Friday, January 25, 2008
Feeling a little better...
It's amazing how much some time with your friends and a chance to blow off some steam can help! I still think Rob Bell is right on this one but eventually you have to channel that energy into something worth while and bigger than yourself. Of course, these times of anger come and go so I'm finding that, when used the right way, anger can help reinvigorate my work. Have you ever expereinced this?
Thursday, January 24, 2008
AHHHH!!!!!!! What's the deal with most American Christians?
"We live in a country where people get mad about the wrong things and seem to care less about things that matter."
--Rob Bell
Or something to that effect, anyway. I woke up pissed this morning, to be frank. It didn't help that I had a somewhat challenging rehearsal last night. (I missed a rhythmic figure because I was so busy doing administrative work that I didn't take the time I needed to prepare the music for rehearsal. Lesson learned. When there's a mist in the pulpit there's a fog in the pew.)
Every now and again the low level rage that hides out in my soul rears its head and today is that day (I wish I could say that it wasn't there, but it is). So I woke up mad because of the combination of two conversations I participated in the last two weeks. The first conversation was in a small group where we were talking about the Kingdom of God. In essence, the entire concept of the Kingdom of God was like a big truth bomb that was dropped but never detonated (forgive the Tracy Morgan reference: I realize its a bad mixture of metaphors, or at least probably an inappropriate mixture). The concept (you know, the one that Jesus was talking about in his ministry: the main point) was, while not missed, exactly, well it seemed to fly over every one's head. I imagine that's just part of the trouble with the Kingdom! Think Jesus ever ran into this problem? :)
Now, understand, it's not their fault. These folks are wonderful people who love God and love one another! It's not their fault their church has, in many ways, abandoned them and left many of them with little more than a third-grade theological education. (I must say that these folks are doing better than third grade for sure, but the majority of American Christians are not.) In fact, to look at my own tribe, it's partly our fault. By ours, I mean the clergy. We've been so concerned with slipping numbers in our churches, our loss of relevance and prominence in the contemporary American culture, and by our own intramural arguments that we have forgotten the Kingdom work that Jesus calls us to. It IS about making disciples for Jesus Christ, but it's about transforming those disciples into what God had in mind for them: to be transformed, redeemed agents of the Kingdom. I believe that God so desperately wants Creation to become what He had in mind for it in the beginning that God must be irritated with the majority of God's church's failures to teach about the Kingdom, the Reign, the New World, that Jesus died for. Yes, Jesus' work on the cross was about personal salvation but it's about so much more than that! It's about defeating evil and transforming the powers and principalities, it's about recreating the world with God. I guess that's why the Christus Victor theory of atonement speaks to me in the way that it does.
The second conversation involved a vote by the school-board in the community that I serve. In a 5-2 decision they decided to not "allow" (as it was related to me) prayer before the school-board meetings. Some folks in our community are really mad about this. Let me be clear about where I am on this: I believe that one's faith should absolutely inform their political decisions: it's vital not only to our nation but also to the full coming of God's Kingdom. However, we DO NOT live in a Christian nation. Let's just be real honest about that. The majority of the founders were deists. Couple that with the facts on slavery and manifest destiny and I think it's pretty impossible to make a claim that we ever really were one. At least, we were never one that I would want to hold up as a model of the "perfect Christian nation."
I think the separation of church and state is a good thing not only for the state but also for the church. I also believe that, unless you can pray in an appropriate way in a public forum, that you should refrain from doing so. I love and value diversity. I want to be the kind of Christian that does not condemn people who don't believe the things that I believe. Now, honestly, I recognize that I struggle with that but mostly my struggle lies with my fellow Christians. (Sounds vaguely Wesleyan, God put me in the right tribe after all!)
Back to the second conversation. I really respect the folks whom I was engaged with in this conversation. But...what I found to be so difficult to understand was that they were really flummoxed by the school-board's decision, because they know most of the members on the board and they know them to be good, God-fearing people of faith, if you will. They seemed to be genuinely puzzled by the decision and, perhaps a bit angry about it.
Frankly, we live in a culture that gets angry about the the wrong things, and sits on the sidelines emotionally about the things that are worth getting angry about.
Really, we're angry because a group of seven people decided not to allow public prayers before a school-board meeting.
Please don't tell me, as someone so recently said to me, that this makes you an oppressed person. I struggle to believe that a Caucasian person, who makes a six-figure salary, who lives in a beautiful home in the burbs, who isn't truly persecuted for their faith, who honestly doesn't have to sweat how they are going to pay the rent, or where the next meal is coming from, please don't tell me that you are oppressed because of this decision. Now, you may be marginalized by your wealth and your community but you certainly aren't oppressed.
Really, we're passionately angry about a school-board decision that affects their meetings?
We're not passionately angry about the fact that 35,000 children WILL die today because they don't have enough to eat?
We're not passionately angry about the treatable pandemic of HIV/AIDS that's wiping out a GENERATION in Africa?
We're not passionately angry about Darfur?
We're not passionately angry that our country is now reviled?
We're not passionately angry that we've sold out human rights and the best parts of ourselves and used that capital to buy into a culture of fear?
We're not angry that the church is losing relevancy everyday because it refuses to get outside of itself and take a stand on issues that really matter?
REALLY?
Nah, we're pissed about the school-board.
You know, Rob Bell is right: some people are looking for a fight because they aren't deeply engaged in one that matters.
How much longer will we wait?
--Rob Bell
Or something to that effect, anyway. I woke up pissed this morning, to be frank. It didn't help that I had a somewhat challenging rehearsal last night. (I missed a rhythmic figure because I was so busy doing administrative work that I didn't take the time I needed to prepare the music for rehearsal. Lesson learned. When there's a mist in the pulpit there's a fog in the pew.)
