Category: Songs

Free Song: Come You Sinners

My church is releasing its very first live worship CD this Sunday, “A Thousand Amens: Live Worship with The Falls Church Anglican“.

I wanted to share one of the songs I wrote that’s on the album called “Come You Sinners”. I posted a rough version of it on here about a year ago but this is the album version which is a bit (!) better quality.

I wrote this song one week when I was choosing songs for a communion service and wishing there was something I could sing over people as they walked forward to the Lord’s table. Having just taken a seminary class on grace taught by Steve Brown, I was freshly amazed at how scandalous God’s grace is, and how amazingly freeing it is, and I wanted to be able sing this good news over them.

The verses came fairly quickly. I used a couple of lines from an old hymn (“Come Ye Sinners Poor and Needy”) to start off a couple of verses and went from there. The chorus took a while to nail down, until late one night while sitting at the piano, I remembered the line from Augustine’s Confessions that “…our hearts are restless until we find our rest in You…”. The melody fit the lyric and then the song was complete.

Here are the lyrics:

Come, you sinners, poor and needy
Come behold your Savior’s face
Full of love and rich in mercy
Hands outstretched with endless grace

Nothing you have done has earned it
Full atonement, vast and free
Nothing you can do can change it
Rest on Jesus’ victory

Our hearts are restless till we find our rest in You
Our lives are hopeless till we find our hope in You
Jesus, You are my life
Jesus, I give my life to You

Come you weary, heavy laden
Burdened under shame and sin
There is never condemnation
When your life in Christ is hid

There is no one else to turn to
He will guide you all your days
His perfect love is perfect for you
Trust in Jesus’ saving grace

Jamie Brown © 2011 Worthily Magnify Music. All rights reserved. Used by permission. CCLI song # 6026956.

You can download the album version mp3 here: Come You Sinners recording

And here’s a free chord chart: Come You Sinners chord chart

UPDATE: Here’s the sheet music: Come You Sinners sheet music

And here’s a lyrics video:

A Song of Trust in God

A few Sundays ago, June 17th, at our 11:00am service I got the sense that as we were singing familiar songs we were at risk of, yet again, doing what congregations can so often do, and that’s rush through, hurry along, and miss opportunities for heart-felt engagement with the living God.

We had a choir of men from our congregation that morning since it was Father’s day. I had chosen several familiar songs since we didn’t have much time to rehearse. But as we got to the end of “Shout to the Lord” I had a strong impression that God wanted us to put the brakes on, to come to a halt, to slow down, and to simply rest.

As a worship leader you can’t always bring things to a place of rest when you want to. We often want more time than we get, and we have to honor the Lord by honoring our pastor and keep things in the confines he’s given us. And we also have to be conscious of the fact that just because we’re a little frustrated with a disengaged congregation it doesn’t mean we should say so!

But on this particular Sunday I felt strongly enough about it to discern it was the Holy Spirit’s leading, so instead of rushing on to the next song, I sang a simple, spontaneous, song of trust in God. Several people mentioned after the service that it was helpful, so for them and for you, I’m posting it below.

So we run to you, O Lord
We hide ourselves in You
We come to you, O Lord
We trust in You

We cast our burdens at your feet
We lay our worries in your hands
We bring our lives to you, our Lord
We give our hearts to you, our King

You are our shelter, You are our help
You are our comfort and our defender
You are our Savior, You are our shield
And you never fail, You never fail

Time after time, day after day
Morning after morning your mercies are new
Lord, we love You. God, we trust You

You are our shelter and our comfort
And our shield

You’ll notice pretty quickly that these aren’t the most impressive words in the world. They didn’t need to be. They served a simple purpose that morning which was to help people settle in to a place of trust in God, instead of rushing through the songs and getting on to whatever was next.

Be sensitive, as you lead worship, to the moments when God wants you to put the brakes on. It’s in those moments that you might end up taking risks — some of which might not work at all — and God reveals himself afresh.

What Songs Work Well for Advent?

This coming Sunday is the first Sunday in Advent. Advent is based off of the Latin word “adventus” and literally means “coming”. We are expectantly awaiting the celebration of Jesus’ coming on Christmas, and we’re expectantly awaiting his coming in glory. It’s a very cool season and provides congregations several weeks to express our cries of “how long”? Not only “how long until we can finally sing Christmas carols and open presents?” but “how long until you finally come back, Jesus?”

Two years ago I wrote some posts on songs that work well in Advent.

The first post had to do with “what to do with Advent” and some good hymns to sing. The second post had suggestions of newer, more contemporary songs that work congregationally. The third post had a couple of songs that worked as special/not congregational songs.

Here are some other songs I’ve become aware of that might work during Advent.

