1. Beautiful Savior, by Stuart Townend. The lines “Lord of history” and “You’re the Risen One / Heaven’s champion” in the chorus express the theme that Jesus is Lord and Savior for all time.  The three verses develop this:

verse one deals with the present — the life of the singer: “for in my helplessness You heard my cry”

verse two takes us back to Calvary: “I will trust in the cross of my Redeemer / I will sing of the blood that never fails”

verse three points towards eternity: “where countless worshipers will share one song / and cries of ‘worthy’ will honour the Lamb!”

2. Invitacion Fountain, by Michael Pritzl.  See Sojourn worship arts pastor Mike Cosper’s article “Elements of a Worship Song” where he uses “Invitacion Fountain” as an example of how to say an old truth in a new way.

3. From the Depths, by our own Jeremy Quillo.  This is one of his songs recorded on These Things I Remember.  Hear the mp3 and view the chord sheet on our These Things … page here at sojournmusic.com.  I love the tension between hope and lament in this song.

4. There is a Peace, by our own Charlie Richardson, from Before the Throne.  View the chord sheet from that page and listen to the mp3 from the Sojourn Music Facebook page.  From the review of Before the Throne by Christa Banister in Christianity Today:

The music is the draw, but the lyrics are what keep you coming back-as it should be. “There is a Peace,” for example, has the same heart-wrenching confessional quality of a song like Rich Mullins’ “Hold Me Jesus,” as Ritter joins Rebecca Dennison to sing about being “weary and tired and worn out from this life.”

5. Sanctify, by Martin Smith.  Our communion song this week (we take communion every week at Sojourn).  Smith starts with the phrase “All I want is all You have” in the beginning of the chorus, then skillfully inverts it to “All You want is all I have” in the end, following each phrase with “Come to me, rescue me, fall on me with Your love.” 

6. Thy Mercy, My God, hymn text by John Stocker, music by Sandra McCracken.  I love the fully developed concept of the Godhead Stocker displays in the final verse.  He says an awful lot about the One True God in just four lines of eleven syllables each. 

Great Father of mercies, thy goodness I own

and the covenant love of Thy crucified Son

all praise to the Spirit, Whose whisper divine

seals mercy and pardon, and righteousness mine.

So we have a concise summary that says, poetically, that we are made right with the Father through the blood of the Son, and “sealed for the day of redemption” with the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 4:30).

7. Awake My Soul, by Sandra McCracken.  One of my favorite worship songs of this young century.  This phrase:

This grace gives me fear, and this grace draws me near

And all that it asks, it provides

drives home a point that the men of my community group discussed at length this past week.  We were talking about the difference between being a slave to sin and being a slave to Christ, with the point being that sin demands more and more, never satisfied.  When we start giving in to sin, in general or a specific sin, whether lust, alcoholism, or whatever, we fall more and more under the control of sin.  But the deeper we fall, the more helpless we are to satisfy the demands of our master.

But pertaining to the grace of Christ, “all that it asks, it provides.”  His ”power is made perfect in our weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9).  His blood forgives us for our sins and His Spirit empowers us to grow more Christ-like as we stay beneath His cross.

9:30 and 11:15 am Sojourn worship band:

Charlie Richardson - vocals and rhythm guitar

Lorie King - vocals

Simon Groce - bass

Matt Harris - drums

David Weir - guitar

Mike Cosper - guitar

5 and 7 pm Sojourn worship band

Brooks Ritter - vocals and rhythm guitar

Katie Vaughn - vocals

Charlie Lucas - bass guitar

Michael Butterworth - keys

Sean Brooks - drums

Mike Cosper - lead guitar

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