Every now and again the low level rage that hides out in my soul rears its head and today is that day (I wish I could say that it wasn't there, but it is). So I woke up mad because of the combination of two conversations I participated in the last two weeks. The first conversation was in a small group where we were talking about the Kingdom of God. In essence, the entire concept of the Kingdom of God was like a big truth bomb that was dropped but never detonated (forgive the Tracy Morgan reference: I realize its a bad mixture of metaphors, or at least probably an inappropriate mixture). The concept (you know, the one that Jesus was talking about in his ministry: the main point) was, while not missed, exactly, well it seemed to fly over every one's head. I imagine that's just part of the trouble with the Kingdom! Think Jesus ever ran into this problem? :)
Now, understand, it's not their fault. These folks are wonderful people who love God and love one another! It's not their fault their church has, in many ways, abandoned them and left many of them with little more than a third-grade theological education. (I must say that these folks are doing better than third grade for sure, but the majority of American Christians are not.) In fact, to look at my own tribe, it's partly our fault. By ours, I mean the clergy. We've been so concerned with slipping numbers in our churches, our loss of relevance and prominence in the contemporary American culture, and by our own intramural arguments that we have forgotten the Kingdom work that Jesus calls us to. It IS about making disciples for Jesus Christ, but it's about transforming those disciples into what God had in mind for them: to be transformed, redeemed agents of the Kingdom. I believe that God so desperately wants Creation to become what He had in mind for it in the beginning that God must be irritated with the majority of God's church's failures to teach about the Kingdom, the Reign, the New World, that Jesus died for. Yes, Jesus' work on the cross was about personal salvation but it's about so much more than that! It's about defeating evil and transforming the powers and principalities, it's about recreating the world with God. I guess that's why the Christus Victor theory of atonement speaks to me in the way that it does.
The second conversation involved a vote by the school-board in the community that I serve. In a 5-2 decision they decided to not "allow" (as it was related to me) prayer before the school-board meetings. Some folks in our community are really mad about this. Let me be clear about where I am on this: I believe that one's faith should absolutely inform their political decisions: it's vital not only to our nation but also to the full coming of God's Kingdom. However, we DO NOT live in a Christian nation. Let's just be real honest about that. The majority of the founders were deists. Couple that with the facts on slavery and manifest destiny and I think it's pretty impossible to make a claim that we ever really were one. At least, we were never one that I would want to hold up as a model of the "perfect Christian nation."
I think the separation of church and state is a good thing not only for the state but also for the church. I also believe that, unless you can pray in an appropriate way in a public forum, that you should refrain from doing so. I love and value diversity. I want to be the kind of Christian that does not condemn people who don't believe the things that I believe. Now, honestly, I recognize that I struggle with that but mostly my struggle lies with my fellow Christians. (Sounds vaguely Wesleyan, God put me in the right tribe after all!)
Back to the second conversation. I really respect the folks whom I was engaged with in this conversation. But...what I found to be so difficult to understand was that they were really flummoxed by the school-board's decision, because they know most of the members on the board and they know them to be good, God-fearing people of faith, if you will. They seemed to be genuinely puzzled by the decision and, perhaps a bit angry about it.
Frankly, we live in a culture that gets angry about the the wrong things, and sits on the sidelines emotionally about the things that are worth getting angry about.
Really, we're angry because a group of seven people decided not to allow public prayers before a school-board meeting.
Please don't tell me, as someone so recently said to me, that this makes you an oppressed person. I struggle to believe that a Caucasian person, who makes a six-figure salary, who lives in a beautiful home in the burbs, who isn't truly persecuted for their faith, who honestly doesn't have to sweat how they are going to pay the rent, or where the next meal is coming from, please don't tell me that you are oppressed because of this decision. Now, you may be marginalized by your wealth and your community but you certainly aren't oppressed.
Really, we're passionately angry about a school-board decision that affects their meetings?
We're not passionately angry about the fact that 35,000 children WILL die today because they don't have enough to eat?
We're not passionately angry about the treatable pandemic of HIV/AIDS that's wiping out a GENERATION in Africa?
We're not passionately angry about Darfur?
We're not passionately angry that our country is now reviled?
We're not passionately angry that we've sold out human rights and the best parts of ourselves and used that capital to buy into a culture of fear?
We're not angry that the church is losing relevancy everyday because it refuses to get outside of itself and take a stand on issues that really matter?
REALLY?
Nah, we're pissed about the school-board.
You know, Rob Bell is right: some people are looking for a fight because they aren't deeply engaged in one that matters.
How much longer will we wait?
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Notes on the Taize Community
Every now and again I have someone ask me about the history of the Taize community in France so I thought I'd post the information that I usually include on the back of the bulletin when I lead these services. The notes below are taken (with permission, of course!) from my major professor in graduate school, the incredible C. Michael Hawn. I was blessed to travel with several of my classmates when I was in seminary on a pilgrimage, led by Dr. Hawn, to the Taize community. When we were in Taize (which is outside of Cluny) we lived, worked, fellowshiped and worshiped in the community for a week. That week changed my life in several key ways. If you have any questions or would like to share your experience of Taize, I'd love to talk with you!
Notes on the Taizé Community
The Taizé Community has become a place of pilgrimage for young people from around the world. In July 1940 Roger Louis Schutz-Marsauche, a Reformed minister, arrived in the tiny community of Taizé in the southeastern part of France, approximately one hundred miles from the Swiss border. Roger had many doubts about his faith during his seminary years at Lausanne. In response to this and to the conditions of occupied France, he cast his lot with the poor and disadvantaged. His dream was to live in community with others who would practice the essential dimensions of the Gospel in a manner that would offer a response of Christian reconciliation and hope in the face of the horrors of the war. Brother Roger, as he became known, found a place for such a community in the village of Taizé, just north of Cluny. One thousand years earlier, Cluny had been the site of one of the great medieval monastic traditions of the church. The community of Taizé would draw from this heritage but expand it to fit the needs of a conquered France in search of hope.
