Introduction:
A. We are in a sermon series called UR Church – Be the church of Christ.
1. We are learning about the church that Jesus built and how we can continue to be that church.
2. We have been learning about restoring the form and heart of NT Christianity.
3. We have talked about the place of the Bible, and how to interpret it.
4. We have talked about how to obey the gospel and we’ve learned the truth about Jesus – He is the way, truth and life.
B. Today we want to explore some things about NT Worship – specifically worship in song. Let’s start with some questions.
1. Why do we sing in worship? Is it important that we sing?
2. What should be the content of our songs?
3. And what about the style of the music, does it matter?
4. Why do we as a church sing without instrumental accompaniment? Why do other churches choose to sing with instruments?
B. Can you see how important these questions are?
1. Isn’t it surprising how we might sing during worship for years and years without ever stopping to ask those questions?
2. Singing is a very important part of our worship.
3. It comprises close to a fourth of our time together.
4. Wouldn’t you say that it behooves us to understand some things about it?
5. That’s what I would like us to do this morning.
I. THE PRIORITY OF SINGING
A. God’s people have always been and always will be a people of song.
1. The first place the Bible mentions God’s people singing is in Exodus 15 after the Lord safely led the Israelites through the Red Sea and drowned their Egyptian pursuers.
a. That I’m sure was a great time of song – a joyous celebration!
2. I’m also sure that was not the first time that God’s people had sung.
a. My guess is that many a time they sang the blues while they were in slavery in Egypt.
B. We see singing throughout the OT.
1. It was common for the Hebrews to attribute praise even coming from parts of God’s creation other than mankind.
a. Job stated that the stars sang, and David said that the mountains sang praises to God.
2. As you well know, King David was the sweet singer and musician of Israel. Most of the psalms composed by him were written to be sung.
3. Israel continued to sing in worship at the temple and the synagogue.
C. When we turn to the NT, we continue to see the people of God in song.
1. Mary rejoices at the announcement that she will give birth to God’s Son (Lk 1:46-55).
2. Zechariah breaks out in a song at the birth of his son John, the forerunner of the Christ (Lk 2:14)
3. Simeon sang as he held Jesus while being presented at the Temple (Lk 2:29-32)
4. In Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, he instructed them about worship and suggested that the songs people bring to worship should be done for the strengthening of the church.
5. Paul also wrote in his letters to the Ephesians and Colossians almost the exact command about singing. Look at these two passages with me.
a. To the Colossians, Paul wrote, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and counsel one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.” (Col 3:15-16)
b. To the Ephesians, “Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.” (Eph 5:19-20)
6. When Paul and Silas were beaten and imprisoned in Philippi, guess what they did? They prayed and sang hymns to God.
D. So, you see, singing has always been both the natural and an expected activity of God’s people.
II. THE POWER OF SINGING
A. Someone said: “music is the language of the emotions”- it stimulates the emotions like nothing else.
1. But in addition to the way music can effect the emotions, the words of songs can effect the mind.
2. When you couple the words and the music you have a very powerful combination.
B. All we have to do is take a look at the impact of contemporary secular music on young people, and we can see the power of music and song.
1. Did you know that singing is a great vehicle for memorization?
a. Consider how many songs you know by heart without ever having studied them.
b. I can begin the first few words of a song, and most of you can finish at least that sentence, if not the entire song. Let’s give it a try…I will start a song and you supply the next words.
c. “Yesterday…”
d. “My country tis of Thee…”
e. “One, two, three o’clock, four o’clock rock…”
f. “Amazing grace…”
2. Therefore, singing is a great vehicle for transformation.
a. What we sing about is what we will become.
b. That is why it is vital to sing about what is true and good.
C. In noting the power of song, Pierre Jean de Beranger (1780-1857 said, “Let me make the songs of the people, and I care not who makes their laws.”
1. Early Restoration leader, Alexander Campbell understood the importance of song. Look at part of the introduction to the 1853 hymnbook he published, titled “Psalms, Hymns and Spiritual Songs”, “The Christian Hymn Book, next to the Bible, moreover, wields the largest and mightiest formative influence upon the young and old, upon saint and sinner of any other book in the world…If the hymn book is daily sung in the family, and in the social meetings of the brethren, it must imbue their souls with its sentiments more than all the other labors of the pulpit or the press.”
2. This is why the one who composes and the person who chooses the songs for worship are potentially the most important “teachers” of the congregation.
