Sometimes worship planning starts with a strong theme: the unity of the Church or the day of Pentecost, for example. Other times, it’s more of an intuitive process. This Sunday is the latter. I wanted to keep things simple, and ended up with what amounts to a Guitarchestra Greatest Hits service. But lest you think “greatest hits” sounds unadventurous or unspiritual, let me point out a few songs that make this “normal” COS service special:
I Will Hide Your Word Inside My Heart – This little gem of a song is in the new Lift Up Your Hearts hymnal, but it had its American premiere right here at COS.
Psalm 113/Who Is Like the Lord? – The winner of this year’s COS New Psalm Contest. I expect it will be sung for many years to come.
The First Place – Written by Matthew Westerholm, who until recently led worship at Cornerstone University.
At the Throne of Our God – Immensely popular in Korea, COS is the first church to sing it in English, thanks to translation help from members Paul Han and James Ju.
Kwake Yesu – First sung in English at COS, it now appears in two hymnals.
My point is not for us to pat ourselves on the back (okay, maybe a little), but to remind us that some really exciting and healthy things are happening at COS every week. We’re singing a robust repertoire of global, local, historical, and modern songs. More importantly, these are becoming our heart songs. The song of Scripture and the song of the Church is becoming our own song.

How cool is that?

–Greg Scheer