Today, over fifty-five years later, Brother Roger’s work continues in this ecumenical community of approximately eighty brothers who, similar to their predecessors in Cluny, have taken vows of poverty and chastity. These brothers, however, come from all over the globe and represent a wide spectrum of denominational beliefs. The community includes Reformed, Anglican, Orthodox, and Roman Catholic Christians. The overarching theme of Taizé is reconciliation through prayer. The majority of the brothers divide their time between reflection and service—a reflective life in the rolling hills of Burgundy surrounding Taizé where they greet and counsel thousands of pilgrims annually from around the globe, and a life of service in some of the poorest and most helpless situation sin the world, such as Calcutta, Haiti, and New York City.
The usual Taizé service is based upon the historic service of the Word with some variations. Singing, silence, scripture (usually read in several languages) and prayer permeate morning, noon, and evening prayers. Daily worship at Taizé includes neither communion, except for morning prayer, nor a sermon. It draws from more contemplative roots where silence and reflection are central to worship and mantra-like music allows the participants to center their though on the adoration of God. To the average Protestant worshiper in the United States, prayer in the Taizé Community with fewer words and extended periods of silence may be at once disturbing and refreshing. Icons from the Orthodox tradition are used to provide a visual meditative setting. The icons are traditional representations of events in the life of Christ and provide “windows to heaven” in the words of the Orthodox church.
The music used in the three services of daily prayer was composed for the unique liturgical needs of the Community by the brothers in the Community and by Jacques Berthier, a composer and friend of Taizé who died in 1994. With young people coming from around the world to see this tiny hamlet, the worship calls for a kind of music that is accessible to these global pilgrims. Through the use of chorales, ostinatos (short, repetitive refrains), acclamations, responses and cannons, worshipers with radically diverse liturgical and linguistic backgrounds are able to participate immediately. While there are vernacular versions of Taizé songs available, worshipers often sing in Latin because it is an historical language of the church, unifying the singers in the mystery of prayer. After visiting Taizé, Pope John XXIII said, “Ah, Taizé—that little springtime!”
Information provided permissible by C. Michael Hawn, Professor of Sacred Music, SMU, Perkins School of Theology.
On August 16th, 2005, Brother Roger was assassinated during the evening prayer (with 2500 people in attendance) at Taizé by an untreated mentally ill woman.
Notes on the Taizé Community
The Taizé Community has become a place of pilgrimage for young people from around the world. In July 1940 Roger Louis Schutz-Marsauche, a Reformed minister, arrived in the tiny community of Taizé in the southeastern part of France, approximately one hundred miles from the Swiss border. Roger had many doubts about his faith during his seminary years at Lausanne. In response to this and to the conditions of occupied France, he cast his lot with the poor and disadvantaged. His dream was to live in community with others who would practice the essential dimensions of the Gospel in a manner that would offer a response of Christian reconciliation and hope in the face of the horrors of the war. Brother Roger, as he became known, found a place for such a community in the village of Taizé, just north of Cluny. One thousand years earlier, Cluny had been the site of one of the great medieval monastic traditions of the church. The community of Taizé would draw from this heritage but expand it to fit the needs of a conquered France in search of hope.
Today, over fifty-five years later, Brother Roger’s work continues in this ecumenical community of approximately eighty brothers who, similar to their predecessors in Cluny, have taken vows of poverty and chastity. These brothers, however, come from all over the globe and represent a wide spectrum of denominational beliefs. The community includes Reformed, Anglican, Orthodox, and Roman Catholic Christians. The overarching theme of Taizé is reconciliation through prayer. The majority of the brothers divide their time between reflection and service—a reflective life in the rolling hills of Burgundy surrounding Taizé where they greet and counsel thousands of pilgrims annually from around the globe, and a life of service in some of the poorest and most helpless situation sin the world, such as Calcutta, Haiti, and New York City.
The usual Taizé service is based upon the historic service of the Word with some variations. Singing, silence, scripture (usually read in several languages) and prayer permeate morning, noon, and evening prayers. Daily worship at Taizé includes neither communion, except for morning prayer, nor a sermon. It draws from more contemplative roots where silence and reflection are central to worship and mantra-like music allows the participants to center their though on the adoration of God. To the average Protestant worshiper in the United States, prayer in the Taizé Community with fewer words and extended periods of silence may be at once disturbing and refreshing. Icons from the Orthodox tradition are used to provide a visual meditative setting. The icons are traditional representations of events in the life of Christ and provide “windows to heaven” in the words of the Orthodox church.
The music used in the three services of daily prayer was composed for the unique liturgical needs of the Community by the brothers in the Community and by Jacques Berthier, a composer and friend of Taizé who died in 1994. With young people coming from around the world to see this tiny hamlet, the worship calls for a kind of music that is accessible to these global pilgrims. Through the use of chorales, ostinatos (short, repetitive refrains), acclamations, responses and cannons, worshipers with radically diverse liturgical and linguistic backgrounds are able to participate immediately. While there are vernacular versions of Taizé songs available, worshipers often sing in Latin because it is an historical language of the church, unifying the singers in the mystery of prayer. After visiting Taizé, Pope John XXIII said, “Ah, Taizé—that little springtime!”
Information provided permissible by C. Michael Hawn, Professor of Sacred Music, SMU, Perkins School of Theology.
On August 16th, 2005, Brother Roger was assassinated during the evening prayer (with 2500 people in attendance) at Taizé by an untreated mentally ill woman.
The future meets the past in Argyle...
Yesterday we had, in the words of the late Robert Webber, an ancient-future service at Argyle UMC. We have four services on a regular weekend at AUMC (three Sunday morning services that are mostly 'traditional' and a Saturday 'contemporary' service, though I hate those terms). Our regular worship leader for the Saturday service, Nathan Bryant, was out of town at a wedding this weekend so I volunteered to lead the band.
Our pastor, Rev. Kory Knott, is in the middle of a sermon series inspired by Adam Hamilton, called 'The Ten Habits of Highly Effective Christians.' This week's installment was on prayer and in our worship staff meeting this week I had an idea: why not begin our move towards an ancient-future model this week by doing the last fifteen minutes of the worship service in the sanctuary in the manner of Taize? (Our Saturday service, known as evensong, meets in our fellowship hall.) I asked the rest of the worship staff to talk me out of this idea if they thought it would wreck a little bit of "liturgical violence" on our community but they said to go for it! (Which was all I needed!)
