Epiphany 1a January 8
First Sunday after Epiphany
One: Give glory to the Creator and bow in holy splendor!Many: The voice of the Creator renews and rebirths.One: Give glory to the Holy One and bow in holy splendor!Many: The voice of the Holy One redeems and restores.One: Give glory to the Living Water and bow in holy splendor!Many: The voice of the Living Water refreshes and revives. Glory to God!
InvocationVoice, Body, and Spirit,You make your presence among us. We receive your love and affirmation. We cherish your guidance and direction. We follow your path and example. Remind us of our connection to you and your covenantal relationship with us. Wash us in the baptized life for renewal and revitalization. Amen.
Prayer for Transformation and New LifeHoly One, we confess our need for grace and mercy. We seek forgiveness for the ways in which we have drawn away from you and our neighbors. We express remorse for our participation in the systems of the world that are actively opposed to your kindom. Transform us to be carriers and promoters of your good news of new life, liberation, and hope in the world. Amen.
Words of GraceThe God of peace is faithful to offer forgiveness and new life in Christ. Receive the good news of new mercies with each new day and a future with hope.
Singing Songs In Worship
Song leaders are responsible for setting the tone for much of a congregations worship. They select the songs that they believe will help a congregation to worship the Lord most fully, effectively and meaningfully. A song leaders primary responsibility is to help worshipers to enter into the presence of God, and to acceptably and heartily praise God.
As with all men who lead the church in its worship, a song leader must remember that it is not about him, but about God! The songs that he selects should be appropriate to the congregation and to the worship assembly. The song leader is merely the conduit by which a congregation is led to worship the Lord in song, which means if the singing portion of worship is misdirected and focuses on him instead of on heaven, the worship is no longer flowing through him but is being impeded by him. Thats the last thing any sincere worship leader desires.
1. Accept that the song which the leader is singing has been already selectedand move on. What does rolling your eyes or even stewing about it accomplish?
2. Set your heart on worshiping God in that song! Thats the whole purpose!
3. Capture quickly in your mind the overall theme of the song. What is this song about? Is it about praise, about Jesus love, about the cross, about the Christian life, etc.? Know what youre singing.
5. Try to sing parts. Try to follow along with whatever part fits you the besti.e., soprano, alto, tenor or bass.
Why Do Churches Of Christ Not Use Instrumental Music
Churches of Christ love music. Singing is a prominentand favoritepart of each service. Most congregations dedicate a Sunday night each month to learn new songs and to sing old favorites. Annual singings can draw thousands of people. Many Christians sing daily as they go about their tasks .
Churches of Christ do not sing a cappella because we dislike other kinds of music. Most of us have as many songs on iPods as the next person. We do not lack financial means to purchase instruments or capable musicians to play them. We are not just trying to be different or stubbornly upholding a longstanding tradition.
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Case Study In The Open Air
On the way to speak to a group of young adults from neighboring states at a retreat in Idaho, I began experimenting with ways to both break the tension felt in-the-round as well as relate it to the axis-mundi passing through not only each of the members, but through the space we created when in-the-roundthe God of the void, if you will.
With college-aged youths I was able to explain what I wanted to try without the adolescent angst or questioning the members of this group in particular were incredibly nimble and humble in receiving instruction and exploration related to their own faith experience. In addition to simply experimenting with arrangements, I realized that acoustical variations manifest through how they sat in the round was an incredible opportunity. This allowed an opportunity to completely envelope my fellow worshippers with sound, something that was so common in the South with thousands of worshippers singing indoors or outside, where by sheer number you could become both immersed and entrenched in sound that literally could move you with acoustical vibrations.
The group was instructed not to talk, and everything was to be done in complete silence, heightened by the enormous dark sky full of stars in eastern Idaho mountain wilderness. About a minute of silence would pass once everyone was settled into the new position, and the song leader would begin whenever he was ready and in a good state of mind to begin a joined state of worship.
Ephesians : 19 Says How To Sing
19 Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord
Colossians 3:16
16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.
Speak where the bible speaks and remain silent where the bible is silent:
Note, Revelation 22:18-19
18 For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book:
19 And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.
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The Greatest Instrument The Highest Calling
For Keith Lancaster, its all about harmony. The attunement he pursues, however, is more about human relationships in Gods Kingdom than musical intonation. Yet, what better way to engender godly unity than with the instrument God Himself gave us all, the human voice, which Keith insists is the greatest instrument of music ever created. For Keith, using this instrument for Gods glory is nothing short of the highest calling for human beings.
