Psalms, Hymns and Spiritual Songs: Sojourn’s Worship Music Set List For Sunday Morning, June 1, 2008

1. Your Blood Says Everything, by Billy Sommerville.  Billy artfully demonstrates the revelation of God to us in the Bible (the word of God) and in the person of Jesus Christ (the Word made flesh) in the line “Hear the word / spoken from the tree.”  That’s the wonderful thing about poetry — it can pack so much into such little space.  In seven words, in eight syllables, we sing about the importance of hearing the Word, the centrality of the cross to our faith, and the truth that Jesus is the Word of God.

2. Seeing You, by Matt Redman.  This song, like many of Redman’s, illustrates a strong theology of worship: “Worship starts with seeing You / our hearts respond to Your revelation.”  This is the two-fold nature of worship: Revelation (from God) and response (from us). 

3. Laden with Guilt and Full of Fears, hymn text by Isaac Watts, music by Sandra McCracken.  Like so many of Watt’s songs, this one is written in common meter so we could match it with any number of tunes.  Try it if you don’t know McCracken’s melody — read the lyrics and sing it with the standard “Amazing Grace” tune (New Britain) or any song listed as “common meter” in your hymnal that you recognize.  But as usual, Sandra McCracken wrote a melody that highlights the gravitas of the text.

4. Psalm 25, by Joe Day.  Joe is a pastor at one of our Acts 29 sister-churches, Mars Hill in Seattle.  He’s taken the text of psalm 25: 8-10 and composed a simple, highly singable melody.  Joe also writes for doxologist.com on occasion, which we link to in our Helpful Links page.

5. In Christ Alone, by Stuart Townend and Keith Getty.  Perhaps the most famous contemporary hymn, and with good reason.  This ballad (in the old-time sense of a folk poem that tells a story) takes us from the death, burial and resurrection of Christ to the indwelling of Christ in the life of the believer, recorded in the final verse:

No guilt in life, no fear in death,

this is the power of Christ in me;

From life’s first cry to final breath,

Jesus commands my destiny.

No power of hell, no scheme of man

can ever pluck me from His hand;

‘till He returns or calls me home,

here in the power of Christ I’ll stand.

6. Jesus Paid It All, lyrics by Elvina M. Hall, music by John T. Grape.  I love that churches are bringing back this old gospel-hymn.  Simple “Sunday School” melody and lyrics, profound message:

Jesus paid it all,

all to Him I owe;

Sin had left a crimson stain —

He washed it white as snow.

7. Never Let Go, by Matt and Beth Redman.  A great celebratory “go forth in power” song.  From the hope of the first line in verse one:

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death

to the heightened anticipation of the first line in the second:

I can see a light that is coming for the heart that holds on

the song builds, emotionally and intellectually, on the surety of God’s goodness and power to assure our salvation and hold us tightly “through the calm and through the storm.”

The set list for the two evening services was identical with these exceptions:

We substituted “Laden with Guilt and Full of Fears” for “Faithful” by our worship arts pastor Mike Cosper (hear the mp3 and view the chord sheet from the These Things I Remember page here on sojournmusic.com) and “Never Let Go” for “I Have To Believe” by Rita Springer.

9:30 and 11:15 am worship band:

Bryon Shrock — bass guitar

David Weir — guitar

Sean Brooks — drums

Joel Gerdis — vocals and guitar

Lorie King — vocals

5 and 7 pm worship band:

Derek Holt — bass guitar

Neil Robins — guitar and keys

Alex O’nan — drums

Jamie Barnes — vocals and guitar

Rebecca Dennison — vocals

in the days to come on sojournmusic.com: Dr. Harold Best’s lecture “Art For The Church, Art From The Church, Art Facing The Church,” a short audio interview with Sojourn worship arts pastoral assistant Jamie Barnes (also a professional singer-songwriter) on the difference between leading worship and entertaining in music clubs, an article on how worship leaders deal with burn-out, and much more.