The order of the service went something like this (and it began in the fellowship hall)...
Opening Songs:
"Trading My Sorrows"
"Beautiful One"
Welcome
Lord's Prayer
"The Heart of Worship"
Sermon
Following the sermon, the entire congregation moved from the fellowship hall into the sanctuary (which is right next door) and came into an totally different environment. The sanctuary had close to 300 candles of different sizes as well icons, and incense and it was just bright enough for the people to see their bulletins, which had a guided prayer service in the manner of the Taize community. I led the congregational song with my classical guitar.
The Taize service was patterned after the ACTS model of prayer that Kory had talked about in his sermon. The Taize portion of the service was organized in the following way:
An ACTS Model of Prayer in the Manner of the Taizé Community
Adoration
Bless the Lord
Bless the Lord, my soul,
and bless God’s holy name.
Bless the Lord, my soul,
who leads me into life.
Once you have learned the easy melody to this song, give praise and adoration in your heart to God for who God has show Himself to be while you sing. Think of such words as mystery, goodness, faithful, awe, reverence, grace, and love.
Confession
Kyrie Eleison 1
Kyrie, Kyrie, eleison. (hum)
This text literally translates to “God have mercy.” At the end of the musical phrase (on the word “eleison”) please hum, out loud, the pitch that you were just singing while the cantor sings the prayer. Search your heart as you sing for the things that separate you from God. Pray to God for mercy and forgiveness.
Thanksgiving
In the Lord I’ll Be Ever Thankful
In the Lord I’ll be ever thankful,
in the Lord I will rejoice!
Look to God, do not be afraid;
lift up your voices, the Lord is near;
lift up your voices, the Lord is near.
As you lift your voice to the God that is near, tell God what you are thankful for.
Supplication
Wait for the Lord
Wait for the Lord, whose day is near;
wait for the Lord, be strong, take heart.
As you sing this song, consider asking God for what you need to be an active participant in God’s ever-growing Kingdom. Part of prayer is learning to see the world the way that God sees it. May God’s vision be yours.
You may stay and pray for as long as you like. Please exit in silence.
All songs are from the Taizé Community. Music © GIA Publications, Chicago, IL.
The service went remarkably well! I had lots of positive responses about the service and a great many people stayed after service to pray! I think we are off to a good start in implementing some ancient-future elements in our worship.
Our pastor, Rev. Kory Knott, is in the middle of a sermon series inspired by Adam Hamilton, called 'The Ten Habits of Highly Effective Christians.' This week's installment was on prayer and in our worship staff meeting this week I had an idea: why not begin our move towards an ancient-future model this week by doing the last fifteen minutes of the worship service in the sanctuary in the manner of Taize? (Our Saturday service, known as evensong, meets in our fellowship hall.) I asked the rest of the worship staff to talk me out of this idea if they thought it would wreck a little bit of "liturgical violence" on our community but they said to go for it! (Which was all I needed!)
The order of the service went something like this (and it began in the fellowship hall)...
Opening Songs:
"Trading My Sorrows"
"Beautiful One"
Welcome
Lord's Prayer
"The Heart of Worship"
Sermon
Following the sermon, the entire congregation moved from the fellowship hall into the sanctuary (which is right next door) and came into an totally different environment. The sanctuary had close to 300 candles of different sizes as well icons, and incense and it was just bright enough for the people to see their bulletins, which had a guided prayer service in the manner of the Taize community. I led the congregational song with my classical guitar.
The Taize service was patterned after the ACTS model of prayer that Kory had talked about in his sermon. The Taize portion of the service was organized in the following way:
An ACTS Model of Prayer in the Manner of the Taizé Community
Adoration
Bless the Lord
Bless the Lord, my soul,
and bless God’s holy name.
Bless the Lord, my soul,
who leads me into life.
Once you have learned the easy melody to this song, give praise and adoration in your heart to God for who God has show Himself to be while you sing. Think of such words as mystery, goodness, faithful, awe, reverence, grace, and love.
Confession
Kyrie Eleison 1
Kyrie, Kyrie, eleison. (hum)
This text literally translates to “God have mercy.” At the end of the musical phrase (on the word “eleison”) please hum, out loud, the pitch that you were just singing while the cantor sings the prayer. Search your heart as you sing for the things that separate you from God. Pray to God for mercy and forgiveness.
Thanksgiving
In the Lord I’ll Be Ever Thankful
In the Lord I’ll be ever thankful,
in the Lord I will rejoice!
Look to God, do not be afraid;
lift up your voices, the Lord is near;
lift up your voices, the Lord is near.
As you lift your voice to the God that is near, tell God what you are thankful for.
Supplication
Wait for the Lord
Wait for the Lord, whose day is near;
wait for the Lord, be strong, take heart.
As you sing this song, consider asking God for what you need to be an active participant in God’s ever-growing Kingdom. Part of prayer is learning to see the world the way that God sees it. May God’s vision be yours.
You may stay and pray for as long as you like. Please exit in silence.
All songs are from the Taizé Community. Music © GIA Publications, Chicago, IL.
The service went remarkably well! I had lots of positive responses about the service and a great many people stayed after service to pray! I think we are off to a good start in implementing some ancient-future elements in our worship.
I love how God can get to me sometimes!
So I'm rolling to work this morning at 5:50 a.m. (trying to get some multi-media stuff done before the services began) and I'm feeling a bit sorry for myself. Not a lot, but just a bit. Mostly, I was missing the music and the musicians from my previous appointment at Travis Park. When I got on I-35 from the George Bush Tollway, Bishop Noel Jones's song, "Not About Us" came on the old Sirius radio and God got a hold of me through the radio! It became clear to me that it (worship) was, in fact, not about me but about Jesus. The groove was right, the lyrics were happening, and the Spirit was being clear with me! God is so sneaky good like that, you know?
