Not too long ago I came across the work of Chris Powers, who put together an animated video of one of our songs, The Prodigal. I was moved by the way he used simple animation to illustrate the song in a powerful way.
Recently Chris told me he had animated another one of our songs, The Gospel Song.
Here are the lyrics:
Holy God in love became
Perfect man to bear my blame
On the cross he took my sin
By his death I live again.
In the video, Chris also added a portion of a message by John Piper where he pleads with unbelievers to trust in the finished work of Christ for their sins.
The Gospel Song was first written for a musical my church put on in 2002 for our 25th anniversary. Drew Jones, who led the production, wanted to musically communicate how over the years the church is always tempted to make primary what is secondary. But it is the gospel that remains constant and preeminent. When secondary issues (relationships, serving, mission, spiritual gifts, evangelism, etc.) are given equal weight, the gospel has the potential of getting obscured, assumed, or lost altogether.
Drew asked me to put music to seven different sets of lyrics that could all be sung together. Out of the cacophony the simple gospel song emerges as the only hope for those lost in their sin. In the production, a father also sings The Gospel Song each night to his daughter before she goes to bed.
I had a blast writing the music, and think we were able to pull off Drew’s idea. The other songs stayed with the show, but we’ve continued to sing The Gospel Song on Sunday mornings.
You can download the song for free here. Here’s the guitar chart, and a four part hymn arrangement.
Thank you. We sing this song in our local church and this video presentation is beautiful. What a great reminder.
Bob,
I noticed the piano interlude during the voiceover by Piper. I did not recall that instrumental section on the “Songs for the Cross-Centered Life” recording of the Gospel Song (Reprise). Did he just strip the instrumental channel or did he have an alternate source to get that? :)
Andy, I tracked down the instrumental version at Sovereign Grace Ministry’s site, here’s the link if you are interested:
http://www.sovereigngracestore.com/ProductInfo.aspx?productid=M4056-15-51
Thanks for sharing. This is a great animation set to a simple, but powerful, song. I’d seen it pop up in my Youtube subscriptions, but hadn’t watched it yet. I’m glad I did now.
Chris’ Prodigal animation is particularly powerful. He’s got a great gift in his artistry.
Bob, Chris, & Drew,
Thank you!
Bob,
I used the Gospel Song with our VBS this summer; it helped the kids understand the gospel. Our church loves this song! Paul
Wow, just like the video for “The Prodigal” this is amazing! Thanks for sharing with us.
This is powerful. Brought me to tears, as did the video for The Prodigal. Thanks Bob and Drew for writing and Chris for your wonderful animation.
PS Any chance that musical was recorded?? I’d love to see it. :)
Wow! That is a beautiful song and with the animation it really is quite powerful. Thanks for sharing.
Aloha Bob,
This is marvelous. How can I get permission to use this video at church? I’d like to use this song for the four Sundays in Advent Do I need special permission to do that?
Thank you for your ministry. I praise God for resources like this.
Where do you find the time to read all those books you list on the side???
Blessings.
Kate, you can email Chris Powers at cppowers@alumni.cedarville.edu for info on using the video. No permission needed.
Thanks for your encouraging words!
I just keep reading a few chapters each day. Eventually I get through them!
The words are powerful. My computer can’t handle the video so i’ll have to watch it some other time. Thanks for sharing this
Wow. . . tremendously powerful song and video.
Hey I have to say, that was one of the most amazing ways I have heard that song. I have heard the song many times, but this video has really started sticking to me in a new way.
Bob,
Thanks for posting this. We sang “The Prodigal” in church late last year and put video to it, but not as good as this! I’ve emailed Chris to see about using his videos in our services. Very moving and powerful; they need to be shared!
Can’t wait for Worship God 2011. We’re bringing as many people as can possibly come.
Barry Joslin
Louisville, KY
This morning we sang The Gospel Song twice, framing The Power of the Cross. I wish we could have shown this video, but we have an old, decrepit video/sound system. I think we’ll have to get all new equipment before we’ll have that capability! But this is a lovely interpretation – thank you, Chris, and thanks Bob for posting it.
That was powerful. Thanks and God bless!
I’ve seen those two videos. The songs are powerful enough but with such touching animations, the lyrics hit home hard. A lot of Facebook users have posted both vids.
The combination of the cross centred words, empassioned plea by John Piper and simple animation blessed me this morning. – thank you
By God’s grace may we as CJ says, always keep the main thing the main thing and tell the old old story in as many ways as possible
Do you have spanish words for this song? I’d love to use them in our church!
Thanks
I was certain that we sang this song in my youth group back in 1994. The first time I heard it from SGM in ~2002-2004 I recognized it instantly. Are you sure it was written then and not earlier?
Chris, absolutely. Drew wrote the words in 2002, and I wrote tune that year. But if you find it recorded or printed earlier, let me know!
Hi! I was interested in using this song and video with out children’s ministry. Is there a way to get the instrumental track with John Piper for the song and video?? thank you!
Maura, you’d have to contact Chris Powers at fillmewitheyes@gmail.com
thank you so much Bob! I was hoping you had his email. I tried the one listed in the comments above and it didn’t work. My husband is really looking forward to Worship God Northeast! He will be there at the end of the month.
Bob–you probably won’t remember me, but we met you on an airplane from Orlando to BWI back in 2010. We used to go to Covenant Fellowship and then helped plant the Middletown, DE church, and stayed there until it closed. LOL! Hope you are well!
Maura, that’s amazing! Great to hear from you!