great worship night – Chris Tomlin excels!

Me again,

Dale. myself and as it turned out, five others from our church joined a crowd of 2000 or so at Citipointe Church, Brisbane last night for what proved a wonderful night of Christian music and teaching – it was great being able to worship God there.

I’ll get to Chris Tomlin soon, but the other musicians/speakers were excellent too. I was impressed with Parachute Band from across the Tasman.   I found their presentation, lyrics and overall approach much-more-resonating for me than the wall-of-singers approach which I find increasingly disconcerting with much of the Hillsong stuff – though I unashamedly (though quite selectively) use some of Hillsong’s music. With the Parachute material, I found a stronger justice edge, and certainly a greater use of inclusive language for people. An impressive set, with Living Rain and Mercy standout songs, and some brilliant visuals.

I have Louie Giglio’s Indescribable presentation on DVD and that’s basically what he shared – with local variation, noting the impact of the Queensland floods.  He too was excellent, though he could have been just as effective (perhaps moreso) if he spoke for about 2/3 the time. A great communicator with a God-given compelling message.

Giglio’s spot was in the middle of one of the best sets of worship song music I think I’ve ever been part of. Yes – Chris Tomlin with a superb band.  Yes, he did most of the ‘hits’, though they weren’t used as hits at all; rather – conduits for worshipping God.

I’ve been wanting to use his recent Our God for some weeks. Last night’s rendition was superb – in fact, bookended the show:

Our God is greater
Our God is stronger
God You are higher than any other
Our God is healer
Awesome in power our God our God

I look forward to using it at church – might even try the cool strings/synth bit at the start.

What impressed me was that not only was Tomlin himself worshipping as he sang & played, but he came across as a really humble, unpretentious communicator.  He basically let God do the talking through the songs. He came across with great servant integrity

Songs like:

Holy is the Lord
Jesus Messiah
How Great is our God
Sing, Sing, Sing
God of this City
Amazing Grace (my chains are gone)
Your grace is enough
I lift my hands

… and probably a few others.

What a great night – one to be remembered. And thanks to M. for making it possible for us.

Blessings,

David

PS.

And if our God is for us
Then who could ever stop us
And if our God is with us
Then what could stand against