BC News|July 09, 2014 09:12 EDT
Hillsong's Worship Team Young & Free are Helping Change Culture of Youth Ministry; Two Members Speak on 'Sinking Deep' (VIDEO)
Hillsong's Aodhan King and Alex Pappas recently spoke to New Release Tuesday Young & Free's youth ministry and worship, about how God is changing lives in culture.
Hillsong Young & Free takes the traditional praise and worship of the other Hillsong groups and gears it to a younger audience using electronic dance music. Their current big song right now is "Sinking Deep."
"I wrote this song with Joel Davies. The idea of sinking deep into God's presence was something that we had toyed around with for a while. The song is really a devotional song. It was written in 2 hours, lyrics and everything. We sat down and we prayed, 'God we want to write a song about Your presence and Your love for us.' We sat down and Joel had a few chords that I sang the melody over," said King about "Sinking Deep."
He continued, "The words just came out. It felt like it was God speaking. The entire first verse came out from that time. We usually sing scratch lyrics and they aren't the ones that stay. In this song, they stayed the same. One thing I love is a line in the first chorus, 'I'm wide awake.'...It talks about being awake to God's presence. Because of what He's done for us, we're now aware of who He is to us."
King explains the song is about God's grace and the feeling of being in God's presence. He wants people to feel "free in Jesus," and really locking in to God despite everything that is happening around you.
"This song immediately was our youth ministry's song," Pappas chimed in, "A lot of songs take time to develop, and take time for young people to trust and go there with the song. With this song, especially the bridge 'Your love so deep is washing over me,' I think young people in our youth ministry got that revelation straight away. His love is truly everywhere and all encompassing, ready and willing and waiting and wanting to be accepted into their lives. It is amazing to see how this song has ministered to young people in our church."
Watch the interview below:
Hillsong's worship group is getting their own feature documentary movie that will be shot on five different continents.
Hillsong - Let Hope Rise will get a worldwide release by Warner bros. Pictures, and it is directed by Michael John Warren who did Jay Z's "Fade to Black."
The movie will focus on how Hillsong UNITED became the influential worship band they are today beginning from their early years as a youth band.
"In terms of reach, Hillsong UNITED is one of the biggest bands out there, Christian or otherwise. But at their core, they're just a group of unassuming individuals impacting the world with their music. We're thrilled to be part of bringing their extraordinary story to the big screen," said Andrew Kosove and Broderick Johnson of Alcon Entertainment in a joint statement.
According to a press release, it is estimated that every Sunday nearly 30 million people are singing a song created by Hillsong.