a parking lot

6. Travel 1.5 miles on Beal Road until you come to a white water tower.

7. Turn right about 100 ft beyond the water tower and enter the grounds to Jonathan Creek Camp and Conference Center

Sunday September 13

I'm trying something new. I'm seeing if I can put a new post on our worship blog from my phone. It looks like it working!

I'm at a retreat with the TN Baptist Men's Chorale. Retreats are a great time to build relationships and learn music and have some fun. Our choir's retreat is next weekend. You still have time to sign up and go with us.

Here's Sunday's music as best I remember.

Days of Elijah
hallelujah, Your Love Is Amazing
choir - I Will Do the Same
my Faith Has Found a Resting Place
Ancient Words

solo - Cara Manns

see you Sunday!

Lucky 9

There are allllll kinds of things about the number 9. You can check them out on Wikipedia and other sites. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/9_(number)

Here's a little music trivia that has to do with 9.
First you have to remember that 3 is the number of the Trinity. Therefore it was considered a good meter (or time signature) for sacred music.

If you take the beat of a song in three time and divide the beat into two you get 3/4 time. Examples would be "Come, Thou fount of Every Blessing" and "Ancient Words."

If you take the beat of a song in three and divide the beat into 3 you get 9/8 time. This of course then would be very sacred back in the days when numbers meant so much and I've heard is the reason Bach used that double Trinity time of 9/8 for his beautiful song "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring,"



Here's an interesting fact you may not know - possibly because I'm making it up even as I type. When there are nines in the date on a Wednesday it means it's the perfect time to be in choir! So with today having 3 nines in the date is is like triple wonderful time to be in choir. How cool is that? I'll be looking for you tonight!

That's Greek to Me

I wanted to post this today, 09-09-09, at 9:09... didn't make it. But it is an interesting date.

Each day I get an e-mail from Merriam-Webster OnLine - the word of the day.
I get this so I can try to keep up with Bro. Larry.

Today's word was "ennead."
Meaning
: a group of nine

Surely Bro. Larry won't use "ennead" in a sermon. Really! Who would ever use it? Here is the example sentence from MW.

Example Sentence
Immediately following the show, viewers will be able to call or text in their votes for their favorite among this ennead of remaining contestants.

Can you hear Ryan Seacrest saying that sentence on American Idol? I don't think so.

Picture this: Sunday morning, introduction of Psalm 113 as the passage for the day. Bro. Larry says, "the ennead verses is Psalm 113 speak of the majesty of God and of His willingness to condescend to us to help the poor and needy."

Ennead comes to us from the Greek. I think they should have kept it.

Hahaha! I try to always remember to hi spell check before I post to my blog. Ennead showed up as a misspelled word. Hmmm.

As the Deer and Sunday, September 6, 2009

Hahaha! I always like to add a picture to my posts (for my friends who just look at the pictures - you know who you are) and so I searched for "As the Deer" and it ended up that the picture I clicked on was from my own music blog! http://bearhollowmusic.blogspot.com/2008/02/as-deer.html How funny is that? I guess I like this picture.

September 6, 2009 AM

Everlasting God
Fellowship Song – Jesus Saves
Mighty to Save

Choir anthem – Our God Saves

As the Deer
Higher Ground
Draw Me Close

Special Music – Tyson Harris

Message – Dr. Larry D. Robertson

Invitation – I Surrender All

Branded a Spammer Again

Last year I had to blog about Charter thinking I was spam.

http://hilldaleworship.blogspot.com/2008/02/charter-thinks-im-spam.html

I included this picture.

So I wanted a different picture this year.

I gagged several times scrolling through the Spam pictures.

Did you know Spam comes in special flavors. (just gagged again)

All this as an introduction to the e-mail I sent out today that many of you did not get.

Here it is for you.

Many of you won't get this. We've been put on a few SPAM lists and can't convince one or two that we aren't spammers. So you'll need to check our worship blog to see what you missed. http://www.hilldaleworship.blogspot.com/
If you know someone who works for the State of TN (like Shannon) you might forward this to her because I already know form earlier this morning that she can't get e-mail from me right now.

Open mic night THIS Sunday night at the Labor Day picnic.

