Kathryn Scott has been deeply involved in church ministry and music her whole life. With a degree earned from Elim Bible College, experience as an assistant pastor at South West Glasgow Vineyard and work planting Causeway Coast Vineyard Church with husband Alan Scott, Kathryn definitely has the on-the-field ministry training to lend weight to her powerful worship songs.

The latest from the singer songwriter is independently released Sing On the Battlefield, a powerful EP full of songs exploring and expressing God's power and sovereignty. Kathryn shares the heart behind each of the songs in this special song by song article.

Father (Generous and Kind)

One of the most magnificent wonders of the Christian faith, and one that has shaped my own life most significantly, is the fact that we can know the Creator of the universe as our Father. It's His character; His solid goodness, steadfast mercy, unshakeable kindness; His outrageous grace, that makes it so poignant. We have a Father who is resplendent in glory, undisputed in power and righteousness, and yet He chooses to meet us exactly where He finds us; His welcome is like no other.

I've been gathering thoughts on lyrics for this song for a number of years now, just jotting down aspects of the character of God and allowing them to brew. "Father (Generous and Kind)" is all about our hearts connecting with who He is, reminding ourselves that we belong to Him—and then the response: "How we love Your ways, how we love Your heart, You're everything we've longed for. The wonder of Your love reveals how good You are, Oh how we love You, Father."

Always Good

My husband, Alan, and I have the privilege of pastoring the church we planted back in 1999 on the North Coast of Northern Ireland. It has been the most incredible journey as we've watched the Lord turn us inside out as a church and open up our community to the miraculous—through healing, salvation, social justice and help for the poor. One of the realities of living in a world where everything is still in the process of being set right, however, is that there are times when things don't turn out the way we hoped, or worked towards, or believed they would. That's the place where faith finds its mettle, and we start to take ownership of the authority we've been given. It's the terrain that lies beyond disappointment.

"Always Good" is a life message for us. God always chooses to position Himself in the midst of trouble with us, but He is absolutely never behind it. Life is hard, but God is always good. That means He is trustworthy. It means, as the old hymn says, "we can find a solace" in Him. "Leaning into the goodness of God" is the choice this song talks about, declaring again over our own hearts and the circumstances we face, "You are always good and Your love endures."

We Still Believe

In 2010 my younger sister and her husband were expecting their first baby. Everything was going great until the 20-week scan revealed that something was wrong with the way their little girl's brain was developing. Over the months that followed, we prayed our best prayers; we fasted; we held on as tight as we could to every shred of hope; but nothing changed. Cara Rose was born in May, beautiful in every way, but not healed. She lived for 16 days. We were devastated.

People would try to help by saying it was just her time, or that God had a reason behind it all; but none of that sat well with me. The more I read the Scripture, the more I could see God's faithfulness, His kindness, His unrelenting goodness. I also started to see more clearly that we have an enemy at large, and his is the domain of sickness, disease and death. It totally grounded me, like nothing had before, in the certainty of God's goodness and a different understanding of His sovereignty.

I started writing "We Still Believe" before Cara was born. It was the opening phrase that caught me first: "From the thankful heart to the battle scarred, from the comforted to those who mourn." It seemed like an image of the church to me, all at different stages, and yet family crying out as one: "We still believe, we still believe, we're still surrendering our hearts, Your faithfulness is our reward. We still believe, we still believe, and though the journey has been hard, we will confess Your goodness God, we still believe." Even now, it stirs hope in the very depths of my soul. There is nothing beyond the reach of His goodness, whether we see the fulfillment of the longings we carry now, or when we see Him face-to-face. And for each one of us who have known the agony of the "not yet," the day is coming when Jesus Himself will wipe every tear away, and we will enter into His rest.

Sing on the Battlefield

Many times the songs I write begin with an image in my mind that I simply describe with lyrics and wrap in melody. "Sing on the Battlefield" was just that. I saw myself standing on a battlefield, in the middle of all hell breaking loose. I was exhausted. My sword, drawn and bloodied, was too heavy to lift anymore, I stood staring at the ground, trying to catch my breath. Then something caught my attention. I lifted my eyes and saw Him. Jesus was right there in the heat of the battle, looking straight at me. All at once, I was overcome by His presence and couldn't help but sing.

As I described what I had seen in my mind's eye to my husband, I used the phrase, "He makes me sing on the battlefield," and as soon as it was out of my mouth, I knew it was the beginning of a song. The bridge, taken from Isaiah 60, happened in a spontaneous moment during worship in our home church and is one of my favorite moments every time I lead this song: "Arise, shine. Arise, shine, for the glory of the Lord is risen on you." I love the way the Lord uses it to unlock broken hearts. There's something about making a declaration of truth when we're caught up in the fray that sets a different atmosphere over our hearts. "You make me sing on the battlefield, You make me dance through these tears, You grace my heart to believe again, You make me sing on the battlefield."

I Will Stay Here in Your Presence

This was an unusual song for me in that it only took about 30 minutes to write. I'd been sitting on some phrases for a while that I loved the sound of, like "the weight of glory falls," and I'd been pondering the image of the Father singing over us for some time. But until that moment in the studio, when I sat down and started to sing at the piano, I'd never been able to find where they fit. I sang the first line, "I hear You Father, singing redemption. I sense You nearer, and the weight of glory falls." And all of a sudden, the other images I wanted to describe started to tumble out. "I long for more of You Holy Spirit, and in this moment feel You drawing close."

There is absolutely nothing more life giving that I've ever encountered than the presence of Jesus. We are connected to the reality of another world when we step in, and the reality of that world starts to realign our own story with His. It is proper order. It is the peace of God; the wholeness of His shalom, "nothing missing, nothing broken" that catches up with us.

I wanted to add in the chorus of that old hymn, "Oh How I love Jesus," because of how beautifully they worked together; and because as a worship leader, I love to marry the wealth of our heritage in hymns and older songs with the freshness of the new. It reminds me that we stand in a huge throng of witnesses, from every generation, singing the same song to the same King who has so totally won us.

Sovereign Over Us

Aaron Keyes wrote this incredible song, and we have been using it for quite some time in our church at home. The language of the goodness of God in the middle of "what the enemy planned for evil" really resonates with us as a community. We have chosen to relentlessly pursue the "impossible" of the Kingdom—the impossible of loving our neighbor as ourselves; of healing the sick; of casting out demons and seeing the dead raised; of self control; of forgiveness. It's ALL impossible without complete reliance on the Holy Spirit and surrender to Him. And it takes tenacity!

For now, we still live in a world where things are not yet as they will be when Jesus returns. That means we have to learn how to deal with disappointment so that we don't become disappointed people, or we will give up on what we've been called to do. It is powerful to sing out "Your plans are still to prosper, You have not forgotten us, You're with us in the fire and the flood. Faithful forever, perfect in love, You are sovereign over us." It is a stunning truth that puts wind back in our sails and helps us pray for the next one, and the next one; to love the next one; to serve our city; to love our Father with everything we've got; to not give up.

"Even what the enemy meant for evil, You turn it for our good, You turn it for our good and for Your glory. Even in the valley You are faithful, You're working for our good, You're working for our good and for Your glory!"