Vertical Church Band's live worship albums have been highly anticipated since the first edition, which included the hit songs "Not for a Moment (After All)" and "Open up the Heavens," featuring worship leader Meredith Andrews. Church Songs is the third full-length worship album by Vertical Church Band and is one of my top 10 worship albums of 2015. The band is a ministry formed out of Harvest Bible Chapel in Chicago and features the worship leaders Meredith Andrews, Jacob Sooter, Andi Rozier, Kyle Fredericks, Jon Guerra and others.

The opening track "All the Earth" featuring Andi Rozier has tender and powerful vocals taking listeners on an emotional and spiritual journey with every lyric sung about faith in our God Almighty, our Lord and Savior, Jesus. The chorus is very stirring and convicting. I'm really engaged by the emotional vocals and the deep, prayerful lyrics throughout the album. "Praise the Lord, all the earth, all the earth, Praise His Name, Only One Name, now and always" are the biblical cries of worship. I had the chance to speak with Meredith Andrews in person about "Spirit of the Living God."

Please tell me the personal story behind this song.

This is a song that I am honored to carry that my husband Jacob and Mia Fieldes wrote together at a writer's retreat at our cathedral campus in Chicago. Whenever we do those retreats, we split into small groups and write songs, and then we get back together and share them with each other. This was one of the most memorable songs from that retreat. As soon as they came back and played this song, it caught on with the rest of the team. Our pastor was in the room, and he commented about how special the song was. 

The song addresses the Holy Spirit as we sing "we only want to hear Your voice," and "we're hanging on every word." The Spirit can be the forgotten member of the Trinity. They wrote this song with me in mind to sing it, which blows me away when I sing it, every time. From the moment when I sang it for the first time at a staff meeting at church, it was an atmosphere changer, and it sets the tone. When you start praying this prayer and asking the Holy Spirit to come and to move and to speak, we remove all of the distractions, and the only thing we want is to hear from God and to know Him more.

Which Bible verses connect to the message of the song?

Ezekiel 37:4-10 (NKJV): Again He said to me, "Prophesy to these bones, and say to them, 'O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord!  Thus says the Lord God to these bones: 'Surely I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live. I will put sinews on you and bring flesh upon you, cover you with skin and put breath in you; and you shall live. Then you shall know that I am the Lord.'" So I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and suddenly a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to bone. Indeed, as I looked, the sinews and the flesh came upon them, and the skin covered them over; but there was no breath in them. Also He said to me, "Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, Thus says the Lord God: 'Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.'" So I prophesied as He commanded me, and breath came into them, and they lived, and stood upon their feet, an exceedingly great army.


Psalm 46:10 (NKJV): "Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!"

1 Kings 19:12 (KJV): And after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.

John 14:16 (NKJV): And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever.

What is the takeaway message?

We are chasing after the Lord together, and the song is a game changer and sets the tone for the rest of the service or a night of worship. Tonight, this is the first song we'll sing as Vertical Church Band. We sing "we are here for You, and we want to worship You, God." There aren't many songs like that. When you think about the covenant relationship we have with God, and the way that He wants to be so intimate with us, closer than our own breath, and that He breathed life into our lungs-- that is so personal and beautiful. When you sing a prayer like this song, it's about becoming one with God. It changes what we see and what we seek. 

When you lean into God and all that He has, He renews your mind, and because of His Word and His Spirit working together, we see the world differently. To sing a prayer like this song and start to see from God's perspective, to understand His heart and see what really matters, makes you wonder what would happen if we were more aware of the spiritual and what God is doing? What if we were more aware of God's spiritual battle all around us? The song challenges me to get back to the still and quiet. You can't hear His voice if your world is full of noise and chaos.

Lyrics:
Spirit of The Living God
Spirit of The Living God
We Only Want To Hear Your Voice
We're Hanging on Every Word

Come And Speak To Us O Lord

Spirit of The Living God
Spirit of The Living God
We Only Want To Hear Your Voice
We're Hanging On Every Word

Because When You Speak, When You Move.
When You Do What Only You Can Do
It Changes Us, It Changes What We See And What We Seek

When You Come In The Room
When You Do What Only You Can Do
It Changes Us, It Changes What We See And What We Seek
You're Changing Everything
Spirit of The Living God
Spirit of The Living God
We're Leaning Into All You Are Everything Else Can Wait
Spirit of The Living God
Spirit of The Living God
Come Down And Breath Upon Our Hearts
Come Down And Have Your Way

Because When You Speak, When You Move.
When You Do What Only You Can Do
It Changes Us, It Changes What We See And What We Seek

When You Come In The Room
When You Do What Only You Can Do
It Changes Us, It Changes What We See And What We Seek

When You Move, You Move All Our Fears
When You Move, You Move Us To Tears
When You Fall, We Fall On Our Knees
When You Fall, We Fall At Your Feet

Because When You Speak, When You Move.
When You Do What Only You Can Do
It Changes Us, It Changes What We See And What We Seek

When You Come In The Room
When You Do What Only You Can Do
It Changes Us, It Changes What We See And What We Seek

Spirit of The Living God
Spirit of The Living God
We Only Want To Hear Your Voice
We're Hanging On Every Word

Church Songs is yet another solid entry in this great series. These are very passionate worship songs sung with vocal sincerity and reverence with biblically based lyrics. There are several instantly sing-able and worshipful arrangements that you'll want to add to your Sunday morning set-list. I especially recommend "All the Earth," "Do What You Want To," "Lamb of God," "It's Who You Are," "Restore My Soul," "Bound for Glory" and one of my top worship songs of the year, "Spirit of the Living God." All of the songs are catchy, exciting and worshipful. Church Songs is a must-have for your praise and worship collection.

Like the hymn "Spirit of the Living God" which sings "fall afresh on me," this song is a game changer when you sing it in Spirit and in Truth to the Lord and ask to be in His presence and to hear His voice. As believers we need to take time to "be still and know that He is God." If we aren't spending time with God, and cutting out the noise of life, we can't "hang on His every Word." Once you allow the Spirit to speak to your heart, "it changes us, it changes what we see and what we seek."

This worship album really engages me from start to finish in my own time of worship and reflection about the attributes of God. Meredith writes and sings her breath, given to her by God, into anointed new songs for the church. The song reflects the conviction and strength we can all have as God's army of dry bones who are filled with God's breath, and then we can breathe out as prophesied in Ezekiel 37. You'll be blessed by this powerful song which is a stand-out anthem with a convicting declaration. Join in with Meredith and sing, "We're leaning into all you are, everything else can wait" and "come down and breathe upon our hearts, come down and have Your way." Amen to that, and Happy New Year!

Watch the music video below.