What this song does in a room
"Great Things" hits a room like a window thrown open. The tempo is fast, the chorus is huge, and the lyric is unmistakable. Within the first chorus, most people are clapping without being asked. This is a song that does not need a hype build because the song is the hype. Your job is not to manufacture energy. Your job is to channel it. The danger with songs like this is that the band can drift into performance mode and the congregation can drift into spectator mode. When that happens, the song becomes a concert moment instead of a worship moment. The fix is simple: keep the chorus singable, keep your team smiling, and keep the focus on the room's voice instead of the stage's volume. When it lands right, the song genuinely sounds like a celebration of what God has done, which is exactly what it claims to be.
What this song is saying about God
The song's central claim sits on Psalm 126:3: "The Lord has done great things for us; we are glad." That psalm is a song of return from exile. The people were captives. Now they are free. Their mouths are filled with laughter. The chorus of this song is doing the same thing the psalm is doing. It is the corporate exhale of a people who remember they were rescued.
Luke 1:49 places the same language in Mary's mouth. "For he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name." Mary is pregnant with the Messiah and she names what God has done in the past tense, even though the most visible great thing is still nine months from arriving. The song borrows her grammar. The great things have already been done, and the singing is the response, not the request.
Colossians 1:13 deepens the rescue language: "He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son." The verses of the song echo this. The chains are broken. The grave is empty. The lyric is naming the work of Christ in compact, declarative phrases. There is nothing tentative about it. The cross has happened. The resurrection has happened. The kingdom has come.
The bridge often gets reduced to a chant in a live setting, but the words underneath are doing real theology. The great things God has done are not abstract greatness. They are specific: deliverance, freedom, forgiveness, life. The song hands your congregation a list of completed actions and asks them to celebrate the One who completed them.
Where to place this song in your set
This is a Gospel Ark celebration anthem. In the arc, it functions as the response to God's saving work, the moment where the room shouts because the rescue has happened. Place it as song one or song two in a set when you want to wake the room up and direct that wakefulness toward God.
It is also a strong choice after baptism, after a testimony, or as the opener for a series on freedom, redemption, or the resurrection. The song's energy aligns with the emotional content of those moments. Use it after communion as a sending song that pushes your people back into the week with joy on their faces.
Avoid placing it next to another up tempo song without a breath between them. The energy stacks too quickly and the room runs out of breath. Sandwich it between a mid tempo opener and a more reflective response so the set has dynamic contrast.
Practical notes for leading this song
Default male key B, female key D. Tempo 126 in 4/4. The tempo is the song. If your drummer rushes to 130, the chorus loses its pocket. If you drag to 120, the song deflates. Lock 126 and trust the click.
For the production side. Lighting: bright and active throughout, with movement cues on the chorus and a full state on the bridge. This is a song that wants visual energy. Audio: rhythm section locked in, electric guitar driving the choruses, kick and snare punchy and forward. ProPresenter: chorus repeats with the same lyric, but build separate slides for the bridge call and response so the room can track. Click: essential for this tempo, especially through the bridge where it is easy to drift.
Vocally, the verses move quickly and the phrasing can blur if your team is not crisp. Encourage clear diction in the verses so the lyric lands. The chorus is wide and singable and your vocal team should not embellish it. Sing it straight and let the room own it. Smile while you sing it. A song about great things led with serious faces feels dishonest. Model the joy you are asking the room to enter.
Songs that pair well
Songs in: "Glorious Day" sets up the resurrection theme. "Living Hope" warms up the rescue language. "Goodness of God" prepares the gratitude posture.
Songs out: "Build My Life" responds with surrender after the celebration. "Way Maker" extends the great things into ongoing expectation. "King of Kings" carries the redemption narrative forward.
Before you lead this song
You are about to give a room permission to celebrate what is already true. The cross has happened. The grave is empty. The chains are broken. Do not lead it like you are trying to convince yourself. Lead it like you remember. Let the room shout. Let the smiles be real.