SOTW - February
Freedom Reign - Cat Rea, Joshua Luke Smith
This song made Song Of The Week 3rd February.
Romans 6:22 (NLT) “But now you are free from the power of sin and have become slaves of God. Now you do those things that lead to holiness and result in eternal life.”
Galatians 5:22-23 (NLT) “... the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. There is no law against these things.”
As soon as we heard Freedom Reign we instantly wanted to share it with the world! Through this song there is such a simple but powerful message being conveyed. ‘Freedom Reign’ holds some key scripture from Galatians 5, where Paul starts to discuss Freedom, “So Christ has truly set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don’t get tied up in slavery of the law.” - Galatians 5:1. Jesus calls us all to live in freedom, especially freedom from the ways of this world and its sinful nature, and one of the ways we can do this is by producing the fruits of the spirit in our lives.
“Let freedom reign, and the melodies sing. That I got joy, and peace, and love, and I’m free again.” - Cat Rea
Holy Water - We The Kingdom
This song made Song Of The Week 10th February.
1 John 1:9 (NLT) “But if we confess our sins to Him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.”
Holy Water is a song that is about how our vulnerability in front of God is like an open door to His Spirit doing work in us. Calling out to God and saying that we need Him, is our invitation to welcome Him into our hearts. “God I’m on my knees again, God I’m begging please again, I need You, Oh I Need you…” “Your forgiveness is like sweet sweet honey on my lips, like a sound of symphony to my ears, it’s like Holy water on my skin.” God’s forgiveness is so powerful, and His presence is so transformative, and the fact that we can just ask for His presence and invite Him & His Spirit into our lives at just the call of His Name is just one of the many privileges we inherit as Christians.
On My Side - Local Sound
This song made Song Of The Week 17th February.
Psalm 3:3-5 (NLT) “But You, O Lord, are the shield around me; You are my glory, the One who holds my head high. I cried out to the Lord, and He answered me from his holy mountain.”
The writers of On My Side wrote the song out of the realisation that the problems of anxiety and depression are very relevant in our culture today. In Psalm 3, David writes about having no fear as He knows the Lord is with him, even though there are tens of thousands of soldiers surrounding him, showing that our trust in God is spiritually strong rather than physically strong. Local Sound wanted the song to be something you can sing in times of anxiety and in times of worry, using the lyrics as a declaration in your situation. Using it as something you can sing knowing that you’re not alone, that others are singing it with you, sharing in your battle. But ultimately knowing that God is in the battle with you too.
Stronger - Influence Music, Matt Gilman
This song made Song Of The Week 24th February.
2 Corinthians 12:9 (NLT) “Each time He said, “My grace is all you need. My Power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weakness, so that the power of Christ can work through me.”
We all have times where we go through seasons of suffering, and it’s natural in those times to want to go and try and fix everything on our own. If we try and do things out of our own strength it doesn’t end up how God might have wanted it to. In 2 Corinthians 12, Paul receives the word from God about His grace being sufficient enough, and His power working the best in weakness. Because God’s grace is enough for us, it means we can rejoice in our weakness because God’s power is working in it all. So when we are in seasons of struggle or suffering, when we allow God to work in that season and surrender it all to Him, it means there is space for us to praise God be thankful for what He is doing for us.