Psalm 68 - Cue the Musicians!

A lot, actually it seems like most, of the psalms mention praising the Lord and/or singing God's praises. Psalm 68 is no exception.

3 But let the godly rejoice. Let them be glad in God’s presence. Let them be filled with joy.4 Sing praises to God and to his name! Sing loud praises to him who rides the clouds. His name is the LORD — rejoice in his presence!

But this psalm goes further. It describes God going into His sanctuary.

24 Your procession has come into view, O God— the procession of my God and King as he goes into the sanctuary.25 Singers are in front, musicians behind; between them are young women playing tambourines.

Singers and instrumentalists have always had a very important place in worshiping God. 

1 Chronicles 15: 16 David also ordered the Levite leaders to appoint a choir of Levites who were singers and musicians to sing joyful songs to the accompaniment of harps, lyres, and cymbals.

In Ezra and Nehemiah we read about how they appointed priests, Levites, singers, gatekeepers and temple servants.

AND.... we read in Job 38 that the morning stars (a choir) sang God's praises as the world was created.(I'm sure they were singing God's praises before creation.)

All of this to say, God loves choirs. When a person is part of a choir he/she is joining in a long line of singers and musicians that have been praising God since the beginning of time. The place of the singers is so important that they appointed singers when they appointed the priests and Levites and temple servants. 

I am so thankful for all of the singers and musicians who give extra time each week for rehearsals so they can present their best as they lead us in worship each week. 

Some of you reading this may need to join a choir - the one at Hilldale or the one wherever you attend church.

It is a high calling to be a singer or musician (instrumentalist) leading out in joyful praise to God. Are you following your calling? 

And....I guess I should say that even if you're not in a choir you should sing - whether you're any good or not - with the congregation as they sing. God is worthy of all our praise. 

Wednesdays (and why I love choir)

I love Wednesdays!
Our local weather man calls them "Huuuuuuuuump day" and sounds sort of like Tony the Tiger when he says it. (It's a little embarassing.) (Leland, didn't mean to trash talk you here in front of the whole world.)
But I love Wednesdays - not because the week is half over, but because we get to sing in choir.

Singing lifts the spirit.
Singing lowers blood pressure.
Singing in a choir is fun because:
    you're with your firends
     it sounds better than just you in your car
     if (when) you hit a bad note there are others to help cover it up
     the director is wonderful (hahaha - was that too much?)
Singing in a church choir is great because:
     singing for the Lord is sooo awesome
     it's a wonderful way to worship not on ly on a Sunday morning in a worship service, but on Wednesday night too.
Singing in a church choir is great because the texts of the songs
     help tell your heart story
     help you express your love for God
     tell others of God's greatness and glory and wonder and more

OK. All that's just off the top of my head. Just think how much I could write here if I thought about it for a while.

Maybe YOU should leave a comment with why YOU think choir on Wednesday is such a great deal.

Choir Tonight

Of course there is choir tonight. It's Wednesday!

We were going to record a few songs tonight, but the equipment isn't around right now. I don't really remember the story of what happened to it, but I trust Perry and Scott and they say we can do it next week.

So instead of recording tonight we will begin about 6:15 and sing straight through the Passion Play music. We'll do our best to not stop so we can sing all of it tonight. (We mentioned 6:15 last week as a starting time rather than staying later.)

Don't forget group rehearsals next week.
Group A - Monday at 6:00.
Group B - Tuesday at 6:00
Group C - Thursday at 6:00

These will be short (maybe 45 minutes) but very important staging rehearsals.

I'll post an updated rehearsal schedule here later today.

See you tonight!!

My Preacher Missed Something Important (in yesterday's sermon)

Haha! I would never really just put up a post critical of my pastor's sermons, but I thought that might catch your eye and that you then might read my post.

My Sr. Pastor, Dr. Larry D. Robertson, is preaching a great sermon series from the book of Nehemiah. They are titled "What's the Difference?" You can hear them / see them on our church website. http://www.hilldale.org/

Yesterday's sermon was "Rebuilding a Wall or Rebirthing a Witness." It was taken from Nehemiah 7 and a verse or two from Nehemiah 11.

