Gospel Anthem 2022 || Spoken Word Poem

Metro's Innovation Team shares a powerful original poem of gospel paradox called "Gospel Anthem" for Metro Cherry Hill's Provisional Launch Sunday Service (June 19, 2022). Written and Produced by Metro Church.

Gospel Anthem 2022

Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.

This is a lie

There is no peace for the hurting
There is no rest for the weary

And I reject the idea that
trusting in god alone will give me true peace

Through many pains I have learned that
Jesus is not enough

For so long I thought that
if I obeyed well enough
if I worked hard enough
God would give me what I want

How foolish it was to believe that
Jesus loves me and is for me

I have come to realize that
no one cares about me and that I am alone in this world

And I refuse to believe that
there is a peace beyond my own understanding

It is almost beyond imagining but
perfect days of resting with God in the garden

are over and now I am destined for
days of hard work and longing for true res

I must admit that
God cursed the ground because of my sinfulness

And while it is true
that we might become the righteousness of god
that God made him who had no sin to be sin for us

I now know, that beyond a shadow of a doubt
Jesus failed

Some will tell you
that he died the death that we deserved
that he lived the life we should have lived

God sent his only son, Jesus
to give us true peace

It’s easy to see how people buy into this, but I am convinced
that God does not care
that we’ve been left on our own to pursue a broken form of rest

I simply cannot accept
that there is no way to earn my own salvation
and there is nothing left to do but declare
war with God

Instead, I will find peace in my
glory,
power and,
security,
self-righteousness,
popularity,
material possessions,
relationships and,
approval from others

I used to believe this would bring me peace:
His restlessness
His work
His sacrifice
His blood
His body
His life
Jesus

But I was wrong. I needed something far greater:
The gospel was not enough

I had almost believed
there is a way of redemption
there is a life of true rest
there is a peace on whom his favor rests

Now I know better
that everything I previously believed is a lie
or at least that’s what I thought before god flipped the script
(voice only) and opened my eyes to see