Final Project (ICEWS, eb 08)

For: The Institute of Contemporary And Emerging Worship Studies, St. Stephen’s University, Essentials Blue Online Worship Theology Course with Dan Wilt


(NOTE: I still need to make an audio recording and figure out how to get it up on this blog. I will do this as soon as I can!)

For my project I decided to write a song based on some thoughts I had after reading articles in week 4 of this course that discussed Jesus’ resurrection. I’ve noticed that many songs I’ve heard sung in churches talk about Jesus’ crucifixion but very few mention His ministry before His death or the fact that He is now alive. However this is extremely important to the Christian faith.

In the article “Resurrection, Our Living Hope,” Peter Davids says that:

Jesus presently reigns […] and in order for this to be meaningful, Paul says, one must be committed to the fact that God raised him from the dead. No resurrection, no reign. No reign, no good news. Paul proclaimed Jesus as resurrected, living Lord as the core of his good news (cf. Acts 17:30-31)” (IW Master All, page 310).

Also, Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:14 (NIV): “And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.”

As I said in my blog post for week 4: “Jesus resurrection points to our bodily resurrection when God creates the new heavens and the new earth.” We’ve discussed quite a bit during the course the characteristic of God as Savior.[1] In N. T. Wright’s Simply Christian he discusses how God wants to set the world to rights and restore His Creation that He called “good”. With that in mind, I wanted to link Jesus’ resurrection with our restoration.

1 Peter 1:3 (NIV) puts it all together:

“…In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead…”

[1] Dan Wilt, Essentials in Worship Theology, The Nature of God

Here are the lyrics:


Jesus is Alive
By Chelsea Nisbett

Verse:
Made lame to leap
Made blind to see
Made deaf to hear
Made dead to breathe
Made weeping cease
Made dumb to speak
Made demons flee
Made captives free

Prechorus:
Crucified for our sins
He rose again

Chorus:
Jesus is alive
He breathes in us new life
He makes all things new
Jesus is alive
He gives abundant life
He makes all things new

Bridge:
He is the resurrection and the life (x4)