Christians taking Scripture and setting it to music is a time-honored tradition throughout the Church’s history. In the past decade, it feels like Scripture songs are having something of a revival. Perhaps that’s because there’s greater access to recording equipment and independent releases. Some projects cherry-pick verses they want to cover. Others are more ambitious and take on large swaths of the Bible. Case in point is the new release from Warship, which goes through Matthew 5-7, Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. Warship is the collaboration of South Dakota musicians Jonathan Kelly and Chris Hill, along with a host of studio players. The result is an epic 20-track journey through Jesus’ most famous sermon.
The first thing that jumps out to the listener is the diversity in the music. “Blessed,” the opening track, has a country/folk feel to it. Then, it immediately jumps into “Rejoice,” which is more of a full-on gospel track. The rest of the album tends to settle into a jazz/R&B influence. The closing tracks, which cover the chapter 7 portion of the sermon, have an air of theater to them with group vocals leading the way (think Hamilton). On the one hand, the variety of genres helps keep the listener engaged. On the other, some of the sudden changes in genre (like the aforementioned shift between the opening tracks) can give the listener whiplash.
The big challenge of a Scripture song record is how well it conveys the text in a way that helps the listener soak in the words of the Bible while enjoying the musical component. For the most part, Warship nails this aspect. At times, the way the song is composed helps emphasize the message of Jesus’ words. For instance, on “Adultery,” male vocals open the track (You have heard that it was said…”), but when it gets to the part about lusting after a woman in your heart, a female vocalist takes over. Something about having a woman sing that line helps add punch to the words. The album closes with “The Wise and Foolish Builders,” using hip hop elements and a semi-creepy children’s choir to emphasize how simple Jesus’ message boils down to, while also how deadly it is to ignore His teaching.
About a decade ago, I was in a church where Scripture songs were highly touted. While I could appreciate the songs’ use in memorization, many left something to be desired aesthetically. Often writers would rush or hold out lines awkwardly because the text didn’t fit into our western music mold. For the most part, Warship’s Sermon on the Mount avoids that awkwardness and turns out to be one of the most dynamic Scripture song albums I’ve heard. Maybe it helps that they used a more fluid translation (the NIV) as their text. While the musical whiplash can be annoying, the overall effect of this album is a well-done production that can be used as a tool to get more of Jesus’ teaching in your life.
– Review date: 1/14/26, written by John Underdown of Jesusfreakhideout.com
Record Label: None
Album length: 20 tracks: 61 minutes, 22 seconds
Street Date: November 27, 2025
Buy It: Amazon Music
Jonathan Kelly: I had the privilege of studying music in college, completing a degree in music performance (classical piano) from Black Hills State University, and continuing with graduate level courses in composition and classical form and theory at the University of South Dakota.
During and after grad school, I was in a band that did some recording and touring. It was during this season that I began playing keys for the worship team at my church, The Point is to Serve, in Sioux Falls, SD. I went on to become the worship leader for 10 years. Along with playing at the church, I was also involved in rock & jazz ensembles, performing in the Sioux Falls area and regionally.
I enjoy classical music, jazz, classic rock and funk bands, along with gospel and worship music.
Jonathan: Warship is the band that I’ve always wanted to start. Lol. The musicians included in this album were members of my worship team (mostly). Being musicians in South Dakota, most of the players have families and full-time jobs, greatly limiting our ability to rehearse regularly and have a consistent ensemble.
The name “Warship” is obviously a combination of ‘worship’ and ‘war’… I personally believe that when we worship, we battle against the plans of the enemy. Our ‘weapons’ are not swords or harsh words, but rather love and unity and focus towards Jesus and his calling for the Church. When we gather and sing together, the Lord unites his people and strengthens our hearts towards his righteous purposes… This world is a battle, and we are the soldiers. Who are we fighting for?
Jonathan: Honestly, I believe that God gave me these songs and asked me to “write them down, record them, and share them.” I’ve had the privilege of recording many tracks on The Psalms Project (Shane Heilman), in which the psalms are written into contemporary songs. The idea of singing ‘God’s word’ rather than ‘my words’ seemed appropriate to me. Often times in contemporary Christian music, it seems that there is an emphasis on the writer’s feelings or emotions, and potentially an over-emphasis on the ‘me and God’ relationship. While this is absolutely important, God’s word provides us much beyond that dynamic.
There is richness in scripture that I am unable to match… This seems very significant and potentially beneficial for the Church in modern times.
