With trembling faith, and reckless hope I seek the face of God I close my eyes and offer up A heart I know is flawed I bow before the blazing throne Whatever He may do He lifts my eyes and whispers Peace My Son has made you new
This one hope is my salvation This one plea, my declaration
I am not, but Jesus is And praise God, I am His I may be dead, but Jesus lives And praise God, I am His
I am not I am not I am not But Jesus is
With ears of faith I seek the truth Whatever it may say It tells me this My soul was lost And Jesus found the way With no more fear I take my crown And melt it in the flame The Spirit’s power, refining fire Leaves only Jesus’ name
Oh, hidden source of calm repose Oh, all-sufficient love divine My help and refuge from my woes I am secure, if You are mine In want, You are my full Supply In weakness, my Almighty Power In chains, You are my Liberty My Light in Satan’s darkest hour
Lord speak to me until I speak In loving echoes of Your tone As you have sought, so let me seek Your wandering children, far from home Oh teach me, Lord, until I teach The Living Word that You impart Light up my words until they reach The hidden depths of broken hearts
You are my Joy Unspeakable My Life in death, my Heaven in hell You are the Healer of my soul My Tower of Strength where all is well My Rest in toil, my Ease in pain In shame my Glory and my Crown My Peace in war; in loss, my Gain My Smile beneath the devil’s frown
Oh use me Lord,use even me Until the Throne of Grace I see Bring on Your will; name when and where In Jesus’ name, I will declare
Your people groan and cry for the curse to die! Come Lord Jesus! We want to see the world You’ve prepared on High! Come Lord Jesus! We claim the promise made by the One who Saves! Come Lord Jesus! To remake the World and destroy the Grave! Come Lord Jesus!
Come Lord, come Lord! Come Lord, come Lord! Come Lord, come Lord! Come Lord, come Lord! Open up the heavens! Bring the City down! Let us know Your presence! Let the trumpet sound! Come Lord, come Lord! Come Lord, come Lord!
We will see all things in the Light You bring! Come Lord Jesus! Throw down the Devil and let the dead sing! Come Lord Jesus! Break loose the chains and free us from sin! Come Lord Jesus! Let the Beginning end and let Eternity begin! Come Lord Jesus!
You are the God who sees! Open our eyes, Lord Jesus! You are the God who knows! Open our minds – let Your truth flow! You are the God who loves! Open our hearts to Your wonders! You are the God who lives! Open the sky – let our lives begin!
How can this poor man of sorrows be the King of glory? Poor and lonely, yet He is the Fount of every blessing! How can I imagine all I gain from His poverty? By His wounds I am healed inside; By His death I am made alive
I have a Father; I have a Brother; I sit at a table like no other I have a Kingdom; I have a Savior; and I have a Home You are my Home
Amazing love, how can it be? That You my God would die for me? There is no death, no grave for me For Jesus’ blood has set me free
How am I adopted when the firstborn is forsaken? How could He be buried in my tomb with my filthy rags? How can I be risen with Him, soon to see His glory? God has willed we should reconcile – God declares I am now His child
Amazing love, how can it be? That You my God would die for me? There is no death, no grave for me For Jesus’ blood has set me free
I have a Father; I have a Brother; I sit at a table like no other I have a Kingdom; I have a Savior; and I have a Home God is my Father, Christ is my Brother, Heaven has a table like no other I have a Kingdom, I know a Savior, and I have a home Heaven is my home; You are my Home!
Let the gates be opened wide Let the roof be lifted high Let the King of glory enter in Lift your hearts and make a space Lift your voice and pave the way Lift the name of Him who takes our sin
Darkness has no place in face of Grace Fear gives way for praise to the God who saves
Let the nations cry let it split the sky Let Jesus Christ be praised Let our hearts resound lay the whole world down Let Jesus Christ be praised
Let the darkness try to fight Let it try to face the light Jesus is the overcoming King Let the Devil make his claim Let him try to cut the grain God’s already conquered everything
There cannot be shame where there is no blame This is my refrain – my Jesus saves!
