Last time, I spoke about how personal duty in worship can help us to feel the joy we have in developing our relationship with God. Now I'd like to talk about another tool we can use to experience joy.
Music always has a large place in worship. In general, music has the power to make us feel different emotions. In worship, it can help us feel closer to God and help build up our joy.
We don't just choose music for our services based on what we want to hear. Our music is meant to connect us to what God is saying to us on a Sunday morning. In fact, we chose hymns that specifically match the words and themes of what our lectionary readings say, using a variety of books and other resources to help us do so.
Music is not only a nice addition to our worship, it is vital to our service. It gives us another means to hear the Word of God, helping us to understand the words in a different way. Hearing what God has to say to us is important as we develop our relationship with God.
So sing out and listen! Hear what God has to say to us, and respond back in kind, remembering that He loved us so much He was willing to die for us to bring us back in relationship with Him.
Tune in next time as we talk more about the Word of God in our worship.
Resources for picking hymns:
- Daw, Jr., Carl P. and Thomas Pavlechko. Liturgical Music for the Revised Common Lectionary: Year A, B, and C. New York: Church Publishing, 2009.
- Hatchett, Marion J. A Scriptural Index to The Hymnal 1982. New York: Church Publishing, 1988.
-The Episcopal Musician's Handbook. Milwaukee: The Living Church Foundation. (A new edition comes out every year).
- Hatchett, Marion J. A Scriptural Index to The Hymnal 1982. New York: Church Publishing, 1988.
-The Episcopal Musician's Handbook. Milwaukee: The Living Church Foundation. (A new edition comes out every year).