A Few Musical Reasons Why I Love My Current Appointment
A Few Musical Reasons Why I Love My Current Appointment
1. U2's song MLK
2. The King's Singers
3. The Music and Worship Style of the Taize Community
4. My 1986 Fender Stratocaster
5. The Hymnody of the Church
What ties these things together? God blessed me this weekend with the opportunity to lead in all of these musical expressions this weekend at the church I am serving in Argyle, TX!
Seriously, what more could a musician ask for?
I am thankful.
1. U2's song MLK
2. The King's Singers
3. The Music and Worship Style of the Taize Community
4. My 1986 Fender Stratocaster
5. The Hymnody of the Church
What ties these things together? God blessed me this weekend with the opportunity to lead in all of these musical expressions this weekend at the church I am serving in Argyle, TX!
Seriously, what more could a musician ask for?
I am thankful.
Gear List
A list of the some of the gear I am currently using....
Electric Bass (and related equipment):
1. Fender "Marcus Miller" Jazz Bass
2. Fender Standard Jazz Bass
3. SWR Workingman 15 Bass Amplifier
4. Ernie Ball Volume Pedal
Guitars (and related equipment):
1. 1986 Fender American Standard Stratocaster
2. 1968 Fender Stratocaster
3. Ovation Electric/Acoustic
4. Yamaha Classical Guitar
5. POD Digital Modeling Equipment
Keyboards:
Yamaha Keyboards
Saxophones (and related equipment):
Keilwierth SX90 Soprano (Selmer C* mouthpiece, Rico Jazz Select 3 reeds, Vandoren ligature)
Selmer SA-80 Series II Alto (classical setup: Selmer C* mouthpiece, Vandoren ligature, Glotin 3.5 reeds; jazz setup: Meyer 5 mouthpiece, Rico Jazz Select 3 reeds, Buffet ligature)
Selmer SA-80 Series II Tenor (Otto LInk 6 mouthpiece, Rovner ligature, Rico Jazz Select 3 reeds)
Remo Djembes
FINAlE Music Publishing
Macintosh Computers
Electric Bass (and related equipment):
1. Fender "Marcus Miller" Jazz Bass
2. Fender Standard Jazz Bass
3. SWR Workingman 15 Bass Amplifier
4. Ernie Ball Volume Pedal
Guitars (and related equipment):
1. 1986 Fender American Standard Stratocaster
2. 1968 Fender Stratocaster
3. Ovation Electric/Acoustic
4. Yamaha Classical Guitar
5. POD Digital Modeling Equipment
Keyboards:
Yamaha Keyboards
Saxophones (and related equipment):
Keilwierth SX90 Soprano (Selmer C* mouthpiece, Rico Jazz Select 3 reeds, Vandoren ligature)
Selmer SA-80 Series II Alto (classical setup: Selmer C* mouthpiece, Vandoren ligature, Glotin 3.5 reeds; jazz setup: Meyer 5 mouthpiece, Rico Jazz Select 3 reeds, Buffet ligature)
Selmer SA-80 Series II Tenor (Otto LInk 6 mouthpiece, Rovner ligature, Rico Jazz Select 3 reeds)
Remo Djembes
FINAlE Music Publishing
Macintosh Computers
Thursday, January 17, 2008
It snowed today in Dallas!
Well, not really, it was maybe .1 inch but it was beautiful for the few moments that it was here!
One more example of the miracles of modern technology...
Let me first say that I lost faith in "progress" a few years ago and I certainly don't think that technology will save us but I think its pretty easy to make the claim that technology has made our lives better in a great many respects. What prompts this comment? In 2005 I had a "vasel-vagel" episode where I passed out and lost consciousness for a while. Long story short, I'm finally having my heart looked at in 2007-2008. So far, I've had several EKG's, a stress test, I'm wearing a holter monitor as I type today and this morning I had an echocardiagram. The echo was an incredible experience!!!! Wow! I was so struck by how incredible it really was to be looking at my heart as it was beating (and watching it while it was still inside me and not as a victim of human sacrifice!). I also found myself wondering about how some of the greatest thinkers in the history of humanity could have benefited from having access to this technology. What would a da Vinci been able to accomplish with this? A Salk?
I got to see my own heart beating today!
Seriously, think about that! That's incredible!
I got to see my own heart beating today!
Seriously, think about that! That's incredible!
Go Eagle Pass!!!!
Every now and again I see a story that makes me proud to be an American. You can check it out on CNN, and, even if it's all about self-interest, it's nice to see people standing up to the government every now and again.
Good luck to ya, Eagle Pass, TX!
Good luck to ya, Eagle Pass, TX!
Friday, January 11, 2008
The Babies Keep Coming....Part III
God is good! My sister-in-law just delivered her first baby about twenty minutes ago and it's a boy! All is well I will post more information when I get it!
Thursday, January 10, 2008
The Baby's Keep Coming...Part Deux
So, baby's have been on my mind in a big way lately. Not only because of my friends who are having kids, and not only because I have an amazing and beautiful daughter, Eleanor Grace (that's an old picture, I need to upload some new ones!) but also because we have recently learned that we are expecting!!!! August 1st is the date! We are so excited!!! Sarah is such a great mom, it is obviously part of her calling!
We saw the first sonogram two weeks ago and all is well!
Too much fun!
The Baby's Keep Coming
Because I'm a pastor I tend to keep my cell phone on at night and have lately gotten in the habit of using my phones alarm clock feature to wake me up in the morning. In fact, the only time I ever turn it off is on Thursday evenings when i try to take Friday as a Sabbath.
Well, I got a text at 4:51 this morning.
My good friend Derek McNatt, minister of music and worship at Christ UMC in the Woodlands, TX, is now a daddy! Andrew Charles McNatt entered this world at 4:14 a.m., weighing 7 lbs., 4 oz., and coming in at 20 inches long. Everybody is healthy. What a blessing!!!
