The Benediction (February 27th, 2022)

This is the eighth sermon in the ‘Liturgy for Life’ series.

Scripture Reading: Numbers 6:22-27

Introduction: When we gather together, there comes a point that someone must end the gathering. Sometimes we say a prayer, give a final word, shake hands, etc. The way we part with each other ends our gathering and sends us to our next experience.

There is something the Bible gives us– a practice and a liturgy for ending our worship gatherings that goes back at least 5000 years. We call it a benediction.

Read through Numbers 6:22-27. In this passage, God tells Moses to tell Aaron – the high priest who is also the worship leader – that this is what he should say to the people of Israel to end their gatherings and to send them out. The book of Numbers is about Israel’s journey in the wilderness, but before Israel is sent out into the wilderness, God gives them these words of blessing to give them boldness, endurance, and hope.

We desire something like this– something that enables us to go out into the world and face anything. This is why the benediction is a part of our Sunday liturgy.

1. Our Search For It

We need to realize that a benediction is something that every single human being is in search of. We long for more than a “take care” or “have a good day.” A benediction is unique because when we give it we speak goodness over or into someone. 

Humans being blessed by God began back in the creation story:

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” And God saw everything that he had made, and behold it was very good. – Genesis 1:27-28

When God blesses Adam and Eve, he does more than just speak good words over them. God also empowers them. To bless is to confer/give the ability to be and do what God has made them to do and be. Blessing is 1) affirmation of good and 2) empowerment to do good.  

Every person needs the affirmation that are loved and that they can do good. People search for this in all sorts of ways but what we’re all ultimately searching for is our Creator to give us this blessing of affirmation. God gives us this in Numbers 6. It is part of our liturgy to affirm believers of God’s favor upon their lives and empower believers to do the good works which God has set before them

2. How We Find It

The story of Jacob in Genesis is the story of someone who desperately sought for a blessing for most of his life. He did not have a blessing from his father, Isaac, but he desired it so much that he cheated his brother Esau out of his blessing and tore their family apart. Jacob did not get the blessing that he needed until he encountered God, wrestled with him, and finally sought a blessing from him as opposed to that of anyone else. 

When God blessed Jacob, he gave him a new identity. He went from being Jacob, a name which implies that he is a trickster, to being Israel which means “he who strives/wrestles with God.” In the same way, the blessing that we need the most is God’s blessing. His blessing gives us the strength to be who he says we are: namely, that we are his children and have his favor. 

The blessing that we most need is one from God, but the reality is that we have not earned a blessing from God. How can God bless someone who has earned the opposite, a curse? The reason God can bless people who have not earned it is revealed in how the benediction is placed at the end of the service. The benediction comes after God tells us that he has redeemed us from our sin. Galatians 3:13-14 tells us that on the cross Jesus received the curse which we deserve and in return gave us the blessing which he deserves. 

God can bless us because Jesus has earned his blessing and has freely given that blessing to us. When our faith is in Christ we can confidently take hold of the blessings of God knowing that what Jesus has given to us is truly ours.

3. When We Have It

There are two things to do when we have taken hold of God’s blessing:

1. Take it with you.

A blessing is received at the end of a gathering or meeting not simply as a pleasant word of goodbye, but as a pronouncement of reality. In the same way that two people are considered married when the priest pronounces them husband and wife, the blessing of the benediction effectively pronounces something true for us. The benediction is like the north star which you can look to for assurance and guidance throughout your daily life. It personally anchors us to God and reminds us that even if we fail and lose our way, the blood of Jesus covers us always and that God is always working to sanctify us and give us peace.

1. Give it to others.

Perhaps one of the most radical teachings of Christianity is that we are taught to bless those who curse us. Not just people who pronounce curses upon us in word, but also deed. We are called to bless those who actively work against us. This is taught multiple times across scripture: Luke 6:28, Romans 12:14, and 1 Peter 3:9, but how can we do this? We are only truly able to bless those who curse us when we have received God’s blessing and his Holy Spirit. When Jesus was cursed by those who crucified him, he did not return their behavior in kind. Instead, he trusted himself to God the Father whose blessing he already had (1 Peter 2:23 & Matthew 3:17). In the same way, we are not only able to endure the curses which people send our way, but we can bless them in return by entrusting ourselves to God’s blessing.

