Today’s worship is “Until My Voice is Gone” by Travis Ryan. Every time I hear this song I can’t help but raise my hands in praise. I like it because it describes why we praise Him, and how even when we’re struggling and feeling weak, He’s still God and deserving of our praise and thanksgiving.
Check out the song for yourself below!
No other King commands our full attention No other name’s above all other names No other throne rules over every nation No other God deserves our highest praise
No other death could buy our sweet redemption No other blood could wash away our shame No other cross could lead to resurrection No other God deserves our highest praise
Chorus: So I raise my hands until my strength has faded Stand in honor ‘til my knees give way I will lift my voice and shout a grateful song I will sing, O I will sing until my voice is gone
No other hope can make our hearts courageous No other peace can make us stand up brave No other Love has earned our full affection No other God deserves our highest praise
Bridge: So when we’ve exhausted every single way With our bodies weak and with our voices strained You are still the song in us that never ends We can’t help but stand and start it all again
Today’s worship song is “Another in the Fire” by Hillsong UNITED. Recently, I read Psalm 105 and noted that verses 1-4 were written almost as a “how to worship:”
Oh give thanks to the Lord; call upon His name; make known His deeds among the peoples! Sing to Him, sing praises to Him; tell of all His wondrous works! Glory in His holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice! Seek the Lord and His strength; seek His presence continually!
The rest of the chapter goes on to describe the many marvelous deeds that God did for the Israelites; from the covenant God made with Abraham, to the placing of Joseph in a position of authority. The sending of Moses to rescue His people from captivity; the plagues released on Egypt; and His provision of water, quail, and manna while in the desert. So, it’s no wonder that this song, “Another in the Fire,” would strike a cord with me.
I feel like this song does just what Psalm 105 states…It gives thanks to the Lord, talks about His marvelous deeds, and glorifies His holy name. It also makes me recall Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the fiery furnace (Daniel 3); Moses and the Israelites crossing the Red Sea (Exodus 14); and Paul and Silas behind those shaking prison walls (Acts 16). Lastly, it’s a beautiful reminder that whatever we may face, this same God–this all-powerful, all-sufficient, everlasting, Light of the world–sent His Son to die for our sins, and promises to never leave us or forsake us (Deuteronomy 31:6; Hebrews 13:5).
There’s a grace when the heart is under fire
Another way when the walls are closing in
And when I look at the space between
Where I used to be and this reckoning
I know I will never be alone
There was another in the fire
Standing next to me
There was another in the waters
Holding back the seas
And should I ever need reminding
Of how I’ve been set free
There is a cross that bears the burden
Where another died for me
All my debt left for dead beneath the waters
I’m no longer a slave to my sin anymore
And should I fall in the space between
What remains of me and this reckoning
Either way I won’t bow
To the things of this world
And I know I will never be alone
There is another in the fire
Standing next to me
There is another in the waters
Holding back the seas
And should I ever need reminding
What power set me free
There is a grave that holds no body
And now that power lives in me
And I can see the light in the darkness
As the darkness bows to Him
I can hear the roar in the heavens
As the space between wears thin
I can feel the ground shake beneath us
As the prison walls cave in
Nothing stands between us
Nothing stands between us
There is no other name
But the Name that is Jesus
He who was and still is
And will be through it all
So come what may in the space between
All the things unseen and this reckoning
I know I will never be alone
There’ll be another in the fire
Standing next to me
There’ll be another in the waters
Holding back the seas
And should I ever need reminding
How good You’ve been to me
I’ll count the joy come every battle
‘Cause I know that’s where You’ll be
Today’s song, “Let it Be Known” by Lakewood Church, has the sound of a 90’s Hillsong praise song, and I love it! When the chorus comes up I just want to shout out “MY GOD STILL SITS ON THE THRONE.” We serve an eternal and sovereign God. He holds the universe together with a Word; and even when we feel like everything around us is madness and falling apart…He has it all under control. And He is worthy to be praised!
I’ve seen His kingdom/Oh, I know His name/Bought me my freedom and covered my shame/Jesus a wealth for my soul/Greater than gold/Now I know the truth/All of creation here stands as the proof/Jesus, the hope of the world/Our cornerstone
Chorus: Let it be known/My God still sits on the throne/And only He has all the control/Jesus alone/Watch it unfold/As we collide with His love/Our former heartaches all come undone/In Jesus alone
I’ve seen His power/The work of His hands/Heaven and earth move on His command/Jesus, the author of life/A sight to behold
Bridge: His story is our story/His triumph is our own/Seated in all His glory/Forever on the throne/And if all hell should rise up/We’ll face it without fear/For our God is truly stronger/Greater than anything
I woke up Sunday in a mood; one of those moods where I just wanted to stay in bed and sleep through church. The hubby went in to church early, because he was playing percussion for the worship team, so I forced myself to get up and get ready before Cookie Girl woke up. I was trying not to let my downcast mood get to me and started listening to worship as I got breakfast ready for the both of us, and “Even Louder” performed by ISAAC began playing. And my mood began to change as I sung…even when my eyes can’t see it/I’ll sing ’til I believe it/Even Louder/Even Louder.
Sometimes we have a hard time facing the day, because of the things that are going on in our lives, or the enemy is playing games with our emotions, or whatever reason, and we have to remember that we praise God because of who He is; and the only thing to do is praise Him right on through the storms and struggles. I love the lyrics of this song because they talk about God’s faithfulness, holiness, & love; how He’s worthy of praise; and how even when it’s difficult we’ll choose to worship Him.
