BODY LANGUAGE: Speaking to One Another

Chris McCurley: Who has held the ocean's big hand? Who has numbered every wave of sand? King and nation tremble at his voice. All creation rises to rejoice. Who has given counsel to the Lord? Okay. Seated on His throne, come let us adore Him. Behold our King. Behold our God, seated on His throne. Come, bless the door here. Behold our for a long time. Thank you for the way he lives a life to show us what it means to be a disciple of Jesus and the way he proclaims your word with passion. Be with him now as he shares what he's prepared with us. May our hearts be open. In Jesus name everyone says... about the hourglass approach to worship. Start with celebration. We come down towards more meditative as we get to the Lord's Supper. And then we end on a high note. And so we start off with enthusiasm. We end with that enthusiasm. And in the middle, we get more contemplative and meditative as we talk about the Lord's Supper and prepare our minds for communion. And then also, if you notice this morning, we've cut down a lot of lag time in our service. Not walking from the back. to come up to do something. And this is a precedent that we want to set. So before services we had, as Keith calls it, the holy huddle where all those participating in service gathered around, we prayed, and then we made mention how we're going to be seamless coming up and not walking from the back and all that. So that's what we're going to try to do from here on out. So hopefully all of those were paying attention that this is the standard that we want to have for us going forward. That when it's your time to come up, you come up and be ready as soon as that song has ended. so that we can cut down the lag time. Also want to shifting gears a minute, say farewell to the Pilons. I'm not gonna look at you because I don't think I can, but Christie and Barry, this is their last Sunday with us as they are moving, understandably so, to get closer to that grandbaby and to your family and kids. And so we wish you well and we love you and we thank you so much for your contribution here and for being such a. wonderful part of our family. So we will miss you. So make sure you tell them farewell as you leave, although you'll be back. I know you'll be back to visit with us. ⁓ I also appreciate that Keith has mentioned that whoever decided that worship had to be a funeral every week, we need to vote them off the island. I said that yesterday. I appreciate the enthusiasm this morning. I mean, we are saved people of God. I mean, we have every reason to celebrate. Jesus is coming back. And if you're a clock watcher and you're thinking, Chris is getting up and it's 10 till, uh-oh, I'm not gonna keep you. This is not gonna be very long. Many years ago, I had a friend of... You're on the clock too, buddy. We had a clock at the back of the auditorium at Oldham Lane and underneath it I put, don't look back, remember Lott's wife? So nobody, didn't want anybody looking back at the clock. Many years ago, one of our shepherds at Oldham Lane said, I want you and Libby to come over and watch a movie with us. And it's a great movie, raved about it and it was called Les Miserables. And I didn't know much about Les Mis, I'd heard about it, but I didn't know really anything about it. We went over, had supper, and then we sit down on his comfortable couch to watch this movie. And five minutes in, I look at Libby and I go, this is the entire movie, isn't it? And if you've seen the movie, you know what I'm referring to. It's a musical. So there's no speaking. Everything is sung. And look, if you like Les Mios, that's great. I'm just not a musical person when it comes to that kind of movie. I'd rather watch Star Wars or something like that. But I sat there. through two hours of singing. I grinned and I bore it with everything I had. Do you like musicals? Because I would submit to you that what we do every Sunday in the Lord's church is a musical. We are participating with the Holy Spirit in a musical. Now, not to be all doom and gloom, but sadly this doesn't happen very often. This should be the standard, but unfortunately, Rarely is it, because every Sunday there are people who don't sing. There are people who may be singing half-heartedly. But our music in worship, the voices that we raise to God, should be an exercise in education, and theology, and edification. And that's what we're striving to get to. And I appreciate the efforts of Steve Leach. Of course, Keith being here this weekend. Let's look at Ephesians 5, 18-21 quickly. And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation. But be filled with the Holy Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father, and be subject to one another in the fear of Christ. We know this passage. if for no other reason because verse 19 is our signature verse for why we don't use instruments. But it's really bad exegesis because verses 18 through 21 are one long sentence in the Greek language. So to pluck one verse out and make it stand alone, regardless of what the intent is, is really not good exegesis or Bible study. And what I would suggest to you is that many of us in our stance for a cappella singing have maybe missed what is the reason we sing in the first place. Do we even know why we sing? Because I believe that people would rather know what we're for than always knowing what we're against. And when they know that we are for singing and making melody with our hearts to God, then they'll understand why that we don't implement instrumental music in our worship. And when you look at what Paul is saying here, it is a one another exercise. And we have been talking about the one another's in this series and we close it this morning appropriately with speaking to one another, singing to one another. And the reason why it's a one another passage is because the purpose of our singing was always meant to be educational, theological, and edifying. Why did you sing the names of the apostles or the books of the Bible? So that you could remember them, right? And that is really the picture that Paul is painting here. You sing so you can remember. Remembering was a big deal to people back then because they didn't have copies and copies of the Bible to carry around. And so they sang in order to remember and also to teach. Our singing is a theological experience, but it takes all of us. When someone says, so y'all don't believe in a choir? No, we do. We have the biggest choir you could think of. It's all of us, right? And we use our hearts. That is the instrument. We share the songs and we share the Spirit. When we come together, we are sharing the songs and sharing the Spirit with one another. And I think some Christians believe that just singing and just coming to a church that sings is good enough. But if our heart is not engaged, then it's not enough. We get singing wrong when the lips are all that is