Performances

What Hearts Should We Have?

The ultimate purpose of singing for others is to serve them by bringing the message of the gospel—the power of God for salvation (Romans 1:16). Hymns are a wonderful vehicle for this mission because they unite gospel truth with music, a medium that people readily receive and enjoy.

Furthermore, many of the people we sing for, especially the elderly, experience loneliness, guilt, or brokenness and have limited opportunities for meaningful conversation. By offering both the beauty of music and the ministry of companionship, we have a unique opportunity to serve them in the most important way: proclaiming the gospel and the truths of God’s Word. We trust that the Holy Spirit works through this ministry, using both song and conversation to draw hearts toward Christ.

The quality of our singing still matters—we want our music to glorify God and bring joy to those who hear it (cf. Psalm 33:3). At the same time, because our primary goal is sharing the gospel, we must be careful not to overemphasize musical performance at the expense of personal engagement. We should not focus so much on trying to sing well that we become preoccupied with how we sound rather than with the people we are serving. Faithful ministry means not only singing well, but also intentionally speaking with people about the gospel, both during our program and in the conversations that follow.

How Do You Make a Good Setlist?

• First, decide on the overall theme of the setlist. What will your main passage of Scripture be, and what hymn will you use to illustrate it? What is the main point you want to get across, and what is the intended response?
• Pick hymns that are well-known. It’s harder for people to think about what the words mean if they don’t know what the words are, especially when listening to a performance. The ultimate purpose of performances is to proclaim the saving truth of the gospel through the selected hymns, and this is more difficult when the audience isn’t somewhat familiar with the words we’re singing (even if they’re from a good and biblical hymn).
  • hymnary.org lists how many hymnals a given hymn has been published in, which can be used as an estimate for how well-known it is.
• Pick hymns that complement each other. They shouldn’t all say the same thing, but they should be connected so that each hymn builds on the last one in some way (e.g. fleshing out some important details). Hymns that map out an overall progression of salvation help emphasize and reinforce the message. Pay attention to the choruses and repeated lines of the text of hymns, as these phrases are often the most memorable and can serve as guiding threads that reinforce the overall message. Again, think about the main point of the setlist and how you want to illustrate it. For example, if your main hymn talks about Christ’s death on the cross and what it accomplished, the next hymn could focus on confessing our sins and coming to Jesus as the intended response to that truth. Also, be mindful of the length of the setlist. It is better to communicate one clear message well than to include too many hymns and dilute the focus. Five hymns are often sufficient to capture various aspects of the Scripture you’re examining.
• Pick hymns that have clear ties to Scripture. For each hymn, you should be able to explain a specific tie between it and a biblical concept in no more than a few sentences. You only have so much time to talk in between hymns before people start losing focus, so you want to be able to make your points briefly and clearly. Be free to emphasize a line or phrase from the hymn you would like the audience to particularly note or take interest in.

Example Setlist

Here is an example from a previous performance:

1. Main hymn: Alas, and Did My Savior Bleed (Main Scripture: Isaiah 53:3–6)
2. Softly and Tenderly (James 4:13–14)
3. Just as I Am (John 6:37)
4. ‘Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus
5. Leaning on the Everlasting Arms (Psalm 27:1)

Overall theme: God’s love for us. He sent His Son to die for sinners like us and offers us a new life of joy in Him.

Main point: Jesus died to pay the punishment for our sins and give us a new life of joy.

Intended response: Confess our sins, come to Christ in repentance, and live in daily thankfulness and joy for what He has done.

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• Alas, and Did My Savior Bleed: Presentation of the gospel—Christ’s substitutionary death for our sins.
  • Specific tie to Scripture: “Was it for crimes that I had done / He groaned upon the tree?” ↔ “But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace … the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.”
• Softly and Tenderly: Jesus promises pardon through His death and is calling us to repent. How will we respond to His call?
  • Specific tie to Scripture: “Shadows are gathering, deathbeds are coming, / Coming for you and for me.” ↔ “You do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.”
  • The previous hymn presented the gospel; this one complements it by focusing on the response to the gospel.
• Just as I Am: Jesus’ heart is to receive and save sinners. Don’t try to fix yourself before coming to Him, just come!
  • “Just as I am, Thou wilt receive / Wilt welcome, pardon, cleanse, relieve.” ↔ “Whoever comes to me I will never cast out.”
  • Complements the previous hymns by fleshing out how we are to respond to the gospel. We believe in Jesus’ willingness and power to cleanse us from all of our sins, so we come to Him acknowledging our great sin but trusting in His promise.
• ‘Tis So Sweet: When you trust in Jesus as your Savior, He sets you free from sin and gives you a new life of joy!
  • Describes the joy of the new life after responding to the gospel. It’s not just freedom from the penalty of sin, but freedom from its power and misery!
• Leaning on the Everlasting Arms: This new life is one of joy and peace as we can trust completely in Jesus, who loves us and protects us.
  • “What have I to dread, what have I to fear? Leaning on the everlasting arms” ↔ “The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?”