Category: Uncategorized

Hey guys

We’re doing a new song this week :-) “Make Your Home In Me” by Brady Toops. Take some time to consider it’s beautful words as you prepare your hearts for Sunday.

For a heart that is a beacon, Burning bright and strong and true
In my waking and my sleeping, May I ever reach for You

For a will that is a shadow, Only moving with the light
On a road that’s straight and narrow, Keep me ever by Your side

Oh hear this humble prayer, Oh from a heart laid bare
All that I ask of Thee, Make Your home, make Your home in me

Grant me faith to move the mountain, And be cast into the sea
When I’m lost and when I’m doubting, Seal my confidence in Thee

Let my praise be like the thunder, Breaking through the darkened skies
Oh may I never lose the wonder, Of my Savior crucified

Oh hear this humble prayer, Oh from a heart laid bare
All that I ask of Thee, Make Your home, make Your home in me

Hey guys

I’ve been doing some prep for Christmas. Swing over to the “Song Archives” section and you will see a new section at the bottom of the page with a bunch of Christmas carols. I’ve still got to add three or four more, but I should have those up early next week.

I’ve also got two potential new songs up on the “On the Radar” section, so give them a listen so that we can do a bit of work on them at next week’s practice.

“Worship is the submission of all our nature to God. It is the quickening of conscience by His holiness; the nourishment of mind with His truth; the purifying of imagination by His Beauty; the opening of the heart to His love; the surrender of will to His purpose – and all of this gathered up in adoration, the most selfless emotion of which our nature is capable and therefore the chief remedy for that self-centeredness which is our original sin and the source of all actual sin”.

William Temple, Readings in St. John’s Gospel, 1881-1944.

Hey guys.

What is the most imporant thing you can do for our Sunday gatherings at Hope City?

Practice more? Invite a friend? Practice some more? Yes. Yes. Yes. All important and helpful. But let me tell you what I think would be the most helpful, most powerful thing you could start doing each week as you prepare for Sunday… PRAY!

Think about it for a minute. How many people in our church are likely to think about the upcoming Sunday much, if at all, during the busy, stressful week preceding it? Not too many. So, how many people are likely to be actively praying for the upcoming Sunday? Even less…

As musicians involved in the music ministry of Hope City, we’re probably part of relatively small group of people that are actively considering our upcoming Sunday worship gathering. I want to ask you to find ways to start building a habit of praying for Sundays. They don’t have to be long fancy prayers. Just consistent and sincere.

When you logon to this website to see what’s what – say a short prayer. When you’re about to practice something – say a short prayer. When you’re driving to the church for a group practice – say a short prayer. When you’re on your way to church on Sunday – say a short prayer.

Prayers like:

• Lord, please would you reveal yourself to us in increasing measure, so that our worship response might grow in depth and passion.
• Lord, please would you help Stephen as he prepares this week. Give insight into your Word, sensitivity to the leading of your Holy Spirit, courage to speak truthfully, and humility to speak lovingly and compassionately.
• Lord, please help us to grow in holiness and purity that the words of our mouths might increasingly match the reality of our hearts before you.
• Lord, please overwhelm us with the truth of your glory and our great privilege to come as your children to worship you.
• Lord, please set us free from the things that hold us in bondage and that keep us from walking in your light.
• Lord, please work in our hearts this Sunday to help us love Jesus more in all of our lives

You get the idea…

And I’m convinced that if we pray more during the week, each Sunday we’ll come expecting more, we’ll come depending on God more, and God’s people will be blessed more as he works by His Spirit to answer our prayers.

Hey guys, it’s a new week.

Firstly, it was great having Brigitte join us upfront for the first time this last Sunday. Looking forward to seeing how God continues to add to our group in the future and the different sound directions it might allow us to explore down the line.

This week my “thought for the week” and the listening excercise/inspiration kind of fuse into one, so please take some time to check it out below.

Hey guys.

So, we’re into our second week of using our new music blog thing. I hope it’s proving to be useful tool so far. I’m adding new songs each week so you should start to notice our song archive looking a bit more chunky as time goes on.

So here’s the thought for the week. It’s aimed particularly at those who aren’t scheduled to play for an upcoming Sunday. I.e. you’ve got the weekend off. Even if you’re not scheduled to play, make it a goal to spend some time with at least one of the songs during the week.

Why?

Here’s why:

1. It might foster creativity

I find it’s often in the times that I don’t ‘have’ to practice something for the upcoming Sunday, but when I’m just messing around with it and enjoying it, that I find something something unique or special I can use to improve the way I play it.

2. It might foster worship

I want you to start thinking of the songs we sing at Hope City less as songs – i.e. lyrics and music – and more as vehicles of response to the great God we come together to worship each week.

When you’re practicing for the Sunday you are most likely focussing on getting your part right for Sunday. When you’re making time to just enjoy the song with no pressure to achieve anything during that time, you’ll probably find you’re in more of a position to just enjoy, appreciate and consider the characteristic of God the song is helping us to respond to.

You might just find that the song becomes more meaningful to you because somehow, in that moment, God has become more real to you. You might find that when you’re next singing or playing that song on Sunday there is a greater depth to the way you connect spiritually and emotionally. You might just feel it more … probably because you might just mean it more … most likely because you’ve considered it more … and as a result, you’re more aware of the One we’re actually there for.

Welcome to the new Hope City worship team online resource library and blog. I’ve put this space together to make things a little easier for us as we move into the next stage of our development as a music ministry at Hope City.

Every Monday (sometimes Tuesday) I will be posting everything you need to know for the upcoming Sunday.

Each blog post will include:

• Sunday’s songs: Click the links to download songsheets and listen to sound references. You will find a poor, but hopefully adequate recording of my version of the song so you can have something realistic to practice with, as well as some other pro versions for more inspiration.
• Sunday’s musos: Who’s playing what that week.
• Weekly rambling: The things I want to say that week – thoughts, news, whatever.
• Weekly listening exercise: My weekly ramblings will provide more context and substance for this as time goes on, but one of the musical soft-skills I want to start emphasising is the importance of listening. So, each week, in addition to your personal practice time prepping for Sunday’s songs, I want you to take 10 minutes to critically listen to the music clip I post for the week and interact with the thoughts I convey there.

I hope you will enjoy this space and find it increasingly helpful as it grows. Feel free to make suggestions and please let me know if anything isn’t working properly. It’s still a bit rough, but I’ll fix it up as we go along.

Cheers
Trev