I took the time this morning to give thanks to God for Andrew Charles and his parents, as well as my own wife and child, and all of the new children in the world (and those who are on the way).
It seems that this is a season rich in child-bearing for many. So many people in my life are pregnant! It is thrilling and awe-inspiring to think of the new life that is coming into the world.
On the flip-side, and there always is a flip-side in this paradoxical world we find ourselves in, my heart breaks for everyone who so desperately want to have children but are struggling to have them. I have a very close person in my life who is going through this and she and her husband are fostering three beautiful children right now. I am so proud of them, they are amazing parents and are doing wonderful things for the children they have! I know that the longing to have a biological child is still intense, however.
I thank God for folks like them, who are willing to step into the void and to love unconditionally: what a wonderful example for all of us! They are truly making a difference in the world!
Well, I got a text at 4:51 this morning.
My good friend Derek McNatt, minister of music and worship at Christ UMC in the Woodlands, TX, is now a daddy! Andrew Charles McNatt entered this world at 4:14 a.m., weighing 7 lbs., 4 oz., and coming in at 20 inches long. Everybody is healthy. What a blessing!!!
I took the time this morning to give thanks to God for Andrew Charles and his parents, as well as my own wife and child, and all of the new children in the world (and those who are on the way).
It seems that this is a season rich in child-bearing for many. So many people in my life are pregnant! It is thrilling and awe-inspiring to think of the new life that is coming into the world.
On the flip-side, and there always is a flip-side in this paradoxical world we find ourselves in, my heart breaks for everyone who so desperately want to have children but are struggling to have them. I have a very close person in my life who is going through this and she and her husband are fostering three beautiful children right now. I am so proud of them, they are amazing parents and are doing wonderful things for the children they have! I know that the longing to have a biological child is still intense, however.
I thank God for folks like them, who are willing to step into the void and to love unconditionally: what a wonderful example for all of us! They are truly making a difference in the world!
Why does coffee taste better out of your own mug?
I'm really not sure about this, but I suspect there is a dissertation out there somewhere about the following topic:
Why does coffee taste better out of your own mug?
I LOVE coffee! Can't get enough (though my cardiologist thinks I should try to get enough a lot less frequently). In our lives at the moment, we are living with my in-laws until our house in San Antonio sells (and, seriously, THANKS BE TO GOD we have a contract on it!) and I've been drinking the same coffee I usually drink out of their coffee mugs. It's the same product (this week I've been rotating between finishing out my Starbucks Christmas Blend and the Dunkin Donuts original, which is today's choice), the same water, but the mugs are not my own. That is, until Christmas came and I got a mug as a gift from my folks. I don't understand it but the coffee tastes better! Obviously, there must be some sort of neurological issues at work here but I find it frankly fascinating.
The coffee was fine when it came in other mugs.
The coffee was better when it came in my own, new mug.
The new mug didn't even need a break-in period, it was just instantly better.
Hmmm.....
Why does coffee taste better out of your own mug?
I LOVE coffee! Can't get enough (though my cardiologist thinks I should try to get enough a lot less frequently). In our lives at the moment, we are living with my in-laws until our house in San Antonio sells (and, seriously, THANKS BE TO GOD we have a contract on it!) and I've been drinking the same coffee I usually drink out of their coffee mugs. It's the same product (this week I've been rotating between finishing out my Starbucks Christmas Blend and the Dunkin Donuts original, which is today's choice), the same water, but the mugs are not my own. That is, until Christmas came and I got a mug as a gift from my folks. I don't understand it but the coffee tastes better! Obviously, there must be some sort of neurological issues at work here but I find it frankly fascinating.
The coffee was fine when it came in other mugs.
The coffee was better when it came in my own, new mug.
The new mug didn't even need a break-in period, it was just instantly better.
Hmmm.....
Saturday, January 5, 2008
Lessons and Carols Order of Worship: 2007
A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols and Children’s Nativity
Argyle United Methodist Church
December 9th, 2007
Gathering
PRELUDE: Anastasia Markina, piano
WELCOME/GREETING/ANNOUNCEMENTS Todd Mead
LIGHTING OF THE ADVENT CANDLES Liz and Claire Edwards
Prepare the way of the Lord.
We light this candle in love,
the love that Jesus, our Savior, has for us.
Prepare, then, the way of the Lord.
Sung Response: Prepare the way of the Lord, prepare the way of the Lord, and all
people will see the salvation of their God.
PROCESSIONAL HYMN* No. 202 People Look East
THE BIDDING PRAYER* Rev. Kory Knott
Sisters and brothers in Christ, this Christmas Season, it is a privilege and a pleasure to prepare ourselves to hear again the message of the angels, and to go in heart and mind to Bethlehem, and see God’s special gift of love that has come to us: the Babe lying in a manger.
Let us open our hearts, and our minds, and our ears to hear again from Holy Scripture the story, the message, of the loving will of God from the first days of our sin until the glorious redemption brought us by this holy Child; and let us make our church glad with our carols of praise.
Before we sing, however, because this of all things would rejoice Jesus’ heart, let us pray to him for the needs of the whole world, and all his people; for peace upon the earth he came to save; for love and unity within the one Church he built and for goodwill among all peoples.
Let us also remember in prayer those whom Jesus sought out, and who we are to seek out: the poor, the cold, the hungry, the oppressed; the sick and those that mourn; the lonely and the unloved; the aged and the little children; and all who don’t know Jesus.
Finally, let us remember the communion of the saints that has gone before us: all of God’s children, from throughout all times and all places, who rejoice with us this morning and always.
We offer this prayer in the name of Jesus, who taught us to pray, saying:
THE LORD’S PRAYER*
CAROL Of the Father’s Love Begotten
FIRST LESSON Genesis 3:8-15, 17-19
God announces in the Garden of Eden Adam and Eve’s punishment for their rebellion and that the seed of woman shall bruise the serpent’s head.
CAROL Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus Chancel Choir Wesley/Davis
SECOND LESSON Genesis 22:15-18
God promises to Abraham that by his descendants all the nations of the earth shall obtain blessing.
