Why this song?
The Bible uses the metaphor of building several times. Jesus talks about the wise and the foolish builders in Matthew 7. Proverbs talks about a house being built through wisdom. In Matthew 16, Jesus says that he will build his church on the beautiful confession of faith of Peter. Ephesians 2 talks about being built into the household of God. All of these point to the same thing being the foundation of our buildings (our lives): Jesus.
Build My Life by Housefires takes that idea of Christ being our foundation and points out that it can’t be any other way. There is no one and nothing else that is capable of being the firm foundation of our lives.
Song Breakdown
When you get right down to it, this song is quite simple. There is a verse. There is a chorus. There is a bridge. Each serves a different purpose.
The verse is pure praise. Naming Jesus as the only being worthy of our praise.
The chorus gives us the reasons why he is worthy. He is holy. He is uniquely qualified to make a difference in our lives.
The bridge is our reaction. Knowing who Jesus is and what he is uniquely capable of, we will build our life on him as our firm foundation.
Use in Worship
This song is extremely versatile both musically and thematically.
Musically, it has what we like to call “strong bones”. The foundation of the song, the lyrics, melody, and chord progression, is a solid starting point. From there, you can dress it up in a number of different styles and instrumentations.
Thematically, it can be used either as an opener, to remind the congregation what the entire service is built upon, or as a closer, to remind the congregation what their foundation moving forward into the week is. It can be used throughout the church year or in any number of different sermon series.
Resources