involved. We can sing, but if the heart is not engaged, then we're missing it. Next slide, please. Next slide, please. Next slide, please. We get singing wrong when the lips are all that is involved. You see, this is a spiritual exercise and we are singing because we are filled with the Spirit. And because we are filled with the Spirit, we sing, or we sing because we're filled with Spirit, kind of chicken and egg kind of thing, but it doesn't matter. The mouth and the tongue may be involved, but the heart is the primary instrument. The heart is what is the primary. When our lips... are involved but our heart isn't, then our worship is vain, it's meaningless. Worship is intentional. It's meant to be ⁓ something that we engage in, mind, heart, soul, spirit, seeking to engage our hearts in order to carry out the purpose. Also, we get singing wrong when we make it a checklist item. And I think all of us know about checklist worship because if you're like me, we've all been guilty of it a time or two. where we find ourselves just going through the motions. We come in, we sit down, we stare at the back of someone's head, we open our Bible, we pray, we sing, and we go home and nothing ever changes. But again, this is to be an edification, an education, a theological experience. Our time together should be the highlight of the week. And I do recognize that a good amount of this depends on the song leader and the songs that we choose, which is why we are learning some of these new songs and why we never forget some of the old ones as well. But I've said it before, the songbook is not Holy Spirit inspired. Some of the songs are not worth our time. Some of them are not worth the paper they're printed on. But there many of them that are. But if this is supposed to be an edifying, educational, theological experience, then we have to know what we're singing, right? We have to know the words, which is why we... We have the singing class, which is why we have Keith coming this weekend, which is why we rehearse these songs so that we embed them in our hearts and so that they have the maximum effect. When I was at Oldham Lane, we sang the song Night with Eben Pinyon. How many of you know what that song means? Yeah, five of you, right? So how is it educational or edifying or theological if we don't know the words? So what we did is before the Lord's Supper meditation, we had ⁓ the voice of the AC Wildcats. come up and Charles Ellis explained each line and the wording and what it meant. And when we sing that song from that point on, it was very different. It's a very different experience, right? But if we don't know what we're singing, then it's not having the maximum impact. And some of these new songs are very educational. They're very theological. Many of them are based on the Psalms. And so I would caution anyone not to just throw up their hands and say, I don't like the new songs. Because Amazing Grace was a new song at some point. And remember that we're striving to help each generation connect with God, and some connect with these new songs better than with some of the old ones. And also, we get worship wrong, we get singing wrong when it becomes all about the music. Now that's important, and certainly we want to focus on the tenor and the tone and the parts and the harmony and all of that. But if that's all we're focused on, we have missed the entire point. Because it's not all about the music. The first century church didn't sing four-part harmony, they chanted. And they understood what they were chanting. And the reason for it, again, was for education, for theology, and for edification. And believe it or not, we don't simply sing because we like the sound of it. We don't sing because we like the feeling it gives us. We don't sing just because we like the sound. We sing to express our thankfulness to God. to edify, to teach, singing as our sacrifice of praise to God. I think I told you before, but it bears repeating, when I was living in Cassville, Missouri, it my first preaching job, and every month we would go to the Red Rose Inn Assisted Living Center, and we would sing for the residents there. Now, none of us were great singers. but we took what talent we had and ability we had and we would sing for the residents. And there would be 15 or so residents that would circle up and we would sing for about half an hour. One of the residents was a young man by the name of Shane. Shane suffered from severe cerebral palsy. He was in his 30s. ⁓ I would describe his singing as a noise. I mean, for him it was a joyful noise, but it was just a noise. He moaned, he shrieked, he shrilled. but he couldn't speak. And so that was the level of his singing. And I guess it could be distracting, but I loved it. But one particular resident there was not so happy about Shane's involvement in our singing. And that resident would try to get him to stop every week. She would nudge him and shh, shh, because she thought that he was too much of a distraction. We're singing a song about heaven and I look over and there's a tear streaming down Shane's face. I couldn't understand a single word he was saying. Nobody else could either, but he knew exactly what he was singing and it touched him so much. And I can only imagine that what Shane was feeling in that moment was hope that someday my body will be healed. Someday I will be able to sing praises like everyone else and I will be complete and whole when I'm in the Father's presence. Do you think God appreciated Shane's singing? I absolutely, 100 % do. And I think He fully appreciates yours as well. I hope He does, because mine's about as bad as it gets. I think so often we think about singing from terms of talent and ability, but who made your mouth? Who made your vocal cords? God did. and whatever He makes, He loves. So, we'll offer an invitation this morning if we can help you in some way. If we can pray with you. If you would like to study the Bible and learn more about discipleship and being a member of God's Kingdom and His church, then certainly we want to help you with that. Or, if you're ready to put on Christ in baptism this morning, then certainly let's do that. Let's all exercise our voices and let's do this one another exercise together as we stand and as we sing. to a scene without Since they are many, His mercy is more. you His mercy is full ⁓ is calling us all. He welcomes the weakest, the wildest, the poor. Our sin, they are many, His mercy is forth. Praise the Lord. His mercy is full. Far where the darkness knew every war, His mercy is full. What riches of kindness He lavished on His blood was the payment, his wife was the cost. He stood in the debt we could never afford. Since they are many, His mercy is more. Praise the Lord. A world of darkness, new every night. This mercy is more. Praise the Lord. Stronger than darkness, new every morn. Our sins they are many, His mercy is more. Our sins they are