My church is named Damascus Road because of the story found in Acts 9. A man travelling on that road had an encounter with Jesus, which temporarily blinded his physical eyes but opened the eyes of his heart to the truth. That man was transformed, and his life changed direction towards a very different destination.

As our team planted a church, our hope was that the many people traveling through our city would have similar encounters with Jesus that would lead to illumination, transformation, and new destinations. We called that our Roadmap.

Ever since primary school, when my mother came to help my geography class using amusing methods to memorize countries and their capitals, I knew about the power of story and music as mnemonic devices (Thanks, Mom!). But it took me years before the idea hit me to put our Roadmap into lyrics and melody to help our congregation remember and personalize it. I sheepishly introduced the song at a band practice, and it quickly became a church favorite after we started playing it that next Sunday.

The Roadmap was the lightbulb moment for me in just how important songs by the congregation for the congregation can truly be. And that’s part of what I love about the heart of Homegrown Worship.

Written by Matthew Lunders