Christmas is that one time of year when we’ll hear about the birth and work of Christ in song in just about any and every context, from restaurants to retail stores. These songs play because they are time tested and familiar, even to those who aren’t Christians. Many of these songs we’ll sing together on Sundays.

But there are newer songs for the season too. Sovereign Grace has gifted the church with a series of new tunes and songs for Christmas. One of them, “Prepare Him Room,” we will sing together on Sunday. It’s from an album of Christmas songs by that title. Here’s a video of the song followed by the lyrics.

“Prepare Him Room”
Words and Music by Rebecca Elliott and Dave Fournier

O behold, the mystery now unfolds
See the star shine on the virgin foretold
Angels sing and light up the sky
Hope rings out in a newborn’s cry
Swing wide, you ancient gates
For Christ is born today!

Prepare Him room
Prepare Him room
Let the King of glory enter in

God with us, the promise has come to be
This, the one the prophets were longing to see
In the darkness a blazing light
To the hungry the words of life
His kingdom now is near
For those with ears to hear

Oh, our hearts, as busy as Bethlehem
Hear Him knock, don’t say there’s no room in the inn
Through the cradle, cross, and grave
See the love of God displayed
Now He’s risen and He reigns
Praise the Name above all names!

© 2014 Sovereign Grace Praise (BMI) All rights reserved.

Click here to download the album, Prepare Him Room. If you haven’t subscribed to the DSC Music Blog, check it out. Drew publishes a weekly Sunday Recap post with a list of songs we sang that Sunday along with links to audio, lyrics, and chord charts.

Hopefully you were able to join us last Friday for the album release concert for, This Is Our Song. The album is now available at the Book Nook on Sundays or for download here.

You’ll recognize some or all of the songs on this album, as these songs have filled our life as a church across the years. Many were written or arranged by members at DSC, and some were written in reflection on the message of a book of Scripture we heard preached together. Here are the songs that you you picked for this album:

1. Blessed Assurance
2. My Father Planned It All
3. Christ Is All 
4. God Moves In a Mysterious Way 
5. We Give Thanks 
6. Great Things 
7. Cornerstone 
8. Lord, We Come to Hear Your Word
9. Be Strong
10. Raise Your Voice
11. Clap Your Hands
12. Come and Dine

Click here to buy the album, here for lyrics, chord charts, and mp3s to help you sing or play these at home, and here to subscribe to the Music Blog with weekly Sunday Recaps.

This past Sunday we wrapped up our series through the Gospel according to Mark. The title of the series was, Who Is This Man?. That’s the question Mark writes to answer. Of course, all of the gospels are written to address this question, but Mark’s work is particularly focused on the specific question of the identity of Jesus Christ.

It’s for that reason that when Drew Hodge penned a song of our series, he lifted the title of the series for the title of his song, “Who Is This Man?,” now available on Bandcamp.

If you were with us for one of this year’s Easter services you’ll remember that we heard this song along with a video. Here’s the video with lyrics below:

Lyrics:

Verse 1

Who is this man come to die,
beloved son from on high,
God and man to make us one,
King and a kingdom come?

Verse 2

Who is this man on the way,
power and love on display,
cleansing healing every stain,
washing our guilt away?

Verse 3

Who is this man hanging there
on a tree our shame to bear?
For our sin, for His prize,
the Lamb of God had died.

Verse 4

Who is this man risen high,
once dead now very alive?
Empty tomb filled with light,
this man is Jesus Christ!

Tag

This man is Jesus Christ!
This man is Jesus Christ!
This man is Jesus Christ!

For more songs from DSC, visit the DSC Bandcamp page.

We’ve been singing a new song lately, titled, “We Will Feast in The House of Zion.” Actually, we’ve called it, “We Will Feast,” for short. Sandra McCracken authored this song as part of her reflective new album, Psalms (Amazon, iTunes, Bandcamp).

In his article at The Gospel Coalition, “Sandra McCracken on Life, Loss, and Longing in the Psalms,” Ivan Mesa introduces the album this way:

Delight. Fear. Anger. Joy. Grief. Gladness. Loneliness. Love. Loss.

This is a small sampling of the range of emotions in life, ones that the Psalms fully describe. While the Psalms allow us to express our emotions they seek to shape them into righteous ones. With the Psalms we can approach God with brutal honesty, seeking to be rooted in truth and ready to submit to him.

Sandra McCracken’s newest album, Psalms, seeks to recast some of these ancient psalms and hymn texts for our day. … As McCracken writes,

These are sacred, borrowed words, with new melodies to help draw the longing and joy up out of our hearts and onto our lips, as we watch and wait to see his story come in it’s fullness.

Much like the Psalms, she helps us enter into both the pain of living in a broken world and the joyful hope we have as children of a sovereign God. In this interview we learn how the Psalms give us words when we have none, how lament should be part of our worship, and much more.

Click here for the whole article, which includes an extended interview with Sandra and an explanation of several songs.

Circling back to the song we’ve been singing together, here are the lyrics to, “We Will Feast”:

We Will Feast in The House of Zion

Chorus
We will feast in the house of Zion
We will sing with our hearts restored
He has done great things, we will say together
We will feast and weep no more

We will not be burned by the fire
He is the LORD our God
We are not consumed, by the flood
Upheld, protected, gathered up (Chorus)

In the dark of night, before the dawn
My soul, be not afraid
For the promised morning, oh how long?
Oh God of Jacob, be my strength (Chorus)

Every vow we’ve broken and betrayed
You are the Faithful one
And from the garden to the grave
Bind us together, bring shalom. (Chorus)

Psalm 84:4 says, “Blessed are those who dwell in your house, ever singing your praise!”

We were blessed at Clarus ’14 by the people of God gathered to sing, pray, and hear God’s Word preached to His glory and our good! Below is a list of the songs used at this year’s conference. Included are chord charts with lyrics and mp3’s. May God use these songs to tune your hearts to sing His praise!

Friday Night:

• “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God” (pdf, mp3)
• “And Can It Be” (pdf, mp3)
• “Doxology” (pdf, mp3)
• “Jesus I Come” (pdf, mp3)
• “My Father Planned it All” (pdf,mp3)
• “Lord, We Come to Hear Your Word” (pdf, mp3)
• “Come and Dine” (pdf, mp3)

Saturday Morning: 

• “Rock of Ages” (pdf, mp3)
• “Come Thou Fount” (pdf, mp3)
  
• “My Father Planned it All” (pdf, mp3)
• “Grace Greater Than Our Sin” (pdf, mp3)
• “Be Thou My Vision” (pdf, mp3)
• “Take My Life” (pdf, mp3)

Saturday Afternoon:

• “All Creatures of Our God and King” (pdf, mp3)
• “Solid Rock” (pdf, mp3)
• “Psalm 62” (pdf, mp3)
• “Lord, We Come to Hear Your Word” (pdf, mp3)
• “Oh Heart Bereaved and Lonely” (pdf, mp3)
• “How Wise and Good” (pdf, mp3)
• “My Father Planned it All” (pdf, mp3)

Sunday Morning: 

• “Clap Your Hands” (pdf, mp3)
• “Kyrie (Lord Have Mercy)” (pdf, mp3)
• “I Stand Amazed” (pdf, mp3)
• “We Give Thanks” (pdf, mp3)
• “Lord, We Come to Hear Your Word” (pdf, mp3)
• “He Hideth My Soul” (pdf, mp3)