10. Whole Heart by Passion

Coming in at number ten is Whole Heart by Passion. This song has left an impact on me from the first time I heard it. This song is so influential because it shows that even when we were still lost and captive by the sin that held us, Christ gave His whole heart for us. Romans 5:8 tells us, "But God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us (ESV)." This shows us that before we accepted Christ as our Savior, He gave His whole heart so we could be in oneness with God.

9. Reckless Love (Originally by Cory Asbury)

Number nine is Reckless Love, a song originally done by Cory Asbury, and covered by several others. This song plays off the Parable of the Lost Sheep, found in Matthew 18:10-14, which says, "See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father in heaven. What do you think? A man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? And if he finds it, truly, I say to you, he rejoice over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray. So it is not the will of my Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish (ESV)."

The Parable of the Lost Sheep gives us the message behind Reckless Love. Christ always leaves the ninety-nine (us as believers) to chase after the one who is lost or has gone astray, so to say. A similar image of this is depicted in the Parable of the Prodigal Son.

8. Build My Life by Passion

At number eight, Build My Life is one of my favorite slower worship songs. The message behind this song comes on the tail end of Jesus's famous "Sermon on the Mount". Here's what He said in Matthew 7:24-27, "Everyone who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it (ESV)."

The focal point of this song is primarily verses 24-25. As Christians, we should seek to build our lives upon the firm foundation (the rock, as it is mentioned in verse 24) of Christ and His love.

7. Echo by Elevation Worship (with Tauren Wells)

This one has recently become a big favorite of mine recently. While it is at number seven on this list, I feel like this song is definitely underrated. This song's message comes from Isaiah 42:12. For this article, we will focus on Isaiah 42:12, which says, "Let them give glory to the Lord, and declare His praise in the coastlands (ESV)." Some versions, like the Message, says the word echo. I think the meaning behind this song is that as Christians, we should be echoing God's love to the entire world.

6. Zeal by The Belonging Co.

Zeal comes in at number six. This song is another one that is definitely underrated. This song comes from many verses. There are two we will focus on. First, Isaiah 42:13, which says, "The Lord goes out like a mighty man; like a man of war He stirs up His zeal (ESV)." Next is Titus 2:14, "Who gave Himself (talking about Jesus) for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession who are zealous for good works (ESV)."

You're probably wondering what the word "zeal" even means. It means great energy or enthusiasm in pursuit of a cause or objective. We should seek to be zealous for His call for our lives, and constantly in pursuit of His love and grace.

5. Great Things by Phil Wickham

The top five songs were really tricky to pick. Any of them really have a case for the top worship song in my book. Anyway, coming in at number five is Great Things by Phil Wickham. It's a relatively new one, and we've done it a couple times this semester at Engage. There are so many passages that this song can come from, starting with John 3:16, in particular, but one that stood out to me was Psalm 126:3, which simply says, "The Lord has done great things for us; we are glad (ESV)." The message behind this song is God has done so many great things for us, from waking us up this morning to keeping us safe, to creation in general. He has indeed done great things!

4. Jesus You're Better by Lakeshore Worship

Number four is a really powerful song to me. It was a tie between this one and More Like Jesus by Passion, whose message behind the song is from John 3:30, which says, "He must increase, but I must decrease (ESV)." This is a bonus song that I recommend you looking up as well.

Jesus You're Better has a message that comes from Isaiah 26:3-4, which says, "You keep him perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. Trust in Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock (ESV)." This song declares that Jesus is better than anything we could ever run to, and as the verses state, we can trust in Him.

3. Follow You Anywhere by Passion

As I mentioned with the top five, the top three really were tough to position. I like each of them equally. Unfortunately, I had to rank them somewhere, and we can't have a three-way tie for first, so I put Follow You Anywhere by Passion at number three. Its message comes from Luke 9:23, which says, "And He said to all, 'If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his daily and follow me (ESV).'" What this verse says, as well as the song Follow You Anywhere says, we have to be willing to follow Jesus wherever He leads us and whatever the cost, because that is His call for us.

2. Bigger Than I Thought by Passion

Bigger Than I Thought by Passion has been one that has pressed on me lately. If you are like me, sometimes I get very overwhelmed and struggle with anxiety. Jesus tells us in the Sermon on the Mount to not be anxious (see Matthew 6:25-34). The message for this song comes from Matthew 19:26, "But Jesus looked at them and said, 'With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible (ESV).'"

This verse tells us that when life gets tough and is overwhelming (and trust me, it gets that way a lot), God is there for us. God helps us through our situations. God is bigger than we could think!

Glorious Day by Passion

My all-time favorite worship song to listen to (and play) is Glorious Day by Passion. The message for this song comes from Ephesians 2:1-10. We will look at verses 1 and 4-7 here, which say, "And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, .... But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ- by grace you have been saved- and raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages He might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus (ESV)."

What this passage means is that when Christ died for us and rose from the dead, He too called us out of the grave with him. We should step out of the grave and into His glorious day!