Elevation Worship
The title of Elevation Worship's latest record attempts to encapsulate the sensory experience depicted in the book of Acts when Paul describes the hurricane-force power of the Holy Spirit. Elevation Worship’s Chris Brown echoed the song’s lyric, “God is Wind and Fire, the Author of life and an all-consuming fire. Whatever He speaks is done, whatever He touches lives.”
Elevation Worship’s Chris Brown talks about how their latest endeavor sits at the crossroads where God’s life-giving wind meets His life-changing fire.
The new Elevation Worship record is here! Can you first tell us the meaning behind the phrase ‘When Wind Meets Fire?’
There’s a moment at the birth of the New Testament Church when the believers were together in one place and Scripture says “Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them.”
How striking is it that God showed up in such dramatic fashion? A violent wind. Tongues of fire. That’s not a scene you can ignore or experience casually.
But when He came, they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. We want to be a people who are ready for and recognize the life-changing power that comes when God shows up. To invite Him into every area of our lives. And to recognize that we can’t so much as take a breath until He breathes on us.
So our prayer for this album is that these songs would serve as altars to create moments of worship welcoming in the presence of God as you listen.
You all released “Sure Been Good,” “Another One,” and “All Of A Sudden,” before the full project. Why were these songs the ones you wanted the Church to hear first?
They were all songs that we’d been singing in church and had encouraged our congregation so we were excited to release them early so our people didn’t have to wait til Sunday to sing:
“Oh my God, you’ve sure been good to me!”
There are parts throughout When Wind Meets Fire where you can only hear the congregation singing. Tell us about the purpose behind these moments!
Our church loves to worship. And especially when we have a night that’s dedicated to singing and recording new songs, there’s often some very special moments that happen and get captured.
That’s the beauty of corporate worship. It’s a together thing.
The point isn’t to come and listen to one person sing the song, it’s to join in, all together, for the sole reason of magnifying Jesus. I’m always so happy to have moments like that on our albums.
There are elements of “What a Miracle” that particularly sound straight from the word of God. Are there any specific passages in scripture that helped mold these lyrics?
That’s always the goal. Not that we’d just be singing a new song, but that we’re confessing the age old truth and the word of God with a new melody:
1 John 3:1 “See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!“
1 John 4:19 “We love because he first loved us.”
Ephesians 3:18 “May you have the power to grasp how wide and long and high and deep the love of your Father is.”
What song from When Wind Meets Fire has been having its moment at Elevation Church in this season?
“Yahweh We Love You” is always so special. Singing the many Names of God and leading to such a vertical declaration shouting: “Yahweh, we love You” is so powerful.
