Travis and Billy,
I made one comment to Mark Dever in the Service planning section of the Weekender that I wanted to pass on. Mark was saying how he likes to start the services with the Word of God, reading scripture. I had previously thought about how it is awkward how we do it because people are talking to each other (which I know is good) and the word of God is starting to be read while people are still talking, ending conversations, and finding their seats. At CHBC, they start singing a little bit before the service starts, which provides a context for quiet at the end of the last song so that the Word of God can be spoken with people attentive ready to listen. That sounds good to me, or, we could simply ask people to find their seats and then when everything is quiet, then start with reading the scripture. Or another thing you could do is ask people to stand for the beginning of the morning’s proclamation of God’s word.
Thank you for your labors for the Lord and us, his people.
Many blessings!
Roy Huddle
4 comments:
Great thought Roy!
TBC
While i was at the weekender also. And i see the practical reasons to begin with a little singing. I prefer to invoke the Lord in prayer in scripture reading before we do anything, even the smallest things. I agree that yes we need to change something, but i believe we should do a better job teaching our congregation that at the beginning of the service there must be a time for a period of reverence. what do yall think.
joe
Joe,
Thanks for your comment. I think you are right in that we need to do a better job of teaching the church to prepare at the beginning of the service. But I also think that singing might be the best way to do that...at least at first, and then we can begin with our Scripture reading and silent prep....
Good thoughts,
TBC
All-
Good thoughts from everyone. It can be awkward to start reading scripture while there are people talking and still working there way to their seats. I’m ready and open for a way in which we can honor the Lord and serve His people better. I think starting off the service by singing provides a clear signal to everyone there that we are beginning and it is a smooth transition. As people hear the songs it is a great clue to wrap the conversation up and sit down. I have even seen the person leading the music begin strumming the guitar for 30 seconds or so prior to beginning to sing. Hearing the music allows one to sit down and the one leading can even make a small comment or two to encourage us to gather.
I am glad we are discussing this and I am looking forward to how the Lord will lead us to tweak or change.
billy
Post a Comment