This summer, we are taking a break from preaching ... Preaching through the book of John. We are transitioning to a short summer series. Summer preaching series accommodates a transient time with our members traveling and on holiday. It allows a break from a deep narrative like the book of John and instead, exposit something different but just as important.
For nine weeks we are walking through specific chapters in the book of Psalm. The “Greatest Hits” sermon series will cover nine of the most read and known Psalms: 1, 19, 23, 27, 46, 103, 51, 73 and 139. When the preaching team scheduled this for our church, the Citylight Worship team had an idea.
Could they write, in time, a song for each Psalm to be sung at Sunday gatherings?
They did and in doing so, a beautiful perspective and powerful tool was revealed to each of the song writers, and now to our church.
Ryan Nordstrom, Citylight Midtown Worship Director, described the project as,
“Good for my heart. I had to spend a lot of time in the words, phrases, and different translations, capturing more and more what the passage is saying and what God is telling his people through it. The Lord spoke to my heart the meaning. The words became more personal to me. They reminded me of who God is. Writing these songs became a time of meditation on scripture in a slow way and a good spiritual exercise. It made me slow down. Putting scripture to music grew my understanding of God and a deep conviction for his word.”
Out of the nine Psalms, Ryan wrote songs for five of them. Psalm 23 had a profound impact on him.
“My wife Courtney and I were on a retreat in Wisconsin,” Ryan described. “It was just the two of us. We were at Camp Forest Springs. There was a beautiful prayer chapel overlooking a lake. It was solitude.
I remember playing through Psalm 23 and singing out loud, overwhelmed on how faithful God had been to me over my life. He has consistently given me exactly what I need and when I need it. I looked over the water, and he led me over quiet streams. He has filled my cup over and over again. In the times of life feeling tired and worn out, he does bring me to these places of quiet and restoration. If he has brought me this far, why would he leave me now? The Lord reminded me how true that passage in Scripture has been in my own life.”
Evelyn Fjelsted is a Salt Co college ministry resident. She has led worship before coming to Citylight. In private, she has written songs. When she heard about the project, she considered offering help. Her husband Brenden, stepped in and encouraged her to contact Ryan.
With prayer and courage, she did and is now blessed beyond measure for doing so. She wouldn’t have had the amazing gift of writing four of the songs for this summer’s Psalm series. Evelyn described the process and the project’s impact on her,
“I have learned in a tangible way how to be bold in sharing my gifts with others. Feeling a call from the Lord to do something and then actually live that out in a way I feel I am not worthy of, has been powerful. I am thankful."
"Out of the four I wrote, I had a worshipful and personal experience with Psalm 73. It starts off with the Psalmist confused. “Why are the wicked prospering?” “They don’t seem to be suffering but lost in their foolish ways.” Then there is this dramatic shift to truth. “For me it is good to be near to God.” I read that and felt the Holy Spirit speaking to my heart that the Lord is enough for me. I heard that God is good for me and better than anything I seek and pursue. It is good to know the Lord, and he has been enough. Nothing else on this earth matters nor will last except God. Even if that means in suffering, faithfulness always leads you to the throne room of God. The truth of that became real to me as I read this and played it. I read the Psalm, wrote the song and sent it to Ryan within one hour. It makes me excited to share it with others.”
Evelyn concluded with this encouragement,
“If the Lord has given me a song that stirs my heart, there is a chance it will bless someone else. The truth is the Lord is good for them and that they are not alone. This makes it worth it for me to be bold and step out with courage. If someone else can feel what I have felt as I wrote this, it would be a gift and an inspiration to do more.”
Ryan and Evelyn, and the whole worship ministry, did this songwriting project to worship God and to provide a resource for our church to listen to, meditate on, and soak in scripture in a fresh way. Their hope is that this also encourages others to use their gifts God has given them so that God is glorified and others would be blessed. May it be a sweet sound to the Lord.
Each week as a new Psalm sermon is preached, a new Psalm worship song will be introduced to our church and then published. Listen and share Psalms by Citylight Worship >> https://citylightomaha.org/worship