So... as we read some verses from Nehemiah 7 I saw something very important that he left out.

OK. I know when you are preaching through a book of the Bible that you can't mention everything or you would never finish. There are so many wonderful truths in the Bible we can study it every day and each day the Holy Spirit shows us more truth about God, ourselves, etc. etc.

I'm not criticizing Bro. Larry at all. It's just fun to say "he missed something" because he always has such wonderful sermons.

Here's what I saw. Nehemiah 7:1
"Now when the wall was rebuilt and I had set up the doors, and the gatekeepers and the singers and the Levites were appointed,"

Here's what I see. The wall was rebuilt so it was important to get some people in place. The most important positions to fill would naturally be the first ones filled and the ones mentioned.

Look at the list again. Gatekeepers - really important for protecting the city. Levites (the priests) - really important for taking care of the sacrifices and teaching scripture.
Did you see the other group mentioned?  The singers!

I've said this many times and this verse just says it again. God loves choirs. God loves for His people to sing His praises. The musicians who lead in worship have always been important: just as important as protecting the city, just as important as the sacrifices. It was the singers full-time job to be singers in the temple - to practice together, to develop their skills, to lead in worship, to BE worshippers.

The biggest choir we should have every week is our congregation as we sing together. But more importantly is the need for trained musicians (instrumentalists and singers) to lead in worship. People who will spend time each week in rehearsal so they bring their very best to worship Sunday by Sunday.

For those of you who have answered God's call to sing in a choir - hooray for you! (I know some of my readers live other places besides Clarksville. Thank you for singing in your local church choir.)

For those of you who used to sing in a choir but for one reason or another have sort of dropped out - this is the perfect time to get back in choir.

The First Wednesday

It's the first Wednesday of the new year!

That means it's the first choir rehearsal of the new year. ♪ ♫ ♪ ♫

That means it's the PERFECT time to join a choir!! ♫ ♪ ♫ ♪ ♫

♪ ♫ ♪ ♫

If you live in Clarksville and you aren't already active in another local church come by Hilldale tonight and check out our choir.

FAQ (frequently asked questions)

Do I have to audition to be in choir?

NO! Never! Maybe for a solo, but not for singing in choir.

Where do you meet?

The choir room is located directly behind the Sanctuary. There are doors on both sides of the stage area that open to a long hall that takes you back to the choir room.

What time do you meet?

6:30-7:30 (longer times when it is close to Christmas or Easter)

We have a great time in choir. We laugh, we sing, we pray together... it's a fantastic pick-me-up for the middle of the week.

I'll look for you tonight!

A Little Inspiration - Smile

It's sometimes difficult to smile when you are up in a choir loft. (We have video to prove it. hahaha.) If you are in my choir you'll often see me mouth the words "smile, your still on camera!"

I was sent a video the other day that shows just a little of what we are looking for on a Sunday morning so that our choir looks great on camera. Be sure and watch to the end (or fast forward if you have a short attention span) because it has a really cool ending!



Don't forget choir rehearsal tonight at 6:30. We'll sing some Christmas music tonight as well as get ready for the next few Sunday mornings.

Christmas Is Coming

♫ ♪ It's Beginning to Look a lot Like Christmas♫ ♪ (the choir room is getting all Christmassy)

♪♫ It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year♪ ♪ ♫ (Choirs get to celebrate longer than anyone else!)

♫ I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas ♪ ♪ ♫ (as long as the snow comes after our performances)

Tomorrow night at 6:30 is our annual Christmas Preview Party in choir. Actually, you'll probably want to come a little early to fill your plate so you don't miss any of the music! Bring someone with you who needs to be in choir. Call up your missing friend. This is the perfect time to join choir.

See you tomorrow night!

Here's an old picture of Papa and Gibson from 2003.

Last Night's Choir

We had a great time in choir last night. We had prizes, sang some great songs and then everyone surprised me with birthday balloons, cake and cards!

How fun!

There's usually someone who sort of slips up and lets me know something is up, but this time I was surprised. Thanks!



And what could be more fun than eating birthday cake with a bunch of folks who are too afraid to leave because of the tornado sirens going off? Hahaha!



Here is the score so far.

Oh, first off. If you weren't here you don't know that Bro. Tim has decided he wants to be in on the contest. He can't get points for being in choir, but he can get points for inviting people. He had two new choir members there last night, so he already has 100 points!
The altos did REALLY well last night, so everyone else has some catching up to do!

So here is the score:

Sopranos - 450
Altos - 610
Men - 390
Tim - 100

Friends Are Friends Forever

No, I'm not going to sing Michael W. Smith's song, but I do want to mention again the wonderful bond we have as followers of Jesus Christ. Last May I posted about this.

http://hilldaleworship.blogspot.com/2008/05/blest-be-tie-that-binds.html

Now these friends that I blogged about last year are in town! They are headed over to my house even as I type. It will be fun catching up with each other and laughing together again.

One of the things this reminds me of is that we are making these kinds of friendships now at Hilldale. As we share times of worship and rehearsal and big productions like "the Tree" and the Passion Play, and as we invest in each others' lives - spending time together through the joys of new babies and the sorrows of funerals - we strengthen those bonds of Christian love.

Many of you do that with your LifeGroups. That is a wonderful thing. If you're not in a LifeGroup you need to find one. You can also do this through other groups - singing in choir, playing on a ball team, etc.

Well, I could probably go on about this, but they will be here soon and I need to put some dishes in the dishwasher.

Call up a friend today and tell them how much you love them.

Tennis Numbers

I don't know a lot about sports. I hardly ever watch sporting events. It's not so much not liking them as being totally lost and not understanding what is going on.

Tennis is a great example of that. I heard this morning that some guy had won the US Open again for the - well, he's won a whole lot. Hold on, I'll look it up.

OK. It's Roger Federer and he's won 56 singles titles in his career and before this win he had earned over $41,000,000 (that's 41 million!) playing tennis.

Here's the part that I found amazing. They said he was middle aged for a tennis player. He's 27! MIDDLE AGED?!? oh my! That's a number I'll never understand.

Here's another funny thing about tennis - the way they keep score. If you don't have any points it's called "love". That I can understand. It's kind of like saying, "Bless your heart. You don't have any points." Then you get a point but instead of just one you get 15. That's pretty cool. Another point and you're at 30. I figure it was made up by a fourth grade teacher who wanted to teach her class to count by 15s.

I'm understanding it so far, but then the next one is 40. That just makes me want to say, "Bless your hearts. You don't know how to count by 15. You need to go back to fourth grade."

And don't even ask me about 6-0, 6-3, 6-4. No clue here.

But here's a nice thing about tennis. You don't have to understand the scoring and you don't have to be young to enjoy playing.

What does that have to do with worship? Well, I just thought it was all kind of amusing to think about, but then I realized that a lot of people don't understand all of the number things about music. 4/4 time, tempo 120, repeat back to m.23... those kinds of things. And then there are all of those symbols! But here's the cool thing about music. You don't have to understand all of the numbers and notes and symbols to enjoy singing and to be a part of one of our choirs.

Our adult choir meets on Wednesdays at 6:30 at the Family Life Center.

Children's choirs meet on Sunday nights at 4:30 and the youth choir meets on Sunday nights at 5:00.

I hope you'll overcome your fear of "reading" and understanding music and enjoy music with us.

God Loves Choirs - part 2

If you were in choir last night then you heard most of this, but it dawned on me as we were singing the chorus of Forever I'll Praise You (which is Sunday's anthem) another reason why God loves choirs.





We were singing without the piano so we could hear all of the notes - and it sounded GORGEOUS! The harmonies were so lovely and there was a beautiful balance between the parts and nice vowel sounds and the whole deal...





and it hit me - boom! This is why God loves choirs. Partly because of the beauty of the harmonies, partly because of the praise that is offered but also because what we were doing at that moment was a perfect example of how we should be as a church.




Ivy Mike http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivy_Mike

Huh?





Yes! At that moment, it wasn't about me, it wasn't about you or him or her, it was about God and we were each bringing our best, blending our voices together, me listening to you and him and her - each listening to the others so that no voice stood out and my voice complimented yours and yours complemented mine and together we were able to do much more than addition of voices, it was multiplication or even more like fusion - creating something bigger than the individual parts would normally add up to.




