Music for Sunday 6 June 2010
June 3, 2010 by Rob Westwood-Payne
Filed under News, Random Jottings, worship meetings
As part of this Sunday’s worship meetings at The Salvation Army, Cradley Heath, the Songsters will be providing music which remind us just how much God loves and cares for us, and that our natural response to that love is simply to love him back.
Each of the three songs speak about this love in their own special way.
On Sunday morning, the Songsters will present a very popular song from their repertoire. Breathe is a sensitive contemporary praise song written by Marie Barnett. It reminds us that our very breath is a gift from God. Our every heartbeat is a gift of God. We are constantly being blessed by the One who loves us. This music gives the listener the opportunity to stop and meditate alone with God. God is waiting for us. As you listen to this music the peace you feel will amaze you.
This is the air I breathe
This is the air I breathe
Your Holy presence living in meThis is my daily bread
This is my daily bread
Your very word spoken to meAnd I, I’m desperate for you
And I, I’m lost without you
The essence of this music is that God’s holy presence is the very air we breathe and long for.
As preparation for our evening worship together, the Songsters will feature a song which focusses on God’s faithful provision, Chris Tomlin’s song, Forever.
The text from this song directly comes from Psalm 136. Written by Chris Tomlin, the song gives us magnificent form and compelling content for worship. Note the antiphonal pattern: God speaks and his people respond. Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good. His love endures forever. The Psalms always sharpen our focus on the target of our worship. The sharper our focus, the more profound will be our worship.
We praise the Creator, who by his understanding made the heavens, who spread out the earth upon the waters. God speaks: from the rising to the setting sun. And we respond: His love endures forever.
This song takes us on a journey. We are being led somewhere. True worship begins with awe-filled praise of the Creator. We then confront the fallenness of the creation through confession. At just the right moment we are ushered into the most holy place, the place of atonement, where we taste redemption and respond to God as his new creation. For the life that’s been reborn, his love endures forever.
As we journey into worship with the Psalmist, we are inspired to creatively continue onward and upward with the praise he has begun. Sing Praise! Sing Praise! Forever God is faithful. Forever God is strong. Forever God is with us. Forever! Forever!
During our evening worship a new song in our repertoire – How great is your love – will be presented by the Songsters for the first time.
This new worship song has a melody and a message that we believe will linger with our listeners. It expresses the heart-felt cry of every believer.
You are creator and I am the work of Your hands,
Lord, You are faithful,
You’ve proven again and again.
You are King of a life that’s made worthy in You;
All that I am and all that I do.You are greater than all of the sky and the seas;
Mountains bow down to Your majesty;
The sun and the moon and the air that I breathe;
But greather than all of these,
how great is Your love for me.
Why not join us yourself for worship at 10:30am and 6:00pm?
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Rob Westwood-Payne grew up in The Salvation Army at Norwich Citadel. He left Norwich to study at the University of Warwick and became fully involved in the music centre there culminating in his conducting Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue to a full house in Symphony Hall in Birmingham. He also transferred to The Salvation Army at Coventry City, where he became Songster Leader at the age of 21. He was made Songster Leader at Cradley Heath in April 1998 shortly before marrying Gail in the following October. He is a former leader of the West Midlands Divisional Youth Chorus and is currently Programme Director at the West Midlands Divisional Summer School for The Salvation Army. He is an Associate Solicitor in the Licensing Team of a national practice based in the south west.