Music Discussions

My Church

February 17, 2017

Dynamic Image Main Point of Discussion:
Church isn’t a building, it’s not a boring service…. it’s experiencing God’s calling in our lives in a gathering of believers, worshipping Him and encouraging each other to live in the joy that comes from the knowledge of His truth.

Introducing The Song:
My Church is a song by American country singer Maren Morris. It was released in January 2016 as her debut single and serves as the lead single from her debut studio album, Hero (2016). Morris co-wrote and co-produced the song with busbee. The song won the award for Best Country Solo Performance and was nominated for Best Country Song at the 59th Annual Grammy Awards.

The church in the song is used figuratively to describe the sanctuary that she feels is her car when she plays music on the FM radio while driving.

The song refers to listening to country icons like Johnny Cash and Hank Williams and is about “the simple joy that comes with turning up the volume, rolling down the windows and singing along to the radio at 65 miles an hour.” She compares the experience to a church revival, saying, “Yeah, I guess that’s my church.”

According to Columbia Nashville (Sony Music), the song set a record as the song played by the greatest number of radio stations ever for a debut single in its impact week, with 107 stations playing the song, beating the previous record of 99. It has sold 850,000 copies in the United States as of January 2017, and the video has racked up more than 24 million views (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Church).

Marren Morris commented about her song, My Church:

“I get a lot of my songwriting done while driving around Nashville — sometimes it comes to me that way. I tried to write about that feeling, that connection”

www.cmt.com/news/1762028/maren-morris-on-every-word-of-my-church

The Music Video:
The music video can be played for free at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ouWQ25O-Mcg

Song Lyrics: “My Church”

[Verse 1:]
I’ve cussed on a Sunday
I’ve cheated and I’ve lied
I’ve fallen down from grace
A few too many times
But I find holy redemption
When I put this car in drive
Roll the windows down and turn up the dial

[Chorus:]
Can I get a hallelujah
Can I get an amen
Feels like the Holy Ghost running through ya
When I play the highway FM
I find my soul revival
Singing every single verse
Yeah I guess that’s my church

[Verse 2:]
When Hank brings the sermon
And Cash leads the choir
It gets my cold coal heart burning
Hotter than a ring of fire
When this wonderful world gets heavy
And I need to find my escape
I just keep the wheels rolling, radio scrolling
Until my sins wash away

[Chorus:]
Hey, Can I get a hallelujah
Can I get an amen
Feels like the Holy Ghost running through ya
When I play the highway FM
I find my soul revival
Singing every single verse
Yeah I guess that’s my church
Yeah I guess that’s my church
Yeah I guess that’s my church

Transitional Statement- You Say This:
Have you ever been driving down the road or sitting in your room, your favorite song comes on and you just turn it up… and maybe even sing really loud and off-key? Music can stir something up in us. It’s powerful. My Church draws from that experience when music creates a feeling of such elation and adoration that you almost want to say, “hallelujah” and “amen.”

But there’s another message in this song, subtle, but unmistakable — the message that… this awesome feeling I experience when I crank up my music, that feeling is my church. Sure, she never says, “So don’t go to church, just listen to music.” But the implication is pretty obvious… the spiritual experience I feel playing Johnny Cash and Hank Williams is waaaaaaaay better than any I’ve felt at church”.

Why do you think she feels this way? Let’s take a peek.

Divide into Small Groups:
Let’s go ahead and split up into our discussion groups, and then afterward we’ll come back together for a final word.

CLICK HERE for a quick training article on how to maximize your small groups using our small group format—a great resource to equip your small group leaders.

Discussion Questions:

AROUND THE CIRCLE: Before we dive in, let’s all answer this question—what is one of your favorite songs right now?

ASK A FEW: In what ways can you relate to Morris’ experience that she describes in this song?

ASK A FEW: Why do you think music has such a power to noticeably impact our emotions?

ASK A FEW: Are there any ways you can personally connect your feelings about listening to music in the car and what you’ve experienced at church?

ASK A FEW: Why do you think this song is so popular?

ASK A FEW: What do you think she is missing at church that she is finding through music?

Read the following passage from the Bible:

When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”

14 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”

15 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”

16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

17 Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. 18 And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.

ASK A FEW: What images come to mind when you hear the word “church”?

ASK A FEW: When Jesus said, “I will build my church” in the passage we read, do you think He had a building in mind? Why or why not?

*Note to Youth Leader:

“church”

‘ecclesia’

ASK A FEW: How did we get from the concept of “called out ones” to thinking primarily of buildings and denominations? (In other words, why do we think of a brick building with a steeple when we hear the word church?)

ASK A FEW: Given that new or different understanding of what “church” means, how might Morris’ definition of church be accurate on some level to what Jesus meant? (i.e. – an experience vs. a building, an escape from the world, a ‘soul revival’, etc.)

ASK A FEW: What kind of connection and emotion might you be able to find at church that you couldn’t get from listening to music?

ASK A FEW: Do you think the church would be more impactful in the world if we understood it as a community of people called out to gather together, experience worship, encourage each other and live out God’s calling on our lives rather than a building? Why or why not?

ASK A FEW: How do the song and this passage affect your understanding of what church is supposed to be?

*Note to Youth Leader:

“You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.”

ASK A FEW: Do you agree with Augustine? Why or why not?

ASK A FEW: If our hearts are ultimately restless until we rest in our relationship with God; can music ultimately fulfill us? Why or why not?

AROUND THE CIRCLE: How could the church change its formula so that it could create an experience comparable to what Morris describes in My Church?

Wrap Up:
(Leader- this is a great opportunity to share a personal story of a time where you were encouraged and lifted up by a group of believers either during a tough time in your life, or encouraged to live out your calling.)

The church isn’t four brick walls and a steeple. The church isn’t a guy playing guitar or reading the Bible.

You are the church.

And the good news is… you alone aren’t the church. The church is a gathering of imperfect people like you who God is slowly transforming to look more like Him. And you’ll find a common message all throughout scripture—that is, when you are going through the ups and downs of life… don’t do it alone!

Church is a gathering of people to worship God when the rest of the world is worshipping everything else, share truth in a world full of lies, and encourage each other in a world almost void of encouragement.

The message in My Church is a great reminder that our church experience should be joyful and inspirational so that the world will see that we aren’t called into a building, rather we are called out of the world into a gathering of believers who are authentically expressing ‘hallelujahs’ and ‘amens’ from our hearts.

Morris is expressing a common sentiment in her song My Church. A lot of people aren’t enthusiastic about going to church. Maybe they were bored. Maybe they experienced judgment. That’s sad. That’s not what church is supposed to be. That’s why we should be contagious and passionate in our faith in Christ and be more like Christ in the way we love and the authenticity we show. If people saw more of that and how we have found our true fulfillment in God, no song in the world could compete!

Close in prayer

Written by Lane Palmer