REFLECT OR DISCUSS

1. What did you think of the benediction before this sermon?

2. Do you think that you deserve a curse or a blessing? How can knowing that Jesus offers you his blessing change your life?

3. Is there anything that prevents you from blessing other people whether they curse you or not?

4. In what ways has the benediction been significant for you?

5. Why do you personally need the benediction?

6. In what ways do you search for affirmation or empowerment apart from God?

7. The benediction should give us more confidence, boldness, strength, and endurance in the Lord. Which of these could you use more of in your day-to-day life?

YOUR DAILY LITURGY 

In this series, we will be encouraged to “take ownership” of our daily liturgies (patterns, habits). Saying, “I’m so busy,” “I go with the flow,” or “I just go about my day” are examples of not taking ownership of the shape and structure of our lives. How can the shape and pattern of my daily life be built around the gospel of Jesus Christ? 

1. How can you take the benediction with you throughout the week?

2. How can you use the liturgy of the benediction to bless others?

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Click here to watch the sermon on YouTube.

The Lord's Supper (February 20th, 2022)

This is the seventh sermon in the ‘Liturgy for Life’ series.

Scripture Reading: 1 Cor. 10:16-17; 11:17-26

In the sacraments, God has given us signs and seals for our spiritual growth and nourishment. Last week we studied baptism, and this week we will study something that we do bi-weekly at Trinity: The Lord’s Supper, also known as Communion.

The Priority of the Lord’s Supper

There are many gray areas in scripture concerning what we do when we gather for worship, but the priority of the Lord’s Supper being a liturgy in the life of the Christian is not one of them. Three of the Gospels record the Lord’s Supper. At this meal, Jesus commands his disciples to eat this meal together again and to do it in remembrance of him as often as they do. The Lord’s Supper is nonnegotiable for the Christian.

In 1 Corinthians 10 and 11, Paul shows how the Lord’s Supper is a counter liturgy to the sinful liturgies which the Corinthians haven’t broken free from– this included suing, irreconcilable conflict, sexual immorality, disorder within the church. Taking the Lord’s Supper habitually can transform all areas of life. 

Eating and Drinking…

… in the biblical context

Eating and drinking in biblical times did not have the same connotation that eating and drinking have in modern, Western society. To eat and drink with someone meant you accepted their friendship and were unified with them. Jewish people of the time would never eat with Gentiles or a fellow Jew that they thought was living an unfaithful or unrighteous life. To eat and drink with them would mean you approved of their life and status before God, and that you shared status.

The act of eating and drinking is everywhere in the Bible. In Isaiah 55 the invitation to come to God is pictured as an invitation to eat and drink with Him. Jesus shocks the Jews when He eats with tax collectors and sinners in Luke 5. When Jesus returns, He plans to have a wedding feast with His bride. The end goal of the Bible is for us to eat and drink with God. This means fellowship and communion as we share in who He is. 

..the Lord’s Supper

At the Lord’s Supper, the Lord is the host and He is the one serving us. This meal is not about what we do to prepare ourselves to take it. It’s not our supper, but His supper– and He is present at His supper. What happens at the Lord’s Supper happens – not because of what’s in our mind, our heart, our actions. Jesus is truly spiritually present at His Supper.

…the Body and the Blood

Recounting the words of Jesus when he establishes this meal, Paul writes: 

“This is my body…this cup is the new covenant in my blood” – 1 Corinthians 11:24-25

We call these the words of institution because these words that Jesus spoke over the bread and wine are what make this meal special and powerful. 

During Jesus’ time, bread and wine represented the two main staples of human sustenance and the two gifts of God to sustain human life. Just as bread and wine are God’s gifts to nourish and strengthen us physically, this meal is God’s gift to nourish and strengthen us spiritually. The Lord’s Supper is how the life and death of Jesus get inside us.

