Discovery Worship

One Of My Favorite Songwriters

A number of modern worship songwriters have influenced me in my own songwriting, but probably none more so that Paul Baloche.  His songs are often simple enough to be easily singable, yet memorable for their penetrating and insightful lyrics.  Many of his songs have become standards in churches all around the world: Above All, All The Earth Will Sing Your Praises, Because Of Your Love, Hosanna (Praise Is Rising), I Cling To The Cross, I Will Boast, Offering, Our God Saves, and Your Name.

Paul Baloche's latest CD, Glorious, was recently released, and I'm looking forward to introducing several of his new songs at Discovery.  Integrity Music produced several videos with the stories behind the songs on the CD.  You can view these and many other clips here: http://bit.ly/Fm3lC.

The clip below, from Integrity Music, features Paul Baloche talking about his new CD. What really resonates in this video is Paul's heart for God and for worshiping the Lord. If you've never had an opportunity to hear Paul speak before, I'd encourage you to spend a few minutes listening to his testimony and journey of faith.

If you are looking for some great CD's for personal worship at home, I highly recommend several of Paul Balcohe's recent releases.  If you don't have any of his CD's, I suggest you start with his 2006 CD, A Greater Song (available for download at Amazon here: http://bit.ly/4xmaJR).  His 2007 CD, Our God Saves, is outstanding (available here: http://bit.ly/38CJhD), as is his newest CD, Glorious (available here: http://bit.ly/16TYla).

May God bless you as you fill your days with worship for Him!

Worship Song: Hope Has Come

Hope Has Come
Words & Music by Stephen Altrogge
Copyright © 2006 Sovereign Grace Praise
CCLI Song # 4866228

It is fascinating to me how polarizing Christmas music can be for many people.  For some, holiday decorations start coming out of storage well before Thanksgiving, and a few months of Christmas music is just about right.  For others, singing "Silent Night" anytime before Christmas Eve is too much.

To find a middle ground, I am always looking for new Christmas music that offers lyrical depth with a modern worship sound.  The story of Christ's birth and the hope He brings is powerful, but much of our modern Christmas music falls into the trap of sounding trite, or "Christmassy" in the most commercial sense.

I was happy to find a recent CD from Sovereign Grace ministries that provides some great new worship songs around the theme of Jesus' birth.  "Savior: Celebrating the Mystery of God Becoming Man" offers several compelling songs for worship, written by Mark Altrogge, Stephen Altrogge, Bob Kauflin and others, that transcend the typical Christmas CD offering.  We have been singing one of these songs, "Hope Has Come", by Stephen Altrogge, for the last several weeks at Discovery.

"Hope Has Come" is a driving, upbeat song of worship that proclaims the hope and salvation we have in Christ.  It reminds us that the birth of Jesus is about the power of God to save us from our sins.  Even a casual observer of the recent U.S. presidential election understands that people everywhere are longing for Hope.  This song of worship is about the hope we have in Christ Jesus, a promise that is far better than anything this world has to offer.  Here is the chorus of the song:

Alleluia, Hope has come.
Alleluia, Christ has come.
We once were slaves in misery
Till You appeared and set us free.
Alleluia, Hope has come.

I asked Stephen if he would share a few words about his song, and he graciously agreed.  I hope you are blessed by his thoughts and this song of hope.

"When I wrote the song 'Hope Has Come' I was trying to capture the image of light breaking into darkness, of hope breaking into a sin-sick world. Apart from Christ we were hopeless, lost, and without hope. We were sinners bound up in chains without any prospect of freedom. But praise God, he didn't leave us in our hopeless state. Hope has come into this hopeless world, light has shined in the darkness! This hope is Jesus Christ. That's what we celebrate at Christmas." - Stephen Altrogge

You can listen to "Hope Has Come" at Stephen Altrogge's MySpace site here, or you can download the MP3 from Amazon here.  The song can also be found on the Sovereign Grace Christmas CD, "Savior: Celebrating the Mystery of God Becoming Man", available from the Sovereign Grace store here.

Worship Song: Speak to Me

Speak To Me
Words & Music by Tommy Walker
Copyright © 2007 Doulos Publishing
CCLI Song # 5110605

Tommy Walker's songs have been part of our worship at Discovery for many years.  From "Only a God Like You" and "That's Why We Praise Him", to "He Knows My Name" and "I Have a Maker", these songs have been favorites of our church family.  With the recent release of Tommy Walker's latest CD, "I Have A Hope", we now have a new favorite at Discovery: "Speak to Me".

"Speak To Me" is a reflective, heartfelt song crying out to God for direction in our lives.  When we come together on Sunday morning for worship, we often come with baggage from the week and the cares of this world around our shoulders.  What we need is to open our hearts to God and listen to the voice of Truth.  This new song expresses that sentiment from the very first lines: "I am Your servant, and I am listening.  Speak to me, Lord, speak to me."

I found this video on YouTube of a simple cover of "Speak To Me" from one man's private time of worship.  I hope this song is a blessing to you today, just as it has been for all of us at Discovery.  You can download the mp3 of "Speak To Me" from Tommy Walker's CD, "I Have a Hope", here.

