We have a list of great songs that we are planning to sing this Sunday at Eagleville Bible Church, and I can’t wait to hear the church come alive as we declare these truths through song! Here is the list of songs we will be doing:
- As It Is In Heaven, (YouTube Link)
- Great Things, (YouTube Link)
- King of kings, (YouTube Link)
- How Deep the Father’s Love For Us, (YouTube Link)
- Blessed Be Your Name, (YouTube Link)
As It Is In Heaven
Key Scriptures
- Matt 6:9-13,
- Exo 40:34,
- Ps 98:1,
- John 14:13,
We call it the Lord’s Prayer, when it is actually better understood as the disciples’s prayer. This is Jesus’ instructions to His followers on how to pray as His followers. He wanted to communicate through this model of prayer the things that we should be focused on when we pray. It is not a prayer that we necessarily need to recite each time we pray (although it is good to know), but more of a model to follow when coming to the Lord each day.
I love that this prayer is put to song, and that we are able to sing out these words in prayerful worship too! I also love that it starts with the priority of lifting up who God is and His character traits! This is how our times of prayer and praise should always start, by acknowledging who God is and how truly holy He is to us.
Our Father. Is God your Father, and have you been Fathered by Him? What an awesome thing to say and to apply to our lives – God is my Father! He is holy (hallowed). This means that there is no one or thing that holds the same place in my heart that He does. He is completely set apart to me! We begin with these words and the request for God to show us His glory as we meet together to lift Him up through praise! O’ that God would answer that prayer each and every time we gather for Worship in His Church! O’ that His Kingdom would truly be established here on this earth as it is in Heaven!
It should be our constant habit to seek the Lord in regard to our daily needs as well, and I am so happy that this song acknowledges this and helps us to declare these things as well! God grant us Your mercy as our daily bread, lead us not to temptation, deliver us from the evil one, and help us to be a forgiving people as we seek to receive Your forgiveness!
Some manuscripts do not have the ending part of verse 13, but I so appreciate that we get to declare this truth together in our song,
“for yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever, amen”
I grew up reciting this text in the Bible we had, so when I heard it recited and seen verse 13 without it in the Bible I now read I was very disturbed by it. Let me just say that the oldest manuscripts we have actually do not have it, and it appears that some Scribes may have added it according to early church tradition in public reading of this text. I do love it’s declaration and have absolutely no problem adding it to the end of our recital of the Lord’s Prayer because it is still truth from the Word of God and it still has a place in the praise of God’s mighty name and deeds! So I will leave you with this text from 1 Chronicles 29:11-13 (which should give you comfort if you are concerned about reciting something that might not have been recorded in the original text of the Lord’s Prayer, because here it is found)
Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and you are exalted as head above all. Both riches and honor come from you, and you rule over all. In your hand are power and might, and in your hand it is to make great and to give strength to all. And now we thank you, our God, and praise your glorious name.
1 Chronicles 29:11–13 (ESV)
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Great Things
Key Scriptures
- Ps 95:6,
- Isa 12:5,
- Deut 10:21,
- 1 Sam 12:24,
- Ps 119:90,
- 2 Cor 1:20,
“Come let us worship our King, Come let us bow at His feet.” I love the invitation of this song to gather together and offer up our collective voices in praise and adoration towards our King of kings (a song we will discuss next!).
We have so much to praise God for and I do not feel that this is something that we can overdo. We should be a people who are characterized by declarations of praise because of all that God has accomplished for each one of us!
Isaiah 12:5 tells us to sing to the Lord because He has done magnificent things, and to let it be known throughout the entire earth! Our testimonies should be told to all who we come into contact with, because it is a way in which we acknowledge all that God has done for us in our own unique and practical ways. This is the way in which we bring Him honor and glory through our lives, and I pray that each of us has the courage to share our stories of redemption often!
The bridge of this song helps us to declare shouts of praise to God by saying, “Hallelujah, God You have done great things!”. I have to be honest that there are times as we sing that bridge when I look at the congregation and see some not singing or involved in the worship, and my heart breaks for them! I don’t understand how someone can not declare these truths with full conviction in their hearts for all that God has done for them, unless of course they are unbelievers just attending church to appease a parent or spouse. It is one of the greatest privileges I have as a worshiper of God, to turn His deeds towards me into opportunities of praise back to Him! I just pray that we all understand this and seek to declare with one voice together – Hallelujah, God You have done great things!
For every one of God’s promises are “Yes” in him; therefore also through him the “Amen” is spoken, to the glory we give to God.
2 Corinthians 1:20 (NET)
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King of kings
Key Scriptures
- Eph 2:12,
- 2 Cor 4:6,
- Col 1:20,
- Luke 19:10,
- Heb 12:2,
- Mark 16:6,
- 1 Pet 1:21,
It is one of my favorite things to do, to offer us as a church the opportunity to sing the Gospel! From start to finish this song declares the whole story of Christ coming to the earth , dying, and being raised from the dead, and it excites me to know that many in our congregation will not only sing these words but that they will stick with them throughout the week and be a reminder to them of this wonderful Truth!
As with any other successful testimony of the Gospel effect in a persons life, this song declares our utter hopelessness and the darkness of our lives at one point or another. Ephesians 2:12 reminds us that at one time we did not have the Messiah as our own personal Savior and that we were without hope and God in this world! In order to fully comprehend the good news of Jesus Christ, we really have to come to grips with our utter helplessness without Him.