…in Remembrance

The background for the Lord’s Supper is the Jewish Passover feast. At the Passover meal with his disciples before he died, Jesus transformed the most important biblical feast/meal into His supper. At the institution of the Passover, God told the people of Israel:

“This day is to be a memorial (Day of remembrance) for you, and you must celebrate it as a festival to the Lord. You are to celebrate it throughout your generations as a permanent statute.”  – Exodus 12:14 

In scripture, remembering is not just mentally recalling facts and information. When we remember the words of God we remember who Jesus is and who we are. We fix our eyes on something true for us. 

…the One Bread

In 1 Corinthians 10:17, Paul encourages the church to share in one bread, yet in chapter 11 Paul writes about wealthier people who were eating and drinking with each other before the poor could arrive. Rather than partaking as a family and as equals, some Christians in Corinth were showing partiality. Paul is clear that those who divide the church are unworthy to come to the Lord’s Supper and are eating and drinking judgment upon themselves. We must partake together and allow the Lord’s Supper to build unity among us as we remember our reconciliation to God and man.

… until He Comes

As we wait for the second coming of Christ and the wedding feast, we remember what Christ has accomplished in the past and what he has given to us in the present to spiritually nourish and strengthen us.

“For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.”  – 1 Corinthians 11:26

REFLECT OR DISCUSS

1. Did not taking the Lord’s Supper during Covid-19 make a difference in your life? Do you miss the Lord’s Supper when you go for a while without taking it?

2. How does this overview of the Lord’s Supper change your thinking about it? how might it change your experience of it? 

3. How can our need for physical nourishment teach us about our need for the Lord’s Supper?

4. How is the Lord’s Supper a sign and seal? How does this  assure us?

5. Which aspect of the Lord’s Supper – as described above – do you most need at this time in your life your right now? 

YOUR DAILY LITURGY 

In this series, we will be encouraged to “take ownership” of our daily liturgies (patterns, habits). Saying, “I’m so busy,” “I go with the flow,” or “I just go about my day” are examples of not taking ownership of the shape and structure of our lives. How can the shape and pattern of my daily life be built around the gospel of Jesus Christ? 

1. What are some ways you can let the Lord’s Supper nourish you during the service?

2. What is an aspect of your identity that can be strengthened by remembering Christ when you take the Lord’s Supper?

3. Have you ever talked about the importance of the Lord’s Supper with your friends or family? If not, have a conversation about this.

Click here for the full pdf version.

Click here to watch the sermon on YouTube.

Baptism (February 13th, 2022)

This is the sixth sermon in the ‘Liturgy for Life’ series.

Scripture Reading: Acts 2:37-47

In the sacraments, God has given us signs and seals for our own spiritual growth and nourishment. One of the most underutilized gifts and resources God gives us is our baptism. When we remember our baptism, we can rest in the truth that we are the Father’s beloved child, whom he is well pleased in. Our baptism announces the reality that we are clean before God and have been given new hearts.  

The Priority of Baptism

The First Thing the Church Does: In Chapter 1 of Acts, Jesus ascends into heaven and tells his followers to wait for the Holy Spirit. In Chapter 2 of Acts, the Holy Spirit is poured out and the people ask Peter and the apostles what they should do. Peter says “repent and be baptized (2:37).” Baptism was given priority in the first church. When people gathered together and received Jesus, they were first baptized. Baptism came before teaching, communion, and fellowship because baptism signified a new beginning. 

• Repenting means a complete change of direction, change of mind/heart, turning from the way you are headed, turning to a whole new way of life… centered on Jesus.  

• To be baptized with water symbolizes a new beginning.

Baptism is the sacrament of entrance. On one side of this water is a life oriented around ourselves. On the other side of this water is a life oriented around Jesus Christ. Baptism is a reminder to Christians of what it means to be a Christian. It us that believing in Jesus means the end of our old self and the start of a new self. We don’t fit Jesus into our plans and lives; we fit our plans and lives into Him. Many churches place their baptismal font at the entrance of the church to be a reminder of this new life in Christ.

