Behind the Praise - Sunday May 31, 2009

"Hallelujah, Your Love is Amazing"

Listen to Brian Doerkson tell about the writing of the song
www.theheartofworship.org/stories/Story-219-YourLoveisAmazing-Doerksen.mp3

Listen to Brenton Brown tell about writing the song with Brian
www.theheartofworship.org/stories/Story-316-YourLoveisAmazing-Brown.mp3

Prepare your heart for Sunday by singing along and reading some great sayings by children
www.youtube.com/watch?v=gTaSVXMtoZs

"God of Wonders"

This song by Steve Hindalong has become a classic. Here is a description of how the song came about: When Marc played the chord progression and melody, it felt really big. I kind of got a chill-I got goose bumps on my arms. I just thought, 'This song needs to be big, with really vast language.' So 'God of wonders beyond our galaxy' was as big as I could think." Having attended an Episcopal church for the last few years, Hindalong has been introduced to a new inspiration for his songwriting. "The liturgy, the old words, is kind of new to me. I flipped through The Book of Common Prayer, and I remember 'Lord of all creation, water, earth and sky.' That became the first line of the song."

Lord of all creation Of water, earth and sky The heavens are your tabernacle Glory to the Lord on high God of wonders beyond our galaxy You are holy, holy The universe declares Your majesty You are holy, holy Lord of heaven and earth Lord of heaven and earth But it isn't the vastness of the song that seems to really impact people, relates Hindalong. "People have sent me emails about the song and referred to the second verse. I think the real power of the song is there, when all of the sudden it gets intimate. It says 'When I stumble in the darkness, I will call Your name by night.' This God that is the God of not only our earth, but of all the worlds, that is so big-but when I'm afraid, when I'm alone, when I sin, when I'm in trouble, He comes close enough that I can call His name. It's the truth that's powerful, not the song. It is that particular truth that is so moving."

Click here to worship along with Third Day & Caedmans' call
www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CBNE25rtnE

Click here for another version:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZL0cjcLBYY

"The Stand"

The following was written by Michael W. Smith about this worship song.Recently I was struck by the Biblical truth behind the song "The Stand," written by Joel Houston of Hillsong and recorded by Michael W. Smith on his album Stand. This truth is based on Paul's very encouraging words to the Romans in Chapter 5, verses 1-3 which are wonderful words to celebrate and "rejoice in the hope of the glory of God" as we praise our Lord and Savior Jesus for coming to die for our sins as our perfect, blameless substitute for our sinful natures on whose grace we "stand with arms high and hearts abandoned in awe of the one who gave it all".Michael W. Smith says "Stand is a call to stand up for what you believe in." It's a call to stand in awe of the One who gave all and to stand outside of the walls of the church rubbing shoulders with the lost. Together, we stand as followers of Jesus sharing a powerful opportunity: To live as a child of God. We must live as though we believe we are loved," he says. "It's time we take a stand believing we are loved," Smith concludes. "And then, let's go. Let's go change the world."Joel Houston wrote this powerful worship song. Although the church his parents pastor is famous for its music ministry, Joel Houston didn’t intend for its youth group to make records. “The reason we first recorded a United album in 1999 was simply that there was an overflow of songs being written by the youth,” he says. Each week some 3,000 young people participate in United, the youth ministry of Hillsong Church based in Sydney, Australia. And while Houston, 26, provides creative oversight, he says all the youth help produce the live worship projects that are recorded annually during Hillsong’s Encounterfest youth conference. “Our desire is to ... see the younger guys in our team equipped and released into their gifting,” says Houston, son of Hillsong pastors Brian and Bobbie Houston. “We want the younger generation to be taking what we’re doing and make it seem tiny in comparison to what they are achieving for God in the years to come.” Even though the group leads worship in places such as Japan, England and Colombia, United’s priority is Sydney. “All we do is centered on building our local church and reaching the youth in our community,” Houston says. “This has always been our focus. And the incredible thing is, in the midst of this God has opened the door for us to have incredible influence by His grace across the earth.”

Click here to worship along with the Hillsongs worship ministry:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=HkGLbKV26zo

Click here to listen online:
www.imeem.com/pieerejean/music/ZwSNdWyM/joel-houston-hillsong-publishing-the-stand/

“In Christ Alone”

This song was written by Keith Getty & Stuart Townend
Townend and Getty both admit they are motivated by the idea of capturing biblical truth in songs and hymns that will not only cause people to express their worship in church, but will build them up in their Christian lives. “I’ve been amazed by the response to this song,” says Townend. “We’ve had some incredible e-mails about how people have been helped by the song through incredibly difficult circumstances.” One e-mail described how a U.S soldier serving in Iraq would pray through each verse of the song every day, and how the promises of God’s protection and grace helped to sustain him through the enormous pressures and dangers of life in a war zone.
Click here to read more about how the song was composed
www.crosswalk.com/1275127/

Click here to worship along with the Newsboys
www.youtube.com/watch?v=8welVgKX8Qo

Click here to worship along with Natalie Grant
www.youtube.com/watch?v=MA9WbEn-Nj8&feature=related

“Healer”

This is an article from the Hillsong church webpage about the Healer Story. Initially it seemed that Mike Guglielmucci wrote the song and then was healed, but after further investigation it came out that Mike had made up the story. It doesn’t minimize the message of the song or the healing power of the Lord.
Removal of a song from the album This Is Our GodOn August 20, 2008, Michael Guglielmucci, a former Planetshakers pastor who composed a number of songs for Hillsong, including “Healer” from the album This Is Our God - a song about his cancer struggle - admitted he had lied about ever having cancer in the first place. Representatives of churches with which Mr. Guglielmucci had affiliations told the press they were totally unaware of the situation. In an e-mail sent to Hillsong members, the church’s general manager George Aghajanian said the news was even a shock to Mr Guglielmucci’s own family and that the suspended pastor was seeking professional help. A statement is expected to be read at congregations affiliated with Australian Christian Churches on Sunday, August 24, 2008. The ACC promised that all money donated by listeners inspired by the song will be returned or donated to charity, and is currently auditing Mr. Guglielmucci’s bank accounts to determine the amount of funds raised. The track “Healer” was promptly removed from the tracklist of the album This Is Our God on Hillsong’s website where one can buy MP3 tracks , and there are plans to revoke CDs and DVDs that contain the song.

Click here to watch a news report on CNN about the song:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ei7v2b2lEyQ&feature=related

Click here to hear Brian Houston share his thoughts on the song:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1SsMbckSUo&feature=related

Click here to listen to the song:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=GaB53_AS7Ug&feature=related

Click here to worship along with Israel Houghton:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnXO2FGrygM&feature=related

Offertory Sunday will be Ouida Tillery playing "Sinner saved by Grace"
Click here for an arrangement by the Vocal Gaither Band:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcMeUqPDypo