Author: Chris Smith

JESUS IS BUILDING HIS CHURCH: WHY DO WE SING WHEN WE MEET?
Sometimes when children visit our church building, they are surprised that there are instruments in the building. What are they for? They ask. Singing is not something people in other religious groups do. If you think about it, apart from church, when do we sing? Perhaps you sing ‘Happy Birthday’ to family or a workmate. Perhaps you sing along to the radio, the brave people might sing to karaoke. So why do we sing in church?
What is church singing for?
Singing is a way for God to rule over our church family. We sing ideas that are from God’s word.

Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns and songs from the spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts (Colossians 3 verse 16)

Singing is a way that we show ‘yes, I believe these things.’  But singing is more than agreeing God’s word is true…
Singing is a way God teaches the church family to connect our feelings and our commitments or priorities with God’s Word. A special aspect of singing is the musical aspect. Music can remind us of special feelings or it can help bring on those feelings in us. Good church songs will help us put the right emotions to the words.

But singing is more than a way to agree with the truth of God’s word and to feel right about it…
Singing is one way of showing we agree with each other and of making the church family united. Church singing is normally something we do together. When I speak, you listen, when you speak, I listen, but when we sing, we speak together. By singing songs together, we stop church from being a performance by just a few people. Singing together is one way of showing we are one.
Christian singing is for telling the truth, for showing or learning the right feelings and for being a united church family.

So what makes a good church song?
Many of us have a favourite hymn or chorus, but if our songs are for truth, for feeling and for unity, we need to make sure our songs help those things.

Christian singing is
• for telling the truth,
• for showing or learning the right feelings
• for being a united church family.

Truth: Christian songs do not have to be sentences of the Bible copied into a song. A good song can be a poem that teaches us the word of God. Some songs are not true. Some songs make false claims about God’s promises or about ourselves (along the lines of “All I ever think about is you Lord”). We should not sing them.

Feelings: God’s goodness to us is a reason for great joy. Our songs should help us feel that. That is not the only feeling songs should show. Other songs will help us show sadness or feel sad about our sin or about our suffering.
Songs are for the whole church family to sing. Some songs are true, helping right emotions, but the tune is too hard for us to sing. We should not try to sing them. So a good song is one that we can

sing together – some songs are amazing when a great performer sings them, but if we tried, it would fall flat.

What does this mean for our singing on a Sunday?

The musicians and song leaders serve the church by helping us to sing. The role of the song leader is to help us to sing, and they will know if they have fulfilled that ministry when they can hardly be heard because of the singing by the church family – so join in!
Singing is not just a way for us to express our feelings. God can use it to teach us the right feelings. So don’t wait until you feel like singing –so join in!
The most beautiful instrument in any church meeting is the sound of the congregation singing. You may not be the best singer. It doesn’t matter. God wants you to stand with other Christians and sing with them – so join in!

Look at Hebrews 3 verses 12,13 below.

¹² See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. ¹³ But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called ‘Today’, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. (Hebrews 3)

‘See to it.’  Here is a command, not just a suggestion.  Instead of seeing other turn aside, encourage each other.

There is a process going on here.  Look at it carefully.

• It starts with a heart that doubts God’s promise, that distrusts his care.
• That kind of person turns aside from God.

It is said another way in verse 13

• Sin is deceives – it misleads – it persuades us to think wrongly about God.
• So we end up hardened against him – unresponsive

The danger is that we drift away from God.  We believe lies about him and so disobey him.  Don’t think that this couldn’t happen to you or even to the ‘really keen’ Christians.  It can.  That is the danger.  The answer is that God gives us each other to help us to hold on to him, to protect us from turning from him.  We need others; others need us.

 Paul Tripp, a helpful Christian author, wrote this:

“Physically blind people are always aware of their problem and spend much of their lives learning to live it.  But the Bible says that we can be ‘blind’ to our sin and yet think that we ‘see’ quite well.  I need you in order to really see myself.  Otherwise I will listen to my own arguments, believe my own lies.”

Sin leads us to believe things are true about God and us that in fact are not true.  And so sin makes us spiritually blind: we don’t see ourselves properly.  We end up believing one thing about ourselves when another thing is true.