The Meaning of Baptism

Baptism is also a “means of grace” – one of the main ways God gives us the grace to live this new way of life. However, it isn’t a magic button. Rather, God gives us baptism as a sign and seal, similar to how we think of a wedding ring. Baptism works as a sign that points us to Jesus and a seal that confirms what he has done is real and true for us personally. 

A Sign and Seal of…

• God’s pleasure over us–We are baptized in the name of Christ, and thus we are baptized into who Jesus is. When God looks at us, he can call us his beloved children with whom he is well pleased, because we are in Christ. 

• God’s pardon for us– We are baptized for the forgiveness of sins, meaning our shame and guilt are removed. 

• God’s power in us– We are given the Holy Spirit and should not look to our strength to empower us. 

• God’s promise to us– Our faith is strengthened when we remember those promises which baptism points to. 

• God’s pursuit of us– Baptism reminds us not to look to our pursuit of God but God's pursuit of us, no matter how much our faith wavers. 

• God’s people and us– We become a part of a new family when we are baptized: the Church.

Our need for these signs and seals is like our need for road signs on a long journey. We can be discouraged, filled with doubt, anxious, and tired on a long journey where there are few road signs. Baptism is like a road sign that reassures us by pointing to Jesus and what is true of all who believe in him. It is a great comfort to those who might feel lost, broken and need strength to continue on the road of following after Jesus.

The Liturgy of Baptism

• Sunday: Baptism is not something we do for ourselves. It is meant to be a part of the liturgy of the church. It signifies the official welcome, entrance into the church. This is important for the person being baptized and for everyone else who is witnessing the baptism. We welcome individuals into the people of God as a family! We witness their entrance into new life and should seek to remind each other of this.

• Everyday: Martin Luther, the leading Protestant Reformer, struggled his whole life with doubts and fears. It’s said that he wrote the words “I am baptized” in chalk on his desk. Consider making baptism part of your liturgies, such as knowing the date you were baptized or remembering it in your mind when you struggle with doubts or fears. 

REFLECT OR DISCUSS

1. Share if and how you were baptized. If you can remember your baptism, what did this event in your life mean to you?

2. How has your perspective on baptism changed or developed throughout the years?

3. In what ways do you underutilize the resource of baptism? 

4. How does baptism remind Christians what it means to be a Christian (and show non-Christians what it means to be a Christian)? See Romans 6:1-4 for help.

5. How is baptism a sign and seal? How can it assure and encourage us? How might having a physical, visible and tangible sacrament help us when we doubt the reality of our faith, the reality of God?

6. What promises does baptism point to that most you struggle to believe? (see section A Sign and Seal of…)

YOUR DAILY LITURGY 

In this series, we will be encouraged to “take ownership” of our daily liturgies (patterns, habits). Saying, “I’m so busy,” “I go with the flow,” or “I just go about my day” are examples of not taking ownership of the shape and structure of our lives. How can the shape and pattern of my daily life be built around the gospel of Jesus Christ? 

1. What are some practical ways you could remember your baptism in your weekly liturgy?

Click here for the full pdf version.

Click here to watch the sermon on YouTube.

Life in Community (February 6th, 2022)

This is the fifth sermon in the ‘Liturgy for Life’ series.

Scripture reading: Romans 16:1-16

Every week, at some point, we have a time we call “life in community” greetings, “announcements,” and whoever is up front asks you to stand up and greet each other. This may feel like an interruption in the service rather than part of a liturgy. However, Paul reminds us of the importance and power of community in Scripture as a model for church and daily liturgies.

The Need for Life in Community 

Paul’s extended greetings in his letters show us how connected he was to other people. We might be tempted to think of Paul as an amazing individual Christian, but Paul never writes a letter without mentioning the members of his community. Paul is modeling something for the church - his life was a life in community, so ours should be too. Paul’s call to “greet” others is much more than a polite “hello,” the greeting he has in mind is an opening up of your life to receive someone else into your life to enrich it and strengthen your relationship with God. In a world suffering from an epidemic of loneliness, we need practices to pull us back together. 

