75:. Worship Song Break Down 3

I figured that I’d pick the ball back up with this one. If you’re not familiar with what this is, check here. This week I’m just doing Tsunami, which is great because it means I can be a little more specific with my focus on the songs. I can gear my head to think about how I can apply these songs to middle schoolers. One of the song’s we’re playing this week is Salvation is Here by Hillsong United. Here’s the lyrics . . .

V.1
God above all the world in motion
God above all my hopes and fears
And I don’t care what the world throws at me now
I’m gonna be alright

V.2
Hear the sound of the generations
Making loud our freedom song
All in all that the world would know Your name
It’s gonna be alright

C.
Cause I know my God saved the day
And I know His word never fails
And I know my God made a way for me
Salvation is here

B.
Salvation is here, Salvation is here and He lives in me
Salvation is here, Salvation that died just to set me free
Salvation is here, Salvation is here and He lives in me
Salvation is here, Cause You are alive and You live in me

First things first, what is this song trying to get across? The most important thing that is being said here is that salvation is more than just a moment. It is more than just walking down the aisle to the stage on a Sunday morning and saying that you want to accept Jesus. That is part of it, but salvation is something that we can live. Because Jesus died for you and me, we can bring that salvation to the world. Not just that, but I think they are trying to remind us to not forget about our salvation. Let it not be just something we picked up along the way and not it rests neatly in the back of our closet. Scripture is filled with remembrance of our salvation. 1 Chronicles 16:23, Psalm 71:15.

Salvation is something that is for everyone. God came to us and became our salvation because He loves us. He is here with us, and he will never leave. Isaiah 45:17, Titus 2:11. That is powerful. God is with us. He has saved us. There is also an element of faith to this song. The language in the chorus is not passive. “Cause I know my God saved the day/And I know His word never fails.” The language here is concrete and strong. Its not, “well, I think that maybe, possibly, in theory that my God could have saved the day.” No. It is solid. He has saved us and He is true.

Jesus, I pray that this song would become real to these kids. I know that You are working in all of them, and I pray that You would be real to them. Allow this idea of You being their salvation today and everyday make sense to them. I pray that they would ask questions and grow in knowledge of You and of Your word. Give them understanding to see that You are God and You are our salvation.

Amen.

53:. WSBD #2

So, we just had practice for this week. I feel so blessed to be in such a talented community of musicians. I mean seriously. Anyways, I figured I’d do another one of these break downs. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, check it here. One song we’re doing this week is called You Reign by Hillsong United. I can’t find the recording of this anywhere. Its on a record called “In a Valley By the Sea”, but I can’t find where to get the record. Weird. Anyways, here’s the lyrics:

V.1
What could stand before You, as You chose to embrace
A cross so undeserved You took for me
The weight of sin upon You, when You offered Your life
As You walked the streets of men with fading strength

P.C
How could we live but not sing
Your sacrifice, Your glory

C.
You reign, You reign
Over everything Lord, You reign
With power and justice divine
Over everything Lord, You reign

V.2
What was Your last thought, as You drew Your last breath
Where the victory was Yours for us to see
And all will know the truth, as we live by Your grace
Every praise to You alone

B.
See now the King of Glory
Love of God become my calling
Father I surrender all I am to You forever

I think this song hits on something that we gloss over a lot of the time. Yes, God is our Father, our Savior, our Redeemer. He’s amazing. But he is also our King. He rules over us. What he says goes. What does a king get? Respect. Honor. Glory. Allegiance. Calling God our King means that he is in charge of us. He is over everything we do. Yes, when Christ died for us, he set us free from the chains of legalism, but the laws are still there to guide us. To help us grow. Saying that God is your King connotes that you will follow all that he says. What does he say? Read the Bible, it’s all there.

Also, I love how in the bridge, there is a prayer for the Love of God to be his calling. I think we are all called to be his people. I think that if this idea of God’s love being our calling were to be real and true in our lives, this world would look much different. Think about it. You can tell when someone just works at a coffee shop and when they are called to work at a coffee shop. They are on top of it. They are engaging. The love what they do and it’s obvious. They don’t do it for the money or for anything else but the sheer fact that they are in love with what they do and they are called to it. What if that was what your walk looked like?

Father, I pray that as these words leave our lips, that they would become real to us. That we would strive and pursue you as our King. Give us the strength to follow your plan for our lives and the way you would have us live. We are Your people and we long to have Your calling be one that is deeply rooted in our lives. Change our hearts and allow our lives to be permeated by Your love, so the world may know You name and know that You are good.

Amen.

43:. Worship Song Break Down #1

So, I decided that it would be fun to let you in on a something I’ve been trying to do recently with the songs I lead worship with. What I’ve been doing is taking these songs and breaking them down. What is it’s message? What scripture is related to it (thanks BibleGateway.com)? What is God trying to speak to us through this song? Things like that. I don’t have it down to a science or anything, but i thought it would be cool to let you guys into my world. I don’t want these to just be songs I sing. As my friend Duane has said several times [paraphrased], “If we truly believed and lived like the songs we sing, this world (and Wilmington) would be a much better place”. So the first song I’m work through is All Because of Jesus – Steve Fee:

V.1
Giver of every breath I breathe
Author of all eternity
Giver of every perfect thing
To you be the glory

V.2
maker of heaven and of earth
no one can comprehend your worth
king over all the universe
to you be the glory

P.C
I’m alive because i’m alive in You

C.
it’s all because of Jesus I’m alive
it’s all because the blood of Jesus Christ
that cover’s me and raised this dead man’s life
it’s all because of Jesus I’m alive

B.
every sunrise sings Your praise
the universe cries out your praise
i’m singing freedom all my days
now that I’m alive

What are my first impressions? There is one big theme in this song. I could take that down to just one key word. Alive – living, not dead; continuing to be supported or in use. Interesting. Supported. In use. I’ll come back to that. With songs like this, I try to look for that one line that just speaks on it’s own. “I’m alive because I’m alive in You”. So simple but so essential. It’s because of Christ being in me that I can truly be alive! When Jesus was raised, we were raised. We join in that resurrection.

I’ve always appreciated the use of nature to describe how glorious and awesome God is. “Every sunrise sings Your praise/the universe cries out Your name.” It give brand new meaning to watching a sunrise or sunset. Another reason I really love the use of nature is because it is universal. We can all connect to that. I know what it is like to see a sunrise. Most do. I understand that there is a whole universe of things around me. Most do. All of that cries out to our Lord.

So what scripture are we lookin at here? 1 Corinthians 15:22 – For as in Adam all die, so in Christ we will all be made ALIVE. Ephesians 2:4-6 We have been saved by His grace and only because He loves us more than we could ever know. These passages just point to the fact that God loves us so incredibly much.

I like to end with a prayer so that I can ask God to make these songs real to me and so that I might try to find what it looks like to live these songs in my life . . .

Jesus, I pray as I sing this song, my heart would be overwhelmed with Your love. I only hope to see that I am truly alive in you, and You saved me from a place where no light is seen. No love is ever really felt. You have brought me here and You are good. I pray Your spirit would fill our hearts so full of your grace that our only response would be to long to be more like You.

Amen