Jonathan: In the fall of 2022, I became increasingly frustrated at the inconsistency of different churches and denominations towards our calling as Christ-followers. Why are there so many disagreements within the body of Christ? It was this question that drew me towards the Sermon on the Mount. I wanted to get past the religion and focus on the original message of Christ and his instructions for his followers… hence, I went to the red letters.
My goal was to read and memorize this teaching as a “re-training” of my faith. Two months later, my father went into the hospital after a stroke. It was during my father’s final week of life that God began to transform the newly memorized text into melodies and songs. I remember sitting by my fireplace, wondering if my dad would make it or not, and I was thinking about the beatitudes when the first melody was gifted to me by God. Ten minutes later, the first song was written. Shortly after that, I heard a choir singing “rejoice, be glad, for great is your reward in heaven…” I couldn’t ignore this, so I made a quick voice memo which ended up being the first and second track. My father ended up passing away a week after his admission to the hospital. During the following weeks, the Lord gave me the next three tracks, ‘Salt & Light,’ ‘The Law’ and ‘Murder,’ completing the first four sections of the teaching. This is how the project began.
Jonathan: When I entered the 6th grade, I was presented with a Bible from my church (NIV). This is the bible that I still read today (although my dog got ahold of it and the cover and back are no longer attached). Sticking with this translation eliminated my brain from making a decision about translation or specific words. First was the memorization of the passage, then God gave me the songs. As the project continued, I did not feel the need to stray from this format. Aside from a few substitutions, I tried to maintain the entirety of the text word-for-word.
Jonathan: Tracks 1-5 were written in January & February of 2023, then recorded in May and released as SOTM Volume One in June of 2023. Tracks 6-10 were written in July of 2023, recorded that fall and released as SOTM Volume Two in December of 2023. Tracks 11-15 were written in December 2023 into January 2024. The final five tracks were written Jan-March of 2024. Recording of the final 10 tracks took place during the Summer and Fall of 2025.
The project came to completion in October of 2025, and was released on Thanksgiving (I was pretty thankful to be finished. lol) of 2025.
We had zero budget for this project, so we (Chris Hill and I) recorded in my band room and in Chris’s basement ‘studios’… The musicians (friends) were generous enough to donate some time to recording, but there was no rehearsing, and short sessions.
Jonathan: The songs are not uniform because the teaching is not uniform. ‘Salt & Light’ needed to be tender, while “The Law” needed depth and intensity…(the very beginning of The Law has chains hitting the ground, the sound of slaves). The Adultery track is intense because the text is intense. In the Oaths track, the chorus sounded like a reggae song, so I made it reggae. I tried to let the text define the style.
Also, the variety of styles seemed more appropriate for our modern world. People have a hard time focusing on one thing for too long, so the stylistic variation better represents our current state of attention.
Jonathan: Every section of this text has taught me about Jesus’ intention for my life. The passages that stand out to me (and continue to resonate in my mind) are found in the ‘Do Not Worry’ and ‘A Tree and it’s Fruit’ tracks.
“do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough troubles of it’s own.” – this give me comfort in trusting God with my today, and my tomorrow.
“not everyone who says to me ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter the kingdom of heaven” – this verse really holds me accountable to a true faith, and the application of that faith. It’s a constant heart-check.
Jonathan: My prayer is that God will open a door for the performance of Sermon on the Mount. If we had the opportunity to perform this music, I can hear the songs expanded in length with the incorporation of teaching and prayer throughout.
If not, perhaps this music will/could be used by a church as reinforcement for the teaching of these passages. I have learned to lay down my ambitions or expectations, and lean into the faithfulness of God. If He told me to write and share these songs, I trust they will be used for His purposes… It’s possible that God simply wanted me and Chris to learn this teaching, to equip us for continued ministry… if that’s the only reason for this, I’m ok with that. To God be the glory. I don’t presume to understand God’s intention through this music, but I believe this could make a really cool performance/worship experience.
It would be great to potentially re-record this album with professional vocalists (I don’t claim to be one).
If the Lord inspires me (or Chris) to write more scripture music, I would joyfully proceed. Chris is a prolific songwriter (unfortunately unnoticed in South Dakota) and I have worship songs to record as well. I’m looking at other passages in scripture that may lend themselves to musical support, but for now, I’m taking a breather… Chris has a few songs released under the name Brother Witness, check them out.
Jonathan: Hang gliding for sure. The battle has already been won. The Church needs to posture itself in confidence because of this victory.
