Intimacy with God

Twenty-twenty was for many, including myself, a difficult year. I think the thing that got to me the most was the sense of anxiety – anxiety because things were unpredictable and fluid; the economy (in Western Australia at least) was stable but always teetering on the edge, as if it could all change in an […]

Hitting the Reset Button

In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and […]

Week 5 Chronicles: Hymns Old and New

Week 5 Chronicles is an occasional series on experimental worship formats whenever there is a fifth Sunday in a month. Someone once said that a hymn is theology set to music. Others say that, in contrast to much of modern worship’s being deeply personal, a hymn is an expression of objective praise. That is not […]

The Day I Joined Our Worship Team

As I was going through some old posts, I came across what I wrote below which I am re-posting today. It was just over six years ago when I first joined Faith Community Church’s worship team. Today, our church celebrated its inaugural service in our new 1400-seater facility. The photo is of today’s team resting […]

Masterpieces of Grace

One of the hallmarks of Faith Community Church, as an intentional disciplemaking church, is its focus on the depth of God’s word through teaching. Each year, our church pulpit team will preach expositorily through an Old Testament book and a New Testament book. On 22 July this year, I had the privilege of preaching my […]

Week 5 Chronicles: Choir Sunday

Over the past few months, as part of our worship team’s vision to hone and strengthen our craft, our vocalists have been going through group coaching with Mel Crothers, a worship leader, singer and performing artist in our city. To cap it all off, our vocals director, Sunray Zheng, decided to put on a special […]

The Year of Jubilee!

Leviticus 25:8ff says: Count off seven sabbath years—seven times seven years—so that the seven sabbath years amount to a period of forty-nine years. Then have the trumpet sounded everywhere on the tenth day of the seventh month; on the Day of Atonement sound the trumpet throughout your land. Consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all […]

Week 5 Chronicles: Classics Sunday

Week 5 Chronicles is an occasional series on experiments in worship format whenever there is a fifth Sunday in a month. Psalm 145:4 says: One generation will commend your works to another; they will tell of your mighty acts. I have been leading worship for over 20 years. In that time, I have seen the landscape of […]

Podcast: Never Before, Never Again

In the last couple of weeks at Faith Community Church, there has been a strong revival atmosphere. It started on 16 July 2017 when Rev Bill Wilson of Metro World Child preached at our church on the subject “What Do You See?” Many were challenged to become what Rev Wilson calls “100 degree” Christians – […]

From the Archives: Worship’s Dirtiest Word

Tonight, our worship team is running a round of auditions and it reminded me of this post. In fact, when I look back over the year, I’m really proud of how far how worship ministry has come in putting in more effort into expressiveness and harnessing the power of performance. In recent posts, I have […]