Chills.
That’s what happened Sunday (7/28) morning when we began leading worship in front of the church.
We knew we were going to be in front of the church and we knew what songs we would sing too, but when it was decided we should add in motions to the songs my heart soared!
Any of you from my childhood in church know I LOVE motions to songs! I loved making them up as a child but also at a young age learned that motions themselves can be a form of worship. Granted they might be silly sometimes: when you flap your arms while singing on eagles wings for example. But, sometimes those silly motions become serious! When I was in elementary school I joined a group at my church called Hands In Motion (HIM). It might seem silly, but it’s shaped how I worship and how I view worship still to this day.
We would learn a song routine from our teacher Wanda and practice it on Wednesdays until it was ready to perform. We wore white dresses with our fingers attached to the bottom of the dress. There was a lot of fabric so the skirts stayed down but our hands were able to go over our heads. After a while we changed to having colored scarves attached to one of our hands instead of the skirt. The main reason behind the outfits was to be uniform but also to bring attention to the movements our hands were doing.
We preformed these dances to worship songs and learned the value of different forms of worship. I saw how our dancing connected us to God but also others. I also saw how watching them when I was older would connect me to God and them. It’s hard to explain but it opened my eyes to so many different possibilities within worship and dancing and singing!
One of the last songs I learned with Wanda was “I Will Rise”. She added in my funny movement of eagles wings that she saw me doing once in church. She pointed it out to me that it was my goofy dance move but it was now being used for worship. I was so touched at her use of my dance move. Here is the line from the song: “I will rise when He calls my name. No more sorrow. No more pain. I will rise on eagles wings, before my God fall on my knees…”
When I was in college Wanda passed away. Every person who was in HIM gathered together and we re-learned and preformed I Will Rise at Wanda’s funeral. It was a beautiful tribute to Wanda but also a song to celebrate the end of her pain.
That backstory is important so you can all understand my love for motions within worship, now for one more backstory:
The first time I ever heard the song Break Every Chain was in Haiti in 2013. If you have never seen Haitian worship just know it’s crazy exciting! We sang the song Break Every Chain and the two guys in front of us took their hands over their heads, crossed them and then threw them down when they said break every chain. It was powerful to watch and we joined in with them very quickly!
So there we were on Sunday.
We stood up there and began singing Break Every Chain. We chose it because it’s a simple song to explain but also it just felt right. Then it was decided motions were needed, so I lifted my hands over my head and crossed them and threw them down. Right after that the team caught on, then the whole church. And then, chills. Ah, I can’t express how amazing this moment was!
I know this wasn’t a super climactic story and the actual Kenya portion was short but God used this moment to touch my heart and He continues to do it every time we sing it! When we sing there’s an army rising up we squat down then raise our hands up over our heads. It’s a visual moment of an actually army rising up. So once again, chills.
I will end this blog simply with the lyrics to the song with all of the motions we do with them:
There is power in the name of Jesus ~ flex arms then point up towards heaven
There is power in the name of Jesus ~ flex arms then point up towards heaven
There is power in the name of Jesus ~ flex arms then point up towards heaven
To break every chain, break every chain, break every chain ~ cross arms over head then drop them down
To break every chain, break every chain, break every chain ~ cross arms over head then drop them down
There’s an army rising up ~ squat down, scooping arms then rise slowly, lifting arms over head
There’s an army rising up ~ squat down, scooping arms then rise slowly, lifting arms over head
There’s an army rising up ~ squat down, scooping arms then rise slowly, lifting arms over head
To break every chain, break every chain, break every chain ~ cross arms over head then drop them down
To break every chain, break every chain, break every chain~ cross arms over head then drop them down
There is power in the name of Jesus ~ flex arms then point up towards heaven
There is power in the name of Jesus ~ flex arms then point up towards heaven
There is power in the name of Jesus ~ flex arms then point up towards heaven
To break every chain, break every chain, break every chain ~ cross arms over head then drop them
down
To break every chain, break every chain, break every chain ~ cross arms over head then drop them down
I hear the chains falling ~ cross arms over head again then slam then down
I hear the chains falling ~ cross arms over head again then slam then down