Faithful in the sanctuary/Faithful in the storm/Worthy in the empty spaces/Worthy in my song
Pre-Chorus: A thousand years of endless praise/Will never be enough/Through it all my heart will cling/To Your unfailing love
Chorus: Even if the drums stop beating/My soul will keep on singing/Even louder/Even louder/Even when my eyes can’t see it/I’ll sing ’til I believe it/Even louder/Even louder
You are holy in the highest places/Holy in the flood/Even in a world that’s changing/I will lift You up
Bridge: I will sing Your promise in the dark of the valley/’Til I see your goodness in the land of the living
This is a pretty simple song for a congregation to sing, has an upbeat tempo, and would be a great addition to a worship set list.
If you’ve been following for some time, you’d know that I help out with children’s worship once a month. Well, once a month we also hold a children’s worship practice, where we introduce new songs and motions to our children’s worship team. And every month I struggle with tying to figure out what new songs I’d like to add to our slowly growing list.
Now, it’s not that I don’t have songs that I love, however, everybody has their own style of worship and artists they prefer, and I’m no different. I love upbeat and energetic praise songs and I love worship, but I’m also very lyrically driven. Obviously, I’m a writer, so I tend to be drawn to songs with powerful, biblically sound lyrics. I mean, the Bible says that true worshipers will worship in spirit and in truth, and the Word is Truth (John 4:23-24).
However, when it comes to children’s worship, I can’t always choose to share or lead the same songs that I enjoy during my personal worship time, because the lyrics are sometimes too complex for children between the ages of 5-12. That’s not to say that I choose watered down songs, because that would mean I’d be underestimating the understanding of the children; and children understand much more than we often give them credit for. (That’s why Jesus said that we should be more like little children in Matthew 19, Mark 10, and Luke 18.) However, sometimes I really struggle with finding age-appropriate songs, especially because our group varies so vastly in age.
I think this is a challenge that someone leading any type of worship–adults, children, teens, etc.–faces: choosing the right songs for the particular group you’re leading. Leading adult worship, for instance, means you have to choose songs that reach a multitude of generations (unless your church has only one primary age group).
Here are three things that I started taking into consideration when choosing songs for Children’s Worship:
Tempo
Because I’m working with kids this is an important one. If we want the children to be excited about worship, we need some up-tempo songs to begin with and we have to be careful when we slow down our praise and enter into worship. Usually, I like to have a transition song, something mid-tempo, before going into worship, but sometimes it’s not always possible. Their attention span is pretty short and I’ve found that if we sing any more than one worship song, we usually lose them.
Lyrics
This is the most challenging for me. Some of my favorite worship songs are very lyric heavy. They either have a lot of lyrics or the lyrics are complex. In the days leading up to our most recent practice, for example, I went back and forth on a song that I really loved, but eventually decided against because I felt that the kids couldn’t handle it. The best songs for them tend to be those with simpler lyrics and repeating choruses, although I have found some exceptions. Songs that they are familiar with, because they hear them repeatedly on the radio, tend to do extremely well with this group! So much so, that we’ve begun to use more of such songs during worship.
Song Length
Unfortunately, we don’t have a live band for our children’s worship, so we use tracks (usually, including the lyrics). Sometimes the track we have is too long or there’s too much ad-lib going on in the track. I’ve been making notes of which songs these are, so that I don’t continue to use them or I request that a new/different version of the song be purchased. Again, I can’t lead an 8 minute worship song with this age group, since they just don’t have the attention span, and they don’t know what to do when someone is ad-libbing.
Still, even after taking these things into consideration, we just have to lead the song a few times and see how the children respond to it. Sometimes they pick it up easily and other times we end up disappointed and end up removing the song from our list.
Now I have questions for you…How do you choose which songs to use in your worship services? And how many times do you try/lead a new song before ultimately giving up on it? I’d love to hear your responses below!
What can I give to You/What can I offer to the King/For all the love You’ve shown/For all Your mercy over me
I called Your name, You heard my cry/Out of the grave, and into life/My heart is Yours, my soul is free/Thank You God, for saving me/Thank You God, for saving me
The Rock of salvation/My hope is built on nothing less/Morning by morning/How great is Your faithfulness
I called Your name, You heard my cry/Out of the grave, and into life/My heart is Yours, my soul is free/Thank You God, for saving me/Thank You God, for saving me
You gave your life upon the cross/You suffered once for all/You made a way/Jesus, in victory You rose/You made us all Your own/Now we are saved [repeat]
Thank You God, for saving me [repeat]
I called Your name, You heard my cry/Out of the grave, and into life/My heart is Yours, my soul is free/Thank You God, for saving me/Thank You God, for saving me
Bless the Lord oh my soul/Oh, my soul/Worship His Holy name/Sing like never before/Oh, my soul/I’ll worship Your Holy name
The sun comes up/It’s a new day dawning/It’s time to sing Your song again/Whatever may pass/And whatever lies before me/Let me be singing/When the evening comes
Bless the Lord oh my soul/Oh, my soul/Worship His Holy name/Sing like never before/Oh, my soul/I’ll worship Your Holy name
You’re rich in love/And You’re slow to anger/Your name is great/And Your heart is kind/For all Your goodness/I will keep on singing
Ten thousand reasons/For my heart to find
Bless the Lord oh my soul/Oh, my soul/Worship His Holy name/Sing like never before/Oh, my soul/I’ll worship Your Holy name
And on that day/When my strength is failing/The end draws near/And my time has come/Still my soul will/Sing Your praise unending
Ten thousand years/And then forevermore
Bless the Lord oh my soul/Oh, my soul/Worship His Holy name/Sing like never before/Oh, my soul/I’ll worship Your Holy name [repeat]
brokenredeemed 