Clara Rhoden

The year was 2020 in the world’s most locked down city. Although it was only the first of many lockdowns, the impact on the mental health of everyday Australians was already coming to light. Emergency hotlines were overrun with calls from people of all ages who wanted to tragically end their suffering. The elderly were isolated and unable to see their loved ones; businesses were forced into shut down; marriages were on a knife’s edge; children were banned from playgrounds and placed in front of screens. The value of human life was constantly being called into question.

The tragedy of this situation impacted me deeply. I cried out to God for a song that might help people to know the true value of their existence. He pointed me to Psalm 139:

Lord, you have searched me and known me…

For it was you who created my inward parts; �you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I will praise you because I have been remarkably and wondrously made.�Your works are wondrous, and I know this very well.
My bones were not hidden from you when I was made in secret,
when I was formed in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes saw me when I was formless;�all my days were written in your book and planned�before a single one of them began.

(Psalm 139:1, 13-16 CSBA)

As I reflected on these words, this melody dropped into my spirit. The more I sang these words, the more my tears fell. Our Father in heaven loves every person He created so deeply. He has great plans for each of us. Not one of us is a mistake. Even if our parents thought so, they are not ultimately responsible for our existence. It is God who knit us together in our mother’s womb. The truth of this is something I have personally experienced.

When I fell pregnant with my second child, sadly, after only 7 weeks, I lost her. There are no words to describe that kind of grief. For the next year, I was unable to get pregnant. Every month of disappointment felt like I was losing my daughter all over again. It was deeply painful. When I eventually did fall pregnant again, I knew without a shadow of a doubt that every baby is a gift from God.

I released a Mandarin version of this song with my church band Future Generation 未來世代 a couple of years ago. There were many testimonies of broken and hurting people experiencing the love of the Father as they listened to these words. I pray that as more people hear this psalm, they will know in their heart of hearts that they have a loving Father who created them for a unique purpose even from their mother’s womb.

Link to video in comments.

I’ve been a Christian a really long time. Growing up in the church, I’ve seen many people come and go. It has always broken my heart to see those who grew up in the church walking away. I have prayed about it and mulled over it for many years and my conviction about it is this: you can grow up in church, go through all the right motions, know all the right answers, but if you don’t have a personal encounter with Jesus, you don’t know Him.

For the last 30 years, I’ve been working hard and praying desperately for God to use my musical gifts as a means to help people to encounter Jesus personally. Over the last 5 years, I had the honour of writing many worship songs for my church in Taiwan. We released them in Mandarin, but my heart always longed to share these songs in English too. So, after many years, I have finally been given the opportunity to share these songs with you.

I’m currently working on an album of worship songs that express the unchanging truth of the gospel in fresh melodies for a new generation of believers. This song is the first single release from this collection.

It was written in response to a need for more songs about Jesus’ death and resurrection. Previously, my church had a default song for communion and any event with a focus on Jesus’ suffering. I felt it was too depressing, as it focused only on Jesus’ death and not on his victorious resurrection. In response, the chorus of this song was written as a declaration “Hallelujah! Jesus, You’re alive!”

Many of us as believers know intellectually that Jesus rose from the dead, but sometimes our lives don’t reflect this reality. My prayer is that this song can be a reminder to all believers that we serve a living Jesus and as we declare this glorious truth more lost sheep would find their way back to the Father’s arms.

With Easter fast approaching, this song is now available as a declaration for the local church during this season. Sheet music is also available for worship teams to learn at no cost. May God bless His church as we declare the greatest gift of all — Jesus’ death and resurrection for us.

I’ve been a Christian a really long time. Growing up in the church, I’ve seen many people come and go. It has always broken my heart to see those who grew up in the church walking away. I have prayed about it and mulled over it for many years and my conviction about it is this: you can grow up in church, go through all the right motions, know all the right answers, but if you don’t have a personal encounter with Jesus, you don’t know Him.

For the last 30 years, I’ve been working hard and praying desperately for God to use my musical gifts as a means to help people to encounter Jesus personally. Over the last 5 years, I had the honour of writing many worship songs for my church in Taiwan. We released them in Mandarin, but my heart always longed to share these songs in English (my native language) as well. So, after many years, I have finally been given the opportunity to share these songs with you.

I’m currently working on an album of worship songs that express the unchanging truth of the gospel in fresh melodies for a new generation of believers. This song is the first single release from this collection.

It was written in response to a need for more songs about Jesus’ death and resurrection. Previously, my church had a default song for communion and any event with a focus on Jesus’ suffering. I felt it was too depressing, as it focused only on Jesus’ death and not on his victorious resurrection. In response, the chorus of this song was written as a declaration “Hallelujah! Jesus, You’re alive!”

Many of us as believers know intellectually that Jesus rose from the dead, but sometimes our lives don’t reflect this reality. My prayer is that this song can be a reminder to all believers that we serve a living Jesus and as we declare this glorious truth more lost sheep would find their way back to the Father’s arms.

With Easter fast approaching, this song is now available as a declaration for the local church during this season. Sheet music is also available for worship teams to learn at no cost. May God bless His church as we declare the greatest gift of all — Jesus’ death and resurrection for us.

Link to video in comments.