This song began life as a completely different song with no chorus and lurked in my journal for many years. After workshopping the song at a writer’s weekend, I got some fresh ideas and I found the rest of the song wrote itself very quickly, changing tempo and style and evolving into something new. 
Lyrically, it is based on 1 John 3:1 which is one of my many favourite Bible verses that centers on our identity in God. It was a natural progression from there for each verse to explore our identity as people beloved, redeemed and transformed. Our corps had recently developed a focus statement which was “Hope, Freedom and Transformation through Jesus.” This helped me clarify this message and its implications – because of who (and whose) we are, this is how we live. Attending the Boundless 150 celebrations in London also played a part in inspiring the final title. Musically, I am rather a fan of Rend Collective’s work so in style, it pays tribute to that semi-acoustic feel.

Your Grace Still Welcomes Me

This song was in my journal for a while before finding its true form. Having participated in a performance of Take Over Bid as a teenager, Kneeling in Penitence has long been a special song for me. After coming up with some new melodic ideas while improvising, it was the song that popped into my head as the right match for a song book makeover. Reflecting on Hebrews 4:16 was the final piece of the puzzle that brought everything together. The original song is a beautiful, simple reflection on the realization of our desperate need for God’s forgiveness and our total surrender to Him. By reworking the hymn and adding the original chorus material, it became a very personal processing of how I continually need to bring myself to that place. Jesus has already accomplished my forgiveness, but every time I cling to Him anew, I take hold of the promise again that I can freely and confidently meet His mercy and grace which allows me to stand and move forward with Him.