Fusion http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_fusion

Wow. I'm just rattling on and probably not making much sense.





Some of us read music, some don't, some can sing solos, many cannot, some have deep Southern accents, some moved here from North of the Mason-Dixon line. But in a choir, all of that fades away as we work together and blend our voices together - putting aside our own preferences, not flaunting our own abilities, but submitting to the direction of another we become and do and make something WONDERFUL. How cool is that? And it is the perfect example of how we as a church should be in everything.



Ps 34:3 - Show Context
Glorify the Lord with me; let us exalt his name together.


You may finish this sermonette with your own examples of how this could work in Life Groups, mission endeavors, etc.

God Loves Choirs!

Singing in a choir is partly for the singers. It is a lot of fun. There is great teamwork involved and a real sense of accomplishment when you work hard on something for some time and then it sounds and looks wonderful (like the Passion Play or The Tree or Sunday morning worship).

But choirs are also for God. He must like them because He had choirs in worship from the time His people established worship in the temple. The singers lived near each other and the tithes and offerings brought to the temple paid their salaries. How cool is that? They had all the instruments playing too. There is a great story of the celebration of the rebuilding of the wall in Jerusalem in Nehemiah 12. They had singers come from all over and they divided them into two choirs and had choir directors and everything. Choirs are always a part of grand celebrations.

The western wall in Jerusalem. Is this the one Nehemiah built? I don't remember.

Now some will argue that there aren't choirs or instruments in the New Testament. Perhaps I'll address that in another post. Let's just say they haven't thought everything through biblically.

God has always had choirs. Job talks about the morning stars singing together at creation. Job 38 Some think Job is referring to the stars, some say it references angels, but either way, there was a choir singing God's praises.

Jesus said that if we didn't praise Him that the very rocks would cry out. There was a song we sang at youth camp one year that said something about not letting some rock take my place...

This is the "singing rock" in Santa Cruz, Portugal. It has a hole in it that "sings" as the waves and tide come and go. Pretty cool.

All of this to say - our church needs you in choir. Not just in the congregation. Singing in choir is more than just singing along in worship. It is getting together and working up great songs together for God's glory. I hope I'll see you in choir tonight. I don't have any rocks to take your place.

You and Me and the FLC

As Bro. Larry mentioned Sunday we're into the final countdown to the FLC grand opening. I know it will be exciting as we are able to use this new facility to reach out to our community. Rebecca St. James will be in concert May 25 for the grand opening!

I am looking forward to some racquetball, myself. I'm afraid Bro. Larry has stirred up a lot of competition for me.

Some of you are wondering how this will affect us as a choir. Our third service is designed to reach people who are not attending church now. If you want to attend that service you need to do two things.

1. You need to volunteer to teach a children's class.

2. You need to find someone to take your place in choir.

We will have choir rehearsal at the FLC beginning in June. We're actually going to meet in the aerobics room! Afterwards we can all hit the basketball courts and the walking track for some exercise.

A Good Day

We had a good day at Hilldale today. The choir sounded great on their song and Tyson did a great job with the solo. The congregation sang well - even on songs that were a little new to them. Our guest speaker, Dr. Geoff Hammand, President of the North American Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention, delivered a powerful challenge to us to Seize a Divine Moment.
Then, Sunday night we heard mission reports in the service, had a good number in AWANA and LIFE University and - the part that has to do with music/worship - we had a great handbell rehearsal and StudentZ PraiZe choir rehearsal with 40 students there.

And... I had two flute players and a clarinet player tell me they were going to come to our Wind and Fire rehearsal.

It is so fun to have everyone all excited about our music/worship ministry. I see really great days ahead as we work and rehearse together getting ready for missions and worship and special events adn "the tree" and more. Woohoo!

Whenever I can get access to a computer and the internet I'll put a note here on the blog about my mission trip to Wales.

I Am Blessed!

