Last night, some of us from church attended the Worship Central UK Tour meeting in Bradford. Worship Central (http://www.worshipcentral.org/) is an organisation dedicated to teaching and resourcing the church about worship; its three key aims are to:
1) encounter God,
2) equip the worshipper
3) empower the local church.
The school of worship, which is part of Alpha International, is led by Tim Hughes and Al Gordon, and the evening was a time of teaching and worship, looking at John 6:63, where we are told that ‘the Spirit gives life’.
Using LIFE as an acrostic, we were exhorted to:
Look boldly with the eyes of faith at what God is already doing. John 3:8 reminds us that the Spirit’s work is like the wind: we may not be able to see Him, just as we cannot see the wind, but we see the effects of His work. Galatians 5:25 reminds us to keep in step with the Spirit. We need to hear God’s ‘marching orders’.
Invite daily the Holy Spirit into our lives (Ephesians 5:18), so that we are continually filled with the Spirit, acknowledging that we are not to live in our own strength, but in God’s. We were reminded that when we are pushed, only what is inside comes out… so we need God’s life within to flourish so that others may see Him in us.
Forgive freely (Mark 11:25), since forgiveness leads to freedom and release.
Expect greatly (Luke 24:49) Tim Hughes talked about how, in the Old Testament, circumstances and situations rendered people unclean (eg if you touched a dead body), yet Jesus, when on earth, touched all manner of unclean people (the woman with the issue of blood, the leper, the dead girl) and instead of Him becoming unclean, they became clean. The same Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead lives in us (Romans 8:11). We can expect great things to happen because of who God is.
It was encouraging to worship with so many people of all ages, to learn new songs (Nikki Fletcher’s ‘All Glory’, Tim Hughes’s ‘Counting On Your Name’, Ben Cantelon’s ‘Not Ashamed’… (interesting to see how God is giving songs on the same theme to songwriters all over the world!)) and most of all, to understand afresh the power and purposes of God.
And just to prove we were there, some photos taken at the start. Some of you may have iPhones and want to download the free app… or you may want to go to London to be involved in the live album recording!
And if you’re interested, the set lists are given below (with apologies for any titles I’ve got wrong for new songs!)
1st set
Spirit of the Living God – Daniel Iverson
Holding Nothing Back – Tim Hughes, Martin Smith
Dance – Tim Hughes
Wake Up – Tim Hughes, Stu Garrard
Beautiful – Phil Wickham
All Glory – Nikki Fletcher, Tim Hughes, Martin Smith
Counting on Your Name – Tim Hughes, Nick Herbert
Happy Day – Tim Hughes, Ben Cantelon
2nd set
Consuming Fire – Tim Hughes
Spirit Break Out – Luke Hellebronth, Myles Dhillon
Saviour of the World – Ben Cantelon
Because of Your Love – Al Gordon, Hanif Williams
For Your Glory – Ben Cantelon, Matt Redman
Not Ashamed (Remix) – Ben Cantelon, Nick Herbert
Hallelujah – Ben Cantelon