Though we are often blind to our own sin, we may see other’s sins clearly – we can be better at seeing others are wrong than seeing it in ourselves.  That can be very irritating!  But it can be very helpful.  Because you can help me by pointing out how my life is drifting from God.

How are we going to get that help?  Again Paul Tripp helpfully wrote:

“Doing this for others is not about being a private detective, forcing someone to obey.  Instead, we need to invite others to intrude.”

This is a good way of looking at this isn’t it?  Rather than snooping around and trying to catch others doing wrong, we start by asking someone to do this for us.  We say: “I need your help to keep going as a Christian.  I need your prayers.  I need you to ask me if I am praying.  I need you to remind me that our Heavenly Father loves us, even when I have mucked up and been angry in the office yet again.”

What are the practical issues?

• This is for everyone. We must not just leave it to one or two.
• It is for everyone, but it is not with everyone. You cannot know everyone well enough to care for them like this.  It is a good pattern for us to have these more personal conversations with just one or two other Christians.
• For many of us, this is a very scary prospect. We are nervous of talking to others about our lives and matters concerning God.  We have been hurt by others.  It takes time to build trust.  But we need to start taking steps in a forward direction.

What are the steps?

• Recognise that we are at risk, risk of being deceived and turning from God – so pray to God for others, to keep them from turning from him.
• Be more involved – come to church regularly so you get to know other Christians, join a growth group. Don’t get in the habit of not meeting.
• To do this well, will take more than the brief time we spend together on Sundays. It would be good to text, call or (best of all) meet during the week.
• Start talking more about Jesus and about living his way with your close friends.
• Invite someone to ‘intrude in your life’ – to protect you from slipping.

²⁴ Let us consider how we may spur one another on towards love and good deeds, ²⁵ not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another – and all the more as you see the Day approaching. (Hebrews 10)

Media comments on the terror attacks in Manchester and London have expressed right grief but also confusion and error.  How does the Bible help us to think about these things?

 

The media has said these are terrible actions.  The Bible agrees.  These attacks are shocking because unsuspecting people have been suddenly killed.  As those who love others, we are very sad.

 

The media has said that the terrorists are especially bad people.  The Bible teaches that the root of these actions is sin.  Sin is the attitude in all humans that we know better than the Living God and that we can decide the best way to live.  Sin separates us from God and lies behind the actions that hurt each other (Romans 1 verses 18-32).  These terrorists are like the rest of us in this regard.

 

The media has said seeking revenge is wrong because it will make us like the terrorists.  The Bible says seeking revenge is wrong because God has put governments in charge to keep order and punish wrong (Romans 13).  The Bible also tells us to trust God to punish on his judgement day (Romans 12 verse 19).  Like the terrorists, we will face judgement day too.  We can only be ready by trusting in Jesus.

The media have said the security services have let us down – they did not stop suspicious people who later did such harm.  The Bible says we wrongly trust in what we do and what we make to keep us safe (e.g. Isaiah 30 verses 1-5).  But no government, no policeman, no secret services can protect us against all danger.  We are glad for the work of government and police but when we realise again how vulnerable we are, we should remember again to trust the God and Father of Jesus.

 

The media has said that Islam is basically like Christianity.  Comparing the Bible and the Koran shows this is false.  At the most important point of our belief the Koran says we are wrong.   The Bible says that Jesus died on a cross for sin (1 Peter 3:18); the Koran says that he did not die and the Jews lied when they said they killed him (Koran 4:157).

 

The media tells us what matters is if a Muslim is peaceful or violent.  The Bible says that what matters is whether or not you know Jesus, the Prince of Peace.  The Koran says Jesus was a prophet (Koran 19:30) but ‘no more than’ that (Koran 5:75).  It denies that he died for our sins.  The Bible tells us Jesus is the only way to life with God (John 14 verse 6; Acts 4:12).  We should seek to be good neighbours and fellow-workers with Muslims we know, being friendly, learning their names, talking with them.  Most of all, we should pray that they would come to know the Prince of Peace, Jesus.  Do you know a Muslim?

Please pray for them now.

Owing to operating conditions the sermon on Sunday did not get recorded. Sorry for any inconvenience. We hope normal service will return at the weekend.

Joel