"I can worship at the golf course."
"I can worship while I'm hiking through the Rockies."
"I can worship seeing a beautiful sunrise as it comes up over the lake."
Yes, if a person is paying attention to his surroundings he can find countless reasons to give praise and to worship our Great Creator. Years ago I hiked through the Rockies with some friends and the majesty of the mountains and the wonder of 100 ft. tall waterfalls and the crystal waters of mountains lakes and streams, the countless shades of greens and browns in the forests and rocks... well, I could go on and on... all of it gave us many times to just stop and thank God and worship Him for His amazing work.
I hope all of you have those times when you are out in nature where you can stop and take a moment to worship. Look what Colossians 1:15-17 have to say about Jesus and creation.
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For everything was created by Him, in heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities - all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and by Him all things hold together.
But individual worship is not enough. We need corporate worship. (Corporate worship means worship together as a congregation.) Hebrews 10:23-25 Let us hold on to the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. And let us be concerned about one another in order to promote love and good works, not staying away from our meetings, as some habitually do, but encouraging each other, and all the more as you see the day drawing near.
Our congregation at Hilldale has had some very emotionally tiring weeks lately. We've had the highs of a great Passion Play and Easter morning celebrations and the lows brought by sickness, trials and memorial services for family and friends. As we gather on Sundays and worship our sovereign King together we share each others burdens, we rejoice together, we encourage each other...
This Sunday we will begin our worship services celebrating the great things God has done in our lives as we sing:
To God Be the Glory
Hear our Praises
Friend of God
But because we have met so many times lately to offer words of comfort to those who have lost family and friends in death, it is important that we offer up together words of faith, comfort, and hope. We will do this as we sing these two great song:
It Is Well
I Will Rise
We've celebrated the power of the Resurrection in the last few weeks and this week we can join the song of heaven.
"And I hear the voice of many angels sing 'Worthy is the Lamb.'
and I hear the cry of every longing heart, 'Worthy is the Lamb!'"
Showing posts with label together. Show all posts
Showing posts with label together. Show all posts
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Thursday, November 4, 2010
TOGETHER - Music for November 7th
Many people use the old excuse "I can worship God wherever I am" as an explanation of why they only come to church a few times a year. "I can worship God out on the golf course when I see how beautiful all of nature is." Well, yes, you can. But do you?
But besides that, there is great value in worshipping TOGETHER.
Others have started worshipping "on line." There are many churches that live stream their services (ours included) and some have gone so far as to actually set up their church where everyone just meets on line and chats and listens to a sermon. If you can't get out of your house because you are recovering from major surgery this is a great option, but there is great value in worshiping TOGETHER.
The same can be said for those who watch services on TV. It's a great option for those who can't get out and a good supplement if you want to hear more preaching and sing some more, but (again) there is great value in worshipping TOGETHER.
Together we join our voices in a great chorus of believers as we sing to God and about God and encourage each other with our singing. Together we show the world that in Christ people from all walks of life and all ethnic backgrounds are brothers and sisters. Together we share our joys and sorrows, we pray and care for each other, we model for our children how true followers of Jesus Christ live their lives, we live out Philippians 2:4 where we consider others as more important than ourselves...
Are you seeing the picture of how TOGETHER is important and better than by yourself?
Hebrews 10:24-25 And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.
Haha! Did you notice that? There were people out golfing during worship back when Hebrews was written!
One of the things that I think is very important in the church in our worshipping TOGETHER is singing songs that different people like. It's important for the teenagers to sing songs that grandma likes because they are considering her as more important than themselves. It's important for those who have been singing great hymns for 60 years to sing new things that the younger people like because then they are encouraging them. It's part of being a family and being TOGETHER.
One of the ways I like to do this is by pairing a great hymn with a new song.
One of the best pairings of old and new songs is singing "How Great Is Our God" and "How Great Thou Art" together. First of all, they are in the same key. That's makes it easy to go from one to the other. Second, they have texts that compliment each other. One directs our singing to each other encouraging each other to sing "How great is our God" while the other turns our praise directly to Him, "How great Thou art!"
Join us Sunday morning as we worship our great God TOGETHER.
But besides that, there is great value in worshipping TOGETHER.
Others have started worshipping "on line." There are many churches that live stream their services (ours included) and some have gone so far as to actually set up their church where everyone just meets on line and chats and listens to a sermon. If you can't get out of your house because you are recovering from major surgery this is a great option, but there is great value in worshiping TOGETHER.
The same can be said for those who watch services on TV. It's a great option for those who can't get out and a good supplement if you want to hear more preaching and sing some more, but (again) there is great value in worshipping TOGETHER.
Together we join our voices in a great chorus of believers as we sing to God and about God and encourage each other with our singing. Together we show the world that in Christ people from all walks of life and all ethnic backgrounds are brothers and sisters. Together we share our joys and sorrows, we pray and care for each other, we model for our children how true followers of Jesus Christ live their lives, we live out Philippians 2:4 where we consider others as more important than ourselves...
Are you seeing the picture of how TOGETHER is important and better than by yourself?
Hebrews 10:24-25 And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.
Haha! Did you notice that? There were people out golfing during worship back when Hebrews was written!
One of the things that I think is very important in the church in our worshipping TOGETHER is singing songs that different people like. It's important for the teenagers to sing songs that grandma likes because they are considering her as more important than themselves. It's important for those who have been singing great hymns for 60 years to sing new things that the younger people like because then they are encouraging them. It's part of being a family and being TOGETHER.
One of the ways I like to do this is by pairing a great hymn with a new song.
One of the best pairings of old and new songs is singing "How Great Is Our God" and "How Great Thou Art" together. First of all, they are in the same key. That's makes it easy to go from one to the other. Second, they have texts that compliment each other. One directs our singing to each other encouraging each other to sing "How great is our God" while the other turns our praise directly to Him, "How great Thou art!"
Join us Sunday morning as we worship our great God TOGETHER.
Thursday, April 17, 2008
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.
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.
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