Jamie Barnes and Lorie King provided vocals for Sojourn’s two Easter morning services, and Worship Arts pastor Mike Cosper led a band featuring a basic but versatile lineup of lead, rhythm and bass guitar along with drums (we’ve been blessed with many musicians at Sojourn, so in any given week we can “paint different textures” depending on the musicians and instruments chosen).   

Here is the song list for this Easter service, which also included several baptisms and, as always, prayers, readings, communion, offering, a giving of the peace and a sermon, in this case built around Romans 4:24-5:1 (the sermon audio will be up soon on www.sojournchurch.com).

1. Awaken the Dawn, by Stuart Garrard.  I love the way the lyrics of the verses stress, in turn, that God’s people must sing with all our heart, soul, mind and strength.  The simple up-tempo arrangement was both expectant and celebratory.

2. See What A Morning, by the modern hymnist team of Keith Getty and Stuart Townend.  Not only great lyricists, but great storytellers.  Songs like this one, which centers on the events of the first Easter morning, skillfully use music to tell the events of the gospel story.

3. The God Who Saves, by Caedmon’s Call.  So much care must have went into the writing of these lyrics, which display such a unity of structure.  The writers tell us, in subsequent lines, of the various attributes of this God who saves, attributes that are ”pouring out” to us, pouring over “our shame” and “the grave”: life/power/love in the first verse, then truth/joy/hope in the second.  And this has always been one of my personal favorite songs for Lorie King to sing.

4. Here is Love, a great old hymn text by William Rees and Robert Lowry, with a contemporary musical arrangement and additional chorus by Matt Redman.  This is a good example of how the “old and new” can blend together in the hands of someone as skilled as Redman, to create something for God’s children to sing to Him, and also to each other, as we use the lyrics to teach and remind each other of Christ’s love for us.

5. There is a Peace, by our own Charlie Richardson, one of the most humble singer-songwriters I know.  We recorded this song on our current album, Before the Throne.  You can hear the mp3 (as well as others) on our Facebook page.  It’s a great example of how music and text should compliment each other.

6. Absent from Flesh, a song that we’ll feature on our upcoming worship CD project.  For any of you who may be familiar with the title, it is a lyrical adaptation, with new melody, of a stunning Isaac Watts hymn by our own Jamie Barnes.  I can’t wait till we get this one recorded and can share it with everyone:

“Absent from flesh, O Glorious day!

In one triumphant stroke

My reckoning paid, my charges dropped

and the bonds ‘round my hands are broke”

7. There’s A Higher Power, the bluegrass gospel standard by the Louvin Brothers, Charlie and Ira.  I grew up singing this song so it’s always a treat when one of Sojourn’s worship bands brings it back.  And it’s a great way to close out a service celebrating the triumph of Christ’s resurrection.

I couldn’t attend our two evening services.  We are blessed to have so many talented and dedicated servants in the music ministry that we’re able to have two completely different bands each week: one for the morning services and one for the evening (and different lineups each week as well, so if you go to the same service time every Sunday, you’ll eventually be blessed by everyone’s gifts in leading us to sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs).

The evening services were different this Easter Sunday in that, while the band didn’t lead the congregation in “There’s A Higher Power,” they did debut another brand new song that we’ll feature on our next worship project: “The World Will Know” by Mike Cosper and Brooks Ritter.  Both have written songs before, featured on past CDs, and are no strangers to collaboration either, having written with Rebecca Dennison, Rebecca Elliott, me, the band Interstates and others.  This is their first collaboration together, and it lives up to what you’d expect from Mike and Brooks.  Again, I can’t wait till the band records this song for our next CD so you can all hear it.

The worship band for the evening services consisted of Brooks Ritter, Laura Beth O’nan, Alex O’nan, Daniel Dixon, Charlie Lucas and Mike Cosper.

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