3. The songs they write and choose are a powerful force in shaping the belief patterns of the church.
III. THE PURPOSE OF SINGING
A. First, singing acts as an aid to worship by putting us into the right frame of mind and heart.
1. As you know, music sets the tone for most of human activity, from elevators, to supermarkets, to movies to sports stadiums. Music sets the mood.
2. Likewise, singing prepares and opens the heart to the worship and the Word of God.
B. Second, singing allows us to express our deepest thoughts and emotions to God.
1. In song we can convey our love and devotion, praise and joy, concern and sorrow in ways merely spoken words cannot.
2. It is interesting that everything we need to express to God can be expressed in song - whether it be faith or love, confession or thanksgiving, our needs or our adoration.
3. Congregational singing is the perfect vehicle to carry unleashed feelings into the presence of God as gifts of worship. “Let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise - the fruit of lips that confess his name.” (He 13:15)
C. Third, singing is a great medium for teaching, admonishing and encouraging.
1. As we have already mentioned, songs are an effective teaching tool because of the power of repetition and emotion.
2. We can sing the truths about God. Who he is, what he has done, and what he will do.
3. We can sing the truths about what God expects from us.
4. And, we can sing the truths about the warnings of God.
5. As songs are repeated through the years, they have a strong impact on our beliefs.
6. Because we are singing about the truths of God, our songs can also have an evangelistic impact on those who are not yet Christians.
D. Because the purpose of our singing is to speak to God, and to one another about our feelings, beliefs and the truths of God, it is very important that we concentrate.
1. The main struggle I have with regard to singing, and my guess it that this is your struggle, is to concentrate on what I am doing.
2. Because so many of the songs are ones we have sung so many times, sometimes I find myself, just going through the motions.
3. How can we sing about heaven without a joy in our heart and a smile on our face? Because we are not concentrating.
4. How can we sing about our sin or the warnings of God without serious concern? Because we are not concentrating.
5. How can we sing about Jesus’ death and resurrection without horror and appreciation? Because we are not concentrating.
6. This is something we must work on for at least 3 reasons.
a. God is not pleased with us when we sing without our hearts and minds fully involved.
b. We cannot benefit when our hearts and minds are not involved.
c. Others will question our commitment when our hearts and minds are not involved in enthusiastic, and emotional singing.
IV. THE PATTERN OF SINGING
A. Today’s lesson is not meant to be only about a cappella singing in worship. We could spend a lot more time on this important subject, but let me make a few brief points.
B. Why do we use only vocal music in our worship?
1. First, that is what the NT instructs us to do. Every NT command and example concerns simply singing. Unlike the OT, there is no NT command or example for the use of instruments in worship.
2. Second, history shows that the earliest Christians used vocal music only, and instruments were not used in Christian worship for centuries.
a. The word A Cappella literally means according to the manner of the chapel, and the music according to the manner of the chapel is vocal music only.
b. The use of instruments in Catholic worship began, hesitantly and sporadically, in the 6th and 7th centuries, but was not totally embraced until the 10th century (almost a 1000 years into Christianity).
c. With the coming of the Reformation, and a partial return to Biblical truth, most Protestant groups rejected the use of instrumental music.
d. It was not until the 18th and 19th centuries that the Presbyterians, Baptists and some Lutheran groups began using instrumental music.
e. Martin Luther, founder of the Lutheran church said, “The organ in the worship of God is an ensign of Baal.”
f. John Calvin, on whose teachings the Presbyterian church was founded, said, “Musical instruments in celebrating the praises of God would be no more suitable than the burning of incense, the lighting of lamps, and the restoration of other shadows of the law.”
g. John Wesley, founder of the Methodist church, said, “I have no objections to instruments of music in our chapels, provided they are neither heard nor seen.”
B. Therefore, When I choose to worship God with vocal music only, then…
1. First, I know that I am fulfilling his command to sing.
2. Second, I know that I am standing in the tradition and practice of Jesus, his apostles, and his followers for many centuries.
3. Third, I know that I have added nothing to his commands found in the NT.
4. Fourth, I know that it is not wrong to worship God without an instrument.
C. On the other hand, if I choose to use instruments in worship, then…
1. First, I know it is a fairly recent addition to worship in the history of the church.
2. Second, I know it has no NT scriptural authority or example.
3. Third, I know it is an addition to the commands of God for the church.
V. THE PREFERENCE OF SINGING
A. For more than a decade, there has been a great war going on in many churches in our brotherhood and in many of the denominations over the style of worship – called the Worship Wars.
