For the Director of Music - message given on 4/15/07
Today was an unusual Sunday at both churches. We were saying goodbye to our choir director at Morris UMC, who was leaving to go to a larger church (doubled his salary). It was one of those days where preaching at two churches presented a challenge. My Friendship church wasn't losing our piano player. So... I decided to do a mini sermon about the role of music in church and to recognize our music leaders. We had lots of extra music, and I let the pianists pick out their favorite hymns to play without regard for the message.
Let us pray: Most gracious, powerful and loving God, from those among us you have raised up leaders. Today, we thank you for our leaders in the area of music. We thank you that you have given them the special talents necessary for their vocation in our church and that you have also given them a burden to serve in the area of their passion. Bless them richly as they serve you in our worship services. I pray that each heart here be open to your word this morning and that my words become truly yours in spirit. May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight oh Lord our rock and our redeemer. AMEN
Psalm 100 NLT
A psalm of thanksgiving. Shout with joy to the LORD, O earth! 2 Worship the LORD with gladness. Come before him, singing with joy. 3 Acknowledge that the LORD is God! He made us, and we are his. We are his people, the sheep of his pasture. 4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving; go into his courts with praise. Give thanks to him and bless his name. 5 For the LORD is good. His unfailing love continues forever, and his faithfulness continues to each generation.
Psalm 150 NLT
1 Praise the LORD! Praise God in his heavenly dwelling; praise him in his mighty heaven! 2 Praise him for his mighty works; praise his unequaled greatness! 3 Praise him with a blast of the trumpet; praise him with the lyre and harp! 4 Praise him with the tambourine and dancing; praise him with stringed instruments and flutes! 5 Praise him with a clash of cymbals; praise him with loud clanging cymbals. 6 Let everything that lives sing praises to the LORD! Praise the LORD!
The Word of God, written for the people of God - Thanks be to God
“Music has charms to soothe the savage breast…” That quote came from the English dramatist William Congreve. It’s one that is familiar to many folks. But most of us are not familiar with its conclusion. “Music has charms to soothe the savage breast, to soften rocks, or bend a knotted oak.” I’m not sure that I’d want to rely on music alone as a substitute for a jackhammer or chain saw-although the walls of Jericho did come tumbling down after a few days of concentrated trumpet playing. We can all agree that music is powerful.
Music is so powerful that it can bend our mood, bring to mind memories or even spur us to action. For example, if I said let’s sing the National Anthem, you would immediately stand up. When the pianist starts playing the prelude in our worship service, we know to start getting quiet. Most of us have favorite songs. Couples claim special tunes as “their songs”. Schools have their alma maters and fight songs. Advertisers pay a lot of money to have catchy tunes and lyrics for their advertising Jingles. See if you can tell me the company or product that goes with these songs:
You deserve a break today - McDonalds
Plop Plop, Fizz Fizz, Oh what a relief it is - Alka Selzer
My bologna has a first name… - Oscar Meyer
Like a good neighbor… - State Farm
Who lives in a pineapple under the sea? - Sponge Bob Squarepants
Yes, we can even name our favorite TV shows after hearing just a couple of bars of their theme songs.
Our worship today is the beneficiary of over 2500 years of musical heritage. Today’s two psalms that we read both mention the use of musical instruments and singing in worship. Not only that, many psalms were actually used for singing during worship services. 56 of them were written “for the director of music. Although they were sung, the psalms would have sounded very foreign to us. Modern concepts of melody and harmony were not developed. The psalms would likely have sounded much like chanting to us.
The Greeks developed the oldest system of musical notation and included songs in their religious observances. However, the oldest type of church music most of us would begin to recognize is the Gregorian chant. The Renaissance brought the beginning of modern classical music, which was born in the church. The oldest hymns that we still sing in our church services originated during the Protestant Reformation. An example would be “A Mighty Fortress Is our God” that was written by Martin Luther in 1529.
Many of our most popular traditional hymns were written in the 18 and 1900s. America made its contribution to sacred music through the Negro spiritual. Now we have contemporary praise songs and even generation X music that resembles heavy metal rock. Regardless of the style of music used, the words tell a story, teach a lesson or speak a prayer.
Tell story about the difference between praise songs and hymns.
One thing that has mystified me is the argument over what kind of music represents true worship. Contemporary and gen X music is decried by folks who absolutely believe that the traditional hymns are the only ones that should be sung. What we need to realize is the music we hear in church is similar to that which we use in our society in general. In the overall scheme of things, even the oldest modern hymns have only existed for the last fifth of Judeo-Christian timeline. Hymns, songs and other music have a primary function-to enhance our worship of God. We can do that best in a style that we are familiar with.
Regardless of which style each of us prefers, the importance of songs in worship has been demonstrated by the fact that as long ago as King David’s days, we have had music leaders in our houses of worship. Many of the composers of baroque music were choir masters in their cathedrals and churches.
Even today, the first person most churches hire on their staffs, after the preacher, is the music director. Many times music reaches people more dramatically than the sermon itself. Tell story about child who was asked how she liked the worship service. She replied, “The music was OK; but the commercial was too long.” We have been fortunate to have in our congregation musical leaders who have done an excellent job in making music a central part of our worship experience each week. The hymns we are singing today were selected by our music director/pianist.
Speaking of praise songs, I praise God for our church music leaders. Their efforts put us in the mood to worship and set the tone for the sermon message each week.
RECOGNITION
At Friendship UMC - Norma Young
At Friendship UMC - Sandy Parrish and Kenny Lewis
We all give thanks for our music leaders. In the name of the father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit. AMEN.
MAY WE PRAY? Almighty and gracious God, thank you for your gift of music and for the leaders who work to make it such a positive factor in our worship. Bless us as we remember that when we sing our hymns and songs, that we are performing for an audience of only One. In Jesus’ name AMEN.
Let us pray: Most gracious, powerful and loving God, from those among us you have raised up leaders. Today, we thank you for our leaders in the area of music. We thank you that you have given them the special talents necessary for their vocation in our church and that you have also given them a burden to serve in the area of their passion. Bless them richly as they serve you in our worship services. I pray that each heart here be open to your word this morning and that my words become truly yours in spirit. May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight oh Lord our rock and our redeemer. AMEN
Psalm 100 NLT
A psalm of thanksgiving. Shout with joy to the LORD, O earth! 2 Worship the LORD with gladness. Come before him, singing with joy. 3 Acknowledge that the LORD is God! He made us, and we are his. We are his people, the sheep of his pasture. 4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving; go into his courts with praise. Give thanks to him and bless his name. 5 For the LORD is good. His unfailing love continues forever, and his faithfulness continues to each generation.
Psalm 150 NLT
1 Praise the LORD! Praise God in his heavenly dwelling; praise him in his mighty heaven! 2 Praise him for his mighty works; praise his unequaled greatness! 3 Praise him with a blast of the trumpet; praise him with the lyre and harp! 4 Praise him with the tambourine and dancing; praise him with stringed instruments and flutes! 5 Praise him with a clash of cymbals; praise him with loud clanging cymbals. 6 Let everything that lives sing praises to the LORD! Praise the LORD!
The Word of God, written for the people of God - Thanks be to God
“Music has charms to soothe the savage breast…” That quote came from the English dramatist William Congreve. It’s one that is familiar to many folks. But most of us are not familiar with its conclusion. “Music has charms to soothe the savage breast, to soften rocks, or bend a knotted oak.” I’m not sure that I’d want to rely on music alone as a substitute for a jackhammer or chain saw-although the walls of Jericho did come tumbling down after a few days of concentrated trumpet playing. We can all agree that music is powerful.
Music is so powerful that it can bend our mood, bring to mind memories or even spur us to action. For example, if I said let’s sing the National Anthem, you would immediately stand up. When the pianist starts playing the prelude in our worship service, we know to start getting quiet. Most of us have favorite songs. Couples claim special tunes as “their songs”. Schools have their alma maters and fight songs. Advertisers pay a lot of money to have catchy tunes and lyrics for their advertising Jingles. See if you can tell me the company or product that goes with these songs:
You deserve a break today - McDonalds
Plop Plop, Fizz Fizz, Oh what a relief it is - Alka Selzer
My bologna has a first name… - Oscar Meyer
Like a good neighbor… - State Farm
Who lives in a pineapple under the sea? - Sponge Bob Squarepants
Yes, we can even name our favorite TV shows after hearing just a couple of bars of their theme songs.
Our worship today is the beneficiary of over 2500 years of musical heritage. Today’s two psalms that we read both mention the use of musical instruments and singing in worship. Not only that, many psalms were actually used for singing during worship services. 56 of them were written “for the director of music. Although they were sung, the psalms would have sounded very foreign to us. Modern concepts of melody and harmony were not developed. The psalms would likely have sounded much like chanting to us.
The Greeks developed the oldest system of musical notation and included songs in their religious observances. However, the oldest type of church music most of us would begin to recognize is the Gregorian chant. The Renaissance brought the beginning of modern classical music, which was born in the church. The oldest hymns that we still sing in our church services originated during the Protestant Reformation. An example would be “A Mighty Fortress Is our God” that was written by Martin Luther in 1529.
Many of our most popular traditional hymns were written in the 18 and 1900s. America made its contribution to sacred music through the Negro spiritual. Now we have contemporary praise songs and even generation X music that resembles heavy metal rock. Regardless of the style of music used, the words tell a story, teach a lesson or speak a prayer.
Tell story about the difference between praise songs and hymns.
One thing that has mystified me is the argument over what kind of music represents true worship. Contemporary and gen X music is decried by folks who absolutely believe that the traditional hymns are the only ones that should be sung. What we need to realize is the music we hear in church is similar to that which we use in our society in general. In the overall scheme of things, even the oldest modern hymns have only existed for the last fifth of Judeo-Christian timeline. Hymns, songs and other music have a primary function-to enhance our worship of God. We can do that best in a style that we are familiar with.
Regardless of which style each of us prefers, the importance of songs in worship has been demonstrated by the fact that as long ago as King David’s days, we have had music leaders in our houses of worship. Many of the composers of baroque music were choir masters in their cathedrals and churches.
Even today, the first person most churches hire on their staffs, after the preacher, is the music director. Many times music reaches people more dramatically than the sermon itself. Tell story about child who was asked how she liked the worship service. She replied, “The music was OK; but the commercial was too long.” We have been fortunate to have in our congregation musical leaders who have done an excellent job in making music a central part of our worship experience each week. The hymns we are singing today were selected by our music director/pianist.
Speaking of praise songs, I praise God for our church music leaders. Their efforts put us in the mood to worship and set the tone for the sermon message each week.
RECOGNITION
At Friendship UMC - Norma Young
At Friendship UMC - Sandy Parrish and Kenny Lewis
We all give thanks for our music leaders. In the name of the father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit. AMEN.
MAY WE PRAY? Almighty and gracious God, thank you for your gift of music and for the leaders who work to make it such a positive factor in our worship. Bless us as we remember that when we sing our hymns and songs, that we are performing for an audience of only One. In Jesus’ name AMEN.