Keiths passion for singing has afforded him rare opportunities. As founder of the singing group, Acappella, he has sung, written, and produced music that has reached hundreds of thousands all over the world. Acappellas success led to additional groups and a wider variety of music, but these days hes spreading the harmony in another way. Since 2005, hes been steadily delivering Praise & Harmony Workshops across the globe. With the help of his wife, Sharon and his home congregation, Park Plaza Church of Christ in Tulsa, OK, he is able to share his most valuable lessons from nearly 40 years of worship-leading experience.
To keep up with Keith, check out his blog at www.KeithLancaster.com, where he posts regularly. You can also find Keith on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and Youtube. Stay tuned to these resources for the latest updates, content, music, and, of course, harmony.
Keeping It A Cappella
MADISON, Tenn. Yes, Keith Lancaster knows about the decline of Churches of Christ in the U.S. Hes read the stories and seen the numbers.
And hes visited more than a few dying congregations.
Too many of them on Sunday morning feel like a funeral service, he said. And yes, Jesus died, but theres more to the Gospel story: 1 Corinthians 15!
In the midst of the decline, some Churches of Christ have added instruments to their Sunday services, moving away from the fellowships long-held practice of a cappella worship.
Keith Lancaster leads singing at the Worship Leader Institute.
But Lancaster, a worship leader, recording artist and founder of Acappella Ministries, sees voices-only worship as a neglected part of our turnaround.
Churches need vibrant, meaningful can I use the word contagious? contagious worship that makes you want to be a part, to want to sing, he said. The No. 1 job of the song leader should be to draw everyone into participation.
And if we do that and we do it well, I think our churches would not be on the decline, and I dont think people would be considering going to the instrument as a silver bullet of church growth.
Churches need vibrant, meaningful can I use the word contagious? contagious worship that makes you want to be a part, to want to sing.
Lancaster and a class of 90 men gathered just north of Nashville recently for intensive training on everything from breath control to Bible study.
SOMETHIN BOUT SUNDAY MORNING
John Lim
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The Practice Comes From Our Understanding Of Worship And Priesthood
Os Guinness observed, The modern world has scrambled things so badly that today we worship our work, we work at our play, and we play at our worship.
Churches of Christ aim never to play at worship. Worship is the most important thing humans do. It is a privilege to worshipmore specifically, to be one from whom God accepts worship. In the Old Testament, believers offered sacrifices through priests. In the New, all Christians are priestsa kingdom of priests . As a holy priesthood we offer spiritual sacrifices to Him who called us out of darkness .
Every faithful member can participate in worship. Congregational singing reflects this. Instrumentals, choirs, and solos hinder all-member participation.
Regardless of a congregations size, worship always has an audience of one. A God who has everything is in the market for little, but He seeks worship . In those few minutes, we have Gods undivided attention. It is when we say thanks for His unspeakable gift and put a smile on the face of the one who puts a song in our hearts.
The voice is a wonderful gift. You could say God gave each of us a musical instrument to use in His worship. We may not think we have a good voice, but God looks at our hearts . A sincere song from a faithful child pleases Him. The relevant question is not, Do we have a voice? but Do we have a song? God loves to hear His children sing.
The Practice Stems From Our Conviction That We Must Add Nothing To The Scriptures
Churches of Christ believe strongly in having divine authority for all we teach and practice. We do this because the Bible says, Whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus . Whatsoever and all are comprehensive words. To do a thing in Jesus name means to do it by His authority. The Bible warns against venturing beyond that which is written or adding anything to the Bible . We must not go out of bounds .
What are the bounds regarding worship? The New Testament does not say much about music in the early church. The one time music is used , is not even talking about worship, but about the party held for the returning prodigal. A few verses mention pipes and harps , but none in the context of church worship. Singing, however, is mentioned seven times in that context .
Singing is definitely in bounds.
- It is commanded .
- There are examples of Christians singing .
- It is in the principle of offering God the fruit of our lips .
On the other hand, the New Testament is silent on playing songs for God. It is not commanded nor is there any example of the early church using it.
We pray that God will give all of us wisdom as we continue our spiritual journey toward eternity .
All who love the Lord share a delight in His praise. Truly may God in all things be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever. Amen .
