I’m excited to announce and share the release of Austin City Life’s new Advent song “We Are Waiting.” This song was written, recorded, and produced by our musicians out of a love for Jesus and a desire to quicken worship in his people during the Advent season. It’s fresh, profoundly Christological, creative, and has a great chorus:

King of Kings, come again
Renew all things, come again

As the Prince of Peace, come again
We are waiting

We encourage you to download the song at whatever cost you want to pay, yes, even for free. It is our hope and prayer that you are quickened to worship our messiah with deep, sustained affection and obedience during this Christmas season.

DOWNLOAD NOW

Interview on the Writing “We Are Waiting”

I asked our song-writer, Miranda, to answer a few questions about the writing of this song:

Why did you choose to write a new Christmas song when so many already exist?

“Sing a new song to the Lord” I really believe that God gave us the unique ability to be creative and we are blessed immensely when we worship through the gift of creativity. Writing a song for the church for Christmas is intimidating to say the least… there are some pretty epic advent songs that will stand the test of time. As I read and re-read the Story of Christ’s birth, I was struck by this parallel between the Israelites waiting for their messiah and our waiting for his coming again to renew all things. This was a perspective that I had never sung in an advent song before and thought that it might be encouraging to explore.

Is there anything we should know about your choice of lyrics?

If you notice the first verse is written from the perspective of the Angels and the second verse is narrative. I normally do not change perspectives in the middle of the song… but I couldn’t get over how important of a role angels played in the the story of Christ’s birth. I wanted to include them without saying…. “then the angel appeared to Joseph” — by using the perspective shift we know it without having to say it, which, for me are the kinds of things that make songwriting powerful.

My favorite part of the song is the bridge. I can’t think of an advent song that I have ever sung that connects these theological dots. God of the universe coming in such an unexpected way, to turn everything on its head. It is such a beautiful & meaningful part of the birth of Christ that I have never sung. Corporate worship can be a powerful teaching tool — my prayer is that this truth will get caught in our heads and hearts in a new way and produce worship in our lives.

Can you explain what led you to make some of your musical decisions in this song?

The main musical decisions that we made was to record it for free and subsequently be able to give it away for free
That is a scary thing to do… you know that the quality of the recording cannot possibly be as excellent as it would be if you went to a professional studio. That being said, I am very pleased with the level of excellence we were able to achieve with very limited gear, time and experience. Matt Oakes & the band worked very hard with joyful hearts to serve the Church, we are so grateful to God for them.

The bridge of this song is crucial to the musical movement. It is a mood shift, you know that it is important by the change of the chords & the building of the tension in the drums. The second half of the bridge the electric guitar comes in to heighten the anticipation of the climax of the chorus. This was a very important part of the Chorus paying off and eliciting a release… which mimics the Advent season… anticipation & joyful worship!

What was it like to collaborate on a new song in such a short time?

This is the first time we have ever attempted to record and release “in-house” so it was more like an experiment. I normally like to play the song live with the whole band to work out some of the kinks in the arrangement, but because of the time frame, we didn’t have that luxary… we just had to go for it. Which definitely changes the game plan, you have to be more flexible, listen to the players & try to communicate with the other musicians on what you are envisioning…. everyone has to die to themselves a little more in order to love one another and maintain perspective. We think that it went really well and are looking forward to doing more recordings to release for free

Does writing a “worship” song differ from writing as a singer-songwriter?

For me, the process looks very different. Generally when I write for the church, it comes out of a prompt… whether that be “Advent” or a scripture or truth that has peaked my interest. I tend to write more with my mind, thinking & writing more theologically because I know that when the church sings this song… it will teach them something, and I want to make sure that the truths of scripture are carefully expressed. Writing for the church is always more difficult for me. When I write songs that are not intended for the church it is much more fluid — stream of conscious. I write more out of feeling & take more artistic license. I don’t have to complete the story or explain every detail, I get to allow the listener to insert their own details a bit…. which is part of why I love songwriting so much, it is an interaction — emotional, cerebral, fanciful, spiritual.

A City Group leader and all-round enjoyable guy, Dave Hampton, produced this video for our Renew the City with 11 City Groups in 2011 Vision. It’s raw, real, substantive, fruit of the gospel in the lives of Ginger, Rita, Nate, & Wheels.

I love this quote: “The Gospel is when Jesus pursues me even when I don’t feel like I deserve to be pursued.” – Rita

We had a great Partner’s Brunch today downtown as St. Mary’s cathedral. It was so great to see a lot of people I have missed over the past few weeks. For those that missed, here is a partial update of what our church family talked about. If you’re not a partner and would like to join, be sure to sign up for Partners Class this Fall.

EVIDENCES OF GRACE IN ACL

• Praise God for our staff who proved that pastors are replaceable but Jesus isn’t in my absence this summer. They preached, served, and led well this summer.
• Praise God for a better, nicer, cheaper, more city centre location to gather on Sundays–Ballet Austin–staring September 12!
• Molly C. shared how God’s grace has been helping her getting out of debt with her City Group’s help!
• Kristan L. shared how grateful she is for ordinary graces like a job and a healthy family.
• Kati B. shared how she shared the gospel with six of her co-workers.

AUSTIN BALLET on SEPT 12!