How to Build Life in Community 

In this passage, there is a very practical step Paul gives to build the kind of life in community we all need: the holy kiss. It’s found in verse 16 and commanded four other times in the NT. A holy kiss was a warm, affectionate greeting in the culture of this time. It was more common among Jews than Gentiles but practiced in both. Many historians say it was a kiss on the lips(!) and mostly among close relationships/family. It became a part of the common liturgy of the early church to express and strengthen the unity believers had as a new family in Christ. 

Applying the holy kiss today means considering the importance of a time for life in community in church liturgy and challenging our narrow individualistic approach to church. As one pastor says, “the story that we believe in is the story that we live out.” A regular week-in, week-out liturgy of “life in community” and greeting reminds us that our story is not an individual story but a story of life in community. We build life in community by making intentional time and space in our gathering to greet and welcome one another personally and affectionately. 

The Power of Life in Community – The regular liturgy of greeting one another with a holy kiss might seem simple but it had great power in the early church to produce a community such as the world had never seen: 

1. Power for Equality - There is a diverse group of people mentioned in Paul's greeting, including women, slaves, former slaves, Jews, Gentiles, and those from poverty and wealth. A greeting with a holy kiss brought everyone together as equals in a warm, affectionate family. This kind of equality was unheard of at the time across race, gender and social class. 

2. Power of Embodied Community - You cannot greet someone with a holy kiss unless you are in person with them. Christian worship is not just a matter of the soul but also of the body. The holy kiss reinforced the Christian belief that we are whole beings – our souls and our bodies matter to God. This was a constant reminder to care for both the spiritual and physical needs of others. 

3. Power to Re-personalize - Paul mentioning people by name means that he values them, their stories, and how their faith encourages his own. There are so many forces that depersonalize us at work in our world, a liturgy of greeting by name communicates to each person – you matter. 

4. Power for Peacemaking - Romans is well-known for its theological content, but one of the main reasons Paul wrote the book of Romans was to strengthen the unity of the churches in the city of Rome suffering from many divisions. To genuinely offer a holy kiss to another Christian first meant you were reconciled to them. In fact, the early church placed the liturgy of the holy kiss prior to the Lord’s Supper for just this reason. 

5. Power for Everyday Community - We might not consider church announcements very theological, but Paul includes one about Phoebe right in this text (which was read aloud to the church)! He asked the church to host and help her. Announcements, done righty, encourage the gathered community to connect beyond Sunday into in their everyday lives.   

The Challenge of Life in Community 

What we are called to is not easy or comfortable, but it is necessary for your emotional and spiritual health in the context of a church family. To open up your heart to others in a genuine greeting is to open up your life to share in the stories of others, receive their gifts, and move from being unknown to known. Jesus himself knew all the risks you might be imagining now and though he was betrayed by a holy kiss, he still loved Judas, welcomed him, ate with him, and opened his life to him. Jesus died so we could have eternal life in community with the Trinity and with everyone who he has welcomed in. If he has welcomed us in this way, how can we not welcome one another with warmth and openness?   

REFLECT OR DISCUSS 

1. How does the NT concept of a liturgy of “greeting” challenge or encourage you? How do you experience the weekly practice of greeting one another? Like it? Hate it? Why? 

2. Does the concept of a “holy kiss” make you feel uncomfortable? Why do you think it was so significant that Paul and Peter include it in their instructions to the churches? 

3. Look at section 3 – which of these 5 descriptions of “the power of life in community” do you feel are most important for you/our church right now?

   1. Special Focus - Digital services are a great convenience, but they can and should never fully replace our embodied participation in the body of Christ, the church. You greet someone with a holy kiss on a livestream. How should this impact our thinking on the place of online worship? 

4. How is living your life in community with the people in your church uncomfortable or risky?   

5. Read the parable of the Prodigal Son in Luke 15:11-32.  Notice how it says the Father kissed his son. 

   1. What did this kiss symbolize?

   2. What discomfort or risk was involved for the Father to kiss his son?

   3. What does this tell us about the heart of God for us? 

   4. How does this move us to enter the discomfort/risk of greeting each other with a “holy kiss”? 

YOUR DAILY LITURGY 

In this series, we will be encouraged to “take ownership” of our daily liturgies (patterns, habits). Saying, “I’m so busy,” “I go with the flow,” or “I just go about my day” are examples of not taking ownership of the shape and structure of our lives. How can the shape and pattern of my daily life be built around the gospel of Jesus Christ? 