Though this may be true of us, there is an even greater truth that is declared in the Scriptures – that God sent His son into this world, full of grace and truth, to deliver those of us who were trapped in darkness and to convey them into the Kingdom of His Son’s love (see Col 1:13)! There is a line in the 1st verse that says, “Till from heaven You came running, there was mercy in Your eyes.” Oh the mercy and love of God on us sinful, helpless people He came to save! Thank You God!
Jesus bore the burden of our sin on that cross, He died the death we deserved, and was raised to life again to live forever in Heaven with the Father! He did this to redeem the whole creation, to reconcile the lost to the Father through Himself, and to provide us all eternal life through His Name! This truly is a reason to sing the doxology we call the chorus of this song.
“Praise the Father, Praise the Son, Praise the Spirit, three in one.
God of glory, Majesty, Praise forever to the King of kings.”
King of kings chorus (Hillsong Worship)
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How Deep the Father’s Love For Us
Key Scriptures
- 1 John 3:1,
- John 3:16,
- Matt 27:46,
- 2 Cor 5:21,
- Gal 3:13,
- 1 Tim 2:6,
- Gal 6:14,
This song has ministered to me so much throughout the years, and I am always glad to sing it with the congregation of fellow believers who believe its message! 1 John 3:1 assures us that God has lavished His love upon us by calling us His children, and when we read that along with John 1:12 we see that to those who have received Jesus by believing in His Name – to them He gives the right to be called His children. That is the love of God, to accept us into His family based upon His mercy and grace! O’ the love of God, who can fathom it?
As I stated before, I love songs that help us declare the whole of the Gospel, and this song does a wonderful job of doing just that! I especially love the challenge given in the song to see it from the Father’s perspective. I think so many times we see the Gospel from our own perspective, but in the first verse we sing, “The Father turns His face away as wounds which mar the Chosen One bring many sons to glory.” Have you ever thought of Christ’s death in that way, or from that perspective? As a father watching His Son dying in the place of wretches? O’ the deep, deep love of God, how can it be that my Savior should die for me? Amazing love, indeed!
There is a line in verse two that says, “It was my sin that held Him there, until it was accomplished.”. I truly hope and pray that we can all appreciate the fact that it was our sins that He was carrying upon His shoulders as He hung on that tree. Jesus was/is innocent! He did not deserve this death, I did! He endured the cross and its shame, and paid it all so that we could be free! His dying breath truly has bought us life, thank You Jesus.
I had the privilege of playing this song for my Grandpa before his death, and I will never forget the look he had on his face as I sang these words! My Grandpa was Amish, and so music was not something that we were able to do much at his house. I went over there one day though and had my guitar with me, and I asked if I could play some music for them – to which he agreed. He asked me to play a song, and then I played a few more. Then I said I wanted to sing this song for him, and although I was very nervous (anything really spiritual like this song was nerve racking and dangerous in my eyes) I sang it with as much power and emotion as I possibly could, hoping to soften his heart! I don’t know what. happened in Grandpa’s heart that day, but I do remember distinctly noticing his face after the song was done, it was softer and almost sorrowful as he said, “That song is really nice.”.
A little while later my Grandpa died, but not before he assured me that he was going to go to Heaven because he knew that Jesus had forgiven him of his sins and that he forgave everyone that ever hurt him! To hear this from him (and even to remember it now!) brought me so much joy, and I praise God for saving my Grandpa! Hallelujah!
But may I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. For neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything; the only thing that matters is a new creation!
Galatians 6:14–15 (NET)
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Blessed Be Your Name
Key Scriptures
- Ps 113:2,
- Job 1:21,
- Ps 23:4,
Job was a man in the Old Testament that endured some of the greatest recorded challenges ever! He lost his family, livestock, and way of life after satan was given permission to try to get Job to curse and stop from worshiping God. Well, once Job received word confirming all that he had lost, here is how he responded,
He said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will return there. The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away. May the name of the Lord be blessed!”
Job 1:21 (NET)
So many of us in today’s world are so afraid of trials and pain, and I fear that many of us under the same temptation to curse God would have turned our hearts away from God and become bitter towards Him. We have lost the ability to remain strong in our faith and dedication to God in the midst of trials, and as we declare the words of this song it is encouraging us to Bless the Name of God no matter if we are in pain and sorrow or in times of joy and celebration – Blessed Be the Name of The Lord!
I know that we all face various seasons in our lives, some better and some worse, but I really believe that worshiping through the seasonal changes keeps us centered on the things that really matter and provides hope for us when we are hopeless! Hebrews tells us to keep our eyes fixed upon Jesus, and the more we can do that by Blessing His Name regardless of our situations will be the level to which we will have stability in our lives. Our worship needs to remain constant throughout the storms, throughout the pain, throughout everything we endure because it reminds us that God is good and faithful no matter what we are going through. Stories like Job should remind us of such Truths, and increase our ability to rely upon our God to be with us in all things!
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Summary Statement
As we seek to live our lives in godly ways, modeling the Kingdom life in Heaven, we need to remember often the Deep Love of the Father upon us evidenced by sending the King of kings down to earth to save us from our lives of sin and shame and to do great things for us that cause us to always bless His Holy Name!
God bless you!