With Easter around the corner, churches often struggle to find new worship songs to sing.  We have decided to offer our suggestions of some of our favorite (newer) worship songs that speak to the truths of the Easter season.  Here are our top 7 recommendations:

7.  Dustin Smith "He's Alive" from Smith's "Coming Alive"

"He's Alive," being co-written by Michael W. Smith, Dustin Smith, Seth Mosley and Michael Farren, is as panoramic as the names of the co-writers combined.  Structured around a big thundering chorus, this is the type of worship songs that not only can wake up the soporific. But it also awakens our somnolent souls to the living Christ.

6. Matt Maher "Because He Lives (Amen)" from Maher's "Saints and Sinners"
 
Maher is the consummate poetic that can never be faulted for the triteness in the songs he writes.  Yet, he has a way of making his songs so accessible with their infectious hooks.  "Because He Lives (Amen)" is no exception.  Collaborating with Bill Gaither, "Because He Lives (Amen)" is theologically meaty without sounding like you are singing from a seminary textbook.

5.  Hillsong Worship "O Praise the Name (Anastasis)" available only as a single

The bracketed coda of the song's titular "Anastasis" is most telling.  "Anastasis" is the Greek word for "resurrection."  Though the New Testament word doesn't surface in the lyrics of the song, it compasses the direction of the song.  Instead of chasing current EDM trends or frivolous lyrics that guises as a religious love song, "O Praise the Name (Anastasis)" is a hymnic slow-paced worship ballad that trumps on its well-laid melodic structure and its theologically resplendent lyrics. 

4. Newsboys "Hallelujah for the Cross" from Newsboys "Hallelujah for the Cross"

With a marching beat and a set of 3-D lyrics we follow our Lord Jesus as he marched onto the Cross. "Hallelujah for the Cross" doesn't just speak of the Cross. Rather, it is a powerful GPS that allows us to journey with our Savior up Calvary's Hill again.  And with an inviting congregational feel, one wouldn't be surprised to find churches singing "Hallelujah for the Cross" this Easter.  

3. NewSong "This I Believe (The Creed)" from NewSong's "Faithful" 

With NewSong on board, the Apostles Creed is no longer just a crusty dust-collecting rite.  Rather, it's a synopsis of what it means to be alive in Christ.  Thanks to Hillsong Worship who first crafted and recorded this tune, "This I Believe (The Creed)" takes the salient pillars of the Christian faith and make them come alive in our lives.  What a better time than Easter to sing with great affirmations the doctrines that make us live and breathe.
 
2. Jeremy Camp "Same Power" from Camp's "I Will Follow"

Camp's "Same Power" answers the question: so what?  So, Christ did rise from the dead, but how does this truth impact my life here and now?  Struggling for an answer?  Take a listen to Camp's "Same Power."
 
1. NCC Worship "Christ the Lord is Risen Today (He is Not Dead)" from NCC's "You Alone"  

The old hymns are still the best when it comes to articulating theological truths of the resurrection.  However, because many of them were crafted in a different cultural milieu than us, they can come across as aloof and distant.  NCC Worship has taken Charles Wesley's hymn "Christ the Lord is Risen Today" and they have added a new chorus to it, making the Easter message come alive again with immediacy yet retaining the hymn's theological richness.  

 

 

Tags : favorite easter worship songs hallels favorite easter worship songs worship songs for easter songs for easter ncc worship Jeremy Camp hillsong worship Newsong dustin smith Matt Maher Newsboys