Soon (Brooke Ligertwood)
– Slow, tender song about when we will finally see Jesus
– Either a congregational song or a solo, but probably better as a solo
– “Soon and very soon, my King is coming, clothed in righteousness and crowned with love…”
– You can listen to the whole song, read the lyrics, and download the music here

All to Us (Redman/Maher/Reeves/Tomlin)
– Slow/midtempo song
– Either as a congregational song or a solo
– The recorded key of C is too high. I find A to be better
– “We are waiting on you, Jesus”. “When this passing world is over, we will see You face to face…”
– You can listen to the whole song, read the lyrics, and download the sheet music for free here

We Belong to the Day (Mike Morrow)
– Midtempo song
– Either as a congregational song or a solo
– “We belong to the day, to the day that is to come when the night falls away and our Savior will return…”
– Bob Kauflin featured this song on Worship Matters in June and linked to free downloads of the recording and the music

How Long? (The Reckoning) (Andrew Peterson)
– An upbeat song of lament/longing for Jesus to return
– From his excellent CD, “Counting Stars”
– Would work as a special (not congregational) song
– “How long until this curtain is lifted? How long is this the song that we sing? How long until the reckoning?”
– Justin Taylor at The Gospel Coalition featured this song last year. Click here to listen to the song and read the lyrics.

God With Us (Jamie Brown)
– Slow song
– OK, I wasn’t going to share this song because (a) the recording is awful and (b) I don’t want to push my own stuff. But, hey it’s free, you don’t have to like it, and it it’s helpful, then great
– The verses describe different people and situations that look hopeless, but actually “God with us”, Jesus, is right there in the middle
– Would work as a special (not congregational) song
– A female vocalists should sing the response part in the chorus. But again, this recording is so bad, from several years ago, that I tried to take care of both parts
– The lyrics are below the audio player

In the long, cold winter of waiting,
Every day a new door is closed
No job for so long and no money
Every letter, every call, a new “no”
God with us

She has cried, she has prayed for a husband
Still she lies in her bed all alone
Every Christmas, every birthday, every morning
Every baby – another one that’s not her own
God with us

Surely he has borne our griefs (God with us)
He has carried all our sorrows (God with us)
His chastisement brought us peace (God with us)
Yesterday, today, and tomorrow
God with us

He has lost his ability to fight it}
It has stained every corner of his mind
He is drowning in the darkness in private
Every click – a step back from his bride
God with us   (chorus)

The baby in her womb is not her husband’s
They have fled from their home to hide
But she believes what the angel told her
That she would bear the Son of the Most High: God with us

Surely he will bear our griefs (God with us)
He will carry all our sorrows (God with us)
His chastisement will bring us peace (God with us)
Yesterday, today, and tomorrow
God with us

Jamie Brown. © 2011 Worthily Magnify Music. CCLI Song # 6026949.

 

A Song for Those Who Are Waiting On the Lord

A few Saturday evenings ago as I was thinking about the songs I’d be leading the next morning, I began to get a strong sense that God wanted me to share a song of encouragement after “Everlasting God” for people who have been waiting for an answer from him for a very long time. Sometimes this kind of nudge happens in the moment, and so I attempt to convey a prophetic impression of God’s heart on-the-spot. This time, I was grateful that the Holy Spirit was giving me advance notice, and so I jotted down some quick lyrics and had them on my music stand the next morning in case it felt right.

When we ended “Everlasting God” I took a moment to discern how I felt the Holy Spirit leading me, and I went ahead and sang this song. The tune and music were just simple and improvised.

I’ve included a recording and the lyrics below. I hope and pray that these words might be an encouragement to you too.

I am the God who formed the earth
I am the One who gave you life
I knew you long before your birth
And I have never left your side

I know your doubts, I know your fears
I know you’re weary from all the years
You’ve waited for an answer
You’ve prayed with all your heart
You’ve wondered if I hear you
You’ve stared into the dark

I am the everlasting God
I am your Father
I’ve redeemed you through my son
He bore your burden
He knew your pain
He intercedes for you
He prays for you by name

And I will do what’s best for you, my love
I will work my perfect will, and I will lift you up
I am always faithful and I am always good
You don’t always see it but it is always true

Don’t listen to the lies the Devil says
He is the accuser and I have conquered him
You are my beloved and I am in control
You can’t always see it but I am on the throne

One day you will see that I have worked
All things for my glory and all things for your good
One day you will see me as I am
Your Everlasting Father, and your never failing friend

And I know you don’t always understand
But I give you a promise: your Father has a plan
Jesus gives you access. The Spirit gives you strength
I love you and I’m with you and will hold you while you wait

Come You Sinners

Last weekend in our services I shared a song that I wrote called “Come You Sinners”. I’m always hesitant to share my own songs on here, but several people were helped by it, so I thought I’d pass it along in the event that it’s helpful to you or your congregation. I borrowed two lines from the old hymn “Come Ye Sinners“, and one line from Augustine’s Confessions in the chorus.

Here are the lyrics and a very rough demo that I recorded for the worship team at my church.

Come, you sinners, poor and needy
Come behold your Savior’s face
Full of love and rich in mercy
Hands outstretched with endless grace

Nothing you have done has earned it
Full atonement, vast and free
Nothing you can do can change it
Rest on Jesus’ victory

CHORUS:
Our hearts are restless till we find our rest in You
Our lives are hopeless till we find our hope in You
Jesus, You are my life
Jesus, I give my life to You

Come you weary, heavy laden
Burdened under shame and sin
There is never condemnation
When your life in Christ is hid (chorus)

There is no one else to turn to
He will guide you all your days
His perfect love is perfect for you
Trust in Jesus’ saving grace (chorus)
Jamie Brown. © 2011 Worthily Magnify Music. Affiliated with CCLI.