Let the nations cry let it split the sky Let Jesus Christ be praised Let our hearts resound lay the whole world down Let Jesus Christ be praised
You are the King of this heart, for you have made it You are the Lord of this mind that you created You are the God of these hands, and so I raise them Up to You, for You are worthy You are the God of the Cross, You are salvation You are the Light of the World for all the nations You are the giver of Grace, of Love, and Mercy Offered to the undeserving I’ll lift up no other name, for You are Holy I will not offer my praise to any other You are the strength of my days You are my comfort In the face of all my weakness I won’t give rest to my voice until I praise You I won’t give rest to my eyes until I see You I won’t give rest to my heart until I’ve offered all of me To all of You my God
Guilt was a raging fire, burning all of me Leaving only ash scattered in the breeze Everything I chased was a fantasy But I loved my chains, and I could not see
Then came Your voice And it spoke the name of Jesus For You made the choice And the Word became The only power that frees us
If I had a thousand tongues I still couldn’t sing In a thousand days the praise I should bring For the thousand ways that you are deserving Of all my praise-you’re eternally worthy
God of my salvation, God of new creation You have made a way like only you can do I am consecrated, I am recreated I am now made holy, only in You Only in You, only in You
Wherever sin has grown, Grace is greater still I cannot escape from my Savior’s will I won’t feed the lie that my sin has won I’ve been crucified with the Risen Son
I will lift my voice And shout the name of Jesus For You made the choice And on the cross you gave The anguish that redeems us
If I had a thousand tongues I still couldn’t sing In a thousand days the praise I should bring For the thousand ways that you are deserving Of all my praise-you’re eternally worthy
God of my salvation, God of new creation You have made a way like only you can do I am consecrated, I am recreated I am now made holy, only in You Only in You, only in You
You were betrayed and I’m forgiven You were condemned and I am living You were denied and I’m acknowledged by Your Word I pound the nail, and You defend me I crucify and Your wounds mend me It is finished-the final words that death has heard
God of my salvation, God of new creation You have made a way like only you can do I am consecrated, I am recreated I am now made holy, only in You
In the wake of all that sin has left destroyed When the bitterness of guilt became more natural than joy There is a King and He has come, And all the darkness begins to fade For over the grave Jesus has won, And so begins the light of day, the light of day
We are reborn, the King of new Creation; The Lord of our salvation is living again We are reborn in Him who lives forever And the pain of the death can never, Ever conquer us for we are born again
When we clung to our own guilt, our lies, and pain Jesus came into our night to be the life, the truth, the way He was the Lamb there on the cross That brought forgiveness and relief Now out of the grave with all that was lost He is the risen prince of peace, the risen prince of peace
It’s the end of human hopelessness, the end of desperation It’s the end of all that’s broken; the beginning of salvation It’s the promise of eternity; the hope in things we will someday see And Jesus’ name is death’s humiliation
There’s a City we are waiting for The City of the Lord of Light And He will bring it when He comes again To bring the final end of night There’s Salvation we will taste and see A new reality of Grace And there will never be a single tear In the Light of Jesus’ face
Oh Hallelujah Oh what a Savior is Jesus For lo, He is coming Oh Hallelujah, what a Savior
The Sin that leaves us broken and ashamed That keeps our faces stained with grief Will be like winter at the sight of spring That melts away in sweet relief So come down, Resurrection, come New life Come Prince of Peace, Bright Morning Star We may fall in pieces, we may go to sleep But we will wake without a scar
“I’m not speaking on behalf of any particular church in anything vaguely resembling an official capacity. And it’s not the only possible response to the idea that churches are “essential.” I’m not even necessarily sure it’s the best response. But it’s definitely one possible way of looking at it:
Thank you for your kind gesture, Mr. President, but we respectfully decline your generous offer of special treatment. Although we agree that worship is an “essential” part of human life, we do not wish to receive privileges that are being denied to our friends who own restaurants, gyms, and other public service venues. We’re not really sure why it would be safe for us to reopen but not safe for them. If prevailing wisdom is not in favor of a general reopening of public gatherings, then we would prefer to do our part and stay closed. We believe God wants us to seek to the good of our city, and not only ourselves.
We’re also concerned that making houses of worship exempt from public quarantine discriminates against our neighbors who don’t practice faith. We would prefer they not see us given permission to violate safety guidelines that continue to cost them their livelihood. We don’t want them to hate us, and more importantly we don’t want to deserve that hate. If it’s unjust that we can’t meet, then we want justice for all, not only for us.
If you would like to declare us “essential” because we are non-profit charities that help the poor, then we would prefer to see soup kitchens, food pantries, and other relief centers reopened first. On average, they do more good than we do with a crowded room, and if they can’t open we shouldn’t either.
Finally, we would prefer not to be the rope in a game of tug-of-war between politicians. There are people who will have to decide whether the President should overrule a governor, or what the process is for the public to review the effectiveness of their own elected officials. Individual passions aside, we as churches can’t have a position on that. We can only respectfully decline to be used as ammunition in a battle between Federal and State powers. We’d really be more comfortable in a secular system where the government no longer uses us for propaganda purposes.
Thank you for taking the time to consider us, and for the compliment of calling us “essential.” Best of wishes in November. . This is idea talk.
Lift up the name of the One who has always been
Through Him creation was made and each voice within
God in His fullness has lived here among us
Jesus has brought us to Him
In Him creation remains; He sustains it for praise
He is above all that is; He’s victorious always
So come now before Him; bow down and adore Him
For Jesus is worthy of praise
Amen! Amen! Amen! Amen!
Here is the Visible Appearance of the Invisible God
Here is the Maker of Salvation; we are delivered through His blood
Here is the Firstborn of Resurrection over all who will rise again
Here is our Reconciliation, bringing the Peace that can never end
All things are offered up to Him; all nature proclaims
By Him and for Him and through Him we live and are saved
Come sing the praise of the One who has changed us
Worthy the Lamb that was slain
He is the Visible Appearance of the Invisible God
He is the Maker of Salvation; we are delivered through His blood
He is the Firstborn of Resurrection over all who will rise again
He is our Reconciliation, bringing the Peace that can never end
Amen! Amen! Amen! Amen!
Amen! Amen! Amen! Amen!
Shout with the Angels, “All glory to God who saves!”
He is above all that is; He’s victorious always
From only a manger His power remakes us
Imagine the throne of His reign
The Suffering Servant is mighty to save;
How much more is the Ancient of Days!
Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel will come for us, oh Israel
He’ll come for us, oh Israel
