Below are notes on a 'Mission Possible' Worship iMix that I made for our church family. We will be singing most of these songs over the course of the next few months. I am encouraging you to invest in this iMix, hoping that these songs will become a resounding prayer to God for our church and for our lives as we press on towards our Mission as a church. You can purchase the Mission Possible iMix at the iTunes store by taking this link. You must have iTunes software installed on your computer first.



1. Consuming Fire by Tim Hughes (Holy Trinity, Brompton, UK)
This song opens with the phrase, "There must be more than this." I come to this time in my spiritual journey as a Christ-follower and as a Pastor of Trinity Church with a desire for more - to know God more, to experience his presence more, to delight in his church more, to be overwhelmed by the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ to save and transform, and to experience the overflow of the Holy Spirit more and more as I absolutely surrender to God's way for my life. The key to this experience is in taking the longing to God in prayer. He will answer! The Holy Spirit is the source that will not only direct and fulfill our desires, but leaves us saying, "Lord have your way in us."

2. Let the Church Rise by Jonathan Stockstill (Bethany World Prayer Center, Louisiana)
This song is my prayer not only for our church, but also for God's church around the world. It came out of a church in Baton Rouge, La. around the time of Hurricane Katrina, and became the anthem for the church as they took in more than 1000 victims. While this church met people's practical needs, over 800 of those people came to realize their greatest need for salvation and became followers of Jesus Christ. "Moving with power, bringing your name to the earth ... we are moving with his compassion ... let the church fall to her knees ... let your wind blow, revive us again Lord." God, do this work among us and through us for your glory alone!

3. Enter This Temple by Leeland
This chorus is such a huge cry for God's presence when we meet with him corporately to worship. Sometimes I find myself entering the worship service with a mindset of business as usual. Shouldn't we instead expect the unexpected when we gather to meet with God? "Father enter this temple, come touch your people, we need to be where you are. Children living as their Father, washed in pure water, we need to be like you are." Meeting with God as we worship together as a church should change our perspective, our behavior, and our desires as we allow the Holy Spirit to work among us.

4. I Cling to the Cross by Paul Baloche (Community Christian Fellowship, TX)
I love the picture this song paints - the saved sinner clinging to the cross - it's the only hope there is for saving me. Christ followers unashamedly center their lives on Christ and the cross. Jesus said, "If anyone wishes to come after me he must deny himself, take up his cross and follow me." The best part of this song is the climax at the end when it explodes into a glorious anthem proclaiming, "The world behind me, the cross before me - no turning back, no turning back!"


5. Hosanna by Hillsong (Hillsong Church, Australia)
This song begins with a worship focus on God and then moves from there to a chorus that declares - Hosanna, Hosanna in the highest. Hosanna means, "Save us, O God!" When God saves us, everything changes - or at least it should. The song climaxes into the bridge and it is by far the most amazing bridge I have ever sung or played. The music matches the passion as our souls shout this prayer: "Heal my heart and make it clean. Open up my eyes to the things unseen. Show me how to love like you have loved me. Break my heart for what breaks yours. Everything I have for your Kingdom's cause as I walk from earth into eternity." May God answer that prayer as we begin to pray it together, our eyes and hearts fixed on eternity.

6. Bring the Rain by Mercy Me
One of the things the pastoral staff has wrestled with is how suffering fits into our life as a church. I was drawn to Paul's statement, "That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong." (2Cor. 12:10, NIV) We have a tendency to avoid suffering at all costs. Paul delighted in it. This song is frightening to me, but I sing it because it captures the correct mindset of a Christ follower. Suffering is often the place God leads all who are wholly devoted to him. We must learn to embrace suffering as his way and embrace one another well through it.

7. Giving it All by Michael Gungor
My wife and I walked through the valley of suffering at the beginning of 2008. This song became our anthem as we grieved together - and it is still our anthem today. "We're giving it all to you. Our hearts cry out, "We need you now!" We're giving it all to you! ... I surrender all." I don't want to be any other place than, arms lifted high, wholly surrendered to God.

8. Pleasing To You by Desperation Band (New Life Church, CO)
This song is almost too much for me to sing. It captures the heart and desire of one who is in love with Jesus - "my heart must know, I'm pleasing to you!" The prayer is for God's sanctifying work in our lives. It is what God desires of us as well - holiness, being set apart for him. It is time for the church, the bride of Christ, to plea with God to purify us, and it begins with repentance. "Come make me white as snow; Lord make me pure as gold. Jesus, my heart must know I'm pleasing to you. I give my life my all; taking my cross I will follow. Jesus, my heart must know I'm pleasing to you!"

9. Wholly Yours by David Crowder
Crowder celebrates redemption so well in his songs. I love this song's approach to worshiping God. I chose the acoustic version because it is this version that got my attention. Sometimes musical simplicity is the best way to communicate the depth of the lyric. The ending is profound. "Here I am, all of me. Finally, everything. I am wholly yours."

10. All to You by Lincoln Brewster (Bayside Church, CA)
This song communicates a whole heart for God - "not holding back, but every part. I'm giving it all to you!" I love the way Lincoln Brewster brings worship to God that is abounding in excellence, but defined by humility. I love the way that the musical interlude captures the essence of the song. I must admit that a guitar solo like the one recorded here makes me smile and think, "God is great, and gave Lincoln a great talent that he is giving wholeheartedly back to him." Are you giving 100% of your talents to God and the furthering of his Kingdom? No holding back for us, Trinity Church!

11. Overflow by Matt Goss (Lancaster County Bible Church, PA)
I love the passion of this prayer and chose this as a theme song for me and for my church in the fall of 2007. It is still a way of thinking for us as a church and remains our prayer as we press on in the mission to which God has called us. "Fill me up so I can be poured out. Fill me up 'till I overflow with you!"

12. Everlasting God by Brenton Brown
This song centers us on the character of God and sets our hope on him alone. I am convinced that 'waiting' should produce the most growth in spiritual lives. We turn our attention away from what we're waiting for and toward the Everlasting God. That's where strength comes from. It's where faith comes from. My heart was blessed one Sunday when one of our worship singers couldn't hold it in, and yelled, "YEAH" when we dove into the chorus. We all felt it, and I'm glad he led us there.

13. God of This City by Chris Tomlin
God has placed us in our city for a reason and this song captures a heart to see God's mission accomplished right here. I am a champion of foreign missions, but my heart is here first. God's heart is a "both and" heart. He desires that all people come to salvation everywhere. Let's expect him to do this work here - in our families, our neighborhoods, our schools, and work places. From there we will spill over into the world. That said, this song was written by an Irish band, in a night club in a dark city of Thailand, on a mission trip.

14. Mighty to Save by Hillsong (Hillsong Church, Australia)
Do we have the faith that God can move mountains? He is mighty to save! Let us plea with him to reveal that salvation among us - we want to see people being born again into his family. Trinity Church, 'Shine your light and let the whole world see we're singing for the glory of the risen King - Jesus!" It begins with us who are saved, part of God's family, living like his children. May our times of corporate worship rally around God's ongoing work of salvation through Jesus Christ our Lord!

15. Counting on God by Desperation Band (New Life Church, CO)
I close with this song, because I believe that God is leading our church to a greater willingness to risk, to a more costly discipleship, to a willingness to align ourselves fully with his mission, forsaking the pleasures of this world for the pleasures of God. The only way to move in that direction is to step one step at a time with a deep faith that says again and again, "I am counting on God." The result of this faith in action is captured so beautifully in the pre-chorus to this song. "Joy unspeakable that won't go away, and just enough strength to live for today. So I never have to worry what tomorrow will bring 'cause my faith is on solid rock - I am counting on God!" Let's roll Trinity Church!