Worship Matters

I don’t know Terry Stauffer personally, but he attended the Together for the Gospel conference in 2006 and blogged on a hymn we sang there, How Sweet and Aweful is the Place. He’s a pastor in Alberta, Canada. That was all I knew. Until yesterday.

Yesterday, someone left a comment on the post where I referenced Terry and passed on some very sad news. Emily Stauffer, Terry’s daughter,  was murdered this past Saturday afternoon while taking a walk. She was 14 years old.

Providentially, Terry has been studying the book of Job, and recently wrote a post on the Sovereign Grace CD, Come Weary Saints, a CD we put together for those going through challenging times. When we’re putting together songs for a project, along with trying to write music that people will want to sing and listen to, we always aim to write songs that are rich in biblical truths and the gospel.

Music can only comfort us emotionally and for a brief time. The gospel comforts us in every way and forever.

So it was encouraging to hear how God has been using the songs we’ve written, and others I’m sure, not only to communicate God’s care and grace to the Stauffers during this difficult time, but to prepare them for it.

Yesterday, Terry shared some of this thoughts:

In August we bought a CD from Sovereign Grace Music, Come Weary Saints. I posted a brief recommendation back in the beginning of September. This album, along with Valley of Vision and other Sovereign Grace albums have been a lifeline for our family since we received the news of Emily’s death. Our little girls, 7 and 9, have gone to sleep listening to these songs the last two nights.

My wife Juanita commented that one song, It Is Not Death to Die, gripped her from day one. I remember her saying that when we first listened to this album. Now we know why.

You can read the rest here.

Please pray for the Stauffer family, that in their grief they would be most aware of God’s sovereign, loving, and wise care, ultimately evidenced in the giving of his only Son for our salvation.