New songs for modern missional worship, rich in Christian teaching and contextualized in modern culture. Contemporary hymns, psalms, songs of lament and praise written by members of the Louisville, KY-based Sojourn Community.
The music set list for the two morning services (9:30 and 11:15) for Louisville’s Sojourn Community church, Sunday, April 6, 2008:
1. Sanctify, by Martin Smith. I love the reference to the “four winds” of heaven, mentioned in various prophecies from the Old Testament prophets, the Gospels and Revelation:
Sanctify, I want to be set apart,
Right to the very heart,
Prophesy to the four winds
and breathe life to this very place.
This song is a very good plaintive cry to God — definitely not a typical “happy,” expectant Call To Worship but one that accurately reflects what we all feel at times, the need to be rescued, the sense of lament and struggle found in “How long will it take / How long will I have to wait?”
2. In the Shadow of the Glorious Cross, by our own Brooks Ritter and Rebecca Elliott. Written loosely in Long Meter (there’s a term for the poets and hymnology students out there), this modern hymn has spoken to people in our community and all over the world. This website gets frequent hits from people searching for the lyrics to this song. Hear the mp3 and check out the chord sheet from the Before the Throne page, here at sojournmusic.com.
3. Lead Us Back, by Brooks Ritter and me (I couldn’t let Rebecca Elliott be the only one to work with Brooks during the writing process for Before the Throne). This is one of three songs I’ve written with Brooks (we have a new one on tap to be taken to the studio for Sojourn’s next worship project). I bring him a hymn text and he comes up with a fantastic melody — he’s as reliable as a gumball machine.
Check out the mp3 and chord sheet on the Before the Throne page.
4. Let Justice Roll Like A River by Rebecca Elliott and me. She and I have also written three songs together (same process — I give her lyrics and she churns out a great tune), including one for the upcoming worship project.
We haven’t recorded ”Let Justice Roll …” on a studio album, but you can hear a live recording (courtesy of Drake Hatfield’s drakeaudio.com) from one of our worship gatherings, and view the chord sheet here.
This is a true “community” song, not only because the writing was collaborative, but because my inspiration for writing the lyrics, which deal with social justice, missions and mercy ministry, came from the example set by some of my role models at Sojourn, Nathan Ivey, who runs our urban renewal initiative, SEED, along with Corey Deeb of Nadus Films, bringing attention to the needs of war-torn Sudan, and Jesse Eubanks, who works to aid the homeless in our city through the Hope For Louisville program. Many other brothers and sisters at Sojourn also came to my mind, dedicated servants whose examples should spur the rest of us to call on God so that He will work through us as He works through them after we repent of our selfishness:
Convict us Lord, we dance and laugh
ignoring those who weep.
Correct us Lord, our golden calf
has lulled our hearts to sleep.
The gap between the rich and poor
grows ever wider, shore to shore.
There’s racial hate, religious war
and wolves among the sheep.
5. All I Have Is Yours, by Rebecca Elliott and me. This one is our “offering” song from Before the Throne. We usually do it during the communion and offering portions of our service. Our community has also used it for baby dedications and weddings. Hear the mp3 at our Myspace page and check out the chord sheet on the sojournmusic.com’s Before the Throne page.
6. Jesus’ Blood, by Martin Smith. Simple lyrics, accesible music, but what a powerful song. Smith begins with “There’s a secret I must tell / of all the love I’ve found / and it’s hidden in my heart …”
This “secret,” found in the chorus’ declaration “Jesus blood never fails me” becomes something that “will ring to the corners of the earth,” in the second verse, reminding us of Jesus’ parable of the mustard seed, in which the kingdom of heaven starts out as a seed and grows to “the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree.”
Brooks Ritter and Rebecca Elliott had been leading the congregation in melody lines up to this point, but Tessa Tieman (wife of drummer Jason, who played on Before the Throne) sang the melody on this one. Tessa has been a key component of our Sojourn Kids worship ministry, and she did a great job leading us “big kids” as well.
7. Not To Us, by Chris Tomlin and Jesse Reeves. Tomlin and Reeves reminds me a bit of Isaac Watts by using the poetic technique of presenting a vast, cosmic setting for their song, eventually narrowing down to earth. They do it early in the song:
Let the heavens shake and split the sky
Let the people clap their hands and cry
It’s not for us, it’s all for You.
and towards the end, in the bridge:
The earth is shaking, the mountains shouting
it’s all for You.
The waves are crashing, the sun is raging
it’s all for You.
The universe is spinning and singing
it’s all for You.
Your children dancing, dancing, dancing
it’s all for You. It’s all for You.
Our evening services featured a modifed set list, in that “The Christ Hymn” opened in place of “Sanctify,” “The Love of Christ is Rich and Free” took the place of “All I Have is Yours,” and the band ended with the classic “Holy, Holy, Holy” instead of “Not to Us.”
Check out “The Christ Hymn,” from These Things I Remember, on our Virb.com page. Rebecca Dennison and Worship Arts Pastor Mike Cosper wrote the Persian-influenced music and adapted the text of Colossians 1:15-20. I wish I could have attended an evening service to hear it live.
These two evening services featured an acoustic band, complete with cello, hand percussion, keys, guitar and the vocals of Jamie Barnes and Rebecca Dennison, in contrast to the electric guitar, keys and drum kit from the morning services.