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FAMILY NEWSLAST SUNDAY AND MONDAY: We had the largest turnout at Timbers last Sunday that we have had in quite a while with 14 residents/staff and 10 of us being in attendance. Our special thanks to all of you who showed up and helped. We also had what I think was a record response from the community to our food pantry program, with 39 families being served food with 126 people being fed. Our thanks to everyone who helped in this great work. DIRECTION NEEDED: We have started a new year, and plans need to be formulated as to what we plan to do in 2024. Are we going to have VBS? Do we want to do “Fun Fair” again? Do we want to host an area-wide singing again? Are we OK with continuing the food pantry, highway cleanup, backpack program, and coat giveaway? What investment do we want to make to repair and improve our signage in front of the building? Are we willing to spend some money to bring our technology up to date in the auditorium? Give all of this some thought and prayer and we will have a congregational meeting to answer these questions. TODAY'S LESSON
INTRODUCTION — WHY DO PEOPLE SING?
A. Singing is unique to humans.
I. SINGING ELIMINATES BOREDOM.
1. Animals “sing” for survival reasons.
B. Psalms are mostly songs: Psalms 30:4; 57:9; 95:1; 96:1, 2; 147:7.
2. Humans sing because of being in God’s image. 1. Ancient people memorized these psalms.
2. Several; kinds of singing were involved — acrostic (Psalms 9 and 119), dual choirs, chants. C. Genesis 1 is actually a song. Songs frequently convey truth as do poems.
Isaiah 52:7-10
D. 500 years ago the Catholic church decided who could sing. The Reformation re-instituted singing.
E. The New Testament spoke often about singing.
Romans 15:9; 1 Corinthians 14:15; Hebrews 2:12
F. What do we get out of singing?A. Ancient people tried monuments — Stonehenge, etc.
Buildings fade. Songs do not. Dates in songbook.
B. Why do pop singers ask us to sing along?II. SINGING BRINGS UNITY — Lee Greenwood on singing to the sailors on an aircraft carrier around the time of the war in Irag.
A. Military branches all have songs. Why?
III. SINGING IS A NONSENSICAL EXPRESSION OF LOVE.
B. Why do we sing at retreats, VBS, Wednesday nights? A. How many secular songs express love?
IV. SINGING CAN BE DONE ON THE BEHALF OF OTHERS.
B. Refusing to sing is denying our love for God. Quality is not an issue. Singing from the heart is. A. Why do we sing at a funeral?
B. Why is there singing at a national service? V. SINGING IS FREQUENTLY A WAY OF PRAISING SOMEONE. Our songbook — 107 praise songs — #1.
A. Pop songs “Abraham, Martin and John”
VI. SINGING SHOULD BE A TOOL OF UNITY and JOY — SONG “Joy to the World.”B. Timbers likes us because we and they sing. THE BACK PAGEWHY DO YOU COME TO CHURCH?The title of this page may seem strange to you, but I would suggest to you that it is important to all of us. Hebrews 10:24-25 makes it clear that God wants us to get together whenever we can. Listen to these verses: “Let us consider how we may spur one another on towards love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another — and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” Why? In our Wednesday night class we have been studying this book. It is written to a group of Christians who have left their Jewish heritage and yet are undergoing persecution from the Romans. They are getting attacked from all sides, and this message is designed to help them keep their faith. One of the problems involved in using Zoom is that it is easy to become a spectator instead of a participant. If you sit in your home and watch what is going on and hear people speak and sing and do not involve yourself in the service, you have become a spectator. Worship is not a spectator sport! Our use of Zoom is to help those who just cannot come to worship for physical or geographic reasons. Staying home is tempting, but it deprives us of one of the great blessings of being a Christian. Singing at home is not the same as singing with other people. Getting a hug or a handshake is not the same as seeing a face on your computer screen. Sharing concerns, needs, pain, problems, and frustrations with several other people who share your beliefs and concerns is different than talking on the phone. Acts 2:46 tells us how the first century church managed to keep their spirits up amidst heavy persecution: “EVERY DAY they continued to meet together. … They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God … ” (emphasis added). We need each other and sharing whenever possible is important to us all. Our sign by the street! Sign saying from www.sayingsforchurchsigns.com. Scripture links/references are from BibleGateway.com. Unhighlighted scriptures can be looked up at their website. www.dowagiaccoc.org |
