“Vertical Church Band is framed around the idea that church isn't about us. It is about God,” states Luke MacDonald, Creative Director of the Vertical Church Band, and son of senior pastor James MacDonald. “The best songs we can sing aren't about our experience with God or our love for God or hopes for our relationship with God, but when we sing to God about God.”
That God-centered focus anchors each song on the 13-track CD that features Vertical Church Band worship leaders Andi Rozier, Meredith Andrews, Lindsay McCaul, Jacob Sooter, Seth McConkey, Kyle Fredricks and Heather Headley. Recorded at Harvest Bible Chapel's historic downtown Chicago campus, the project was produced by Paul Mabury (one sonic society, Hillsong United) and Jason Ingram (Tenth Avenue North, one sonic society, Chris Tomlin). James MacDonald served as executive producer.
Pastor MacDonald’s new book “Vertical Church: What Every Heart Longs For” (David C. Cook, August 2012), will be issued the same day as Live Worship From Vertical Church. “Our church is been going for almost 25 years and has planted 80 churches or so around the world,” says Luke. “This book really is the encapsulation of everything that we’ve learned and everything that we’re trying to be about.”
Live Worship From Vertical Church captures the passion for worshipping God and for spreading the gospel that has made Harvest one of the fastest growing churches in the country. Luke has fond memories of the snowy night the album was recorded in the historic location. “It’s an old cathedral in downtown Chicago, two blocks off Michigan Avenue, and it’s one of only a few buildings that survived the great Chicago fire in 1871,” he shares. “We gathered all of our worship leaders and all of our bands from several campuses together, 700 or 800 of the most fired up worshippers in our church. We just blew the place out for four hours singing these songs and I just remember everybody coming away from that feeling like---even if the album never amounted to much---having this night together to worship God was enough. It was worth it, just for that.”
“It was a really, really powerful time,” says Andi Rozier, who was recruited from the U.K. 11 years ago to serve as Harvest’s senior worship leader. “We were in this building that withstood the Chicago fire and we filled it full of people and the sound was just huge. We were just lifting up the name of the Lord in worship and it was a really, really powerful moment. It really was less about an album recording and more about our church getting together to worship God in a building that God had given us for the advancement of his kingdom.”
The presence of the Holy Spirit can be felt throughout every song, including the powerful lead single “All Glory,” led by Tony Award winning vocalist Heather Headley. “I absolutely love it. Andi wrote such a great song,” says Headley, whose soaring vocals lead the congregation on the passionate worship anthem.
“My favorite lyric is in the end when it’s like ‘All glory, all honor/All wisdom, strength and power/All glory, all honor/Are yours alone forever.’ When the church sings it, it’s an amazing thing. It gets me all teary.”
Headley, an acclaimed gospel artist and Broadway star who won a Tony Award for her lead role in Aida, has been attending Harvest Bible Chapel with her husband for eight years. “She came in and actually auditioned to be a part of the worship team. I was like, ‘You probably could have just sent us a picture of you holding your Tony award and that would have been enough,’” Luke says with a laugh. “That’s the kind of person she is.”
The Vertical Church Band is filled with those kinds of people---extremely credentialed, talented individuals with servant hearts. The collection opens with the rousing new anthem “Open Up the Heavens,” led by Rozier and Andrews and written by Rozier, Andrews, Ingram, Stu G and James MacDonald. “I’m a worship leader myself and I can tell you that worship leaders are always at a loss trying to find new fresh up-tempo songs,” Luke says. “‘Open Up the Heavens’ is a really exciting, intense up-tempo song about asking God to bring his glory down. I’m getting tweets almost every single day now from people around the country that are starting to teach that song. I think it will find its way inside a lot of churches.”
“Word of God,” led by Rozier, is another soul-lifting up-tempo number that is fast becoming a favorite among worshippers. “That’s one of my favorites because I have an emotional attachment to the song,” says Rozier, who co-wrote the tune with Brenton Brown. “We started talking about things that we don’t have in our vocabulary of worship. One of things is we don’t sing about Jesus being the word of God because we don’t want to sing a song about the Bible. We don’t want to worship the Bible, but in scripture, Jesus tells us that He is the Word of God.”
“We started talking about things that we don’t have in our vocabulary of worship. One of the things is we don’t sing about Jesus being the word of God because we don’t want to sing a song about the Bible. We don’t want to worship the Bible, but in scripture Jesus tells us that He is the word of God. We wrote the verse to the song in about 45 minutes and then spent about 14 months working on the chorus and the bridge. We wrote six different choruses and it was a really fun experience because Brenton and I are both like to make sure our i’s are dotted and our t’s are crossed when it comes to songwriting.”
One of the most compelling moments on the album is “Not For a Moment,” led by Andrews and Sooter, who co-wrote the song with Mia Fieldes. “Her passion and her intensity for the Lord is just so evident,” Luke says of Andrews. “She’s not just a great leader and not just a great singer, but she’s also a really great writer. She had a hand in most of the songs on the album. Every song she writes comes out of her authentic intense relationship with the Lord.”
Live Worship From Vertical Church is filled with memorable worship songs. “The Greatness of Our God,” led by Kyle Fredericks and Lindsay McCaul is a soaring, emotional anthem that celebrates the majesty of God. “I Believe in You,” penned by Matt McCoy and Chris Moeller, is an infectious song driven by a catchy melody and penetrating lyric. Seth McConkey leads as the congregation jubilantly sings “Jesus, the One, the One who saved me You are the King, forever reigning.” Written by Ingram and McCaul, “Who Will Rise Up” is a poignant ballad underscored by McCaul’s beautiful lead vocals.