CAROL/OFFERTORY Oh Come, Oh Come, Emmanuel Chancel Choir & Alan Holley arr. Bandy
THIRD LESSON Isaiah 9:2, 6-7
The prophet announces the birth of a king to a people in darkness.
CAROL* No. 216 Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming (st. 1,2)
THE CHILDREN’S NATIVITY
FOURTH LESSON Luke 2:1-7
Against a backdrop of emperors and taxes, Jesus is born.
CAROL No. 245 The First Noel (st. 1)
FIFTH LESSON Luke 2:8-16
The shepherds go to see the Savior of the world, lying in a manger.
CAROL No. 217 Away in a Manger (st. 1,3)
SIX LESSON Matthew 2:1-11
The wise men follow a star to find the child Jesus, the King of the Jews.
CAROL No. 245 We Three Kings (st. 1,5)
A MOMENT OF REFLECTION ON THE NATIVITY Liz Edwards
CAROL No. 234* O Come, All Ye Faithful
SEVENTH LESSON John 1:1-14
John unfolds the great mystery of Incarnation.
CAROL All is Well Chancel Choir and Emily Young Smith/Kirkpatrick
DISMISSAL WITH BLESSING* Rev. Joe Stobaugh
May the Christ who by his Incarnation gathered into One things earthly and heavenly fill you with the sweetness of inward peace and goodwill; and the blessing of God Almighty, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, be upon you and remain with you always.
Amen.
Go forth in peace and joy.
Thanks be to God. Alleluia!
POSTLUDE: Anastasia Markina
Argyle United Methodist Church
December 9th, 2007
Gathering
PRELUDE: Anastasia Markina, piano
WELCOME/GREETING/ANNOUNCEMENTS Todd Mead
LIGHTING OF THE ADVENT CANDLES Liz and Claire Edwards
Prepare the way of the Lord.
We light this candle in love,
the love that Jesus, our Savior, has for us.
Prepare, then, the way of the Lord.
Sung Response: Prepare the way of the Lord, prepare the way of the Lord, and all
people will see the salvation of their God.
PROCESSIONAL HYMN* No. 202 People Look East
THE BIDDING PRAYER* Rev. Kory Knott
Sisters and brothers in Christ, this Christmas Season, it is a privilege and a pleasure to prepare ourselves to hear again the message of the angels, and to go in heart and mind to Bethlehem, and see God’s special gift of love that has come to us: the Babe lying in a manger.
Let us open our hearts, and our minds, and our ears to hear again from Holy Scripture the story, the message, of the loving will of God from the first days of our sin until the glorious redemption brought us by this holy Child; and let us make our church glad with our carols of praise.
Before we sing, however, because this of all things would rejoice Jesus’ heart, let us pray to him for the needs of the whole world, and all his people; for peace upon the earth he came to save; for love and unity within the one Church he built and for goodwill among all peoples.
Let us also remember in prayer those whom Jesus sought out, and who we are to seek out: the poor, the cold, the hungry, the oppressed; the sick and those that mourn; the lonely and the unloved; the aged and the little children; and all who don’t know Jesus.
Finally, let us remember the communion of the saints that has gone before us: all of God’s children, from throughout all times and all places, who rejoice with us this morning and always.
We offer this prayer in the name of Jesus, who taught us to pray, saying:
THE LORD’S PRAYER*
CAROL Of the Father’s Love Begotten
FIRST LESSON Genesis 3:8-15, 17-19
God announces in the Garden of Eden Adam and Eve’s punishment for their rebellion and that the seed of woman shall bruise the serpent’s head.
CAROL Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus Chancel Choir Wesley/Davis
SECOND LESSON Genesis 22:15-18
God promises to Abraham that by his descendants all the nations of the earth shall obtain blessing.
CAROL/OFFERTORY Oh Come, Oh Come, Emmanuel Chancel Choir & Alan Holley arr. Bandy
THIRD LESSON Isaiah 9:2, 6-7
The prophet announces the birth of a king to a people in darkness.
CAROL* No. 216 Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming (st. 1,2)
THE CHILDREN’S NATIVITY
FOURTH LESSON Luke 2:1-7
Against a backdrop of emperors and taxes, Jesus is born.
CAROL No. 245 The First Noel (st. 1)
FIFTH LESSON Luke 2:8-16
The shepherds go to see the Savior of the world, lying in a manger.
CAROL No. 217 Away in a Manger (st. 1,3)
SIX LESSON Matthew 2:1-11
The wise men follow a star to find the child Jesus, the King of the Jews.
CAROL No. 245 We Three Kings (st. 1,5)
A MOMENT OF REFLECTION ON THE NATIVITY Liz Edwards
CAROL No. 234* O Come, All Ye Faithful
SEVENTH LESSON John 1:1-14
John unfolds the great mystery of Incarnation.
CAROL All is Well Chancel Choir and Emily Young Smith/Kirkpatrick
DISMISSAL WITH BLESSING* Rev. Joe Stobaugh
May the Christ who by his Incarnation gathered into One things earthly and heavenly fill you with the sweetness of inward peace and goodwill; and the blessing of God Almighty, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, be upon you and remain with you always.
Amen.
Go forth in peace and joy.
Thanks be to God. Alleluia!
POSTLUDE: Anastasia Markina
Advent Devotions
This past August I was given the opportunity to write several email devotions for The Fellowship of United Methodist in Music and Worship Arts national membership. I have placed them below.
Fellowship Advent/Christmas Devotionals
December 9th, 2007
Matthew 3:1-2
“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” (Matthew 3:2, NRSV)
Well, we are now truly immersed in Advent! Amidst all of the extra (for Argyle we could change this to say, “demands on our time:”) services, the busyness, the hustle and bustle, it’s easy to lose focus on why we do what we do.
The kingdom of heaven has come near! Stop. Read that again. What incredible, revolutionary, and beautiful words! The hope for the wholeness and healing of God’s Creation, the absolute love of God, has come near!
