Austin City Life Worship EP: ONE

Austin City Life recently released our first Worship EP: ONE

As our church grew, so did the need for new songs of worship. From the beginning of our church when there were 12 of us meeting in our pastors living room, we have had three experienced, song-writing worship leaders... which is quite remarkable. What, I believe this did for us was allow all three of us to grab a hold of the vision God had given our church early. With all of our hearts committed to the Gospel, from the beginning we were living in Community and were serving on Mission before a single song was written. And then... we all began to write... that this is the offering we bring to honor our savior, and to encourage the saints:
Itunes


Reviews:

Reformissionary: Steve Mckoy

"I'm not a fan of most Christian music, and I'm not usually very excited about new worship music. I'm happy to say I can heartily recommend this EP."


Soul-Audio: Matt Connor

"Looking for the diamond in the rough? That little known gem hiding from any mainstream press and yet as good as anything you’ll find on store shelves? Then allow me to help you out. Austin City Life is a missional community in Austin, Texas – the home of many a talented musician. So it should come as no surprise that Austin should also provide some fantastic worship music as well."

Responsive Readings for Sunday...

Responsive Reading 1:
Reader:
We express our longing for God’s leading
by our own transparent confession.
—based on Psalm 139:23-24, NRSV

All-Together:
Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my thoughts.
See if there is any wicked way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.

Reader:
Let us take a few moments to quite our hearts before God. Confessing sin, repenting and turning in faith towards God


Responsive Reading 2:
All-Together:
"Come now, let us reason together,"
says the LORD.
"Though your sins are like scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow;
though they are red as crimson,
they shall be like wool."
—Isaiah 1:18, NIV

Reader:
In repentance and faith is your salvation,
in quietness and trust is your strength,
but you would have none of it.

All-Together:
Yet the LORD longs to be gracious to us;
he rises to show us compassion.
For the LORD is God of justice.
Blessed are all who wait for him!

Worship IS Life...

"Worship IS Life...not music sung in unison on the last day of the weekend."

When we start to really unpack what this means...what this looks like on a daily basis...it is far less glamorous than it sounds. When I hear things like this said I think of things like: walking around like June Cleaver... everything is beautiful and God is always understood as glorious, generous & wonderful no matter what the circumstance... my heart is always full of joy and love for my fellow man and it is always spring and 75 degrees (even in Austin, TX in mid-August).


In reality (at least for me) this isn't what 'Worship IS Life' looks like at all. What I have described above is a pipe dream...pure fiction. This is more what it looks like for me...


I wake up on any given morning and nothing sounds particularly good for breakfast, so I just eat whatever is handy. I don't 'feel' like doing anything...AND I don't particularly 'feel' like doing nothing either. So I get on the internet and, depending on the amount of unbelievable catastrophes and/or miracles, read the news headlines which manages to eat up 30-45 mins. of my 'any given morning'. As I drink a cup of coffee and read... I become increasingly annoyed because we have run out of half & half and I had to use 2% milk...which hasn't the potent creamy-ness that I like with my 'any given morning' coffee and this nearly manages to ruin a perfectly good and well-formed habit. Eventually, I have exhausted all of my favorite news channels BBC, CNN, FOX, & our local Austin Statesman...so I move on to Facebook...to commiserate with my other 'friends' who are also hating their life, adding in my clever comment or two, which makes me feel a little better about this 'any given morning'...

Suddenly I am snapped out of my voyeuristic apathy by my all too motivated and productive husband, "Miranda, what are you working on?" Now, while I am sure that it could appear to those that know me lesser...that I actually could be "working". I know that Luke knows me better... and this is husband language for "enough piddling...its time to get productive." which, regardless of how sweet, or careful it was conveyed from his mouth... I usually hear the latter. I now begin engage my wonderful husband in a heated "discussion" of how I have had a hard couple of days and therefore deserve a few minutes of ME time before the work day starts... OR here is where The Gospel... can turn 'any given morning' in to a WORSHIPFUL morning.