“This is about us wanting to open up a window to what God is doing in our church,” Rozier says of the album. “It’s not about Harvest Bible Chapel and it’s not about Vertical Church Band. It’s about Jesus Christ and it’s a huge honor for our worship ministry to be given this opportunity to do this. If you come to our church, you’ll hear on stage exactly what you hear on the record.”
Luke agrees. “These weren't songs crafted for an album,” he says. “They are the songs we sing week to week. We are trying to talk authentically about what our church is really like. The book and music both support that. This is who we are. We are hoping it draws people toward their own vertical experience with God.”
In their time with Essential Records, Vertical Church band has released ''Live Worship from Vertical Church'' on July 31, 2012'' Vertical EP'', on May 7, 2013 through Essential Records, the album ''The Rock Won't Move'' on October 29, 2013 and ''Church Songs'', on January 20, 2015.
Psalm 96
Vertical Church Band Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Sing to the Lord all the earth
Sing to the Lord and bless His Name
Tell of His salvation from day to day
Declare His glory among the nations
His marvelous works among all the peoples
For great is the Lord and greatly to be praised
He is to be feared above all gods
But the Lord made the heavens
Splendor, majesty before Him
Strength and beauty are in His sanctuary
So ascribe to the Lord O families of the peoples
Ascribe to the Lord
Glory and strength
Ascribe to the Lord
Glory to His Name
Bring an offering and come into His courts
Worship the Lord in the splendor of His holiness
Tremble before Him all the earth
Say among the nations, "The Lord reigns!" Yes!
His Word is established and will not be moved
And He will judge the peoples with equity
So let the heavens be glad
And let the earth rejoice
Let the sea roar and all that fills it
And the field exalt and everything in it
Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy before the Lord
For He comes
And He comes
For He comes to judge the world with righteousness
And all the peoples with His faithfulness
Yes Lord, Your faithfulness
Jesus, Jesus, yes today today forever, you′re the same
Everlasting, never failing, Yes today, today, forever, you're the same
Jesus, Jesus, yes today today forever, you′re the same
Everlasting, never failing, Yes today, today, forever, you're the same
Yes today, today, forever, You're the same
Yes You are Lord
Jesus, Jesus
The lyrics of Psalm 96, a song performed by the Vertical Church Band, is a call to worship and praise the Lord. The song begins with a call to all the earth to sing a new song to the Lord and bless His name. The lyrics then highlight that the Lord is to be feared and greatly praised, while all the gods of the people are worthless idols. The song invites all families of the people to worship the Lord in His sanctuary, to ascribe glory and strength to His name, and to bring offerings into His courts.
The song continues with a call to the entire earth to tremble before the Lord and declare His reign over all the nations. The earth, the sea, and everything in it should rejoice and exalt before the Lord as He comes to judge the world with righteousness and faithfulness. The lyrics bring attention to the everlasting nature of the Lord, who never fails and remains the same today, tomorrow, and forever.
In conclusion, the song Psalm 96 invites all of creation to praise and worship the Lord for His greatness, power, and faithfulness. The song emphasizes the Lord's sovereignty over all creation and encourages all of mankind to declare His glory, power, and majesty.
Line by Line Meaning
Sing to the Lord a new song
Praise the Lord in a fresh way, with a new song
Sing to the Lord all the earth
Let the whole earth sing to the Lord
Sing to the Lord and bless His Name
Sing to the Lord with blessings for His Holy Name
Tell of His salvation from day to day
Share the good news of His salvation every day
Declare His glory among the nations
Proclaim His glory to all the nations
His marvelous works among all the peoples
Tell all peoples of the Lord's marvelous works
For great is the Lord and greatly to be praised
The Lord is great, and deserves much praise
He is to be feared above all gods
The Lord is to be reverently feared above all other deities
For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols
The gods worshiped by other people are valueless idols
But the Lord made the heavens
Only the Lord created the heavens
Splendor, majesty before Him
Majestic splendor surrounds Him
Strength and beauty are in His sanctuary
His sanctuary is marked with strength and beauty
So ascribe to the Lord O families of the peoples
Give credit to the Lord, families of the peoples
Ascribe to the Lord Glory and strength
Attribute to the Lord His glory and strength
Ascribe to the Lord Glory to His Name
Recognize the Lord's Name and give Him glory
Bring an offering and come into His courts
Offer Him gifts and come to His courts
Worship the Lord in the splendor of His holiness
Worship the Lord amidst His holy splendor
Tremble before Him all the earth
Let the earth tremble before Him
Say among the nations, 'The Lord reigns!' Yes!
Announce to every nation that the Lord reigns! Indeed!
His Word is established and will not be moved
His word is immutable, it will never change
And He will judge the peoples with equity
He shall judge the people with fairness
So let the heavens be glad
The heavens can rejoice
And let the earth rejoice
The earth too can rejoice
Let the sea roar and all that fills it
The sea and all its inhabitants must resound
And the field exalt and everything in it
Let the field and everything in it exalt
Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy before the Lord
Then all the trees in the forest will sing for joy before the Lord
For He comes
He shall come
And He comes
He is coming
For He comes to judge the world with righteousness
He comes to judge the world fairly
And all the peoples with His faithfulness
All people can trust His faithfulness
Yes Lord, Your faithfulness
Indeed, Lord, Your faithfulness
Jesus, Jesus, yes today today forever, you′re the same
Jesus, You are the same yesterday, today, and forever
Everlasting, never failing, Yes today, today, forever, you're the same
You are everlasting and never faillng, forever the same
Yes today, today, forever, You're the same
Yes today, and forever, You are the same
Yes You are Lord
You are Lord indeed
Jesus, Jesus
Jesus, Jesus
Writer(s): Jason Ingram, Phillip La Rue
Contributed by Callie I. Suggest a correction in the comments below.