Author: Jamie Brown

Read the Lyrics First

One of the best pieces of advice I ever received about choosing new worship songs was to read the lyrics first. Since melodies and harmonies and rhythms and grooves have such a way of grabbing us, they can drastically affect how we perceive the strength of a song. Great melody? There’s a good chance you’re going to think it’s a great song.

I’ve gotten into the habit now of, whenever I can, reading through the lyrics of an album or a particular song before I ever listen to it. If someone recommends a song, before I look for it on iTunes or YouTube, I Google the lyrics. While there are exceptions, in most cases, without hearing the music, you’ll be able to spot a well-written song or a not-so-well-written song with more objectivity.

A great tune can turn a bad song into one everybody wants to sing. Likewise, a bad tune can turn a good song into one that no one has any desire to sing.

But I don’t think the problem with most new songs being written is that they’re great lyrics being set to sub-par tunes. Usually, the problem is either (1) neither the lyrics nor the tune are worth introducing to a congregation, or (2) the tune is catchy but the lyrics are weak.

It’s easy to criticize – and that’s not my intention. Rather, my encouragement to worship leaders who have the responsibility of choosing songs is to set the bar high – very high – for the kinds of songs we introduce. This means looking past a melody or a groove that grabs us on the first listen, and discerning whether the words of the song are equally as substantive.

Bob Kauflin taught an excellent seminar at the 2004 Sovereign Grace Ministries Worship God conference called “Choosing Songs Wisely”. This completely changed my thinking on this critical area – and you can download a free mp3 of his teaching here.

What To Do With The Sanctus

I can’t be absolutely certain, but I would say it’s a safe bet that there has never before been a blog post with this title in the history of the internet.

The “Sanctus” (rhymes with bonk-toos) is the song that appears in the communion liturgy after the opening call-and-response prayer that goes something like:

Celebrant: The Lord be with you
People: And also with you.
Celebrant: Lift up your hearts.
People: We lift them to the Lord.
Celebrant: Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
People: It is right to give him thanks and praise.
Celebrant: It is right, and a good and joyful thing, always and everywhere to give thanks to you, Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth. Therefore we praise you, joining our voices with Angels and Archangels and with all the company of heaven, who for ever sing this hymn to proclaim the glory of your Name:

Then we sing the Sanctus (“Sanctus” is Latin for “holy”). The text for this song is something along the lines of:

Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might, heaven and earth are full of your glory. Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest.

If you lead worship in a church that is either nondenominational or fairly informal in its liturgy, you might not use this kind of liturgy for communion. But if you’re in a liturgical church, you’ll probably know what I’m talking about.

And whether you do communion every week or once a month, you might find yourself asking the question: “what do I do with the Sanctus?”

There are many different settings of the Sanctus in various hymnals, but if you’re like me, not many of them are all that appealing. Because of this, it can be tempting to stick with the one good setting of the Sanctus that you have and use it every single time. When this happens, the Sanctus can get to be predictable, rote, and boring.

Worship leaders who lead in the context of a liturgical church can work within the confines of that liturgy to help introduce and maintain a freshness and heartfelt engagement on the part of the congregation.

In this instance, with a song that can easily become robotic, we can use different settings and even different wording to help keep people engaged. The “Sanctus” is meant to be a song during which we join in with the song that all of heaven is singing around the throne. Whether or not we use the exact text as is in the Book of Common Prayer or use a beautiful melody shouldn’t be our primary concern. Rather, our concern should be stirring people to exalt and magnify God as we sing with all of heaven.

Here are the four songs I draw from to use as a Sanctus.

1. Holy, Holy, Holy Lord (Hosanna) by Peter Scholtes
This is an older one – but with some energy it still works well. Every recording I’ve heard of this song is pretty slow. I do it faster, around 100 bpm.

2. Salvation Belongs to Our God by Adrian Howard
Technically, this isn’t a “Sanctus” because it doesn’t have the traditional wording. But, when you use the first verse and chorus, it fits really well in the liturgy. Coming after the celebrant says “therefore we praise you, joining our voices with angels… and all the company of heaven who forever sing this hymn…” it works well to sing straight from Revelation 7:10,12: “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits upon the throne, and unto the Lamb!”

3. We Fall Down by Chris Tomlin
Again, this isn’t the traditional Sanctus text, but it still fits well. “We fall down, we lay our crowns at the feet of Jesus… and we cry ‘holy, holy, holy’ is the Lamb”.

4. Be Unto Your Name (chorus only) by Lynn DeShazo and Gary Sadler
“Holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, worthy is the Lamb who was slain. Highest praises, honor and glory be unto Your name”.

Typically, the Sanctus isn’t a very long song. It lasts for about 30 seconds to 1 minute, and then the liturgy continues. So don’t repeat these very much, if at all, unless your pastor is OK with extending that portion of the liturgy.

It’s hard to find good settings of the Sanctus. Hopefully these suggestions help if you’re looking for some new ones, and please feel free to share any that I’ve missed!