This is a special fill in the blank post

I am blessed at work by _____________
My home is blessed because God _______________
I am blessed at church through ______________
Singing in choir blesses me because _______________

I will help bless others this Sunday because I will be in the choir loft singing "I Am Blessed"

God Loves Choirs

I know you think I'm just saying that 'cause this is our Worship Ministry/Music blog and I'm supposed to say things like that... but it's really true! God loves choirs. Here's how I know.
You see a choir first when the Morning Stars sang at creation Job 38:7. (I'm sure there was singing in heaven before that.) The singers in the temple were full-time employees paid like the priests with the tithes and offerings of the people. How cool is that? And of course there is singing going on now around the Lamb's throne where someday we will join in the singing.

In the mean time, what we do here week by week on Sundays is just a great preview of what is to come. For those of you who sing in our choir - THANK YOU! To those just passing through reading blogs - find a choir and join in.

"But I can't sing", you may say. Then sing with the congregation during worship. Those in the pews are our biggest choir. (and there's safety in numbers!) God loves to hear you sing. Just remember Ps 98:4 "Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all the earth: make a loud noise, and rejoice, and sing praise."

I'll be looking for you Sunday. Let's make a joyful noise together!

MMLC - August 10-11

The Tennessee Music Ministry Leadership Conference is coming in August. August 10-11 to be exact. This is an incredible opportunity that only happens every other year.

The Tennesse Baptist Men's Chorale and Ladies'Chorus will be singing, but even more exciting than that is The Annie Moses Band willbe there. Oh my! They are really, really wonderful!

The conference is at Brentwood Baptist Church in (duh) Brentwood. The cost is $25, but that covers your lunch and materials. What a deal!

CONFERENCE DESCRIPTIONS & LEADERS

COMPUTER HELPS FOR MUSIC MINISTRY For music ministers, music librarians, music teachers, and others - Jim Faull, Founder/CEO, Worship Ministry Solutions, Kennesaw, GA

ADULT MUSIC MINISTRY For Adult Choir/Worship Choir Leaders and Members, Ministers of Music, Worship Leaders, Senior Adult Choir Leaders - Billy Orton, Minister of Music and Worship, First Baptist Church, Huntsville, AL

PRAISE BAND MINISTRY For Praise Band leaders and members who use “contemporary” styles in worship - Chip Leake & Praise Band, Worship Pastor, Thompson Station Baptist Church, TN

PRAISE TEAM MINISTRY (VOCAL) For Praise Team singers and leaders who use “contemporary” styles in worship - Kim Nobblitt, G3 Worship Music, Hurst, TX

KEYBOARD MINISTRY For Pianists, Organists, and Keyboard players• Ron Boud, Professor of Music, Union University, Jackson, TN & • Heather Sorenson, Lillenas Arranger, Music Associate, Lavon Drive Baptist Church, Dallas, TX

YOUTH MUSIC For Ministers of Music, Youth Music Ministry Leaders, Youth Choir Sponsors - Jonathan Nelms, Associate Pastor of Music, First Baptist Church Cookeville, TN

INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC MINISTRY For Orchestra Directors, Instrumental Ensemble Leaders, Music Ministers who use instruments in solo, or ensemble forms - Kenn Hughes, Asst. Minister of Music/instrumental, Hermitage Hills Baptist Church, Hermitage, TN

HANDBELL MINISTRY For Handbell Choir Directors and Ringers - Tim Waugh, Handbell Clinician and Fine Arts Director, Bluefield, WV

PRESCHOOL /CHILDREN’S MUSIC MINISTRY For directors, workers, leaders of preschool and/or children's choirs
For Experienced:• Preschool - Susan Eernisse Music Teacher grades K-12 at in Lyons, GA; Robert Toombs Christian Academy Lyons, GA• Younger Children - Vicki Wright Organist/Arranger Nashville, TN• Older Children - Terry Taylor Minister of Music First Baptist Church Dothan, AL
For Less Experienced:• Preschool - Libby Carlton Founder/Teacher Catawba Community Music Program Salisbury, NC• Younger Children - Beth Coleman Children’s Music Director/Teacher First Baptist Church Winter Park, FL• Older Children - Beth McCoy Children’s Music Director/Educator Abingdon, VA

The conference schedule includes some times of worship and special times of reflection on how the ministry of music has impacted our lives. There is also on-site resource displays and vendors.

You'll be hearing more about this in the next few weeks. I'd like to see 50 people attend from Hilldale.