“Why Do We Sing?”

oh my goodness what a sermon this morning. i was the only member of my family who was in the state this morning…but i’m glad i went to church. it’s always worth going but it seems like the times i could find a hundred excuses are the ones i most need to be at church. ahhh. i’m so glad i went.

here are some smatterings from my notes.  the passage was: Colossians 3:15-17

The Word of Christ should dominate in:

1. the TEACHING of the church
2. the COUNSELING of the church

if a fellow believer has not admonished me with the Word of God, than i am:

• perfect    or
• not loved

the mark of true growth is being able to receive correction from Christian brothers.”

1. the SINGING of the church

Hymns specifically speak the names and accomplishments of Christ.

Most great hymns make a big deal of the Cross.

We equate worship with music–as if they were synonyms. However, music is worship but worship is not music.

Verses 15-17–all present the attitude of the heart to be one of thankfulness

The good news is not that Christ is supreme but that Christ is supreme for us. **grateful people sing!

principles for singing in the church:

• lyrics: think clearly about God

lyrics should be smart statements proclaiming Christ. if the tune was so important, God would have given us the tune to the Psalms. too much substance is not an issue the church is finding in her music today.

• melody: feel warmly toward God

God wants our intellectual to connect with our emotional. The challenge is not allowing music to bypass the intellect and merely appeal to the emotions. **this is what happens when we sing because it makes us feel good and not because we are thinking consciously about the words. this is the dangerous power of music.

• instruments: skillfully aid singing

when you cannot hear yourself or others singing there is something wrong.

• peace: sacrifice preference to guard unity

we are a church family. thus we all have to sacrifice some of what we want for the benefit of the church. *forgiven people sing even when they don’t feel like it!

If you leave UNCHANGED, UNMOVED or UNAFFECTED….you HAVE NOT worshiped.

the sermon itself is not on the web yet but should be in mere hours. go to http://www.fbc.org/newmedia/ if you’d like to listen to it. i’d highly recomend it.

The Struggle To Overcome Commonplace

Today I’ve been hardcore studying (or cramming?) for my final exam in New Testament Survey that I’m taking on Tuesday. The subject matter truly is satisfying and incredibly intriguing. However, I honestly have to fight the urge to not skim what I’m studying. Not only is this a class that I’m taking for a grade but this is also the word of God (the Bible) I’m talking about here. I’ve been warned a hundred times (especially by those attending Moody) that it becomes a struggle to see the Bible as anything other than a textbook if you study it all day long.

I’m a big fan of personal, alone time with God. On my calendar, I literally “schedule in” God time. I call them “QTs” or quiet times. Scheduling them in may seem a bit harsh. But with life as busy as it is, I have to make time for them or they would never happen. (It’s kind of like scheduling a date—you write it down so you remember to show up) I notice the difference when I haven’t had my QT. I’m more irritable, less patient, less fun to be around and much less happy. Ironic…? I think its physical evidence of an inner reality…. a symptom of a need that has not been met.

So today, I’m trying to get as much out of my pages and pages of reading as I possibly can. I’m choosing not to read for a grade (yes I’m aiming for a good grade but this is more important) but instead to read for knowledge and understanding. The more I read this way the more I’m enthralled with the utter masterpiece the Bible truly is.  Wow.

Onward to Titus.

whew.

well this is how i spent 8 hours of my monday. yikes. 10 pages and much research later i had completed my “Survey of the New Testament World” paper…i could/should have written more but 10 pages was the limit. it was a nice feeling of accomplishment that i went to bed with. haha. 

i am…

such a Bible geek. i get excited about a really cool Bible like this one:

my family got me a gift-card to Lifeway for my birthday. yay! i’ve been looking at this NIV/KJV/NASB/AMP parallel Bible since before Christmas. i’m super excited about having all 4 versions available to me at one time…plus it works great as a defense item due to its extreme weight. could that be holy defense? hm…i’m still excited. off to read about the Israelites’ journey through the desert.