Some of the bands we thought we had lined up can't come this weekend. (Three bands and a quartet all had different reasons for not being able to bring a little entertainment to our Labor Day picnic.)
So… I want YOU to bring a CD and sing something. Maybe even two songs. Don't be shy. Sing a duet if you want. Get your kids to sing too. This will be a fun family night where everyone needs to sing something.

Welcome new choir members (and some returnees)

Lena (Song) Page - S
Lois Ann Gassdorf - S
Lil Smith - S
Jasmine Chong - S
Michelle Wilson - S2
Brittney Brake - A
Melissa Woodling - A
Rick Stephenson - T
John Woodcock - B
Tim Baggett - B

Comments from Yesterday's Post

Before you read today's post you need to look at yesterday's.

http://hilldaleworship.blogspot.com/2009/09/how-to-have-fantastic-worship-every.html

I have received a couple of e-mails in regard to yesterday's post. Since they didn't leave a comment with their name I'm going to remove their names from here, but I wanted you to see what they had to say and encourage you to add your own comments either to this post or yesterday's.

"For me worship is a love song filled with joy and thankfulness, sung to my God, my Savior, my King! "

"Your blog yesterday was so encouraging. My Sunday school class got into a discussion about worship. Everything you mentioned that was not about worship they said. Some stated that southern gospel music was real worship; others blamed the imperfections of people that caused them not to worship, etc…. NO ONE mentioned loving, adoring, thanking, and praising God. I was so saddened.

The best way I can describe worship, since I am a visual person, is to picture myself in a sanctuary where everything is dark and a spotlight from Heaven is shining down on me. You do not see anyone around you, just you and God, and you spend time with Him. That is the main focus of worship, Jesus. Maybe we need to hear the words again from the song, “The Heart of Worship”, “I’m coming back to the heart of worship and it’s all about you, it’s all about you Jesus. I’m sorry Lord for the thing I've made it, it’s all about you, it’s all about you Jesus”."

Your turn. Has this discussion got you thinking about worship?

How to Have Fantastic Worship Every Sunday

I work with a lot of wonderful musicians. Some weeks the music is really good. Some weeks the music is really great! Some weeks are better at one service than the other.

However... it's possible to have fantastic worship EVERY Sunday. Here are just a few ideas for you to help you make your time of worship - at Hilldale or wherever - a great time with God.

1. Remember that you are at church for God. It's not really all about you (don't mean to hurt your feelings). If your focus is on Him and not on hoping to hear your favorite song then true worship can happen.

2. Don't rely on the worship pastor or the band or the choir to get you all revved up or feeling good. Feelings are great, but in reality, worship is telling God how great He is and how much you love Him.

3. Worship with your mind as well as your heart. So many of the songs we sing have really terrific texts. We sometimes sing songs so many times that we just sing along and don't even think about the words. But the words are really the point. They tell of God's greatness, they encourage us, they teach us, they inspire us...

4. Come to worship expecting it to be wonderful. In most things in life you get out of them what you bring to them.

5. Pray before you come. (don't make me tell you everything. figure this part out yourself)

6. Worship during the week. It's good practice and your heart will be more in tune with God.

7. Some thinking about others more than yourself. (Ooops. There we go again with the "it's not all about you part.") Be happy to sing some old song knowing it speaks to the hearts of so many others. Be happy to sing that new song you don't know because it speaks to the hearts of so many others. (Get the idea?)

Well.... there are probably more, but these are the first things that popped into my head. Why don't you leave a comment with YOUR ideas of how to have worship be wonderful every week. I would love to hear from you.

Christmas Is Coming

♫ ♪ It's Beginning to Look a lot Like Christmas♫ ♪ (the choir room is getting all Christmassy)

♪♫ It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year♪ ♪ ♫ (Choirs get to celebrate longer than anyone else!)

♫ I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas ♪ ♪ ♫ (as long as the snow comes after our performances)

Tomorrow night at 6:30 is our annual Christmas Preview Party in choir. Actually, you'll probably want to come a little early to fill your plate so you don't miss any of the music! Bring someone with you who needs to be in choir. Call up your missing friend. This is the perfect time to join choir.

See you tomorrow night!