Worship Song: Thank You, Lord

Thank You, Lord
Words & Music by Don Moen & Paul Baloche
Copyright © 2004 Integrity's Hosanna! Music
CCLI Song # 4220833

One of the ironies of the Thanksgiving holiday is that many people don't have time to actually slow down to reflect and give thanks.  We tend to overcomplicate our holidays, filling up our time with events and activities.  We long to relax, but find ourselves over-committed and stressed out.

Don Moen and Paul Baloche wrote a new worship song a few years ago that expresses the simplicity of what this holiday ought to be about.  "I come before you today, and there's just one thing that I want to say: Thank you, Lord."  In the hectic pace of this life, it is important to remember that there is one thing God longs to hear us say: "Thank you, Lord."

May your Thanksgiving holiday provide the rest that God wants for you, and may your heart be drawn to the One to whom we owe everything.

Note: You can download the lyrics and a chord chart for this song from Paul Baloche's website here.  The video above is from a live performance by Don Moen.  We often do this as the opening song in the set at Discovery, and sing it at a somewhat faster tempo.

Worship Songs: This Is Our God

This Is Our God
Words & Music by Reuben Morgan
Copyright © 2008 Hillsong Publishing
CCLI Song # 5060834

We've been singing a new song by Reuben Morgan for the last couple of months at Discovery.  The title track from the new Hillsong Live CD, "This Is Our God" is a powerful worship song that has impacted the church on many different levels.

From the opening lines, "Your grace is enough, more than I need", this song has resonated with so many people.  Perhaps my favorite lyric in the song is the beginning of the second verse: "Your presence in me, Jesus, light the way by the power of your word."  This is a reminder to me of the mystery of gospel - that Jesus can live within us and give us power over sin and death.

May the God who gave it all for us, to rescue the world, be glorified in your life today.

Chorus:
Freely You gave it all for us, surrendered Your life upon that cross,
Great is the love poured out for all - This is our God.
Lifted on high from death to life, forever our God is glorified,
Servant and King, rescued the world - This is our God! 

Worship Songs: Counting On God

Counting on God
Words & Music by Jared Anderson
Copyright © 2007 Vertical Worship Songs
CCLI Song # 5064366

When I first heard the title track from New Life Worship's new CD, "Counting on God", I immediately loved it, but I thought it might be a bit of a stretch musically for Discovery.  This song by Jared Anderson was first released on the Desparation Band CD, "Everyone Overcome", and it is a very high energy statement of faith in God for all of our needs.

I had a different opening set for Sunday's worship time, but when I heard from Andrew the intended focus of his message on Sunday, I prayed about it and put this song into the worship set as a late addition.  I still wasn't sure how it was going to go, but the worship team immediately responded to this song in a very positive way.  After Sunday's service, several people came up to me to tell me how much this song meant to them, and even my 12 year old son told me this was his new favorite worship song.

We know that everything we need is found in Christ, but we don't always live that way.  My wife and I were talking about this again yesterday, and the words of the pre-chorus of this song really hit us where we were at:

Joy unspeakable that won't go away,
Just enough strength to live for today,
So I never have to worry what tomorrow will bring,
'Cause my faith is on solid rock, I am counting on God.

Here are Jared Anderson's reflections on this song (from www.newlifeworship.com):

This song has come to the forefront in the life of our church because of the recent trials we've had to face. The testing of our faith has made us more resolved to endure and overcome the sufferings for the all-surpassing glory of God. It is not only our obstacles that will be defeated, but the Kingdom of our God will overtake the kingdom of this world. This song helps us put our battles into proper perspective. The evidence that this is taking place is seen in the transformation of our lives and community. We are nothing like we used to be.

You can listen to all the songs on the new CD here:

Worship Songs: Because of Your Love

Because of Your Love
Words & Music by Brenton Brown and Paul Baloche
Copyright © 2006 Integrity's Hosanna! Music / Thankyou Music
CCLI Song # 4662501

I'd been looking for a good opportunity to introduce the song "Because of Your Love" to the church, and the start of our new 40-day "WHY" sermon series this past Sunday seemed like the perfect fit.  This is a song written by Brenton Brown and Paul Baloche, and it appears on both Paul Baloche's 2006 "A Greater Song" CD, and on Brenton Brown's new 2008 "Because of Your Love" CD.

Here is a YouTube video with Paul Baloche singing the song on a Christian TV show.  Take a look at the video, then continue reading for some notes on how we do the song arrangement at Discovery.

The verse and chorus are on both Paul's and Brenton's CD's, but Brenton Brown adds a bridge part that I really like as well.  They both do something different for the intro on this song, but I didn't think either intro would work well for us.  We do the verse instrumentally for the intro, building with the band, with me leading the melody line on the piano.  After we sing the verse and chorus twice, we bring it down dynamically and sing the bridge 2-3 times, building back up to the chorus.

You can get a copy of the song lyrics at Paul Baloche's website, www.leadworship.com, or you can download a chord chart with the bridge part from Brenton Brown's website, www.brentonbrown.com.