To God's Beloved At Cloverdale Baptist Church:
Spring Break is upon us. This means the boys are home, and we start to prepare for new sports seasons, and the new life that we will see soon out of the ground. I enjoy having the boys around and have taken a few days off this week to enjoy being with Lori and the boys. Sleeping in, reading, and making pens is kind of fun as well, so if my response to phone calls, emails, or this email is a little slow, you now know why.
Easter season is coming for us as a church, so encourage you to prayerfully prepare your own heart, as well as continue to invest with those in your life who do not attend church. Easter weekend (and Christmas) is a time when many who do not usually attend church are culturally willing, and a chance for us to display the beauty of the Gospel to those who are not living for Jesus! Prayerfully think of who you could invite, for Easter Sunday, as well, take the time to thank Jesus for what He has done for you!
I am often asked why we sing the songs we do. It is because we desire to be God Centred, multi-generational, and voice (heart) activating. We choose songs that are God exalting, biblically sound, and engage the hearts and minds of people of all ages (and voices). This is not easy to do. Perhaps even harder is the question of why we don't sing certain songs. Harder because songs are so incredibly emotional (Lori and I used to choose one a year, and even now when they are played my heart fills with love for her and precious memories), and because we as humans, even in our worship, tend to struggle with self-centredness. Pastor Les seeks to choose songs that go with the overall theme of the service, and help us to get ready for God's Word, and then respond to God's Word, that has been preached.
So why don't we sing some songs? For a song to be removed from our service, it fails one of four tests: 1. The Biblical Test: We want all we sing to accurately reflect the greatness of God, and His Word. We want to sing God's Word to one another (Colossians 3:16), if a song does not accurately reflect what the Bible teaches we don't want to sing it (even if it is popular); 2. The Love Test: If a song would hurt someone in our congregation, or is a song that they feel is not biblical or God centred, we will respect and love that person. When I was pastoring in Houston, we pulled two hymns off of our singing list for a while, as new believers struggled with them. One, perhaps my favourite, Amazing Grace, was a song a new believer had sung repeatedly in the bar scene, and reminded them of their old life, the other, The Old Rugged Cross, was one that they thought was idolatry and singing to a cross. Over time, these songs were back in our list to sing, as the people involved grew, but we loved them enough to sing many other songs available to us, rather than cause them to stumble. We want to radically prefer one another (Romans 12:10); 3. Singing Test: We want to engage the voices of our people, singing to God in worship. If there is a song that we are not able to sing, we would prefer that song to be used for special numbers, rather than congregational worship. 4. Ungodly Source: If the song is written by those who are not honouring Jesus, we do not want to sing that song. An example of this would be the Jesus Culture, although there are other examples of this.
Our goal in singing is to exalt God, as we seek to engage the hearts, minds and voices of people of all ages in exalting our KING. Would you come prayerfully on Sunday's, and engage your hearts and minds in singing, even if the song is not exactly your style. I have found that your singing is a great encouragement to the people around you, so as we engage in lifting our voices to our God, as young, middle aged, and old, we will together WORSHIP! We want to be those who are focused on God, filled with self sacrificial love for one another, and unified in our love for God and one another. One of the greatest ways we can show this is our singing together.
We are starting another series with a study book, Freed 2 Follow. If you are in a Growth Group, you can get these from your leader on Sunday, if not they can be picked up at the information desk. Suggested donation is $5. You are welcome to pick them up for free, or donate more, as we want you to use them to grow in your walk with God, take notes on our services and interact with others on important application questions. So, don't let money be a block to joining us using this book, they do cost us money as a church family, and if you would like to help us with this, please do so.
Sunday Is Coming:
Title: Freedom In Christ Disputed
Text: Galatians 5:1-15
What does it mean to be set free in Christ?
Why is it important we understand that obedience is an important part of our freedom?
How can we avoid submitting again to slavery?
"Freedom is always under attack" Agree or disagree? If you agree, why do you think this is?
How can we surrender to God's priorities?
How can we as a church live in full freedom?
Have a great week, and as you prepare your hearts to receive God's Word, also come ready to find someone who needs to experience God's love through you, and ready to engage your voice to praise God and encourage God's people.
A Fellow Praiser,
Pastor Rob