Develop a Discipleship System
This week, we celebrate creation care and peace through the imagery of a tree that brings healing to the nations and an embodied God who leaves us with peace. How can we bring songs of peace into our worship practice?
Amy Grant’s “Trees We’ll Never See” and Benjamin Jay Thomas’s “Justice Will Sprout from the Ground” call us to plant the seeds today for a better tomorrow. “Rose Petals” ties in creation imagery and calls us to remember Black lives lost to state violence. The old protest song “Blowin’ in the Wind” reminds us that, both decades ago and now, masses of people are rising up to call for peace in our world, in our lifetime.
The many peace-related hymns in our hymnals will serve us well today as we imagine our own roles in creating a peaceful world as part of our believing into Christ and remember that returning to God’s peaceful presence is how we can be sustained to continue to work for peace in the world. “For The Healing of the Nations” (UMH 428), “O Holy City, Seen of John” (UMH 726), and “Healer of Our Every Ill” (TFWS 2213 ) tie in nicely with this theme, while the contemplative “Come and Find the Quiet Center” (TFWS 2128) and “Dona Nobis Pacem” (UMH 376) may be fitting for a time of prayer. “Welcome” (W&S 3152) would be a great opening hymn, and it ties in themes of creation.
Hymns:
- UMH 428 - For The Healing of the Nations
- UMH 726 - O Holy City, Seen of John
- TFWS 2128 - Come and Find the Quiet Center
- TFWS 2213 - Healer of Our Every Ill
- UMH 376 - Dona Nobis Pacem
- UMH 369 - Blessed Assurance, Jesus is Mine
- UMH 707 - Hymn of Promise
- W&S 3129 - Touch the Earth Lightly
- W&S 3152 - Welcome
Contemporary Songs:
- Justice Will Sprout from the Ground - Benjamin Jay Thomas
- Blowin’ in the Wind - Bob Dylan
- Trees We’ll Never See - Amy Grant
- Rose Petals - Common Hymnal
- Come Healing - Leonard Cohen
- I Believe - Mark Miller
- Beyond Belief - The Many
- Testify - NeedtoBreathe
- Testify to Love - Wynonna
Title | Composer | CCLI | OneLicense | Copyright |
Testify to Love | Henk Pool | Paul Field | Ralph Van Manen | Robert Riekerk | CCLI Song # 2572844 | #38748 | 1996,1998 EMI Blackwood Music, Inc. (MAIN); Universal Music Corp. |
I Believe | Mark A. Miller | 7048796 | CGA1310 | © Words: Public Domain; Music: 2012 Choristers Guild |
Beyond Belief | Gary Rand, Lenora Rand | 7140934 | 63fe4b91ec0ca | Original Recording by THE MANY© 2019 Plural Guild Music |
Testify | Rinehart/Rinehart | CCLI Song # 7075208 | © 2016 Hi Fi Music IP Issuer, L.P.; Kobalt Music Services America II, Inc. (KMSA II) | |
Justice Will Sprout from the Ground | Benjamin Jay Thomas | Not licensed, permission required | ||
Come Healing | Leonard Cohen | Not licensed, permission required | ℗ 2012 Sony Music Entertainment | |
Rose Petals | Terrell Wilson | 7130036 | © 2017 Common Hymnal Digital; The Wilson Songbook Publishing | |
Trees We’ll Never See | Grant | Not licensed, permission required | ℗ 2023 Amy Grant Productions | |
Blowin’ In the Wind | Bob Dylan | Not licensed, permission required | ℗ Originally Released 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966 Sony Music Entertainment Inc. |
Rev. Kristina Sinks is a graduate of Garrett Seminary and a Provisional Deacon in the UMC (California-Nevada). She sings and manages tours for the music collective The Many, which brings justice-oriented music to progressive Christians and spiritual communities around the world, serves at GreenFaith, a global, multi-faith climate justice organization. She resides in the Chicago area on the traditional, unceded homelands of the Council of Three Fires—the Ojibwa, Ottawa and Potawatomi.
