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

Another first for me: my first web video clip:

Pdf of words & chords:I Lay It All Down

This is my response to the Essentials Blue course. We’ve touched on some incredibly deep theology over the past few weeks. The aspects of God’s personality that we’ve looked at – God as creator, God as King, God as Trinity & God as Saviour – have really expanded my vision for who I personally worship and for how I want to express that in my own worship times as well as when I lead others. It has also been a real encouragement to me to explore the creative side of expressing that worship too.

I would love to have been able to write a song expressing all the richness and depth of study I’ve been through straight away, but I think it will take me a while to let it all settle in me and to be able to draw something that measures up to that from my creative well!

What I have done is to write a simple song that is my heart’s response to a theme that has woven itself into my psyche over the last couple of weeks. It is the theme of God as Saviour; the God who acts; the God who rescues. It rekindled in me the remembrance of meeting God for the first time, realising that He could and would change me, that He offered me a new hope – and then how I responded to Him; just laying everything down in surrender and submission, embracing the truth that He is the source for all I need.

I’m not used to writing and revealing a song so quickly! I normally write and re-write for a few months, then tentatively trial it in housegroup, back for another re-write, and if it works in housegroup and a few larger meetings, I then give it a go with everyone on a Sunday morning. As I only wrote this yesterday, it is a very fresh & untested version!

So please allow for the fact that it probably needs a few re-writes and actual experience of playing it with others before it becomes a polished worship song…