1. What’s the difference between attending events (church, community group, bible study) and doing these same things as living a life in community?

2. Who is someone you know that might need a “greeting” or a “holy kiss” in these turbulent times? 

3. What are some practical ways for you to build life in community on Sundays and throughout the week?

Click here for the full pdf version.

Click here to watch the sermon on YouTube.

Singing (January 23rd, 2022)

The third sermon in the ‘Liturgy for Life’ series.

Scripture Reading: Colossians 3:12-17

Introduction: In this teaching series, we’ve been thinking about how our Sunday liturgy can guide us in our everyday liturgies. Just as our faith in Christ extends beyond Sunday mornings, the things which we practice in service should extend into our day to day lives. Consider the habits in your own life. This might include doing a devotional, checking your phone before you get out of bed, watching the news at a specific time, buying the same drink, exercising in the morning. Ask yourself why you do the things you do? How is this liturgy directing or shaping your heart?

These day to day liturgies may seem insignificant to us, but “our liturgies are formed based on what we value, seek, consider important, and our liturgies have the power to re-direct/re-shape what our hearts value, seek and consider important.” In this sermon series, we’re not simply trying to gain good habits and feel accomplished. This understanding of Christian liturgy lacks depth. We implement liturgies such as worship, confession, assurance, and singing into our day to day lives so that we can more greatly honor, glorify, and enjoy God. Our liturgy has to do with remembering who we once were when we were far off from God and resting in who we are because God has brought us near by the blood of Christ. These liturgies also give us practical ways in which we can let the word of Christ dwell in us richly (Col. 3:16)

Everyone has a unique relationship with singing; Some enjoy doing it, some enjoy hearing it, some enjoy leading it, some enjoy performing with it, some don’t enjoy doing it. The Bible has some things to say about singing, one of the main ones being that when followers of Christ get together, they should sing!

What is singing? Singing can be defined as a) a short piece of music with words meant to be sung or 2) a poetic composition meant to be sung to music. In short, singing is words and music, put together in order to move the heart. In scripture, the word ‘heart’ refers not only to feelings/affections but represents the control center and core of our being. Unlike simply reading poetry, a song does something powerful inside our hearts.. Think of a song that has moved you in some way, whether it be to tears, joy, hope, empathy, or anger. 

There is singing all over the Bible! In Psalm 108:1-4, David says “My heart, O God, is steadfast; I will sing and make music with all my soul. Awake, harp and lyre!  I will awaken the dawn. I will praise you, Lord, among the nations; I will sing of you among the peoples.”

Why do we sing? We can’t help it. Every culture and people group sings. Singing relieves stress, boosts immunity, releases good brain chemicals, it has a myriad of helpful benefits. For the Christian, singing is not only all over the Bible, but also commanded of us in many places. What is important to realize is that both the Bible and our own observations confirm that singing is an important and natural part of our lives. 

While it is enough to do something if God tells us to do so, the fact of the matter is that we are enriched in singing if we know why God wants us to sing! Paul tells us in Colossians 3:16 that we sing so that “the word of Christ would dwell richly among you.” This means that we sing so that we might be assured of the truth of Jesus’s message such that we can receive it and rest upon it. The word of Christ here refers not just the things that Jesus said - it refers to the message of the gospel (the message of all Jesus has done, is doing and will do). Sometimes we can hear true words but be in such a state of sorrow or pain that we have a difficult time accepting them to be true. Likewise, sometimes the importance of the gospel can be lost on us because things are going well. Singing can reach us in situations like these in a way that words sometimes cannot, they can help us both understand and feel the truth of the gospel.

