Our very curious and energetic 2-year-old categorizes songs by why who he hears sing it most often and then, when he hears a song he recognizes, he calls it out:
“Dada song!”
“Mama song!”
“Kyle song!” (During our stay-at-home time, Pastor Kyle became a bit of a celebrity at our house because of how much Caleb enjoyed watch the worship through song portion of our services.)
I’m often impressed by how fast—sometimes before the singing even starts—he recognizes a song. And then that realization drives home the power of music to stick in our hearts and minds.
Here at Grace, a driving principle of our worship ministry is to get truth onto our lips and into our hearts. And, as I have seen in my own home, this can start with the littlest members of our church family… even when they are barely conscious.
You see, the four songs that Caleb most often calls “Dada songs” are the four songs that I routinely use to sing my kids to sleep:
How Deep the Father’s Love For Us
Before the Throne of God Above
Build Your Kingdom Here
All Glory Be to Christ
Initially, this was my four-song rotation because they happened to be the four songs I had memorized. But, as I sang them over and over (and over and over and over), I came to recognize that they do a good job of summarizing the truth that I want my kids to store up in their hearts.
How Deep the Father’s Love For Us
How deep the Father’s love for us
How vast beyond all measure
That he should give his only son
To make a wretch his treasure
Out of the abundance of his love for us—for me, for you—God gave Jesus in order to redeem and reconcile us back to himself.
Before the Throne of God Above
Before the throne of God above
I have a strong and perfect plea
A great high priest whose name is love
Who ever lives and pleads for me
But it wasn’t just a one-time thing in the past; the glorified, risen Jesus is consistently pleading my case before the Father.
Build Your Kingdom Here
To see the captive hearts released
The hurt, the sick, the poor at peace
We lay down our lives for heaven’s cause
We are Your church
We pray revive this earth
Because God, in his love, has redeemed and is reconciling us, we—the church—now have a mission: to take the hope of God’s loving kingdom to the broken world around us.
All Glory Be To Christ
All glory be to Christ our king
All glory be to Christ
His rule and reign we’ll ever sing
All glory be to Christ
In it all—redemption, reconciliation, kingdom growth—nothing is by my power and I am not worthy of any glory; all the glory belongs to Christ.
If, by singing those four songs, that fourfold truth takes deep root in my kids’ hearts… praise God! Even if the words “how deep the Father’s love for us” instantly make them drowsy and “all glory be to Christ” opens the door to dreamland, the roots are taking hold. And that is why we sing truth at our church and in our home.
What songs are on repeat in your house? What truths are you hiding in your heart as you sing?
(If you are looking for a place to start, you can find a playlist of our Sunday morning worship repertoire on Spotify or YouTube.)
I love you, church!
-Nathan Ehresman