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 The
phrase "Rising Generation" was something Mike Burn heard Martin
Smith say at a Delirious concert back in 1996, and it stuck with him
as a prophetic word. Like finding a button and then making the suit,
the whole of FW4 developed from this one phrase.
In the UK over the past several decades, children and youth have
often left the church during their formative years, rather than sticking
with it. One key aim of Family Worship has been to help make worship
and church services so engaging and relevant to children and youth
that rather than feel church is "not for them" they will
enjoy worship, and become passionate themselves about the kingdom
of Jesus. In that way, rather than having a "declining generation"
in the church, we would find a "Rising Generation" - rising
to the call of God on their lives to be worshippers, evangelists and
radical lovers of God.
The songs cover a wide range of styles and themes, but there are
some common threads: a love for Jesus and passion for his name ("O
King of love", "Better than life"), songs that tell
the story of the gospel ("Peace Child", "The depth
of a mystery" and "Lord, help me to tell your story"),
and songs that cover the key theme of rising to the call of God on
our lives ("Rising Generation", "In the Spirit I rise")
Downloads
Song Permissions: You may freely use the
songs and make photocopies as required (lyrics and sheet music) for
use in worship; we do encourage churches to subscribe to the Church
Copyright Licence Scheme and report your usage of the songs via the
annual return.
Background
"Rising Generation" - what does it mean?!
(from the October 2000 newsletter)
The phrase "rising generation" was something I heard Martin
Smith say a couple of years ago in a Delirious concert, and it has
stuck with me ever since, and will be the title for the next Family
Worship album (I'm waiting to see if Martin will want a royalty fee
for the phrase!)
I once heard a preacher, who had studied past revivals and moves
of God in history, who said that there had never been a revival which
increased in the next generation - there was always a decline. Now,
not wanting to get into the "theology of revival", which
is a whole contentious subject in itself, I simply want to make the
point that if the church is to fulfil the Great Commission of Jesus,
then we will need to see revivals in nations and continents that increase
into the following generation.
So, the intent behind the phrase is a call to this generation of
children and young adults to rise up to the call of God on their lives,
to be like those described in Revelation who "overcame by the
blood of the Lamb, and the word of their testimony, and that they
loved not their lives unto death".
It's our prayer that the songs will be of some use in helping to
challenge and equip children to get hold of a vision and passion for
God, and for the lost, to be a generation even more radical and effective
than any that have gone before.
Reviews
"Here's a bargain for you - not 13, not 16, but 23! Yep, 23
songs are shared in this compilation and new material set for the
Family Worship team. This collection of shortish choruses is purposely
compiled in order to serve all ages of the church community. Each
song is not complicated by over-poetic or flowery language; instead
the words are simple and catchy. The songs encompass many styles of
music, from dance, to rock and pop through to full blown orchestral
numbers. There are various solo tracks by various singers and the
rest made up of a very smooth sounding children's choir from Ichthus
London and Maranatha Trowbridge. Particular highlights of the album
are the communion song 'The Depth of Mystery' and 'Rising Generation',
but one song that shone out most was 'Whiter than the Snow' with vocals
by Ingrid du Mosch. A good selection of easy-to-sing but powerful
family oriented songs." 4/5
See the review.
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