Playlist Theology, Part 1: The First Hymn // Forrest Jenan

Why do we sing? It's a stranger question than it sounds — and it's worth asking.

In this first message of Playlist Theology, Forrest traces worship music all the way back to its roots: an ancient hymn fragment discovered in an Egyptian trash dump, written on the back of a corn contract, sung by Christians who were being arrested for their faith. At the center of that tiny, 35-word song is a claim that was countercultural then and still is now — that God is the only giver of all good gifts.

What you believe about God shapes who you become. And sometimes, the songs we sing are the best way to remind our hearts of what's true before we fully feel it.

In This Teaching

• Why music has always been central to Christian worship — from the Psalms to the earliest church
• The story behind the oldest Christian hymn ever discovered, and what it meant to sing it under persecution
• Why your mental picture of God is the most important thing about you
• How Jesus describes God as a generous Father — and why that picture changes everything
• Why we sing: not just to express what we feel, but to form what we believe

Scriptures Referenced

• Philippians 2:6–11
• Colossians 1:15–20
• James 1:17
• Matthew 5:45
• Matthew 7:9–11
• Matthew 19:17