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What if we thought about Christ’s birth as an ongoing reality, rather than a one-time event? That’s just what Lois Shuford’s haunting Advent song “Ready My Heart” does: it helps us prepare our hearts for Christ to dwell in us every day.
In this episode of Renewed, Greg Scheer (host) and Larry Figueroa (piano) introduce a beautiful Advent song for your church to sing. Written by Lois Farley Shuford in 1976 and popularized by Canadian singer/songwriter Steve Bell in 1995, the song continues to speak today. This video include an introduction to the song, a discussion of its lyrics, tips on leading it musically, and links to the music.
Renewed: Worship songs to refresh your church’s voice
Hosted by Greg Scheer
With Larry Figueroa, piano
Words and Music: Lois Farley Shuford © 1976 Lois Farley Shuford.
Permission was granted for this video only.
For a copy of the music and to request permission to use this music in your worship service, please email Lois Farley Shuford
“Ready My Heart” appears in Worship Words: Disciplining Language for Faithful Ministry by Debra Rienstra and Ronald Rienstra (2009 Baker Academic, a division of Baker Publishing).
Sister Kathleen Harmon of the community of the Ohio province of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur in Dayton, invites us to be transformed by the psalms and experience them as the whole story God is revealing to us. As we keep praying and singing them, the psalms interpret us, and that’s when the transformation comes.
Vinroy D. Brown Jr.—conductor, musicologist, educator, and minister of creative worship and music at the historic Abyssinian Baptist Church in New York City—explores the vibrant intersection of Black sacred music and the psalms. He talks about Black composers and how they have reimagined the psalms through choral music, spirituals, and the gospel tradition for the benefit of everyone.
John Goldingay, an Anglican priest and the senior professor of Old Testament at Fuller Theological Seminary, posits the psalms are the densest material in the entire Old Testament. They expound the nature of God as the compassionate, faithful, and committed one, but also as the one who makes demands upon us. The psalms help us talk to God, even about difficult things—and when we do, we are talking to someone who is in a position to do something about it.
Sister Kathleen Harmon of the community of the Ohio province of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur in Dayton, invites us to be transformed by the psalms and experience them as the whole story God is revealing to us. As we keep praying and singing them, the psalms interpret us, and that’s when the transformation comes.
Vinroy D. Brown Jr.—conductor, musicologist, educator, and minister of creative worship and music at the historic Abyssinian Baptist Church in New York City—explores the vibrant intersection of Black sacred music and the psalms. He talks about Black composers and how they have reimagined the psalms through choral music, spirituals, and the gospel tradition for the benefit of everyone.
John Goldingay, an Anglican priest and the senior professor of Old Testament at Fuller Theological Seminary, posits the psalms are the densest material in the entire Old Testament. They expound the nature of God as the compassionate, faithful, and committed one, but also as the one who makes demands upon us. The psalms help us talk to God, even about difficult things—and when we do, we are talking to someone who is in a position to do something about it.
The last few minutes of corporate worship are critical because they frame the entire purpose of worship and its connection to our lives in the world.
