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Our First Worship Matters Intensive

By on July 13, 2016 in —Leading a Congregation, —Other Events

This past week I led my first Worship Matters Intensive in Louisville, KY, and the thought I came away with was, “Why didn’t we do this sooner?” Twenty guys, primarily from Sovereign Grace churches, came together from Wednesday night through Sunday lunch to be equipped to lead congregational worship more effectively. It was a pretty diverse group, ranging in age from 19 to 54, and coming from Australia, the Bahamas, Mexico, the Dominican Republic, New England, Texas, Tennessee, Florida, North Carolina, Ohio, Virginia, and Kentucky. Only two were full time pastors. The rest served as volunteers. We met for twelve 90 minute sessions, …

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Songs and Thoughts from Together for the Gospel

By on April 18, 2016 in —Leading a Congregation, —Musicians & Vocalists, —Together for the Gospel, —Worship and Music

The Together for the Gospel conference, held Apr. 12-14 in Louisville, KY, is an every-other-year feast of insightful Bible teaching, passionate singing, and rich fellowship. It’s the fruit of a friendship between Mark Dever, Ligon Duncan, Al Mohler, and my good friend and senior pastor, C.J. Mahaney. That fruit has blossomed to encourage thousands of pastors faithfully serving their local churches. I had the joy of leading the music again this year. It’s a unique experience. A guy at a piano joined by ten thousand voices singing theologically rich, gospel-centered hymns, old and new. We’ve produced two albums from previous T4G conferences …

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Worship God UK 2015, The Forum, Bath, UK

What’s Ahead for Sovereign Grace Music in 2016

By on February 8, 2016 in —Leading a Team, —Sovereign Grace Music, —Together for the Gospel, —Training a Team, —WorshipGod Conferences, Bob’s Updates

I know it’s already February, but people frequently ask me what’s coming up for Sovereign Grace Music in 2016. As always, Sovereign Grace Music will be providing Christ-exalting music and training for local churches from local churches. Here are some of the ways we’ll be doing that this year. Recording Projects We’re currently writing songs for a live album based on the Lord’s Prayer. The working title is Prayers of the Saints, but that could change. It’s exciting to see these songs of praise and petition take shape. We’ll be recording the album some time in early July, with an anticipated release date of October/November. We’re …

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Prepare Him Room Album Tour

By on November 24, 2015 in —Christmas, —Other Events, —Sovereign Grace Music

“Tour” might be overstating it a bit, but I’m excited that we’re taking Prepare Him Room on the road for three nights in December. Some of the original vocalists and instrumentalists will be joining with local musicians for an event that will combine Scripture, prayer, and the songs from our Christmas CD, Prepare Him Room. Here are the dates: Dec. 10, Thursday, Cornerstone Church, Knoxville, TN, 7:30PM Dec. 16, Wednesday, Crossway Church, Lancaster, PA, 7PM Dec. 17, Thursday, Covenant Fellowship, Glen Mills, PA, 7:30PM We haven’t done anything like this before, but are excited about the opportunity to share these songs in a live setting. We’ll …

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What Pastors Wish Their Worship Leaders Knew

By on September 28, 2015 in —Mentoring Leaders, —Other Events, —Worship and the Pastor

This past week I had the privilege of participating in the Cutting it Straight conference in Jacksonville, led by H.B. Charles, Jr. and hosted by Shiloh Metropolitan Baptist Church. H.B. started this conference, now in its second year, specifically to influence African American pastors to preach expositionally. I was invited to be part of the worship track. H.B., along with his music pastor, Joe Pace, hopes to see more black churches singing songs that are theologically rich and gospel-centered. Not gospel like “black gospel,” but gospel like “Jesus bore our sins on the cross to purchase our forgiveness” gospel. While our cultural …

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Songs and Sermons from WorshipGod15: TRIUNE

By on August 5, 2015 in —WorshipGod Conferences

In the next couple days I’ll be posting my thoughts on WorshipGod15: TRIUNE, which just finished this past Saturday. One of the joys of hosting the WorshipGod conference is introducing new songs and modeling liturgy. While a conference isn’t a Sunday morning gathering, we try to put together songs, Scriptures, and prayers that reflect the rhythm and flow of the gospel. I’ve listed below what we did this year at WorshipGod15: TRIUNE, including three songs from our upcoming album, Sooner Count the Stars, due out Sept. 30. I’ve also provided links to the audio and video of the main messages. Clicking on the linked titles will take you to …

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Doxa Coming to WorshipGod15: TRIUNE

By on July 7, 2015 in —WorshipGod Conferences

A few years ago I heard about a church in Philadelphia that was clearly proclaiming the gospel in the midst of the city, right near my alma mater, Temple University. It was called Epiphany Fellowship, and Eric Mason was the senior pastor. It excited me to think that the “city of brotherly love” was benefiting from one more solidly evangelical, gospel-preaching, servant-hearted church. It wasn’t until later that I heard about the music they were singing and producing. It was theologically informed but combined elements from gospel, jazz, neo-soul, R&B, and CCM (Contemporary Christian Music). That got me interested. While I’d …

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Why You Should Come to WorshipGod15: TRIUNE

