Skip to main content

"I Claim - Live At SCC 25" by Red Letter Society: A Call to Embrace the Cross in a Culture of Comfort


Recorded live at the Student Collective Conference 2025, Red Letter Society's "I Claim" is a declaration of faith that can't be repeated enough! We're living in a world that often avoids talking about suffering and sacrifice; instead, we'd rather focus on personal success, achievements, temporary joys, and what others should or shouldn't be doing. And don't forget the politics (especially now as the tensions around us and in the world continue to grow). We are constantly being bombarded with emotions that pollute our minds with feelings of disgust and even of hate, causing us to forget that other people around us are also children of God. Some minds have become so polluted that they try to justify the deliberate and methodical destruction of groups of people (= children of God). (?!?) We're drifting away from God's purpose for us! 

Red Letter Society - I Claim - Live At SCC 25This song calls the Church back to the radical heart of discipleship. "I claim the cross / I'll suffer with the Christ that I adore," echoing Luke 9:23, where Jesus calls us to take up our cross each day. This isn't a call to suffer without purpose, but to surrender to God, where our "self" dies and rises back up again in Christ. The song combines hope and surrender: "I claim the grave // Put to death my flesh and all its ways," ultimate faith that leads to a new life. 

"I claim new life // Death defeated in his sacrifice," declaring our hope in the finished work of Christ and our desire to be part of His work. Our hearts are filled with worship as we sing: "To know you Lord // everything I have I count as nothing to be gained // I'll share in all your suffering, and even face the grave // To be raised with Jesus."

In a world where we are constantly distracted by temporary gains and division, "I Claim" helps us to focus on the gift that Christ has given us through the cross, the promise of true communion with Christ. 

"If suffering in the present // Means glory in his presence // Then I claim, I claim Jesus' holy name." May this song invite you to embrace the cross and find purpose in the pain that life throws at us. May we be true disciples and "Love one another. As I [Christ] have loved you."

(Related scripture: Galatians 2:20; Philippians 3:10-11; Romans 6:4; John 13:34-35)

Connect with Red Letter Society

Would you like to hear more CCM music? Then check out our Christian playlists on: https://www.christiandance.eu/playlists

PS: Did you know that the posts we have on Christian Music Today also contain the backstories that artists have shared with us? Check it out on: https://christianmusictoday.eu/

Tags:

Popular posts

"Not Far From Us" by Divine Vibes: Stop Searching. Start Reaching.

The search can end right now. The Apostle Paul stood in Athens surrounded by altars and idols — a city full of people reaching toward something they couldn’t name. Among all their shrines, Paul spotted one inscription: “To an unknown God.” That moment became the opening of one of the most powerful declarations in Scripture. The people were already searching. They just didn’t know who they were searching for. “Not Far From Us” is a collaboration between Divine Vibes and House of Purpose. The track takes that same scene and sets it to Afro House and cinematic electronic music. Created directly from Acts 17, the lyrics move like Paul’s speech itself — from observation to revelation. “I found an altar to an unknown God // This God whom you worship without knowing // This is the one I’m telling you about.” Divine Vibes doesn’t just retell the story… he pulls you right into it. What Paul told the Athenians next also applies to each of us today: “Yet he is actually not far from each one of ...
More >>

"Chasing Nothing" by Louis Loock: When Grace Starts Chasing You

Success fades. Approval fades. What actually lasts? Picture yourself walking home. A normal walk home, nothing dramatic. Just sidewalks, tomorrow’s to-do list, and thinking about what you own and the career/life you have. That’s where “Chasing Nothing” by Louis Loock starts. He continues to reflect: “Emptiness surrounds me, for no reason that I see, // People walkin’ past, time goes by so fast.”   It’s fascinating to experience how everyday moments like these trigger deeper reflections. For Louis, these reflections led to a change, not because he found more stuff or more approval, but because he found less of himself and more of God. “Then You came into my life, You opened up my eyes,” he writes. “I was chasing nothing, I was running mad.” That choice of words matters. He wasn’t chasing something that turned out disappointing — he was chasing something that turned out to be empty. An illusion. A finish line that keeps moving further away. Does this sound familiar?  Scripture...
More >>

"Time in Your Presence" by Austin J. Smith: Why Wasting Time With God Is Never a Waste

Could “wasting time” be the greatest worship? Austin J. Smith wrote “Time in Your Presence” around a simple but countercultural idea: “love doesn’t calculate” . We live in a world that is obsessed with output — checklists, side-hustles, proving what we are worth through who we're seen with and what we accomplish. So what happens when you bring that same mindset into your relationship with God? Austin sums up the answer in a single, defiant line: “I’ll waste my time in Your presence.” Not because sitting with God earns us anything. “Earning” isn’t required by God.  The lyrics elaborate on that tension. “The world just might think I’m foolish,” Austin sings, “to waste my whole life on you.” ‘Foolish’ by whose measure and which definition? Our culture rewards busyness and prestige, but it’s not capable of measuring the benefit of a quiet moment with your Creator. Austin calls God his “morning star” and “golden hour”  — the beautiful moments of the day that don’t need justification...
More >>