The joy of serving
In Christ Alone.
...My hope is found;
He is my light, my strength, my song;
This cornerstone, this solid ground,
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm.
What heights of love, what depths of peace,
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease!
My comforter, my all in all-
Here in the love of Christ I stand.
Last week at church, the moments prior to my becoming a member and playing an offertory were incredible. All the worship songs seemed so powerful and perfect, describing my heart's longing to praise God and thank Him for bringing me to this point. The final song in the set was "In Christ Alone." One of my all-time favorites. It is a bit frustrating but so wonderful when you can't quite sing the words to a song you love so much because you are overwhelmed with emotion and tearful joy. A lone tear streaked down my right cheek. I didn't care that I was about to go up in front of the church to become a member and play a song on the piano in a matter of seconds. It was such a joyful and memorable moment.
My hands were still a bit shaky and my nerves froze me up a little bit when I first started playing, but once I got warmed up I was fine. I never expected to play that song in church of all places, but the music minister said a classical offertory would be perfect since it was my background. I think we both agreed at first that it might not be quite "appropriate" for church, but after going through some other options and coming back to that Chopin piece, he said, "You need to play that; your heart is in it." So I played a song that I have played and enjoyed for years now, but this time it was different. The pressure of performance was off, and God had even worked in my heart recently and through the week of practicing it to break me of a prideful past that wanted people to be impressed with my playing abilities. This was merely an offering to God and I tried to make it be that way.
I don't know why I had put this off, making an effort to be involved with the worship at church... I guess I don't like change and new things make me a bit apprehensive at first, but after realizing the joy of serving the church with music these last two weeks, I wish I had pursued it a lot sooner. Still, now that I am serving in this way, I do feel a joy that seems to have been missing for a while, and it is so perfect and beautiful to experience. If there is something similar tugging at you and you aren't quite sure about it, I encourage you to go for it and experience the richness of God's grace and joy.
...My hope is found;
He is my light, my strength, my song;
This cornerstone, this solid ground,
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm.
What heights of love, what depths of peace,
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease!
My comforter, my all in all-
Here in the love of Christ I stand.
Last week at church, the moments prior to my becoming a member and playing an offertory were incredible. All the worship songs seemed so powerful and perfect, describing my heart's longing to praise God and thank Him for bringing me to this point. The final song in the set was "In Christ Alone." One of my all-time favorites. It is a bit frustrating but so wonderful when you can't quite sing the words to a song you love so much because you are overwhelmed with emotion and tearful joy. A lone tear streaked down my right cheek. I didn't care that I was about to go up in front of the church to become a member and play a song on the piano in a matter of seconds. It was such a joyful and memorable moment.
My hands were still a bit shaky and my nerves froze me up a little bit when I first started playing, but once I got warmed up I was fine. I never expected to play that song in church of all places, but the music minister said a classical offertory would be perfect since it was my background. I think we both agreed at first that it might not be quite "appropriate" for church, but after going through some other options and coming back to that Chopin piece, he said, "You need to play that; your heart is in it." So I played a song that I have played and enjoyed for years now, but this time it was different. The pressure of performance was off, and God had even worked in my heart recently and through the week of practicing it to break me of a prideful past that wanted people to be impressed with my playing abilities. This was merely an offering to God and I tried to make it be that way.
I don't know why I had put this off, making an effort to be involved with the worship at church... I guess I don't like change and new things make me a bit apprehensive at first, but after realizing the joy of serving the church with music these last two weeks, I wish I had pursued it a lot sooner. Still, now that I am serving in this way, I do feel a joy that seems to have been missing for a while, and it is so perfect and beautiful to experience. If there is something similar tugging at you and you aren't quite sure about it, I encourage you to go for it and experience the richness of God's grace and joy.