Here's an old picture of Papa and Gibson from 2003.

Music for August 23 - Grace

8:27 - Welcome & Prayer – Dr. Larry D. Robertson

Your Grace Is Enough

Fellowship Time – Since Jesus Came into My Heart

Choir Anthem – Enough

Covers Me for Life
Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone)

Bro. Lyndel – Your Grace Still Amazes Me
Wish I could get Phillips, Craig and Dean here (the ones on this video), but instead you'll have to hear me sing it Sunday.

Message – Dr. Larry D. Robertson – The Grace of Salvation

Invitation – Marvelous Grace

Offertory – Gena Tate

Closing – Bro. Lyndel Littleton

Where the Devil Is

Hahaha. You know the old saying - "The Devil is in the details." Well, if you have ever looked at my quotes on facebook you'll see that one of my favorite quotes is "The Devil's not in the details, he's in the sound system." I may have heard that from someone else, but I don't remember that, so I've attributed the quote to myself.

I guess we have a short in one of the channels or perhaps it is going out.

Oh, for my readers around the world, here's what happened yesterday. I had perhaps the biggest choir of the summer up in the loft for our first service (8:30!) and we were singing with a track yesterday. We don't sing with a track every week, but yesterday's song had a great track.

So it was time for the choir number and I was waiting - patiently - wondering why they hadn't started the track thinking - "Oh! this is taking too long. start the track, start the track, start the track!" when all of the sudden loud voices started singing!

The track is a split track CD with instruments on the left and voices on the right.

"Oh no! I know I remember telling the sound guy to turn off the right and just play the left!" I thought to myself.

Well... I won't bore you with all of the details if you weren't there, but long story short - we didn't get it to work first service. After a few failed attempts we just went on with the service. The service was still nice, I just was very disappointed that the big choir didn't get to sing by themselves.

As you've read before from me, God Loves Choirs!

http://hilldaleworship.blogspot.com/2007/08/god-loves-choirs.html

http://hilldaleworship.blogspot.com/2008/04/god-loves-choirs-part-2.html if you only read one, read this one

http://hilldaleworship.blogspot.com/2008/04/god-loves-choirs.html

Sorry, I've distracted myself. Going back to the original point. We think there is a short in one of the buttons or in the channel because between services we just touched one of the knobs on that channel and we could hear the track. We'll test it this week and see if we need to move the CD input to a different channel.

Life is sometimes like a mixing board. It looks like you have everything set just right and all the right buttons pushed or not pushed (depending on what you need to have happen) and yet still things go wrong. The first thing we want to do is assign blame and then we want to know "WHY?"

I don't think either of those is the correct response. Rather than trying to find someone to blame or asking God "why did you let this bad thing happen?" our response should be to find out how God can use this for our good or for His glory. It's not really about you, you know. It's about Him.

Here are some questions you may wish I hadn't asked, but you should try to answer them honestly the next time the devil shows up in your sound system, or car, or workplace or school or ______.

Does your reaction point people to Jesus or does it make people want to avoid you the next time something bad happens in your life.

Do you continue on in faith knowing God is greater than your circumstances or do you look for a rock to sit on where you can have a little pity party?

Would friends and family who don't know the Lord have any reason to want a relationship with God if your reaction was the only witness they had of a person walking by faith?

Have a great week.

Keep your eyes open for the "roaring lion" and walk by faith and not by sight.

Sunday's Music

Whew, Ms. Irene, I almost missed getting this in. I was about to close up for the day and then I remembered how you would be anxiously waiting to see what we are singing this Sunday.
So here it is...

Blessed Be Your Name
Choir Anthem – Majestic
Welcome song – Victory in Jesus
The Power of the Cross
The Wonderful Cross

Duet – Mark Black and Lacey Waynick – East to West

Message – Dr. Larry D. Robertson

Invitation – Come Just As You Are

Offertory – string trio – Come, Now Is the Time to Worship

Closing – Bro. Tony Lewis

More Fun with Amazing Grace

The other day I mentioned some songs whose tunes can be used to sing the text to "Amazing Grace." Here are a few more to try.

Gilligan's Island
"Amazing Grace how sweet the sound
that saved a wretch like me
I once was lost but now I'm found was blind but now I see.
was blind but now I see."

