Smith live for the first time ever at the Bismarck Civic Center.
#CONTEMPORARY CHRISTIAN WORSHIP FREE#
I'm free, I'm free, I'm free to worship YouĬelebrating freedom during a 4th of July parade in Mandan, North Dakota I'm free, I'm free, I'm free to dance and sing I'm free, I'm free, I'm free to shout it out I'm free I'm free, I'm free to dance and sing Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom
If you've never heard any of their music or watched their videos, there are a lot of them on YouTube that I would highly recommend! By the way, this song was written by members of the Bethel worship team: William Matthews, Christa Black Gifford, and Matthew Sparks. The worship team has such an amazing way of inviting God's presence and I just love when they go into spontaneous worship. While this song contains the same lyrics as the Freedom Reigns song by Jason Upton, it is a more lively, upbeat song that is super fun to dance to during worship! Since discovering Bethel Music, honestly, it's probably the music I listen to most often these days. My favorite rendition though is by Jason Upton, a guy who is from Minneapolis, Minnesota but who currently lives in Wisconsin. Honestly, I have never heard of the guy but I have heard many different artists cover this song including Kim Walker Smith, Hillsong, and Vineyard Music.įor anyone who sings worship songs, this song has probably been sung by them. Taken from the scripture, " Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom" (2 Corinthians 3:17), this song was written by Canadian songwriter and pastor, Michael Larson. "Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone)" by Chris Tomlin."God's Not Dead" by Newsboys (With Michael Tate)."He Is Faithful" by Bryan and Katie Torwalt."I am Free" by Newsboys (With Peter Furler).Maybe if we had made the change 20 years ago hymns would still be an effective tool in worship. A lost person could hear Passion’s version of “O for a Thousand Tongues” and not recognize or differentiate whether it was a hymn or another great worship song. The fight over hymn and choruses takes center stage when it should have been over how they were arranged and presented. It is their presentation that makes them contemporary. Some of our more progressive musical worship bands have seen the value in many great hymns. It is how they are presented that makes them traditional or contemporary. Hymns in themselves are neither traditional nor contemporary. When asked the style of worship we incorporate at our church, I often respond “traditional.” When asked what style of music do we incorporate, my response is always “contemporary.” Another oft asked question centers around the use of hymns. If your instrumentation consists of the piano and organ, you would probably fall into the traditional model. ? If your church has a band, you would be considered contemporary. To use a Hammond B-3 in your worship would probably place you in the contemporary category-especially if it was played correctly with the right speakers. To use a pipe organ as a tool to lead worship would probably place you in the traditional category. The terms traditional, contemporary and blended are better used in the context of musical instrumentation and orchestration. We have, in a sense, left them behind at the risk of becoming relevant to their desires and needs. At the expense of losing millions of young people to the world, we failed to become contemporary in our look and in our presentation. We held too tightly to the styles, presentation and other elements of our music. Sadly, until 15-plus years ago, the church had not been contemporary in its use of music in the church. The only things that have changed in our corporate worship are the tools we use to help facilitate it. To use the terms traditional, contemporary and blended as definitions for our corporate worship styles is misleading and incorrect. We can argue over the elements and the ways in which we worship, differentiate the outward expressions of our worship, and even label our churches to better clarify the freedoms permitted in worship. Ideally, worship cannot be categorized as traditional, contemporary or blended. For the past 50 years worship was “contemporary.” It was the way people all over the world had done it…for the most part. The true translation makes it too unclear. It can be a difficult thing to call worship contemporary. Contemporary merely means “occurring in the modern” or “of the day.”
Although contemporary means many things to many people, let’s focus on its true meaning.
#CONTEMPORARY CHRISTIAN WORSHIP FULL#
I never considered the full scope of what was really being asked. My response usually revolved around the musical definition. I am often asked to define contemporary worship.