Picture by: Cindy Cheung, Community Engagement Coordinator
When we reflect on the Easter story—Jesus’ death and resurrection—we are drawn into the deep mystery of God’s love and grace poured out for the whole world. As we sing worship songs on Sunday morning, Thursday evening, or Friday night, we’re invited to ask an important question: Do these lyrics become more than words on a screen or a melody in the air? Do they shape our faith, stir our memory, and lead us toward surrender?
Derek Johnson, writing on his blog, offers a powerful reflection on the song Living Hope:
“If worship is warfare and our songs can be weapons, then Living Hope is an absolute barrage of artillery—tanks, planes, and battleships. There’s a lot in Christian worship music today that promotes an attitude of me-first thinking. Living Hope begins with a scene of desperation; it depicts the place you and I were in when we were dead in our sin.
It’s a place that is real. It’s separation. It’s loss. It’s, in many ways, hopeless—a stark contrast that is brilliantly shattered by the Living Hope. I love that writers Phil Wickham and Brian Johnson take us back to that place. Worship is a place of remembrance, reminding ourselves that Christ has saved us from something truly devastating—something so great it would have separated us from God, had we not turned toward Christ.”
In worship, we remember not only what Christ has done, but what we have been saved from. And in that remembering, hope is reborn. I’ve been practicing the vocation of worship leader for over ten years. In the beginning, I was focused on playing the music, learning the songs, getting the chords right, and leading confidently. What I didn’t always do was slow down and consider what those lyrics were forming in the hearts of the congregation.
For a long time, I assumed that songs with a strong “me-focused” message where simply what worship was about. Over time, I’ve come to realize how incomplete that understanding was. I was mistaken.
Leading worship is not about drawing attention to ourselves or our experiences. It is about guiding people into remembrance—remembering who God is, what Christ has done, and the hope we now live in because of Him. True worship turns our eyes away from ourselves and back toward Jesus, our living hope.
Living Hope is more than just a song we sing on a Sunday morning. It is centered on the gospel message of redemption—transforming despair into hope through Christ’s resurrection. The song highlights the immense chasm between humanity and God, a gap bridged solely by Jesus’ death and resurrection, emphasizing salvation through grace and mercy.
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” — 1 Peter 1:3
— Robbie Alberts, VHL Music Chaplain
Source: i More Than A Song - Living Hope by Phil Wickham-Derek Johnson Blog