Brady Bunch (I love this one)
"Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound
that saved a wretch like me
I once was lost
but now I'm found
was blind but now I see."

You actually need to sing two verses of "Amazing Grace" to get through one verse of the Brady's.

For all you old rockers out there - you may know the tune to "House of the Rising Sun." We actually sang this in the youth group when I was a kid.
"Amazing grace
how sweet the sound
that saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost
but now I'm found
was blind but now I see."

Amazing Numbers

I just sent this out in one of our e-Inchoirer newsletters, but I figured everyone is waiting with great anticipation - wanting to know how our "I Sing, You Sing, We All Sing for Choir" (and Ice Cream) contest is going.

I couldn't believe it when I added up the numbers!

Here is where the the score in our I Sing, You Sing, We All Sing for Choir contest was last Wednesday before choir.

Soprano - 2950
Alto - 2810
Men - 2740

Last week we had double points for choir rehearsal. The altos had three visitors (and somehow through the contest we started counting visitors' scores like new member scores) so the altos got 600 points and the score became this:

Soprano - 3310
Alto - 3410
Men - 3020

The altos took the lead!
But then Sunday came - and again we doubled the score ('cause the contest is almost over.)
Here are the points earned
Soprano - 420
Alto - 320
Men - 360

which gives us these totals:
Soprano - 3730
Alto - 3730
Men - 3380

We have a tie!

Tonight is the final night. We'll double the points one last time. Who will come out on top and win the I Sing, You Sing, We All Sing for Choir (and Ice Cream) contest?

Call your friends and get them to choir tonight. It's going to be a close contest!!

Fun with Amazing Grace

I told the choir in rehearsal last week how I had that week's choir anthem stuck in my head but couldn't remember the words. It ended up, however, that the words to "Amazing Grace" fit it perfectly.

For those of you that know about hymn tunes, each tune has a meter (it's a poetry term actually). You can look in your hymnal (if your church still has them - that's a whole other post) and at the bottom of the page you'll see some numbers. For "Amazing Grace" those numbers are 8.6.8.6. Which means the first line has eight syllables - "Amazing grace how sweet the sound" the second line has six syllables - "that saved a wretch like me" then eight - "I once was lost but now am found" and then six again - "was blind but now I see."

You'll notice something else on "Amazing Grace" the initials "C.M." which stand for "common meter." Apparently we really like the rhythm of 8.6.8.6.

So... Here's the fun part.

You can go through your hymnal and any song that has C.M. or 8.6.8.6. at the bottom of it can have the words to "Amazing Grace" sung to it.

Try "Joy to the World"

Amazing grace how sweet the sound

that saved a wretch like me.

I once was lost

but now am found

(then you have to repeat a little)

was blind but now I see,

was blind but now I see

was blind, was blind but now I see"

It will also work with "O God Our Help in Ages Past," "All Hail the Power of Jesus' Name" and more.

Here's a fun one (please don't tell me I'm sacrilegious) you can sing it to "The Brady Bunch" too! You have to sing two verses to get the whole Brady song tune in.

Tomorrow I'll post a couple of more fun ones.

No matter how you sing it, I hope you can sing the words from experience!

Sing!

The Great God of Salvation - Sunday's Services

Bro. Larry started a new sermon series last Sunday. It began with a great sermon titled "So Great a Salvation." (if that's not it, it's close)

He shared with me the titles for the other sermons in the series and it is going to be wonderful. This week's sermon is "The God of Salvation" or was it "The Great God of Salvation" or something like that. You'll notice that we are singing some songs that tell of God's greatness.

8:28 – Dr. Larry D. Robertson - welcome and prayer

Everlasting God
Blessed Be the Name

Everlasting God (chorus)

Rise Up and Praise Him

Welcome song

Leaning on the Everlasting Arms

Our Great God – Choir Anthem
Psalm 145:1-4

How Great Thou Art
How Great Is Our God

Message – Dr. Larry D. Robertson

Invitation – Jesus, I Come

Offertory – Michelle Dickerson

Baptism – Bro. Tony Lewis (Dillon 8:30)

Closing – Bro. Lyndel Littleton

Don't forget the new schedule!

8:30 and 9:45 are the times at the main campus.

Library Greatness

When I moved form West Tennessee to Middle Tennessee 10 years ago we moved from a pretty good sized house to a much smaller house. Don't misunderstand - I LOVED Bear Hollow as any of my long-time readers could tell you. It's just that we didn't have room for all of our "stuff."

In West Tennessee we had a little sitting area upstairs that had large bookshelves that we had filled with books. For awhile in Martin our church was part of some sort of organization where we could get a lot of things for free or almost free and many of those items were books! I have photography books, gardening books, all kinds of devotional and Christian living type of books, beautiful children's book and more.

Now I have moved to a bigger house I am figuring out that I need to buy some bookshelves - a lot of book shelves. Maybe one or two for several of the rooms so we won't look like a branch of the Clarksville public library!

One of the books I found (it has been in a box for 9 years!) is titled "There's Always Time for Greatness" subtitled "Who did what when from ages 1-100" published by Hallmark books. The point of the book is to inspire each of us - no matter how old - to strive for greatness by seeing what others have accomplished.

Some samples:

At the age of 3 Tiger Woods shoots 48 for 9 holes on his hometown golf course in Cypress, California.

At the age of 13 Anne Frank begins her diary, and with her family is soon forced into hiding from the Nazis.

At the age of 23 Daniel Rutherford discovers nitrogen.

Let's skip a few decades.

At the age of 53 Dwight D. Eisenhower, Supreme Commander of Allied Forces in World War II, plans and leads the pivotal D-Day invasion of Normandy.

Oh, side-tracked. I attended Mr. Berry's funeral today. He was one of the men who landed on the beach on that day! Wow!

Well, I'll stop. I'll be Twittering some of these things over the next few days or weeks. I have my Twitter, Facebook and Blogger accounts set up where when I "tweet" it updates my facebook status and puts a note over there on the sidebar of this blog. How cool is that?

So what's the point of this blog besides me rambling on? Here are a few thoughts that popped into my head.

Do something great this week. Don't wait until next week or until you are older. And don't stop trying because you've missed your younger days.

Do whatever you are doing with excellence.

Colossians 3:23 NAS Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men,

Remember that God can use you to do great things for His Kingdom at any age.

Encourage others to strive for greatness in what they do.

Contest Heads Toward the Final Days

Contest info:
We have one more Wednesday and one more Sunday for each team to rack up some extra points.
Since it is the end, we're going to double the points for this Wednesday - which means 20 for each person in attendance and 100 for new members! and we'll double them again next Sunday.

The score


sopranos altos men

Last Total 2310 2280 2210
29-Jul 200 150 130
2-Aug 440 380 400
New total 2950 2810 2740

(sorry, can't get these numbers to line up correctly on blogger)

Yes! There were 22 sopranos in attendance Sunday which - with double points - gave them 440 points!
It's still any one's game. Call your missing friends. Invite someone new to join you. Let's start the Fall singing season with a BIG choir!

Oh, speaking of the Fall schedule… August 26 is our annual Christmas Preview Party and September 18-19 is our Christmas retreat. It's not too late to sign up! Put these dates on your calendar and we'll see you then!

Sunday, August 2

The first thing to know about August 2 is that Hilldale's new Sunday morning schedule begins.

8:20 - choir members should be in choir room
8:30 - Worship Service and L.I.F.E. Groups
9:37 - 2nd service choir in choir room
9:45 - Worship Service and L.I.F.E. Groups at both campuses
11:00 - Worship Service at FLC

The second thing to know is that the format of the service will be a little different. Here's the order of worship at the main campus services.

Welcome & Prayer - Bro. Larry

Sing to the King with Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee
My Hope

Prayer - Bro. Lyndel

It Is Well
I Will Rise

Choir Anthem – Revelation Song

Shout to the Lord

Message – Dr. Larry D. Robertson

Invitation – I Surrender All

Offertory – Mary Beth Mathews

Baptism –

Announcements & Closing – Bro. Tony Lewis

We're getting this out early again this week because I have a few more boxes to move from Whites Creek to Clarksville and tomorrow is the day for that.

See you Sunday!