Behind the Praise - Sunday December 28, 2008

BLENDED WORSHIP 9:30AM

“How Great Thou Art”

The history of the hymn How Great Thou Art begins with Mr. Carl Gustaf Boberg (1859-1940). He was a Swedish pastor, editor, and member of the Swedish parliament. Mr. Boberg was enjoying a nice walk when a thunderstorm suddenly appeared out of no where. A severe wind began to blow. After the storm was over, Mr. Boberg looked out over the clear bay. He then heard a church bell in the distance. And the words to How Great Thou Art begin to form in his heart -- O Lord, my God, When I in awesome wonder, consider all the worlds Thy hands hath made. . . Can you imagine what Boberg felt as he formed these words? There was such calmness after the fierce storm he could only utter those words of peace. This poem, titled O Store Gud (O Great God) was published in 1891 in Witness of the Truth, the weekly newspaper that Boberg edited. It was later translated in German. In 1927, it was published in a Russian version of the German text.

How Great Thou Art was sung by George Beverly Shea at the London Crusade of the Billy Graham evangelistic team in 1954. He later sang this song over 100 times during a revival in New York at a Billy Graham Crusade. This caused the hymn to receive new attention in Sweden and America and be published in several songbooks. Today millions across the world continue to sing this beautiful song. Giving God all praise, glory, and honor for who He is -- the Creator of this universe.

Click here to see the different arrangements available from Elvis Presley, Alan Jackson, The Grand Ole Opera Sandy Patti, Crystal Lewis, & David Phelps.
www.youtube.com/results?search_query=how+great+thou+art+&search_type=

“Did You Feel the Mountains Tremble”

Martin Smith is the lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist, and main songwriter of the English Christian rock and worship band Delirious? He is generally considered to be one of the foremost songwriters in modern Christian worship music. Some of the most recognized songs by Delirious? include "I Could Sing Of Your Love Forever”, "History Maker", "My Glorious", "Did You Feel the Mountains Tremble", "Shout To The North", "Deeper", "Majesty (Here I Am)", and "What A Friend I've Found".

In 1995, Martin was involved in a near-fatal car accident, and during the weeks of his recovery, he decided to become a full-time musician. He wrote the 'King Of Fools' song 'August 30th' based on this experience.

Click here for the story behind the song:
www.theheartofworship.org/stories/Story-197-DidYouFeeltheMountainsTremble-Smith.mp3

Click here to listen to the song:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4Q5vVa0q8Q

Click here to sing along:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICRukDH7eKo

Click here to watch Martin Smith:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=vO_bKR2Wzhk&feature=related

"Blessed Be Your Name"

This powerful worship song by Matt Redman has a phrase that is based on Job 13:15. The Message translates it like this
"So hold your tongue while I have my say, then I'll take whatever I have coming to me.Why do I go out on a limb like this and take my life in my hands?Because even if he killed me, I'd keep on hoping. I'd defend my innocence to the very end. Just wait, this is going to work out for the best—my salvation!"
Click here to hear the story behind the song by Matt Redman.
www.theheartofworship.org/stories/Story-257-BlessedBeYourName-Redman.mp3

Click here to hear the song:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6xo5KogzaI

Click here to worship along with Tree63:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mZH9T9XNVU&mode=related&search=

"It is Well"

Click here to read the story of how the song was written along with the rest of the story http://exchristian.net/exchristian/2003/09/it-is-well-with-my-soul.php

Click here to watch the Gaither video version with David Phelps
www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPFVijGcLtI

Click here for a video detailing the story behind the song
www.bluefishtv.com/ProductDetails.aspx?cid=1005&id=1498

Click here for more background information:
www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It_Is_Well_With_My_Soul

To listen to the song click here:
www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/i/t/i/itiswell.htm

CONTEMPORARY 11:00AM

“For all You’ve Done”

This song is by Reuben Morgan.

Reuben Morgan on men worshipping:
People are more passionate than ever, Morgan observes. I think God's stirring the church. For the most part, churches are singing the same songs no matter where you go, which is pretty incredible. Even in countries that don't speak English, they're still singing the same songs. As a strong male leader, Morgan is particularly interested in seeing the men of the church take more risks in their outward expressions of faith. I think a really good model for men and worship is David, Morgan says. Men can be a little more reserved when it comes to expressing their feelings and really being passionate. But I think there's health in a guy really learning how to do that in the right way. I think the Bible is clear on what are appropriate ways to express our love for God passionately. My personal feeling is that lifting our hands, shouting and all of that is a way of connecting with God. They're expressions, and they can be healthy in our growth.

Click here to read more about Reuben Morgan:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reuben_Morgan

My Savior, Redeemer Lifted me from the miry clay
Almighty forever I will never be the same
‘Cause You came near From the everlasting
To the world we live The Father’s only Son You lived and You died
You rose again on high You opened the way For the world to live again
Hallelujah For all You’ve done Hallelujah For all You’ve done

Click here to worship along with the Lakewood Church in Houston:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=60cZ5SmlXMc&feature=related


“Indescribable”

On June 14, 2007, Tomlin's recording of the song "Indescribable" was used as the official wake-up call for Mission Specialist Patrick Forrester on Space Shuttle mission STS-117. What an incredible

This song is all about how great our God is. The artist of this song is Chris Tomlin and originally written by Laura Story. Laura Story holds the CCLI copyright of this song.