I know enough about life to know when sin is over-taking me...and this is text book. It is in instances like these where Gospel change begins to take place. Knowing that all frustration is sin... (which is grace in and of itself) I can pause (self-control)...and grab this sin by its root and through grace and the power of the Holy Spirit rip it out of my heart. Sounds good right? So how do I find the root? Through reading a book called "You Can Change" by Tim Chester, I am learning that all sin at it root... lies unbelief. SO... I ask myself...what is it that I am not believing about the Gospel? What is it that I am not believing about God? This is sometimes hard to do because, I am practically a Houdini when it comes to blame shifting...and can fool myself into believing that I share the blame... or that if it weren't for other people and their demands on me...I wouldn't be so frustrated all of the time. In this example... I am believing that God is not enough to make me happy, I am believing that Facebook is... I am believing that the most important thing at that moment is getting what I want... that this will make me happy, and that God is not enough. The more that I unpack the sin in my life the more I realize that though I believe in my head... it is much more difficult for me to truly believe in my heart... So I pray...

"God, I confess that I don't believe that you alone are enough to make me happy. I don't believe that you are a good God and have my good (for your glory) in store. I am proving to believe that I am a better god than you are. These are lies... I want to believe the Gospel, help my unbelief. Turn my heart toward you, redeem this day for your glory, help me know that you are God and I am not."

Some days are harder than others and I have to pray, confess things like this over and over. And truth be told, if I could possibly know the true darkness that lies in my heart...I would never cease to pray, confess like this. God, in is wisdom & grace never gives me more than I can bear (thank goodness!)... and always comforts and ministers to my heart. When I cry out...he is faithful to provide the strength to overcome my unbelief.

This is what "Worship IS Life" looks like for me. I would be interested to hear what it looks like for you. Please feel free to leave your comments.

Joys of the Gospel...

Today, The presence of the Lord was great! It wasn't because of musical skill, or careful preparation on my part, or great performances in music or speaking...it was because God chose to make himself known. Thank you Lord!

What makes this especially meaningful to me is that I spent most of the morning struggling...working through feelings of doubt, self-glory, entitlement and disappointment... all of which are rooted in sin.

Before service we spent some time praying, confessing, and requesting that the Spirit of the Lord be heavy. God was faithful! There was such a sense of community...we shared stories of how the Gospel was transforming us...sang songs of Praise and looked at Ezra 6. It was a long service... but at the end the majority of the folks @ Service stuck around, got to know new faces, shared stories... then a big group went to Wahoo's Fish Tacos for lunch where still more sharing life took place. Didn't get home until almost 3pm...

I have been in the church for the vast majority of my life... the daughter of a minister... a Christian for over 20 years... and as I reflect on the journey I've been on just today... I can honestly say that I have NEVER experienced the Gospel so vividly or consistently; knowing that I do not fear the thoughts of men... but long for the joys and freedom that are available to me when the Truth of the Gospel is revealed.

It was a wonderful day of sharing life and truth with Austin City Life. I am so grateful for the Gospel and a community to share it with.

Austin City Life 8/9 Set List

These are the songs Austin City Life will be worshiping to in the morning. I pray that the KING is lifted high. I pray that the Holy Spirit leads us in to communion that will both encourage us, convict us and ultimately change our hearts.


Filled With Your Glory

All Creatures Of Our God & King
Fullness of God (original)
And Can It Be
You Are God (original)

You can purchase Fullness Of God here:

Why Am I So Reluctant???

Because I am a big, fat, SINNER! That is the short answer.

..but the long answer is much more interesting and...hopefully, through exploring this question further...my reluctance will be overwhelmed by a genuine and lasting joy that is brought about by a true treasuring of Christ as the Gospel works through my life and changes my heart.

This blog is my journey out of reluctance and into life-giving joyful worship.