Marvelous Light

As 6:00 pm approached and the cold wind got colder, they started coming from every direction. Men. A few women. Walking from who knows where - a camp by the interstate or some nearby woods. Maybe a shelter. Maybe a house or a warm place ... maybe, hopefully. At least they had coats or thick sweatshirts to repel the first chills of an Oklahoma winter. They had a destination - not the corner bar, or a drug house for a fix. They were coming to get warm and find sanctuary. They were drawn to Cross & Crown where God would use a group of teenagers to minister to them.

Music was the thread tonight that brought these groups together. The youth group from Quail Springs Church of Christ came to lead the worship service (while their parents prepared the meal to be served afterward). The teens did not sit along the back wall or sit together in a pack keeping a distance between themselves and their Sunday night service project. They sat among the crowd. They worshipped together.

Our God is a God who gives context to the stark contrasts our sinful humanity draws between suburban teens and homeless men. What could they have in common? On the surface - not a lot. But put them all in a room together singing the song, I Can Only Imagine, and you get the context and it warms your heart. Voices from the street blended with young harmony to sing a chorus about what they'll all do the day they meet Jesus. Will we dance for you Jesus? Or in awe of you be still?

The worship time was led by a three guys - Logan Rosenbalm and Joel Paris who are in college, and Kelcy White, a senior in high school. Another song they did is a fairly new one. It's from the PASSION cd and is written by Charlie Hall. It's a powerful song - with a tune that grabs you and a chorus that's easy to sing. But to give us one more lesson in context, read ALL of the words to this song. A message that God gave Logan to share with a room full of men and women ...




Marvelous Light
Lyrics by Charlie Hall

Played at Cross & Crown by Logan Rosenbalm, Kelcy White and Joel Paris.


Verse 1
I once was fatherless,
a stranger with no hope;
Your kindness wakened me,
Awakened me, from my sleep

Verse 2
Your love it beckons deeply,
a call to come and die.
By grace now I will come
And take this life, take your life.

Pre-chorus
Sin has lost it's power,
death has lost it's sting.
From the grave you've risen
VICTORIOUSLY!

Chorus
Into marvelous light I'm running,
Out of darkness, out of shame.
By the cross you are the truth,
You are the life, you are the way

Verse 3
My dead heart now is beating,
My deepest stains now clean.
Your breath fills up my lungs.
Now I'm free. now I'm free!

Bridge
Lift my hands and spin around,
See the light that i have found.
Oh the marvelous light
Marvelous light

Lift my hands and spin
See the light within...