Like the twists and turns of a mountain road, Laura Story’s life has held its share of unexpected moments – some exhilarating, some terrifying, and some simply beautiful to behold. Leaning solely on her faith in the sovereignty of God, Story has learned that no matter what comes around the next bend it’s going to be an incredible view.

Once an aspiring symphony conductor, Story didn’t even know she could sing – much less write songs – until she was in her early twenties. Today, Story is not only a gifted vocalist and worship leader but also the composer of one of the most beloved worship songs of our generation – “Indescribable”. The song has topped the charts and been recorded by multiple artists.

Click here to worship along with Chris:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=7PTvr755V8s

Click here for a moving DVD with the song:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmTxZAl7ceU

“Draw me Close to You”

Kelly caught "the worship bug," as he calls it, about 12 years ago while attending a worship conference at his California Vineyard church. He was on the worship team and was able to spend some time with Canadian worship leaders Andy Park and Brian Doerksen. A couple of years after the conference, he started leading worship, as well as writing worship songs.
One of those songs was "Draw Me Close."
As it happened, Kelly had just finished a church service in late January 1994, but his heart was not quite in it. "My heart was heavy that day because I had come to the realization that I had put my ministry in front of my relationship with the Lord. So I literally cried out to Him, "I lay it all down again to hear You say that I'm Your friend." Within 20 minutes, he says, "the song just spilled out."
"This song has always been intensely personal for me," Kelly adds, "and continues to bring me back to my knees, that my relationship with God should come first before the call, the vision, and the ministry that He has given me."
At first, he didn't actually use the song at his church because it was such a personal song. "I cried when I wrote it," he explained. "Still, I actually thought it was a really different song, like something Barry Manilow would write." Worship leader Andy Park was the first to hear the tune, oddly enough, while he was busy replacing the kitchen floor in his house. "He had it playing on a boom box," Kelly says, "and when he heard the line, 'I lay it all down again,' he broke down."
Park then asked him to play on a live record in July of 1994, and asked if he would lead on the original recording of the tune. Over the next couple of years, Kelly was invited to do a lot of conferences, where he would be asked to present his song. But because it was so personal, he rarely did it.
The years following these were filled with struggle and disappointment for Kelly "We've gone through some tough times in the last five years. Times when I felt God was calling me to full-time ministry. Honestly, it's been very difficult figuring out my faith and my walk with God. During these years, 'Draw Me Close' became much more to me than an 'I'm in ministry' kind of song. It became much deeper for me. Life, and all the stuff we wind up going through makes it really hard to keep the Lord at the center. God ends up using pain and brokenness to draw us to Him. The song became very germane and poignant to those moments--a 'come home again' kind of song."
Kelly says brokenness, as he's come to understand it, is a universal experience throughout life. "The song connects with anyone who is going through brokenness." He continues, even years down the road to hear from people who've been impacted by the song.
Over the past few years, a couple of high profile Christian music artists have recorded his song. The Katinas recorded his song for Rocketown Records' Exodus project, taking the song to number one on Christian radio charts. Michael W. Smith recorded "Draw Me Close" on his Worship project, which sold over a million copies in just about a year. It's also on Smith's Worship live video and DVD.
Kelly, a soft-spoken man, is in awe of what's happened, yet at the same time he doesn't follow the charts or keep tabs on where the song is being played or how wide reaching the impact of the song has gone. "I don't even think it's important to know the hugeness of what has happened. I see it as only a gift from God to me...and it's turned into the gift that keeps on giving. People in ministry like to know that what they're doing is making a difference."
He also said he doesn't revel in the uniqueness of the song, choosing to look at this song's success in the larger context. "I've written 75-80 worship songs, probably had about a dozen published, and this is the one that has done well. It's really a bit of a phenomenon, if you ask me."
The song is based upon Psalms 73:28, 84:2, 16:2, 16:11, 42:1-2, 63:1, 73:25

Click here to worship along with Michael W. Smith:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWG9-PJFcK8&feature=related

Click here for another arrangement:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALzCQn8LA4M

Click here to hear an arrangement by Kutless:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-07PKW9PRI


"Still"

… the challenge of the Church is to keep worship accessible to all people - Rueben Morgan. Rueben wrote the song "Still" as a reminder to "be still and know that I am God". Reuben has a passion to see the church and the world inspired to worship God. A worship pastor on the Hillsong church leadership team, Reuben works alongside
Darlene Zschech to create an atmosphere of praise and worship that draws
people into God’s presence and helps soften hearts to Jesus’ salvation message.
Reuben is an integral leader of the Hillsong church worship team, teaching often
at the Worship and Creative Arts program. Leading worship on a weekly basis at
Hillsong church, Reuben was the youth Music Pastor who helped to establish
‘Hillsong United’- currently one of the most sought after youth praise and worship
bands having appeared at Creation, Edmonton and Soul Survivor in 2003. He
was one of the major producers on four of the United albums including Everyday,
Best Friend, King Of Majesty and To The Ends Of The Earth. With a congregation
of over 15,000 people, Hillsong Church in Sydney, Australia is potentially the
nations largest local church with a TV program that reaches over 125 different
countries across the globe. Hillsong has been instrumental in

Click here to worship along with the Hillsong version
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qk8horRi3_E

Click here for another arrangement:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPtZRnQyzSM