Blog - Ty Sager

Recently I spoke with a man who visited several churches in an attempt to find a home. He made some observations and shared them with me. One really caught my attention. He said one thing they all had in common is that the people don’t sing during worship.
The man’s observation was interesting but it wasn’t surprising. I understood the reality of people not singing on Sundays, I used to be one of those people. I clearly remember picking and choosing the songs I’d sing or not sing, spending most of my time checking out the chords the guitar player was playing. Meanwhile, God was in heaven wanting undivided attention, unwavering worship and whole-hearted commitment.

After thinking more about this conversation a few thoughts came to mind. First was a quote that I heard a few years back that said, “I’d rather not have a church than to have a church that doesn’t know how to worship.” This quote has always stuck close to me. It’s a reminder that God thinks His worship is extremely important and as Christians we should see it as our ultimate priority (in the way we live our lives and in the way we sing our songs). My next thought was that I didn’t want Compass to be a church that doesn’t sing. I want our church to be the exception. I want us to fully engage in worship! It is my continued prayer that Compass be a place of vibrant, authentic worshipers who can’t help but shout out praises to the King who has redeemed them. I want people to come to Compass and see people who know what it is to worship God. Ultimately I want God to look down on our church and be pleased with the worship we offer. 2 Chronicles 16:9 says, “For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.” I want Him to look down from heaven and see people whose hearts are all-in when it comes to all of life and corporate worship.

The awesome thing is that God has done some wonderful things that should cause us to respond to Him with praise! This weekend we are going to sing a new song called Reason To Sing. The idea behind the song is that God has given us every reason to sing to Him. One of the lyrics says,

“Each morning I wake up, shows Your unfailing love,
You give me reason to sing, as You give me each breath to breathe…”

I hope you are encouraged as you learn the song and prepare for another weekend of worship!

During the offertory last weekend we sang a song called “Come”. Bobby and I wrote this song a couple years ago in response to Isaiah 55:1-3 and Matthew 11:28-30. The invitation in both of these passages is to come to Jesus for salvation. These verses are so encouraging for the person who has come to the realization that they cannot please God on their own or earn salvation by their own works. Our standing before God is completely based on the perfect and finished work of Jesus Christ.

The chorus of the song says , “He has died for my sin, so I could enter in, He has drawn me to come, so I will rise with the Son.” It’s because of Christ’s work on the cross that we enter into a relationship with God the Father. Christ did all the work and we get all the rest. And it is ultimately because of His drawing us that we come to Him and are saved.

I’m thankful for the free gift of salvation that is by faith and not by works. I hope you are encouraged too as you listen to the song and remember your standing before God in Christ alone!

Listen to the song.

Monday mornings can be a bit jarring. After a weekend of worship at church it can be difficult to think of the challenges a new week brings. This can rob us of the joy we’re to be continually having in the Lord. It was on one of these Monday mornings when an old song came to my mind:

“This is the day, this is the day that the Lord has made, that the Lord has made;
I will rejoice, I will rejoice and be glad in it, and be glad in it.
This is the day that the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it.
This is the day, this is the day that the Lord has made…..”

If you are familiar with the tune you probably can’t read that without singing! This old song may be a bit repetitive but it is definitely biblical!

After strumming a few chords out on the guitar, a clear melody came to mind and the words of the chorus came real quickly:

“This is the day, that the Lord has made;
I will rejoice and be glad in it.
Let everyone sing, to the God who reigns;
I will rejoice and be glad in it.”

I talked to Bobby about this idea and played it for him over the cell phone. He liked it a lot. He thought it was a great idea to make this old tune we sung as children, accessible to the church today. He found the verse where this song came from in Psalm 118:24. We began talking about what exactly a Christian can rejoice in each day. We know we’re supposed to rejoice always but why?

We talked about how the Lord’s mercies are new every morning and how God is always faithful to His people. Both of these ideas come from Lamentations 3. We talked about Psalm 16:11 where it says, “In Your presence is fullness of joy, at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” It is God’s presence in our lives that brings us joy. It is when He is near to us that we will be glad.

Bobby thought of another old song that has a very similar idea: “Rise and shine and give God the glory, glory” Remember this tune? Bobby turned this idea into the lyrics for the bridge, “Let us rise, let us shine, let us give God glory.” Why? Because of His new mercies, because His faithfulness is so great, because His presence brings joy to life, because His pleasures satisfy! We have reason to rejoice in God each day! When the song was finished it seemed like a perfect one to sing on Sunday morning!

I hope this song will encourage you to worship God each and every day that He has made for you, even those jarring Monday mornings!

There is much expression that takes place when we respond to God in worship. Sometimes we clap in celebration. Sometimes we shout in exclamation. Sometimes we bow in adoration, and sometimes we’re silent in meditation. Worship involves responses to God that include physical expression. When we sing lines like, “Cause Satan is vanquished and Jesus is King,” the fitting response ought to be an outbreak of cheers. Christ is victorious and has won the battle! He has overcome sin and conquered death! If there were ever a reason to cheer or get excited about something, this would be it! Singing truths like these are suppose to affect us so deeply that we can’t help but overflow with praise to God with far more than just singing songs.

I thought it was important this weekend as we sang,” All That Matters” to read Psalm 47:1 which says, “Clap your hands, all you nations; shout to God with cries of joy. How awesome is the Lord Most High, the great King over all the earth!”

This great verse teaches us why we clap in our times of worship. It is not because of music. It is not because the person next to us is doing it. It is not because the worship director suggests we do it. It is because the Lord Most High is awesome and worthy of expressive praise. He is worth cheering for! Our clapping is a natural response to the God we are worshiping. It is not forced. It is not done begrudgingly. It is done as an act of worship from a heart that is overwhelmed with whom God is. When I encouraged clapping this past weekend it was so cool to see everyone join in. Being able to observe everyone clapping to the same rhythm and singing the same song seemed like such a unifying moment for God’s people!

So when we clap on the weekends we should clap like we’ve never clapped before. If we shout, we should shout like we mean it. When we sing it should be with the heart and not the lips only. Because when we come to church we are doing more than singing. We are expressing worship to God!