Living Open Source

Since Easter day, we have been exploring the theme of hope and resurrection in church. Making much use of Tom Wright’s Surprised by Hope, it has been an interesting experience to challenge some of the accepted understandings that people hold to. Having noted the lack of appropriate songs, I’ve also had a go at writing one.

The Surprise

In the four years I’ve been here, no subject I’ve preached on has prompted as much response as this one. Maybe it has only been at funerals these texts have been used; maybe it’s because no one has ever preached on this; maybe it’s because we all have our own idea about the life beyond this one. Maybe it is just that my preaching is usually so uninteresting. Who knows, but it has got people thinking about their faith.

A New Song

Anyway, I had a go at a new song for our congregation to sing, which has been better received than some of my recent attempts at writing music. You can download the sheet music and a backing track below. Like most things I put here, I am releasing this under a Creative Commons license, which means you are free to use, remix and share legally.

The song is called Jesus Now lives and reflects some of the themes of resurrection and hope.

Of course if you can improve on it in anyway, feel free - it is an open source song! Just let me know so I can see what you’ve done.

Sheet Music

Available in Adobe Acrobat (pdf) format:
Download Jesus Now Lives Sheet Music

Backing Track

This is a backing track I knocked up on my keyboard. It is available in mp3 format:

Download the Backing Track

This work is licenced under a Creative Commons Licence.