A Christmas Blessing To Worship Leaders Everywhere

I was carrying on a brief exchange with dear friend and fellow worship leader Craig Douglas, and was reminded just how much energy and effort worship leaders are putting into Christmas eve morning services, Christmas eve services, Christmas Day services, New Year’s Eve day services, etc. over this final week of 2006.

Often, while others are resting, visiting or bustling to prepare to attend services that revisit and reclaim the beautiful reality of the Incarnation, worship leaders, musicians and tech people are showing up early to move gear, set up, prepare sets, rehearse, refine sound, and create a space where meaningful engagement with God and the Story can occur.

As a fellow worship leader, I just want to say “Bless you and your family” as you faithfully perform this service to the beautiful, stunning Body of Christ; thank you for enriching us all with your labor of love. May you find the worth in every moment of your preparation for those times of worship. May you find your own heart stirred in the midst of the activity. May you find the sacred space to deeply enjoy the loved ones with whom God has surrounded you, and embrace the implications of such a wild belief that we hold – that God moved toward us, rather than demanding that we first move toward Him.

And… enjoy the music, the art and the wonder of it all.

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Sheltering Mercy: Prayers Inspired by the Psalms

Sheltering Mercy, along with its companion volume, Endless Grace, helps us rediscover the rich treasures of the Psalms—through free-verse prayer renderings of their poems and hymns—as a guide to personal devotion and meditation.

The church has always used the Psalms as part of its prayer life, and they have inspired countless other prayers. This book contains 75 prayers drawn from Psalms 1-75, providing lyrical sketches of what authors Ryan Smith and Dan Wilt have seen, heard, and felt while sojourning in the Psalms. Each prayer is a response to the Psalms written in harmony with Scripture. These prayers help us quiet our hearts before God and welcome us into a safe place amid the storms of life.

This artful, poetic, and classic devotional book features compelling custom illustrations and foil-stamped hardcover binding, offering a fresh way to reflect on and pray the Psalms.