Music Review: Seeds Family Worship

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Seeds Family Worship is a unique worship experience in the Christian world. They are not quite children’s music, not quite contemporary Christian music, not quite a worship band. Seeds is some combination of all these genres, mixed with bits of soulful, folksy, country sounds.

The best way to describe this band is to say they are an original, one-of-a-kind group of like-minded believers who have a clear vision for the purpose of their music, and for that Seeds should be commended. These musicians find new, creative ways to communicate their message via song, while at the same time maintaining complete consistency of purpose.

PURPOSE: LEARN GOD’S WORD

The purpose of every song that Seeds releases is simple: Help people hear and memorize scripture. I say people, not kids, because as the band’s name reveals, their music is for the whole family, 100% cheese-proof for teens and adults. There is the occasional child voice quoting verse numbers or singing back-up vocals, but this music is not “by kids for kids.” They work hard to accommodate the entire family’s listening needs so that everyone can hear and learn God’s word.

IT WORKS

I can personally attest to the fact that the music from Seeds does work if you desire to memorize verses of scripture. I have a playlist on my iPhone that I have listened to numerous times during hour+ workouts over the last month, and those verses stick with me. As a children’s minister, I choose 1 memory verse per week for the kids at church to learn, and we use various games, puzzles and prizes to help kids learn those verses. I can attest that there is no more effective way to memorize scripture than to do it by song. I remember more from this music over the last few weeks than I do from the verses our children’s ministry has been learning.

SIMILAR ARTISTS

Seeds features multiple talented singers, so you are not always hearing the same voice. One of the male leads has a similar voice and singing style to popular Christian artist Bebo Norman. Seeds song “God Is Creator” sounds like a Matthew West song.

RECOMMENDED USES: CHURCH & HOME

Seeds Family Worship can be used in the home or the church. Some children’s ministers base their memory verses on the songs from Seeds so that every verse has a catchy song to help kids remember the words. With this method, it is better to have a monthly memory verse, rather than a different verse every week. By the end of the month, it is practically guaranteed that the kids who came all month will remember that memory verse for a long time (especially if families listen at home too).

As I stated earlier, Seeds music is very effective in learning God’s word. The only thing that has held me back from implementing this in my own children’s ministry is the current curriculum series we are doing does not really fit with the material available from Seeds. We are in the middle of a year-long journey through God’s story using the Jesus Storybook Bible. We learn about a different story every week, and I choose a memory verse from each specific story. Seeds has a variety of material, but they do not have verses from every single story we are studying. However, I am very strongly considering restructuring our memory verses next year so that we can use Seeds music.

To aid churches, Seeds has a collection of very well made lyrics videos (using kinetic typology) that can be inserted into Powerpoint or Pro Presenter.

It is at the heart of Seeds‘ mission to help parents in the challenging process of home discipleship. Their music is a wonderfully useful tool for home worship services, or simply for listening in the car with your kids. Listening to K-Love or any contemporary Christian music is a great way to help you and your kids grow in your faith, but what sets Seeds Family Worship apart is that every song is guaranteed to come directly from God, as their songs literally quote scripture.

SEEDS IN THEIR OWN WORDS

Sample the music here and buy some albums on iTunes, but if you want to get to know the heart Seeds better, here is part of their mission statement from their own website (you can also hear about their mission in the video below):

Seeds Family Worship is connecting families to Jesus Christ through God’s Word by providing relevant resources, engaging events, and biblical coaching on discipleship in the home. Seeds Family Worship was planted when worship leader, Jason Houser, was asked to write some songs to help kids remember the verses from his church’s summer Bible school… In total, Seeds has grown to over 100 portions of scripture set to music! The team at Seeds Family Worship continues to create great, scripture-based music. But, we also see God’s call to further equip churches and homes with ways to encourage families to worship together. We want to hear the needs, joys, and hopes for family worship in your church… While we plant and water, we know that God is the grower of seeds. We can’t wait to see what happens!

You can also subscribe to Seeds’ monthly newsletter for news, new music and fresh ideas for family ministry and home worship.