Since singing is a vital part of our spiritual health, it is important that we sing even when it is hard. There are many reasons that might be the case. It can be hard to sing if we have experienced trials, but sometimes singing just isn’t our thing. When we experience trials, we must remember that worshiping God in song includes singing songs of lament. When we don’t feel like singing, we must remember both that God has commanded us to sing and that he delights in our singing. He wants us to sing for our own benefit, but also because he enjoys it. He enjoys hearing your voice.

When we sing? If we had to choose the most important time to sing, it would be when we are gathered together as a church. We see in Scripture that Christians sang when they gathered together, and they have sung together ever since for thousands of years. For Christians, singing is a communal event which we do to glorify God, build one another up, and witness to the world. When we sing as a church, these are our three audiences! Above all, God is our audience, and we sing to him because he deserves it and because he desires us to.  We are also audience to our own singing. When we sing together, we are receiving and resting upon the truth of God’s word together as one body. Finally, when we sing as a church, the whole world sees. It's not as if everyone is watching us when we sing, but when we worship together we are making a statement to the world that our God is worthy of praise and that we are his people. Singing is a form of testimony to one another to strengthen our faith but also the whole world to proclaim that God is worthy to be praised.
Singing together is important, but the reality is that there really is never a bad time to sing. In the highs and lows of life, when we are alone, when we are together, it is always a good time to sing God’s praise, it is always a good time to remember his promise. Singing can lift us up when we are down, it can humble us when we are proud, it can help us deal with everything we encounter in life. Singing is a great source of comfort for us. May we be a church who sings more and more in every station of life.

What do we sing? Paul says in Colossians that we should sing “Psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs.” As was said in there sermon, There is some debate as to what these three kinds of songs are, but what we can know for sure is that we should sing a variety of songs. Because worship is first and foremost about God, sometimes we will have to lay aside our preferences and sing songs that might not be our first choice. Paul tells us in Romans 12:15 to “rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.” Sometimes singing as a church family will mean singing alongside people who are weeping when you would rather rejoice or vice versa. This can be difficult, but it is an important spiritual exercise to come alongside one another in life, but also in song. 

Even if there are times when we do not sing or cannot seem to find the right words, God is signing. All our songs are a response to the song he sings over us in Christ. Zephaniah 3:17 tells us that God rejoices over his people with gladness and delights in them with singing. Through the work of Jesus God has taken away our sin and defeated all our enemies. To do this, Jesus had to be willing to sing the song we’d never want to sing in our place– a song of being forsaken and forgotten by God (see Psalm 22). By singing the song we deserved to sing Jesus took the punishment our sins deserves and defeated all our enemies – all our singing is a response to the reality that it is God who first sings over us. 

REFLECT OR DISCUSS 

What is your relationship with singing, is it something you look forward to? What level of importance would you say it has in your life?

1. What kind of songs are easy for you to sing? What kinds are hard? What do you think someone can learn from singing songs that they do not prefer?

2. In what ways could singing together strengthen/build up the church? Have you been built up by singing?  

3. How can singing cause the “word of Christ to dwell in us richly”? as individuals? how does singing do this for a church as a community? 

4. Do you have a favorite psalm, hymn or spiritual song? What about it speaks to you in a way that normally spoken words might not? Look it up online and share with the group. Pick a few to sing together. 

5. Read Zephaniah 3:14-17. What difference would it make in your life if you knew God was singing over you with delight? 

YOUR DAILY LITURGY 

In this series, we will be encouraged to “take ownership” of our daily liturgies (patterns, habits). Saying, “I’m so busy”,  “I go with the flow, “I just go about my day” are examples of not taking ownership of the shape and structure of our  lives. How can the shape and pattern of my daily life be built around the gospel of Jesus Christ? 

1. Are there any times outside of Sunday morning when singing, either alone or in a group, would be appropriate and encouraging in your life?  How might the songs we sing on Sunday be a part of your weekly liturgy? 

2. How can regularly singing help you grow in your spiritual life? 

3. Are there any kinds of worship music that you would like to learn to enjoy or appreciate?

Some ideas include – Listening to music/singing in the car on the way to or from work, Singing at the dinner table as a way to pray before the meal, singing at community group, humming a song when it comes to your mind, reading the psalms, creating worship playlists for different occasions like joy or mourning.

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