See 1 Peter 2:4-5. We are being built into a spiritual house. We are one with each other because we are united to our Lord.
TOGETHER
The best most perfect way that we have of expressing a sweet concord of mind to each other is by music. We have one faith, one Lord, filled by one Spirit, brought into one Church, to offer our praise to HIM!
Listening to each other mumbling quietly along as a band performs brilliantly on stage in a church building is not the same as singing together as a congregation.
We are members of a multi-generational, multi-ethnic, multi-everything family. We are not the center of the universe.
NO MAN IS AN ISLAND
Today there is a disturbing amount of believers who are not gathering weekly with the church. We do not have an individualistic faith, but a corporate one. We can't skip the cost of community. Community means we that we aren't just served, but we serve.
See Ephesians 5:18-20.
When it's time to sing, stop drinking your coffee, put your phone down and look around and listen to the people standing and singing around you. This is YOUR family. You are called to serve them, so sing!
SINGING AND RECLAIMING THE MILLENIAL GENERATION
"The ages eighteen to twenty-nine are the black hole of church attendance." - David Kinnaman
What is needed to help read that generation is not a gig or concert-like atmosphere but a congregational approach. They can get that outside of the church. They need God's people to act like God's people. Millennials are searching for creativity, communication and community.
(1). Creativity - Sometimes the simple thing done well makes a great impression. A great melody with moving lyrics, sung with an authentic gusto speaks more volumes that difficult songs that are hard to sing or play.(2). Communication - Are we communicating a deep faith through what we sing and how we sing it? Biblically rich songs, sung by people who look like they mean what they are singing, helps teach the gospel.(3). Community - We live in a fragmented era where people can live totally individualistic lives. Sometimes are churches are no different, having everyone segregated by age or by common needs. We need to put personal preferences aside and come together as one.
SINGING SHAPES OUR LEGACY
Antoni Gaudi, a great Spanish architect, laid the first stone to his Sagrada Familia cathedral. This was in 1882. It's scheduled to be completed in 2026. It will have taken 144 years to complete its construction.
We bear a responsibility in the singing legacy we leave behind us. We should be singing with the future in mind.
WHAT KIND OF CHURCH?
Every time you sing, you are expressing something about what kind of a church you want to be, and what kind of church member you are going to be.
Not all churches are healthy churches, but all healthy churches are singing churches. There are churches that cannot loudly sing due to their dangerous context, yet they will still whisper their songs because it is indespensable to their faith.
O CHURCH ARISE
Inspired by Ephesians 6:10-20 and Martin Luther, Keith Getty and Stuart Townend wrote the hymn O Church Arise.
"Music is a gift and grace of God, not an invention of man. Thus it drives out the devil and makes people cheerful." -- Martin Luther
Singing God's Word helps us put on our spiritual armor. We are a city on a hill shining in a dark world. Show up and sing up!
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
(1). How can we serve one another in church with regards to our preferences in congregational singing?
(2). How do you prepare for church on Sunday morning? On Saturday night?(2). How do you prepare for church on Sunday morning? On Saturday night?(3). What are ways you might respond when your church sings a song in a style you don't particularly enjoy or find engaging?(4). What are ways your church encourages the music as a communal experience?(5). How much of our church singing today equips us for spiritual battle?
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