By on June 24, 2015 in —WorshipGod Conferences

If you read WorshipMatters regularly, you most likely help plan or lead the music in your local church. First, THANK YOU for serving God’s people! I thank God for your faithfulness in contexts that most people will never even see. Second, I know there are a gazillion conferences every year that you can go to. I wanted to give you a few reasons why you should consider registering for WorshipGod15: TRIUNE. 1. We’re local church musicians serving local church musicians. Sovereign Grace Music isn’t a conference production machine.We’re all part of local churches and are serving in local churches. We get the day in day out challenges …

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Worship God UK 2015, The Forum, Bath, UK

Reflections and Resources from WorshipGod UK: Gathering Around the Gospel

By on June 1, 2015 in —WorshipGod Conferences

Before we get too far away from WorshipGod UK, I wanted to share a few thoughts on our time together in Bath. About 300 folks came from 15 nations and 135 churches for 2 1/2 days of fellowship, singing, prayer, teaching, seminars, laughter, starting and renewing friendships, and having our eyes opened wider to the glories of God in the gospel of Jesus Christ. There were a number of things about our time together that made me very grateful. 1. I’m grateful that Sovereign Grace Music partners with local churches to serve local churches. The driving force behind WorshipGod is Nathan Smith and the church he pastors, Grace Church …

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Dave Gobbett on Sovereign Grace Music & WorshipGod UK

By on April 7, 2015 in —Sovereign Grace Music, —WorshipGod Conferences

I first met Dave Gobbett in 2000 when he was in the states. His love for the Savior and the church were almost palpable. He was bursting with enthusiasm for God’s gospel, God’s people, and God’s work. He also had an appreciation for Sovereign Grace Music that he shared freely once he got back to the UK (as you’ll see below). He played a key role in my leading the music at Word Alive in 2011. Dave now serves as the Lead Minister at Highfields Church, Cardiff, and is a trustee of Word Alive. I’m grateful that Dave will be teaching a seminar at WorshipGod UK this year called “Secure in Christ.” Recently, he answered a few questions …

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How Michael Reeves Helped Me Love God More

By on April 1, 2015 in —Books, —Worship and God, —Worship and the Trinity, —WorshipGod Conferences

Through the years I’ve been grateful for the many books God has used outside of Scripture to expand and deepen my relationship with him. In the late 70s my wife, Julie, gave me Martyn Lloyd-Jones’ Studies in the Sermon on the Mount for my birthday. As I read through it, my eyes were opened to the necessity of humility in the Christian life and the profound effect of expository preaching. In the mid-90s I read Desiring God by John Piper for the first time. It rocked my world. In fact, as a recovering legalist, the book didn’t make sense to me. I thought that my actions only pleased God as they were displeasing to me. I couldn’t …

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Interview with Ben Slee

By on March 26, 2015 in —WorshipGod Conferences

Last year at WorshipGod UK, a number of guys came from Christ Church Mayfair in London. I’ve had contact with them during the year, and they suggested that Ben Slee be included this year in the conference. So he’ll be sharing  a couple songs at WorshipGod UK. In the meantime, he was gracious enough to answer a few questions. 1. What is your history of leading in the church, musically or pastorally? Before coming to Christ Church Mayfair as Music Director this year, I was a church apprentice in South-East London for two years where I was trained in music leading through the youth group and in Sunday gatherings. 2. What encourages you about …

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Interview with Rob Spink from The Crowded House

By on March 24, 2015 in —WorshipGod Conferences

I’ve never met Rob Spink, but my good friend Tim Chester recommended that I contact him to share some songs at WorshipGod UK this coming May.  Rob was kind enough to answer a few questions for me. Among other things, I appreciate his comment that the local church is a place where we can create culture rather than just consume it. 1. What is your history of leading in the church, musically or pastorally? I’ve been a member of The Crowded House since 2002. I’ve served as an Elder since 2007 and as well as being Community Pastor, have been Music Director since July 2013. So as well as leading in our gathered worship, we’ve been …

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Simon Brading Reflects on WorshipGod UK

By on March 10, 2015 in —WorshipGod Conferences

I’ve known Simon Brading for a number of years now and been encouraged by his thoughtfulness, his passion for the gospel, and his heart to see music used in the church for the glory of Jesus Christ. Last year at WorshipGod UK he sang a couple songs  and I was struck by his desire to pastor the people he was leading. At this year’s conference, I’ve asked him to lead the music for a main session and participate in a seminar called Planning for Sundays. Simon kindly took some time to answer a few questions about himself and WorshipGod UK, coming to Bath 7th-9th May. 1. What is your history of leading in the church, musically and …

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The Gathering: Coming to Knoxville this Weekend

By on March 3, 2015 in —Other Events

In 2011, Sovereign Grace Music recorded The Gathering, a collection of 15 songs that walk through the flow of the gospel and our response to it. Among others, the album included Greater Than We Can Imagine, Shine Into Our Night, Show Us Christ, and All I Have is Christ. The idea for the project had its origins in Bryan Chapell’s excellent book, Christ-Centered Worship: Letting the Gospel Shape Our Practice. Chapell makes the case from Scripture, history, and our personal need that, “Corporate worship is nothing more, and nothing less, than a re-presentation of the gospel in the presence of God and his people for his glory and their good.” While …

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