1. People battle over whether to use new songs or old songs, should they be from a song book or on a projection screen, should all the singing be congregational or can there be solos or special groups, and can there be only one song leader or many leading simultaneously (praise team).
2. I don’t have time to deal with all these questions in great detail, nor is there sufficient scripture to warrant a long study.
3. For the most part what we are talking about here is preference. Most people prefer what they are used to and what they like.
B. I like the humorous story that explains the difference between old hymns and new praise songs.
1. The story is told of an old farmer went to the city one weekend and attended the big city church. He came home and his wife asked him how it was.
a. “Well,” said the farmer. “It was good. They did something different, however. They sang praise choruses instead of hymns.”
b. “Praise choruses?” asked the wife. “What are those?”
c. “Oh, they’re sort of like hymns, only different,” said the farmer.
d. “Well, what’s the difference?” asked the wife.
e. The farmer said, “Well it’s like this … If I were to say to you, ‘Martha, the cows are in the corn,’ well that would be a hymn. If, on the other hand, I were to say to you, ‘Martha, Martha, Martha, Oh, Martha, MARTHA, MARTHA, the cows, the COWS, COWS, COWS are in the corn, are in the corn, are in the corn, in the CORN, CORN, CORN’, and then, if I were to repeat the whole thing two or three times, that would be a praise chorus.”
2. Interestingly enough, the exact same Sunday a young, new Christian from the city church attended the small old country church. He came home and his wife asked him how it was.
a. “Well,” said the young man, “It was good. They did something different, however. They sang hymns instead of praise songs.”
b. “Hymns?” asked the wife. “What are those?”
c. “They’re sort of like praise songs, only different,” said the young man.
d. “Well, what’s the difference?” asked the wife.
e. The young man said, “Well it’s like this … If I were to say to you, ‘Martha, the cows are in the corn,’ well that would be a praise song. If on the other hand, I were to say to you,
Oh Martha, dear Martha, hear thou my cry
Inclinest thine ear to the words of my mouth.
Turn thou thy whole wondrous ear by and by
To the righteous, glorious truth.
Yea those cows in glad bovine, rebellious delight,
Have broke free their shackles, their warm pens eschewed.
Then goaded by minions of darkness and night
They all my mild Chilliwack sweet corn chewed.
f. Then, if we were to sing two or three more verses like those, or if we were to sing only verses one, three and four, then that would be a hymn.”
B. What we learn from that story is that we all have different perceptions and preferences.
1. If we are honest and fair, then we must admit that there is nothing wrong with new songs or old songs.
a. As a matter of fact, every “old song” we sing today, was a “new song” at one time.
2. Many of the “old songs” have great value because of their powerful words and melodies, but because of their wording or music they may communicate better with previous generations.
3. Many “new songs” are of value because they may communicate better with present and future generations, and because they may breathe a breath of freshness into our worship.
4. Many of the new songs focus on direct praise. We can talk to God instead of about God.
5. Nevertheless, each song should be judged, not whether it is old or new, but according to its content and overall effectiveness in prompting and aiding us in worship.
C We must also acknowledge that whether we use songbooks or not is not a question of scripture.
1. Song books or projection screens are a matter of expedience.
2. We need to know what the words are in order to sing together, but it matters not whether the words are printed in a book, on an insert or on a screen.
D. The issue of song leaders is also matter of expedience.
1. We can sing better and more orderly if someone leads us and keeps us on tract.
2. There are no NT commands about song leaders.
a. So, whether we use one or two or ten we are not breaking any command.
b. Many of our congregations use praise teams to help lead the congregation in worship.
3. The command to speak to one another is certainly fulfilled through congregational singing, and yet it would not be a violation of that command for a single person or a small group to speak to the congregation in song.
4. But many people grow concerned about individual and small group singing because they don’t want to see worship become a performance and the congregation become an audience.
5. That certainly can be a pitfall and congregational singing does help keep that from happening.
E. Let’s be careful that we do not allow our preferences to be made equal to God’s commands, when they are not.
1. But let’s be considerate as we worship and realize that we all have different preferences, and we need to make room for everyone’s preferences as long as we remain in obedience to God.
Conclusion:
A. Singing is a powerful creation of God for our good and His glory.
B. Let us worship Him in song in accordance with His commands.
C. Let us worship Him in song with all our hearts and minds engaged, that we might worship acceptably and receive the benefits He has determined and promised.
D. And let us allow freedom of preference where God has allowed it.
