Worship Wednesdays - We Are The Face Of Jesus

The story begins in August, 2013. It was a sunny morning in Chamcook, New Brunswick. We'd had a beautiful concert the night before in St. Andrews By-the-Sea, and we were ready for a relaxing day off. Gerald, as usual, had risen early. I found him at the kitchen table, with that new-song look on his face.

For a long time, he'd wanted to write a new lyric for the classic tune, Shenandoah. "Listen," he said...

We are the face of Jesus

And the world, the world is watching.

We are the face of Jesus

And everything we do reflects upon our Lord...

It was so beautiful, and fit with the melody so perfectly. I've always loved writing that calls us to be accountable in our role as Christians. With the slightest word or action, we can affect another's belief in God. We can draw people to Jesus with our love and our kindness, but perhaps even more easily, we can repulse them with our judgment and our hypocrisy.

When I heard the first verse, I was reminded of the classic hymn, Take My Life and Let It Be. What if we were the eyes of Jesus, the hands of Jesus, the heart of Jesus...

Gerald was also thinking this way, so as we continued our tour, we started to write the remaining verses. But something wasn't clicking. The arc of the song wasn't complete. We couldn't find that final piece of the song puzzle.

The following week, we found ourselves in Berwick, Nova Scotia. The volunteers from Servants Heart Ministries has brought us into the area to sing fundraising concerts for two mission teams. That night, we met a group of teens who would be traveling to the Dominican Republic to build houses. Their excitement and passion for the trip was electric. When we left the concert, we had our final verse:

We are the hands of Jesus

And the world, the world is needing.

We are the hands of Jesus

And every house we build will be filled by His love.

The following night, we were in Kentville, Nova Scotia, to sing the final fundraiser. We told the crowd about the song, and how the teens had inspired the final verse. And with handwritten lyrics in front of us, we debuted We Are The Face Of Jesus.

The teens that inspired our final verse...

Since that time, we've had the chance to sing the song for churches, clergy, and retreats. It resonates with people who are aware that their faith walk is also their witness to the world.

When we decided to step into the studio this year, 

We Are The Face Of Jesus was an obvious choice. 

You can hear a sample from the final recording here.

Just a few weeks ago, we found ourselves in Kentville again, and we were able to sing We Are The Face Of Jesus for the 2015 missions team. We pray that each of us, as we move through this world, will represent the love, grace, mercy and forgiveness of the One who loved us first.

Worship Wednesdays is a weekly series to encourage and equip worship leaders and songwriters. Bookmark this page visit us every Wednesday!