Kristen and I wanted to end her new worship record Parker’s Mercy Brigade with a “song for the sending,” which would function as our benediction to each listener and a call to “go forth in the power of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit,” carrying the gospel to the nations.
We wanted to do so because it is the logical way to end a worship album just as it is the logical way to end a worship service. Surprisingly, it’s neither a common way to end a worship album nor a common way to end many evangelical church services. But it’s not only a good way to end Parker’s Mercy Brigade, it provides a fitting bookend to our opening song “Spirit Of Freedom,” which celebrates the Holy Spirit’s work in the world.
We wrote the lyrics for “Praise The Sending God,” then our band leader and co-producer Jonatan Barahona wrote the music. It’s a trinitarian praise song (also a rarity in modern worship) that praises the God who sent His Son to save us, sent His Spirit to fill us, and sent us in the power of the Spirit to reach the world. We wanted to make it clear that we don’t accomplish the mission because of our own strength, but because of Christ’s:
He’s fortified our hearts; He’s strong where we are weak,
He’s made us more than conquerors, and Satan’s more than beat
Jonatan (we call him “Jonny”) wanted the music to be celebrative, triumphant and fun. He says,
“I was going for an old school dance feel that was a little on the funky side, with a laid back groove. Kind of like taking Whitney Houston’s “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” and slowing it down a few bpm’s.”
Kristen, Jonny and the band led worship for Sending Church Roundtable last week, a joint missions seminar between Sojourn Church and The Upstream Collective. They ended the music set with “Praise The Sending God,” which, as you would imagine in a room full of missionaries, worked well. We think it would work well for your church too, especially if you want to encourage your people to live as God’s “sent” kingdom workers. It’s also a good song for Pentecost Sunday and any Sunday during Pentecost/Ordinary Time season.
Get the “Praise The Sending God” chord chart here, and listen in the audio player below:
You can also listen and read along in this lyric video from the Kristen Gilles YouTube channel: