What is the Purpose of Music in the Church?

Church Newsletter: What is the purpose of Music?

I without a shadow of doubt am convinced music in the church exists as a corporate unifying factor – one church, one voice, one text. During the hymns and songs of our faith is the only time in which every single person (should be) lifting their voices to come in unity with the text that we are singing at that time. Whether it be a hymn in which we say “A Mighty Fortress is our God – a barrier wall (bulwark) that will never ever fail us” or “Even though we walk through the valley of the shadow of death God will never let go of us”; the text exists as a unifying factor.

Because this is my conviction, purpose, and focus of my ministry this is why the “worship wars” over musical styles make me sick to my stomach. These wars that have existed across the nation in the past ten years thankfully are beginning to cease. People on both sides of the arguments are beginning to focus on blended services, understanding that the focus is not what you or I desire. There is a greater cause – that we are unified. The very tool that we have to unify us in our services has been the very tool that has divided us greatly over the past ten years.

Music exists as a unifying factor for one church, one voice, and one text; however you might hear this in any creed or statement made by your local fraternity, club, or organization. What separates the church? Worship. When we sing songs on Sunday Morning it is not only one church, one voice, and one text but yet also with one purpose and one statement: “You are God, we are not; We recognize your supremacy, we recognize our subservience”. This is worship – people can tend to make worship more complex, but it is simply when we say that we cannot make it without God – He is our bulwark that we cannot exist with out, we would be in the valley of the shadow of death, hopeless apart from Him.

Because my conviction for music ministry is that its sole purpose is one that is for congregational unity, you will not see a lot of large productions from me; You will not see a lot of focus on choral perfection – this is not what the church needs. We have plenty of entertainment readily available to us. The church needs men and women who will stand up and say we are unified as a church; we are submissive to God wholly. Would you make a commitment to God to no longer let music be the dividing factor of any church that you are present in – but rather the unifying factor. The times are getting tougher and we must grow closer as the body of Christ.

Live Love Magazine Video from Student Life on Vimeo.

If you're a youth and you want to come to this see me asap; text me; or email me.

j-co

God Loves Me.

This weekend I had been throwing myself a pity party because of some money troubles with school. It is amazing at how quick we can become consumed with such a small problem that it begins to control every bit of our emotions and life.

My church that I serve at is 35 minutes away from my house - sometimes I hate this (when gas was 3.99/gallon), but most of the times I love this because it gives me time to pray and contemplate each day during the drive.

This past Sunday morning I was thinking about some advice I had given to someone recently who was struggling with not being satisfied because they viewed themselves through others eyes and what others though about them. I told her, "you can only find your satisfaction in Christ, He is the only one who will never leave you or forsake you; measure yourself by His love for you". While I was thinking upon this advice it hit me, God loves me. We hear this all the time. We hear it on tv preaching, in church, as a kid, and even from non-christians; we can become "used to it". For some reason Sunday morning God spoke to me through this simple phrase - I love you.

I can't really explain it, but there was a joy and an excitement that came with that understanding. I am God's child, I sin, I fail Him, but He loves me unconditionally - a love that we can not understand apart from Christ.

Now my school money troubles still exist - but they seem to dim beyond the thought that God loves me.

God is in control and knows what He is doing, the situations that I exist in right now in my life are only by His divine plan. Thank you for the hard places God - these are the places that I cry out and desire you most. I will give you glory in every situation of life.

I encourage you today to tell people that they will only be satisfied today through Christ.

Love God. Love people. Easy to say, Hard to do.

Podwhat?

We all know that the ipod, iphone, and apple are trendy. They are the item to have for the 15-35 year old generations. So you have an ipod, what can you do with it?

Podcasts. Podwhat? Listen to sermons all day long. Each week sermons are updated by churches all over the world. So I want to lists some of my favorite podcast links in this post. I would encourage you to listen to them.

The most practical way to listen to podcasts is to subscribe to them in itunes and it will automatically update each week and update your ipod/iphone each time you connect it to your computer. However if you are ipodless...or just want to listen to it online. You can visit the links I will post.

Matt Chandler

Francis Chan
(Click on Media)

Mark Driscoll

John Piper

David Platt

I have a huge respect for each of these guys separate ministry. They are each Godly Men who have had a huge impact on my spiritual walk through their ministries.

Currently Listening to: The Village Church - Matt Chandler - The Church Part 2

Today I've been listening to the a sermon series by Mark Driscoll on being Generous with what God has blessed us with. I would encourage everyone to watch it.

Be cautious with the Money that God allows you to have; don't spend more then you have. 9/10 people our age are in debt which takes them their whole life to get out of. Listen to this sermon series.

Does What You Believe Reflect How You Live?

Does What You Believe Reflect How You Live? Or said another way does How You Live Reflect What You Believe. If we're being honest with one another, and I am, No. No my life does not always reflect my convictions and call to ministry.

I was reading through James earlier this afternoon and I was highly convicted multiple times. particularly by the following passage:

14 What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? 17 So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

James 1:14-17

How can we call ourselves Christ followers when we pass the homeless person who wants food, the lady stranded on the side of the road, or we don't feed the hungry? We say we are Christians but I think many times we forget that does not just mean that we are going to heaven for a final destination, but it affects every aspect of what we are doing NOW. It means literally that we follow Christ, Christ did not pass up the hungry or hurting - He met them where they were.

I heard a story yesterday about a girl who was selling herself into prostitution because she had no where else to turn to for monetary help, when asked why she didn't turn to the church she responded, "So they can make me feel worse then I already Do?".

There are people hurting all around us, people who are scared to come to the church or Christians for help because we will make them feel worse then they already feel. What do we do with the girl who is pregnant? What do we do with the guy who is homeless? Do we say accept Christ, clean up your mess, and we will help you? NO! We give till it hurts then we give some more.

I personally have become convicted of the homeless or people who ask me for money. I have made it a point in my life over the past few months - If someone asks something of me, even if I can't pay my bills because of it, I give it to them. In return I have began to ask their name and say I will give you all that I have if you will let me pray over you and tell you why I am giving you this money. What an opportunity for the gospel to preach itself; even if at the point we are not able to share the gospel in fullness - we are slowing letting people know one by one - that following Christ is not about making people feel worse but it is about loving people more then we love ourselves.

Does What You Believe Reflect How You Live? The answer is most likely no - but that should be our daily goal. When the gospel comes to life in our actions and not just words on a page that we recite - this is when I believe God is glorified.

Overnight Hero

Pilot C.B. "Sully" Sullenberger. By now I am sure you have heard of this man. A simple pilot, who is now referred to as the Miracle on the Hudson man, did a miraculous feat of landing a plane which engines failed into the Hudson river without killing a single person. I'm sure when "Sully" left his house that morning it was business as usual. When he took off on the plane it was business as usual - this was just another day at the office; little did "Sully" know that the decisions he made this day on at "the office" would prevail him as a hero.

This was an ordinary man who for is being praised for being meticulous in his job, even to the point of being the last person off the plane after making two walk throughs to make sure no one was left on. Now I don't know "Sully" but from the sound of what is being told about him, he is the type of man that doesn't really want any appreciation or recognition because he just did his job the best he knew how. He had done the same things for years upon years with no recognition of being meticulous in his taking off and landings yet every time he landed the plan on pavement people took for granted the job that he was doing.

In our Christian walk day in and day out are we as meticulous? Do we always do the right thing even when we know no one will praise us for the job that we do? Or do we thrive off the recognition of others? Everyone likes praise and recognition sometimes in a while for a job well done - and as Christians the final judgement day we will receive our recognition; but this should never become our purpose for our actions.


We don't ever do what is right to be recognized but yet we do all for the Glory of God. We do everything so that others will look at us and will say How Great God is, not so that they look at us and say how great we are. The chief end of man is to bring glory to God. So making the right choices, glorifying God, and making decisions that honor God should be just "another day in the office" for us as Christians, not just a rare occurrence that happens when we are around certain people or certain places.

Do I think that the day will ever come when I will be praised as an over night hero for doing the right thing, something that I have done over and over before? Probably Not. But if it does I will, and I challenge you also, to say, "All Glory Be to God and God Alone".

jbc

Do We Care?

Five minutes ago sitting in the Starbucks in Midlothian I ran into a guy that I admit I didn't even remember his name till halfway though the coversation. He was struggling with somethings and wanted to talk about it. Struggling where to go to college, what to do with his life, and getting plugged into a church. He wanted to talk, I was busy with some schoolwork, but I listened. I didn't really have the time to waste but the though came across - it's not always about Jonathan, service is about others.

I'm busy. I have a lot going on most of the time between planning a wedding, working at the church, landscaping, school, finances, and the normal business of life (cleaning, cooking, ect...).

So I've thought about this, I make time for what I want to make time for. If I want to read about apple news, play on facebook/myspace, or watch tv; I make time for it. Therefore if I don't make time to listen to others problems when they need somone to talk to, it's not because I'm really that busy, it is just because I don't want to "make time" for it.

I know many times I need someone to talk to and it seems as if there is noone - I know that there are people that feel like this, so I am convicted just listening to people makes a world of difference in their day and lives. Maybe this is a way that we could share God's loves with others; listen to their problems and when they ask for your advice or need your help there is your opportunity to share God's good news with them.

Just some thoughts,


jc

Some Old Blogs

As you may have noticed, I've uploaded some of my old blogs from the past year. These are combinations of just thoughts that I have had and newsletters I have written for the church that I work at in the past year. 2008 was a great learning experiance just as I'm sure 2009 will be. I am amazed at how much God teaches me daily - even when I am not aware that He is teaching me. I pray that you will be aware to what God is trying to teach you today, look around and see what He is allowing you to learn from every one you are surround by.

Some Old Posts V

Chapter 5: The Unveiled Worshipper

“Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him and he with me.” Revelation 3:20

Jesus is inviting us into a greater intimacy with Him. The word for eat in the above passage in the Greek comes from the noun deipnon, or the main meal of the day. In this culture this was the evening meal, where people would sit down together at the end of a day’s work and spend quality time with one another. The reason for such a meal was fellowship, not just food. It wasn’t a hurried event but one where you would sit for a while and get to know the people with whom you ate. When Jesus was saying this, He was in terms saying, “Let Me deepen into you life. I want to come and eat with you, to be close to you, to better know you, and you to better know Me. Christ is not calling us just to be a waiter at the table, serving Him as He eats, Christ is calling us to sit down with Him and for us to eat together.” What a joy! As servants and slaves of Christ – He is not only providing for us, He is inviting us to sit at the table with Him! When I think of our relationship of intimacy with the Father I recall the last line of one of my favorite hymns growing up, My Shepherd Will Supply My Need, “No more a stranger, nor a guest, but like a child at home”.

Christ has invited us to dine with him, when we know we’re not worthy to gather up the crumbs under his table. Intimate as it may be, this will never be a meal between two equals. I believe this is the greatest mystery of the universe. Yes I’m curious how the Earth was formed, or how far the galaxies stretch, but even more fascinating to me is that Almighty God would invite me to intimacy with Himself, and the Son of God would willingly die on a cross to make that possible. Understanding that, we don’t deserve to be in the presence of God, but we are allowed to, brings about a deeper form of reverence. William Barclay said it this way, “The hand of Christ is strong enough to uphold the heavens, and gentle enough to wipe away our tears”. This paradox between fear and intimacy is something that only could be orchestrated by God.

“In an age of informality and irreverence, true unveiled worshippers recognize the “otherness” of God and treasure the call to intimacy with Him. Transfixed by His glory and transformed in His presence, we become ever more like Him. Unveiled worshippers are different when they come down the mountain. They are radiant, for all to see, and shining with the glory of God.” The invitation has been given, for us to dine with the father in intimately day in and day out; let us do our part in taking time to spend with the Father each day. Coming before His throne in fear and reverence.

“The friendship of the LORD is for those who fear him” Psalm 25:14

Some Old Posts IIII

Chapter Six: The Unstoppable Worshipper

Chapter Six: The Unstoppable Worshipper

“…rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name. And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ.”

Acts 5:41,42

Over the past five weeks we have explored five different types of attitudes that a worshipper of God should betray. Out of the ten types of attitudes of worship that we will be looking at I believe that this is one of the most important. The unstoppable worshipper; what does that look like? “Unstoppable worshippers will never quit when it comes to adoring God. Faced with opposition, danger, or even death, they just keep going. We’re told of worshippers in the Early Church who, more than simply enduring actually rejoiced “because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name”. Here in the United States we don’t fully understand suffering for Christianity. Comfortable Christianity or lukewarm Christianity surrounds us. People attend church and use Christ’s name for family, business, or political purposes; because for the most part it is the right thing to do in America. To truly be a worshipper period – Christ must not be a pastime, a political move, or even “the right thing to do”; Christ must be our everything.

I am continually blown away each day by the gift of salvation, it doesn’t get old; when the light of a Holy and Just God shines brightly upon you it illuminates your filthiness and unjustness to your eyes. This illumination of just how unimportant we are, drives our unstoppable worship when we realize how undeservingly important we were. Such a paradox, we are filthy and undeserving, but God gave His only Son, so that we may have everlasting life!

“Unstoppable worshippers are bold evangelists; lifting up the name of Jesus everywhere they get a chance. Their offerings of worship are just as vibrant outside the walls of the church as they are inside. They are adventurous hearts, taking every opportunity to demonstrate the good news of God to this world.”

Rachel Scott of Columbine High School – martyr; Paul proclaiming the word in prison; Stephen’s stoning; David and Goliath; In all these situations these people could have made choices that bettered them; but they chose to be an unstoppable worshiper and glorify God. “Unstoppable worshippers let nothing hinder them in their quest to glorify God. Whatever “goliaths” come their way; they walk out onto that worship battlefield and take their chances. They do not shrink back in times of trouble, but instead raise a spirited psalm of trust and praise. His love endures forever! Will you be an unstoppable worshipper of Christ living a life that glorifies the Father or will you live a life of comfort and merely use Christian terminology?

“Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel…Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.

Eph 6:19-20

Some Old Posts III

Chapter Seven: The Unnoticed Worshipper

Have you ever become satisfied with yourself? With a mentality that God must be proud of you because you have done so much for His Kingdom. Maybe you pat yourself on the back slightly because of all your good deeds. Do you find yourself praying extra long in public because you have such an elegant way with words that you want everyone to hear them? Or maybe sometimes you might find yourself singing praises to God above everyone else because you have a great voice and you want others to hear your offering to the Lord.

I’m sure all of us have been guilty of this mentality at one time or another, but the bible speaks clearly against this behavior in Matthew 6:

“And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray,^]go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. "And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.” Matthew 6: 5-8

A few years ago I was struggling with this mentality; my private worship had fallen, but my public worship seemed as if I was highly in-tune with God. As I began to draw back to a private worship life, God placed the thought in my head – “Your public worship should never exceed your private worship” – I had been guilty of that. Jeff mentioned Sunday that we are often guilty of “checking out” in church and just going through the motions; I would like to suggest, that if this is the case, then we are not knowing the Father intimately enough during the week. If we truly began to know the Father intimately in private; our private worship will overflow becoming an outflow that is our public worship. “God first seeks devotion to Him in the Hidden place – Worship when no one else is watching.”

I would like to challenge each of you to become an unnoticed worshipper. Each day take private time to worship God for who He is and what He has done for you. When you think of all the Lord has done for you my prayer is that you will become undone and undignified privately before the Lord, worshipping Him in Spirit and Truth with all of your heart, mind, and soul.

Some Old Posts II

Tradition or Biblical...it does matter

Then Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said, "Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders?" For they do not wash their hands when they eat. He answered them, "And why do you break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition?" For God commanded, Honor your father and your mother, and, 'Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die. But you say, If anyone tells his father or his mother, What you would have gained from me is given to God, he need not honor his father.' So for the sake of your tradition you have made void the word of God. You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, when he said: "This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.
Matthew 15:1-9

When we look at this passage – the highest-ranking Pharisees and scribes confront Jesus on why His disciples and Him do not wash their hands when they eat. This was a tradition or ceremony of the elders that had been based upon interpretations of the scripture, passed down, evolving into something that was not solid biblical truth but yet held in the same regard as such. When Christ is confronted with this situation, He responds with questioning why do they not honor their fathers and mothers?. Due to traditions that allowed them out of this responsibility – they did not obey this commandment; for the sake of tradition they made void the word of God.

In the germaphobic society that we are allowed to live in with germ-x and a sink with soap in every restaurant, it seems odd to us that someone would not want to wash their hands. It is not that there is anything bad particularly with the washing of ones hands – the harm comes when we take traditions and hold them with the equivalence of God's word, the scriptures.

Ponder for a moment how you would define a church. Some might say a steeple, pews, pulpit, hymnals, choir, call to worship, and sermon; others who are of different traditions might say a band, praise team, multi-media, coffee, and sermon. Both of these are connotations and traditions of how we define the church. Are any of these things in themselves bad? No, of course not. The danger comes when we take these extra-biblical traditions and views of what the church is and hold them with the equivalence of biblical truth.

Our purpose for gathering on Sunday is solely for the worship and glorification of God; we say this every Sunday. Our mere presence in the church building is not worship. Do we want God to move? If we don't then we must not waste God's people time by hindering the church. If we desire God to move we must spend time on our face before the Lord – exalting – confessing – and thanking. I am convicted that we can no longer play church – we can no longer go through the motions – this makes us uncomfortable because sometimes the motions change. Are you motions biblical or traditions?

"Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?" And he said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets."
Matthew 22:36-40

Some Old Posts I

The Uncomfortable Church - Generational Discipleship

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things…..When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways.
1 Corinthians 13: 4-7;11

In our society adulthood has been called into question. Adults adolescence, as I will term it (which literally means the adult child), is prevailing in our culture with adults well into their 30’s and sometimes even as high as middle 40’s. These adults avoid responsibility and by the culture we live in 18 – 30 year olds are given a grace period of in which they are just allowed to have fun with no responsibility. When did this began to occur? Why does this occur? When did the definition of manhood and womanhood become blurred? What can we do and what is our responsibility to take action to uphold the definition of a biblical manhood and womanhood?

Older men are to be sober minded, dignified, self-controlled, sound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness. Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanders or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that he word of God may not be reviled. Likewise urge the younger men to be self controlled. Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works, and in your teaching show integrity, dignity, and sound speech that cannot be condemned, so that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us.
Titus 2:2-8

