POPULAR Brisbane faith band emmanuelworship is launching its latest CD – Justice + Worship – today (June 21).
The band will launch the CD at Emmanuel Youth Outreach’s monthly Fuel event at Rosalie’s Sacred Heart Church, corner of Given Terrace and Herbert Street, Paddington, at 7pm. This follows the 5.30pm Mass.
emmanuelworship will be performing some of the 13 tracks on the CD, which has themes combining justice and praise.
Band songwriter Pat Keady said praise and justice were two themes that were too often polarised in today’s Church.
“They needn’t be opposed to each other,” Pat said. “Jesus didn’t separate the two and neither should we.”
Pat said the new CD had “some worship songs and some songs about the God of the broken and the poor”.
He said emmanuelworship’s aim was to use the songs to teach people about the messages behind the themes.
“emmanuelworship felt a stirring from the Spirit to head in a new direction with this album,” he said.
“God was raising issues of justice within the hearts of a few of us who began to talk about ‘what can we do as a music ministry?'”
A quote from the Gospel of Matthew provide further inspiration: “Here is my servant whom I have chosen, the one I love, in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him, and he will proclaim justice to the nations.” (Matthew 12:18)
“The Spirit is the One who inspired Jesus to ‘proclaim justice to the nations’ and He was the One inspiring us to do the same,” Pat said.
“What we wanted to do with this album was simply imitate Jesus in His message of proclamation.
“His was a proclamation that involved justice for the poor and oppressed as well as deliverance from the bondage of sin.”
Pat said emmanuelworship would use the songs from Justice + Praise for the Ignite conference in Brisbane in September.
The album will sell for $24.95 but, especially for schools, deaneries and parishes, a ministry resource USB stick is available for $79.95.
This includes the CD, backing tracks, sheet music, PowerPoint slides, multimedias, video clips, liturgy tips and other resources.