Our Sunday gathering move to Ballet Austin is an expression of our continued commitment to city renewal. We will be focusing on this very practically this Fall. As we move, we need all hands on deck to make this transition happen smoothly. Jump in, give grace, pray for those in that area of the city that we can reach. Pray for opportunities with staff and the hundreds of families that go to Austin Ballet every week.  How could we serve them, serve Ballet Austin?

KIDS LIFE

• Thank you Robie for leading Kids Life so well for the past few months!
• New leadership: 3 leader approach: 1) Megan D: lead on Sundays 2) Kristian Lovelace scheduling 3) General pastoral leadership from Jay to move to family integrated model of children’s ministry.
• Excited about new leadership and vision. Older and younger elementary and even middle school for 2 of our kids.
• Reminder that raising a child takes a church not just a family. Love our kids, Show them Jesus, Keep them Safe!
  
• We are making progress as a 4-Self Church: self-governing, self-theologizing, self-reproducing, self-sustaining. This next year we hope to appoint some elders. A Church Planting Intern will join us in December to plant a church in Round Rock next year.

CITY  GROUPS: 11 More City Groups in 2011!

• Participating in a City Group is essential to really living out commands of Christ to be the church to one another and the city. Remember that City Groups aren’t an event but a community you’ve been knit together with, to share life and truth, pray for one another and the city, engage peoples and cultures, and love one another.
• City Groups at Austin City Life are we can be the church to one another and the city. More City Groups means more people living in the Gospel, in Community, and on Mission. City Groups are where we see the city of Austin and Austinites renewed by the Gospel, one neighborhood at a time!
• WHY 11? There is nothing special about 11…it could be 7….it could be 15. The point is we want to cast a ”vision” going into next year as we call men in our church to step up and lead. We have 8 City Groups right now, 11 more in 2011 would give us 19, and from there we anticipate each group multiplying once a year. So 38 City Groups in 2012, 76 City Groups in 2013, 152 City Groups by 2014…..and so the story goes as the Gospel renews Austin!
• HOW? First off, by Gods grace and prayer. Also, we will be making a call for leaders all of September and October leading up to our CG Leader training on Saturday October 16th. Contact Nate or Jonathan if you are interested in joining this training! This will kickstart a process for all potential leaders will they will be coached through a season of “incubation” as they develop their: 1) calling 2) core 3) identified mission. We anticipate “celebrating” the births of these new communities throughout 2011.

RENEW the CITY

• In city centre Austin 76% don’t believe Jesus is the Son of God. Let’s show and tell him that he is with grace and love. Our return to a downtown gathering is an expression of our commitment to the heart of the city–t0 usher in city renewal through the gospel–spiritually, socially, and culturally.
• This Fall we will focus on incarnational Discipleship in Domains of the City. Consider which domains you work, live, or play in–Education, Government, Music & Arts, Social Services, Business & Tech, Media & Entertainment, Sports & Recreation. Incarnational Mission: Jesus lovingly and redemptively inserted himself into our world. Whose world are we inserting ourselves into? Are you making disciples or just making a nice life?

This is a guest post from Nate Navarro, Director of Missional Community at Austin City Life. Here is Part 1.

Travis is a successful Austin attorney in his mid 30’s who has been a part of our Missional Community for about a year. Recently, after serving together at the retirement center in our neighborhood, we had a dinner together at a central Austin cheeseburger joint. Travis, who had recently been hosting our Missional Community gatherings (without saying a word), spoke up and said:

“I don’t think it is important for married couples to both be Christians….my wife is a Christian….and I am not…..it works fine for us.”

He said it.

Though I had thought for quite some time Travis was just tolerating us for his wifes sake, now we knew it….he doesn’t believe in Jesus…in fact….he probably thinks we are crazy!

SO WHAT TO DO?

Break out the 4 spiritual laws? Take a stroll down Romans road? Throw all my best Tim Keller “Reasons For God” at him?

In a moment of sanity I looked across the table and said:

“Travis, I want to thank you for being a part of our community. It would be easy for you to just think we are crazy, instead, you have served us by hosting our gatherings at your house and even serving with us at the Retirement Center. On top of that, I think you are a cool guy and I appreciate what you bring to our community.”

Travis said, “sure…no problem….I like you guys.”

Since then Travis has been more actively involved in our community, though I am sure he still thinks we are a bit crazy with all our “Gospel-Centered” conversations.

My hope is that we will be a community who SHOWS the Gospel to Travis, and to our city…..

My hope is that we will be a community who TELLS the Gospel to Travis, and to our city….

May we do so out of LOVE and not out of the need to convince others that WE ARE RIGHT.

The very helpful people at New Fathom are hosting a webinar with me and Byron Blesdoe of C3 Church on Missional Strategies at 12pm CST.

I will be:

• Sharing the story of Austin City Life
• Discussing the formation of Missional Core Teams
• Explaining Missional Communities

This should be helpful for church planters and missional church folk. We would love to have you join us!

REGISTER HERE

Check out a City Group closest to you here

• Churches Helping Churches, one of the organizations that Austin City Life is supporting, made the news in USA Today.
• Music for the City benefit concert raised 12K for Real Hope for Haiti on Monday night, packed out The Parish with 600 people, and blessed orphans and Austin citizens. Check out the News 8 coverage of the event.
• Keep praying for the Haitians!

In curious of the breakdown for employment in our church. ACL people please take the poll and fill in the blank if your field of work isn’t listed.

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