Embedded Files
Hey! I share weekly exhortations during the worship sets at our church, and I figured I'd put them here as a blog of sorts.
They're usually song-specific, so I'll probably title each exhortation based on the song they related to.
No clue how to best go about organizing this, but, enjoy, nonetheless!
Sometime in 2025
General Exhortation (why we sing/what "praise" means)
Ever wonder what "praise the Lord" actually means?
In Hebrew, “praise the Lord" is halal (praise) YAH (YAHWEH).
This is how we get the word, "Hallelujah."
Halal means to boast, celebrate, be clamorously foolish
A culturally normative example of halal is when shouting at a sports game, or congratulating someone with a "Yay, good job!" or "Woo hoo!"
Another way to think of halal is unhindered praise, or joy! (Sing joyfully to the lord - Psalm 33)
This joyful praise is our response to who God is.
The Lord wants that from us!
The Lord DESERVES that from us
Not only do we exalt His name when we praise, but we also encourage those around us!
Psalm 34:2 says,
"I will glory (halal) in the Lord;
Let the afflicted hear and rejoice."
In the midst of David praising the Lord, he is encouraging the listeners and readers to praise the Lord and trust him.
Transition into Trust in God
David shares a testimony of the Lord's faithfulness later in the psalm when he says “I sought the Lord, and he answered me;
he delivered me from all my fears.”
And he reminds us that God’s ears are attentive to our cries - He hears and delivers.
Let’s halal - praise the Lord - with the voices He’s given us - the breath He’s given us!
Don’t worry if you think you can’t sing.
The Lord wants to hear you, and you never know how your declaration of His praise might encourage the person next to you.
Let’s declare this truth: "I sought the Lord..."
(This lead into the bridge of Trust in God)
10/18/2026
How Great is Our God
We thank the lord for His goodness and faithfulness to us.
Yet his gifts toward us and the abundant grace he freely gives are not so much the REASONS for why we worship, but REMINDERS. We worship because of who He is - He is worthy simply because He is God.
The angels cry holy, holy, holy to the one who was, is, and is to come.
There is none like Him: King, Creator, Savior, Perfect Lamb, Almighty, Eternal.
With every creature in Heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, let us join in worship saying,
“To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!””
Revelation 5:13 ESV
As we sing, let these words remind us of the majesty of our Lord as they give voice to the cry in our hearts to praise our great God.
9/27/2026
Medley of songs praising the name of Jesus
Declaring that God is holy is us saying that He is like no other. And when we praise the name of Jesus, we are praising the Person of Jesus. We are saying, Jesus, you are the King, You are powerful, you are greater than anyone else.
In the words of Paul,
"... [Jesus] is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen."
(1 Timothy 6:15-16, ESV)
While these words bring honor to Jesus, they also strengthen our faith in Him. So this morning, may we all declare with full confidence and faith that the God we worship is holy and powerful - nothing can stand against the name of Jesus.
9/20/2026
Yet Not I But Through Christ in Me (and Worthy)
"I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. "
(Galatians 2:20, ESV)
KJV states “Yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.”
The beautiful thing that Paul shares here is this: when we turn to God, our old, sinful life dies, and in it’s place, the life of Christ, by the Holy Spirit of God, lives.
So then, everything we do by faith is FOR God and FROM God.
We can’t take credit for the good we do, we can’t take credit for our freedom, our victory, our joy.
The only one worthy of the credit and the praise is Jesus Christ, and it is His name we declare this morning.
9/13/2026
Give Us Clean Hands
Grace is receiving what we don’t deserve.
By grace, we have received forgiveness through the cleansing blood of Jesus.
And that blood opened the way for us to be in God’s presence.
The Author of Hebrews puts it this way:
"Therefore…since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus…let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water."
Hebrews 10:19, 22 (NIV)
What Jesus did is He consecrated us.
Consecration means cleansing and making holy (set apart, separate), purifying and sanctifying.
Give Us Clean Hands is a song of consecration.
It’s a prayer asking God to help us walk clean in His righteousness, to walk with clean hands and pure hearts, putting aside things that we idolize and that draw us away from Him, and instead seeking the face of the Lord.
9/5/2026
Better is One Day
The sons of Korah said:
How lovely is your dwelling place,
Lord Almighty!
My soul yearns, even faints,
for the courts of the Lord;
my heart and my flesh cry out
for the living God.
Better is one day in your courts
than a thousand elsewhere;
Psalm 84:1-2, 10 (NIV)
The sons of Korah learned that no place is better than God’s presence. They used the word “blessed,” or “happy” to describe those who dwell in God’s house, who trust in Him.
Sometimes we let things distract us from allowing our souls to yearn and faint for His presence.
It’s much easier to numb and distract than acknowledge a longing and need.
I found myself in that this week.
Even when preparing what to say right now, I pushed it to the end of my “things to do.”
And sometimes it’s easier to DO than to BE. It's easier to check things off a list than simple rest in God's presence and allow Him to speak and reveal His Word. To allow Him to fill the void.
Today, would you join me in putting distractions on pause?
Rest in His presence.
Truly, this one day, these 3 minutes in His presence, are better than a thousand elsewhere.
8/29/2026
Graves Into Gardens --> All Creatures of Our God and King
He turns graves into gardens.
He brings life where there once was death.
"As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins... But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions..."
(Ephesians 2:1, 4-5a, NIV)
The result of our sin is death, but God's gift is life (Romans 6:23).
Our response to this is worship.
Paul says in Romans 12:1 (NIV)
Therefore, I urge you…In view of God’s mercy" (loving us when we were dead and giving us new life), to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship."
More often than not, sacrifices are dead.
But we have the spirit of the living God living within us, and we get to LIVE!
Our sacrifice is a life of obedience, a life of thanksgiving, and putting God on the throne and worshipping Him with humility.
Together, with all of creation, we have the opportunity to praise God and give Him thanks! This morning, let us sing "alleluia, praise the Lord!"
8/16/2026
Promises
“Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come to his people and redeemed them. He has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David...to show mercy to our ancestors and to remember his holy covenant, the oath he swore to our father Abraham: to rescue us from the hand of our enemies, and to enable us to serve him without fear”
(Luke 1:68-69, 72-74 NIV)
God kept His covenant to Abraham throughout the history of the Israelites.
Now, we are children of that same promise - His faithfulness to the family of Abraham extends to us!
It is through Jesus that the promise was fulfilled. He is the one we put our trust in, the One who never lets us down. He's our anchor, and His faithfulness endures - from before the creation of the world, all throughout the ages, and on and on until forever.
This morning, let us thank the Lord for His faithfulness and look upon the past, in the scriptures and our own lives, and see how He's been faithful, and how we can trust Him to continue to be faithful even now.
8/9/2026
Call to Worship | Great Things
"God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord... For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory. And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.”
1 Corinthians 1:9, 20-22 (ESV)
God wants us to be with him and know Him.
He has given His Holy Spirit to dwell within those of us who believe, and His presence never leaves us.
His Holy Spirit is the assurance that God is faithful to His promises.
This morning let’s give God praise and thanks for His faithfulness and the great things He has done in our lives, and for the freedom that we have in His presence.
8/9/2026
Great Are You Lord
God has given us the breath of life!
It's not just physical life, physical breath, but spiritual.
This is why Jesus came - that we may have life and have it abundantly. (John 10:10)
He has given us His Spirit, and “It is the Spirit who gives life” (John 6:63)
What better way to thank our God for the wonderful gift of life that He has given us than to bring Him glory, to bring Him praise along with all the earth.
With all our hearts, with everything within us, let us sing “great are you lord!
Google Sites
Report abuse