Friends,
Bobby has written a short new article for the worship blog at TheGospelCoalition.org, called Common Grace Is Great, But We Can Sing About Something Greater. This is a helpful article for pastors, worship leaders and songwriters. Here’s an excerpt:
“Common grace is a wonderful thing to sing about, and we have no shortage of worship songs that help us to do just that — praise God for the common grace He bestows upon all mankind. But Christian worship must go far beyond this, and must center on the special grace that God has shown to His Church.
What? Common grace and special grace? If you’re new to these terms, here are brief definitions:
Common grace: God’s common patience or forbearance with sinners … the non-saving, sustaining grace of God that benefits all humankind.
Worship songs celebrate common grace when their lyrics praise God for things like:
- Giving us the sun, the stars, the moon, the wind and rain.
- The beauty of mountains, oceans, fields and streams.
- Breath in our lungs.
- All forms of health that we enjoy, until the day of death.
These are good things to sing about …”