Who is the older man? Who is the older woman? I think many times our society lends us to blur these lines. If we look at God’s definition of an adult it is someone who is not a child. I would began to quit defining someone as a child at the age of 17 or 18 - not that these "young adults" will not make mistakes but older adults must urge all who are younger to lives that are as such as a biblical man or a biblical woman – while at the same time being mentored by someone who is older.
I've said it many times before and I will continue to say it, it is apparent how I feel - I believe 100% in generational discipleship in the church. I believe it is biblical and a characteristic of a healthy church. If at any time you are not being mentored by someone older and mentoring someone younger in the ways of a biblical man or biblical woman, I believe you are not benefiting the church. It is how God created the church - a constant cycle. Not one of us will live forever, we cannot hold onto the life and wisdom that we have received but yet must pass it down. Would God allow you to learn so much knowing that you will pass away? No, He intends for you to pass down your wisdom to others. This is how the church will continue to thrive, if we are not being discipled by someone older and discipleing someone younger, then the church dies when we die. Who is to pass on the church? You are. I am. The 17 year old adult is to the younger 14 year old youth. The 24 year old adult is to the 17 year old adult. The 40 year old adult is to the 24 year old adult. The 65 year old adult is to the 40 year adult. It is all of our job.
Find someone today to learn from who is older - find someone who is younger to pass it along to. The church cannot exist within our generational cliques but it will only thrive outside of our comfort zones, where old passes wisdom and life to the young. This is one way that the church is "alive", ever growing spiritually and a close knit generational web.
I charge to you today to exist outside of your generational clique, we are all guilty of it. It will be uncomfortable, but I am convicted that the true church, is not a comfortable one.

Coffee Shop God

This is sort of the "re-start" of my new blog, coffeeshopgod.com. So what is the purpose of this blog? I think its to daily look at how we can meet people where they are. I'm not sure about you but I meet most of the new people that I meet in local coffeeshops - people go there to meet people and talk to strangers, to hangout with someone when they don't have anyone to hangout with. What better opportunity to spend witnessing to someone or begin the conversation about God with someone. Poeple are more open to hearing about God then they ever have been - people are looking for something or someone to believe in - especially when they come to coffeeshops to meet people. So what is the purpose of this blog? To encourage each of us to use each opportunity wisely when we meet people, or at least that is where this journey will begin.

stay tuned,


jc

A Lifestyle of Worship: Humility

A Lifestyle of Worship: Humility

We have nothing to give That didn't first come from Your hands We have nothing to offer You Which You did not provide
Every good, perfect gift comes from Your kind and gracious heart And all we do is give back to You What always has been Yours
Lord, we're breathing the breath That You gave us to breathe To worship You, And we're singing these songs
With the very same breath To worship You, Who has given to You That it should be paid back to him?
Who has given to You As if You needed anything? From You, and to You, and through You Come all things, O Lord
And all we do is give back to You What always has been Yours We are breathing the breathe That You gave us to breathe to Worship You.

-Matt Redman-

How many times this week have you sat down and thought about how much you really have. I'm not talking about the usual agenda of "how blessed we are as Americans" but the attitude of how blessed we are as humans. There are so many body parts that I have inside of me that I have no idea how they work, but lend me to another day of life. If one minute detail in our body is to fail then we can quickly see how the things that we take for granted are constantly involved in our day to day survival.

Now take a moment to think why you deserve the breath that you are breathing now. I cannot think of one reason that I deserve the breath that I breathe, the body that I have, or the mental and physical capacities that I have. Yet, if this was all that God had given us – we would be in debt to Him forever, because it is a gift that we cannot repay.

Now take a moment to think about what more you have besides the breath that you breathe. In my life I currently have clothes on my back, shoes on my feet, a roof over my head, a heater in the winter, food in my stomach, and a church family that loves me. There might be more variables in your life than I, such as a house that you own, a car that you own, a spouse that loves you, or children that you are rearing. If this was all that God had given us – we would be in debt to Him forever, because it is a gift that we cannot repay.

"For God so loved the world, that he gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life." God has fulfilled past our life and needs – He has given us eternal life as a gift. Salvation. We are in debt to Him forever, because it is a gift that we could not repay, nor accomplish.

The first step of living a lifestyle of worship is the daily understanding that you have nothing to offer. Even if I did not have salvation, even if I did not have clothes on my back, I would still worship God because He is Sovereign, God must be enough. I pray for revival in our country every day, but God will only revive His people if they Humble Themselves and Pray. Therefore we must live a lifestyle of humility before God saying, "From You, and to You, and through You come all things, And all we can do is give back to You what has always been yours."