​Last week I had the honor of leading our church in a worship song that called us to stop and consider how great and awesome our God is and worship Him with appropriate reverence and awe. It is so easy to lose sight of how big, majestic, and wholly other God is. While God does desire intimate relationship with us and wants us to feel comfortable approaching Him with anything and everything, we must be careful not to minimize who He is and become so familiar with Him that He becomes ordinary.

​Over the past year and half, I have virtually attended Passion City Church’s Sunday morning services and been richly blessed and encouraged by the worship and teaching each week. Over the last few weeks, they’ve been singing a new song called “Son of Suffering” that is a beautiful exultation of Jesus’ suffering and reminder of the great sacrifice that was made for our freedom. Now, I’d like to share this song with you.

​Worship is an integral part of who we are as created beings.  We were made to worship.  It’s woven into the fabric of our DNA.  And we were created to worship our Creator.  However, in the brokenness of sin we no longer automatically worship the One who gave us life and breath.  Instead, we direct our worship towards other things and often forget God, the only One worthy of our praise.  Therefore, today let’s focus our minds and hearts back to the One from whom are all things and in whom all things exist.

​Life can be a difficult and lonely journey.  As the recent pandemic has highlighted for everyone, fear can cripple and isolation can dishearten.  However, God often uses these places to reveal the holes in our hearts and the deepest longing of our souls that only He can fill.  And while trials and difficult times often accentuate this truth, we need God and the companionship and fulfillment that only He can give on a daily basis.

​In Matthew 6, Jesus taught His disciples how to pray and gave us the Lord’s Prayer.  One element of the prayer that I don’t think we pray enough is the second verse:  “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:11). 
 
How often do we pray that God’s kingdom would come to earth?  In my observation, it seems that we often pray the opposite.  We ask God to bless our kingdoms, to preserve our nation, or prosper our country.  While the Bible does tell us to pray for our leaders and nation, our number one prayer should be that God’s kingdom would be established on earth.  We are citizens of an eternal kingdom; therefore, our first priority and greatest desire should be for God to build His kingdom.

Worship can serve many functions in the life of the Christian; however, one of the main purposes it should accomplish is magnify and exalt God.  Magnify means to make large, bring into focus, and showcase, and exalt involves lifting up above all else in priority and assigned value.  Therefore, worship should stir our hearts and re-orientate our lives and thinking to make God larger and of greater priority in our lives.  It should help bring who God is into greater focus, highlighting the details of His awesome nature and perfect holiness and helping us make Him supreme in our estimation of value and worth.

​“Here I Am to Worship” has had a bit of a hiatus over the past six months; however, I have some more worship songs to share with you and am excited to return to fostering and inspiring a lifestyle of continually worshiping our Savior and King who is worthy of it all! 
 
Two Sundays ago, God really struck my heart with a song that has been on repeat in my mind and heart, becoming an anthem for my week.  While I had heard and sung this song before, it hit me in a new, fresh, and powerful way.  While it is a short song with basic lyrics and a simple melody, most of it is taken straight from Scripture and invites us into the worship of heaven that is constantly taking place around the throne of God.

​In light of the past week and the events that have transpired, God has put a song on my heart that I feel compelled to share.  This whole year has been a unique one for our country.  We’ve experienced pressure from every side:  economic, social, racial, political, and spiritual.  So many things have felt like they’re spinning out of control.  However, our God is still in control and we need to remember that.  

​I hope you have been blessed and encouraged by our worship set on God’s power and namely Jesus’s victory over darkness.  Truly, our Savior is high above all things, has conquered the enemy, and at His name the darkness must tremble and flee.  Praise the Lord!  To close out this set, I want to focus on a beautiful new song that was recently released.  It is a simple, hymn-like song that covers the gospel message and gives us a powerful opportunity to respond to Jesus’s grace with a chorus of worship.  

Are you ready for some mid-week encouragement?  Today’s song feature is an upbeat song of declaration.  It proclaims the supremacy of Christ and the truth that our King is the King above all kings and at His Name all the kingdoms and powers of this world must bow.  However, while Jesus is the Lion of Judah who reigns over all, He is also the Lamb of God who takes away our sins.  He is both Ruler and Redeemer, Judge and Savior, Prince and humble Servant, the Lion and the Lamb.