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Variations On A Theme
With a great response to the first experiment, I continued with exploration through diagramming on how the spatial organization of both the location of singers as well as the actual position of worship might enhance the worship experience. About a month later, I was given an opportunity to work with about 60 teenagers in Colorado to experiment and teach. I introduced them to the four-position worship, and after an incredible night of worship using it, I decided to start variations on this experiment. The next morning, I divided the 60 teenagers into the formal four-part arrangement groups: soprano, alto, tenor, and bass . We then went through the same experiment, though this time with the circles adjacent to one another . This was akin to the hollow square arrangement found in sacred harp singing, as a means to reinforce the sound quality of each part, as well as to teach people who did not know their part, as is prevalent in teens.
Enhancing Contemporary Acapella And Sacred Harp Worship
Volume 49, Issue 3 :: By Trent Smith
This article explores a series of spiritual ritualistic experiments to sacred harp forms of worship within the Church of Christ in the Intermountain West region. It is primarily focused on youth and college groups and the heightened awareness of acoustics in worship and the resulting phenomenological experiences had in a variety of settings. These experiments took place with groups of 5, 15, 35, 70, and 120 worshippers of different ages, though primarily with adolescents between 13 and 20. The experiments were born out of a great desire to enhance worship, teach historical singing through re-enactment, and to create a series of sacred aural moments that raised awareness and respect for what many youth considered trivial worship to their God.
Acapella singers arrange themselves in a circle to sit and sing outward, one of four positions studied to understand the dynamics of Sacred Harp Worship.
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Context Of The Churches Of Christ
Awareness of the current state of worship in the Churches of Christ is critical in understanding why these experiments were so important to both study and to reflect on how the spirit of worship, particularly among adolescents, is being lost in the current state of technological bombardment and distraction in adolescent spiritual experience. Many teens struggle to embrace the rigorous and at times restrictive nature of worship with sacred harp songs, being acapella in format and often with songs that were composed in the 1800s that do not speak to the current state of adolescent relationships with God. A team of researchers at the Barna Group1 spent much of the time between 2005 and 2010 exploring the lives of young people who drop out of church involvement . According to the report: David Kinnaman, who directed the research, concluded: The reality of the dropout problem is not about a huge exodus of young people from the Christian faith. In fact, it is about the various ways that young people become disconnected in their spiritual journey. The conclusion from the research is that most young people with a Christian background are dropping out of conventional church involvement, not losing their faith.2
The Practice Is Predicated On Following The New Testament Instead Of The Old
The New Testament records this transition:
- Hear Christ, not Moses .
- Preach gospel to all nations .
- Judged by Christs words .
- Loosed/delivered from the law .
- Christ is the end of the law .
- Engraven in stones law abolished .
- Old nailed to cross .
- Change in priesthood required change in law .
- New effective after Christs death .
- Christ came to take away the first law to establish second .
A new law changed humanitys response to God. Christians no longer offer animals, keep the Passover, observe Sabbaths and new moons, or avoid pork and catfish . Worship is not conducted by a special class of priests blood is not sprinkled on a mercy seat and unusual ceremonies involving goats, red heifers, and burnt animals are not required.
In the changeover, God omitted such things as burning incense, golden vessels, colorful tapestries, dancing before the Lord, bitter herbs, and instruments. He kept unleavened bread, the fruit of the vine, prayers, and singing.
Incidental? Hardly. God always meticulously planned worship . He spent more than six thousand years completing His plan for the church so nothing was left to happenstance.
The Old Testament is written for our learning but not for our law . Going back to the Old Testament for study is helpful in understanding many things, but going back to the Old Testament for any practice obligates one to keep all its ordinances .
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The Practice Grows Out Of Our Desire To Reproduce The Original Church Today
The church of Christ sang a cappella in the days of the apostles, so the church of Christ sings a cappella today. It really is as simple as that.
Churches of Christ today strive to be identical to the church in the New Testament . Before we practice anything, we verify that it was practiced by the first century church. Thus proving all things, we hold fast that which is good . It is the safest approach one can take in religionthe way that is right and cannot be wrong.
No scholar says early Christians used instruments. No Bible verse records it. The phrase a cappella, which now means without instrumental accompaniment, originally meant as in church. Instruments were available and widely used in pagan worship and theaters, as well as the Jewish temple, but they were not used by the church.
Standard reference works and music textbooks confirm this. Emil Nauman wrote in The History of Music: There can be no doubt that originally the music of the divine service was everywhere entirely of a vocal nature . Wycliffe Bible Dictionary says, There is no record in the New Testament of the use of instruments in the musical worship of the Christian church. The Catholic Encyclopedia reads, The first Christians were of too spiritual a fiber to substitute lifeless instruments for or to use them to accompany the human voice.