Chords for THE ART OF CELEBRATION STORY - REND COLLECTIVE

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_ _ [A#] _ _ [Gm] _ _ _ [A#] _
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_ _ I remember a few years ago sitting watching the sunrise.
It was a [G] typical misty Irish morning and there was a magical [Gm] stillness in the air.
_ _ [D#] Something happened [A#] that day that I didn't see coming.
You see, I've grown up in church.
I've been surrounded by the [D] fact that Jesus loves me since I [G] was born.
But that day, _ something new flooded my [Gm] soul.
My eyes were [A#] opened [D#] and I was [Dm] totally overwhelmed by the reality of God.
That I was not [A#] alone lost in life.
That I was not [Gm] condemned, but that I was free. _ _ _
And I don't [G] know what happened, but this [D#] _ uncontrollable [D] urge took over me.
I jumped on my feet and started sprinting through the fields like a wild man, laughing
and crying with pure joy.
That was my first taste of the [F#] art of celebration.
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_ _ _ _ _ _ _ [Em]
Since that day, I've [G] learned that life has a way of draining that childlike wonder from us.
Whether [Em] it's through our own failures or [G] disappointments, whether it's suffering or betrayal, or even just [Em] familiarity.
That's why we put up our defenses, isn't it?
That's why we become numb.
[A]
We [G] pull back from life and become spectators because we're afraid of being hurt again. _ _
_ But the good news is, Jesus is always doing a [Em] new thing.
He's not [A] finished with us yet.
[Bm] We may doubt, we may feel like we [G] are broken beyond repair, but he is the peace in our troubled sea.
He is the healer of the brokenhearted. _ _
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_ [A] _ _ _ _ [G] Recently, we made a theological breakthrough as a community and it has changed [A] everything
about our approach.
[G] We realized that seriousness is not a fruit of the Spirit, but [C] joy is. _ _ _ _ _ _
_ [Em] _ _ _ _ _ [C] _ _
[Am] _ _ _ _ [G] _ _ _ [F] _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ [C] _
You see, there is an irrepressible laughter in the heart of God and the whole universe
cannot [G] contain it.
He is the one who invented [F] celebrations and feasting and holidays.
He is [C] the one who sings and dances over us. _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ [Am] _ _ _ _ [G] _ _
[F] When he suffered the cross, he did it for the joy set before him.
And that joy [C] was knowing that you [G] and I would be fully [Em] free, no longer [Am] captive to our sin.
_ Yes, the whole [G] human story is described in terms of the celebration, [C] the marriage of
Christ to his bride, the church. _
Our God is the ultimate artist of celebration, the inventor of the party, and the healer
of the broken. _ _ _ _ _ _
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_ _ Now happiness is not the same [Em] thing as joy.
Happiness is an emotion, a [G] superficial response to pleasant circumstances, _ [D]
but joy is deeper.
_ It's a [C] spiritual discipline.
We as people are much more [Em] inclined towards negativity and cynicism.
We don't find [G] it easy or even natural to pursue joy.
And [D] that's why God in his word actually [G] commands us to celebrate.
_ _ _ _ _ [Em] _ _
_ _ _ _ [G] We must wrestle for our blessing.
We must fight [D] for our joy. _
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_ _ How do we then [Em] remind ourselves as a wounded church family that [G] we still have a reason to sing?
_ _ _ [D] How do we move from the edges and fringes of the party [A] into the center?
[D] _
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_ _ _ [C#m] Well the Bible says, [D]
taste and see that [A] the Lord is good.
And to do [E] that we have to once again open up [F#m] our hearts to wonder and beauty.
[D] _
I'm not saying to be [A] fake or put on a false [E] smile, but rather to [F#m] always find a reason
to [D] rejoice even if we are in the [A] darkest circumstances. _ _
[E] _ _ _ _ [A] _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ [D] _ We come with a [A] gospel worth celebrating [E] before a celebrating king [F#m] and we think our responses
[E] worshippers [F#m] should be obvious.
_ [A] We need to get down to the serious business of joy because [E] the joy of the Lord [F#m] is our strength.
[A] And after all, heaven's going to be the greatest party of all time [E] and we need to start practicing [A] now.
_ _ So don't get caught up in your guilt or failure.
You are [E] forgiven, you are free [A] and you're worth more to God than you could [E] ever imagine.
_ _ [D] _
[A] So come [E] on, with a [F#m] childlike heart, [E] wide eyed with wonder, [A] let's rediscover the art of celebration.
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