New Songs That Have Worked at My Church

I’m always looking for good new songs to add to the repertoire at my church. Here are some new songs that have seemed to work well over the last year.

A Thousand Amens
This is an upbeat song of celebration that takes the words of the doxology and adds a chorus based off of Psalm 92:2. My two criticisms of this song are: (1) in the chorus it says “it’s your kindness, Lord, that leads to our healing”. Since he’s basing this off of Romans 2:4, which says God’s kindness leads us “to repentance”, I think it makes more sense to go ahead and sing it that way. So I change the words (with the writer’s permission) to “it’s your kindness, Lord, that leads to repentance”. (2) The closing bridge of “amen, amen, amen, amen…” is a bit monotonous. If you explain to the congregation that “amen” means “so be it”, and that when we sing that part we’re all agreeing together and affirming God’s faithfulness, then it helps give it context. Having said that, I actually really like this song and it has worked well on Sunday mornings.
– Written by Tim Timmons
– Featured on the Catalyst Music Project
– I’m working on finding a chord chart for free/download
– Listen to the song here
– Watch a video of it here
 – Download the song on iTunes here

Center
My church is studying the book of Hebrews this year, and this song fits well with Hebrews 1:3 which says “(Jesus) is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power”. The verse of the song says “you’re the center of the universe, everything was made in you, Jesus. Breath of every living thing, everyone was made for you. You hold everything together…” And then the chorus is a prayer: “Oh Christ, be the center of our lives, be the place we fix our eyes, be the center of our lives”. It’s a simple song and people grabbed hold of it pretty quickly.
– Written and recorded by Charlie Hall on Flying Into Daybreak and Passion: Everything Glorious
– Watch a video of the song here
– Download a free chord chart here
– Download the song on iTunes here

Completely Done
I have to be careful not to pick this song every Sunday. There’s nothing better than declaring “the old is gone, the new has come… we’re heirs with Christ, the victory won, what you complete is completely done”. 
– Written by Jonathan Baird, Ryan Raird, and Rich Gunderlock
– Featured on Sovereign Grace Music’s Sons and Daughters
– Download a free chord chart here
– Download a free lead sheet here
– Download the a free mp3 here

Desert Song
A song about the worthiness of God to be praised in every season of life. Halfway through hearing it the first time, it seemed like people were ready to stand up and sing it with us. That’s always a good sign. It feels good in the key of E.
– Written and recorded by Brooke Fraser on Hillsong’s This is Our God
– Purchase the music here
– Watch a video of the song here
– Download the song on iTunes here

Greater Than We Can Imagine
This song has been around since August 2008, but it took me a while to introduce it. We taught it almost exactly a year ago, and I’m really glad we did. It’s based off of Psalm 145 and is a strong, upbeat, truth-filled declaration of praise. Comfortable in the keys of G or A.
– Written by Mark Altrogge
– Featured on Sovereign Grace Music’s Psalms
– Download a free chord chart here
– Download a free lead sheet here
– Download the mp3 here

How Great is Your Faithfulness
A solid mid-tempo song about the faithfulness of God “from generation to generation”. Like many songs, it’s recorded in a key that’s unrealistic for most members of most congregations. We moved it down to the key of G and it worked well.
– Written by Matt Redman and Jonas Myrin
– Featured on Matt Redman’s We Shall Not Be Shaken
– Download a free chord chart here
– Watch a video of the song here
– Download the song on iTunes here

Revelation Song
This song has grown on me. I’ve always liked the first verse and chorus, but wondered if the second and third verses were too difficult to sing. We went ahead and tried it and I’m glad we did. Since the chorus is so singable and the verses are so rich, this song seemed to really resonate with the congregation, especially if the singers are able to lead it clearly. Feels good in the key of D.
– Written by Jennie Lee Riddle
– Featured on various CDs, my favorite version being on Kari Jobe’s self-titled CD
– Listen to the whole song here
– Purchase the music here
– Watch a video of the song here
– Download the song on iTunes here

To Him Who is Able
Once in a while your congregation surprises you when they really like a song. They surprised me on this one. Here’s the first verse: “To him who is able to save me completely / Who has poured out his blood as the offering for sin / And raised me to life by the power of the Spirit / And sealed me for heaven to reign there with him”. The chorus declares: “To him be the glory, blessing and honor and praise / All saints now adore him / Worship the glorious name of Jesus the King”. Great song. I do it in the key of A.
– Written by Lou and Nathan Fellingham and Gary Sadler
– Featured on Lou Fellingham’s Step Into the Light
– Download sheet music here
– Download the song on iTunes here

You Alone Can Rescue
The first time I heard this song, I wondered if Matt Redman had added a new chorus to an old hymn. The verses articulated the problem of our sin and the goodness of God’s grace in such a way that they must have written a hundred years ago! I was wrong about that. It’s a great new song proclaiming a timeless truth.
– Written by Matt Redman and Jonas Myrin
– Featured on Matt Redman’s We Shall Not Be Shaken
– Download a free chord chart here
– Watch a video of the song here
– Download the song on iTunes here