In this busy season may God grant us the vision and the strength to use our art (for Argyle, “lives”) to proclaim and further God’s Reign on earth so that all of God’s Creation can become what God wishes it to be.
Prayer: God of the eternal, and God of the here and now, renew in our hearts and eyes your vision for your Creation, so that we might play our roles in furthering your good work through the gifts you have given us. Amen.
Rev. Joe Stobaugh, O.S.L.
Associate Pastor/Minister of Music, Worship, and the Arts
Argyle United Methodist Church
Argyle, Texas
December 16th, 2007
Matthew 11:2-11
“Jesus answered them, ‘Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them.” (Matthew 11:4-5, NRSV)
What good news, indeed! Jesus brings healing and new life to those on the margins of society. Praise be to God that our God doesn’t see the world like we do! Jesus has given us the responsibility and the privilege to proclaim this news to all! What are we doing in our (strike “worship” for Argyle) worship and in our day-to-day lives that radiates this good news to the world?
May God help us to lovingly proclaim the prophetic message of Christ for the world during this rich season of Advent!
Prayer: God of all, the One who truly leaves no one behind, thank you for loving all of us. May our worship glorify you and your desire for unconditional love and justice in all things, in all places, and in all times.
Rev. Joe Stobaugh, O.S.L.
Associate Pastor/Minister of Music, Worship, and the Arts
Argyle United Methodist Church
Argyle, Texas
December 23rd, 2007
Matthew 1:18-25
“Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel,” which means, ‘God is with us.’” (Matthew 1:23, NRSV)
John Wesley got it right, didn’t he? Wesley’s last words in his earthly life were these: “the best of all is, God is with us.” Amen and amen!
May your entire being embrace this reality in new and deeper ways these next few days. Let us, (perhaps here we could say for Argyle purposes, “in our daily lives, with our friends, family, and in our work point to this reality for the world and ourselves this week.”) in our dancing, visual arts, preaching, singing, and playing, point to this reality for the world and ourselves this week.
Prayer: Gracious, living God, we recognize the enormous opportunity we have before us this week: an opportunity to demonstrate your presence, your grace, and your steadfastness to a world that is in desperate need of it. Give us the strength to push through these next few days, filled with your Spirit and faithful to the end! We pray this in your Son’s holy name, Jesus. Amen.
Rev. Joe Stobaugh, O.S.L.
Associate Pastor/Minister of Music, Worship, and the Arts
Argyle United Methodist Church
Argyle, Texas
December 30th, 2007
Matthew 2:13-23
“When Herod saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, he was infuriated, and he sent and killed all of the children in and around Bethlehem who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had learned from the wise men.” (Matthew 2:16, NRSV)
This passage from the Gospel of Matthew was enlivened for me two years ago, when my daughter, Eleanor Grace, was born in the early hours of Christmas Day, 2005. What a joyous moment that was for our family, friends and our congregation! In the midst of that joy however, this word from Matthew was juxtaposed powerfully on the day of mourning for the Holy Innocents. I can’t imagine the shock and grief of those parents, whose children were slaughtered to continue the work of the domination system.
In this time of great joy for so many, may we remember these children, and all the children of our world today, who live in fear and who die by the thousands each day from entirely preventable causes. May we remember that love is costly and that we all have a role and responsibility to alleviate the sufferings of God’s Creation.
Prayer: Holy God, in the midst of these days, may your kingdom come! Help us to claim our responsibility as your partners in establishing your empire on earth: an empire of love, and of justice, not like the empires of this world of violence and coercion. Empower our art for your glory and for your Reign! Let us not turn away nor shield our eyes from the hard things in this life but rather let us work to alleviate them, one person and one community at a time! We pray this in the name of Christ! Amen!
Rev. Joe Stobaugh, O.S.L.
Associate Pastor/Minister of Music, Worship, and the Arts
Argyle United Methodist Church
Argyle, Texas
Fellowship Advent/Christmas Devotionals
December 9th, 2007
Matthew 3:1-2
“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” (Matthew 3:2, NRSV)
Well, we are now truly immersed in Advent! Amidst all of the extra (for Argyle we could change this to say, “demands on our time:”) services, the busyness, the hustle and bustle, it’s easy to lose focus on why we do what we do.
The kingdom of heaven has come near! Stop. Read that again. What incredible, revolutionary, and beautiful words! The hope for the wholeness and healing of God’s Creation, the absolute love of God, has come near!
In this busy season may God grant us the vision and the strength to use our art (for Argyle, “lives”) to proclaim and further God’s Reign on earth so that all of God’s Creation can become what God wishes it to be.
Prayer: God of the eternal, and God of the here and now, renew in our hearts and eyes your vision for your Creation, so that we might play our roles in furthering your good work through the gifts you have given us. Amen.
Rev. Joe Stobaugh, O.S.L.
Associate Pastor/Minister of Music, Worship, and the Arts
Argyle United Methodist Church
Argyle, Texas
December 16th, 2007
Matthew 11:2-11
“Jesus answered them, ‘Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them.” (Matthew 11:4-5, NRSV)
What good news, indeed! Jesus brings healing and new life to those on the margins of society. Praise be to God that our God doesn’t see the world like we do! Jesus has given us the responsibility and the privilege to proclaim this news to all! What are we doing in our (strike “worship” for Argyle) worship and in our day-to-day lives that radiates this good news to the world?
May God help us to lovingly proclaim the prophetic message of Christ for the world during this rich season of Advent!
Prayer: God of all, the One who truly leaves no one behind, thank you for loving all of us. May our worship glorify you and your desire for unconditional love and justice in all things, in all places, and in all times.
Rev. Joe Stobaugh, O.S.L.
Associate Pastor/Minister of Music, Worship, and the Arts
Argyle United Methodist Church
Argyle, Texas
December 23rd, 2007
Matthew 1:18-25
“Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel,” which means, ‘God is with us.’” (Matthew 1:23, NRSV)
John Wesley got it right, didn’t he? Wesley’s last words in his earthly life were these: “the best of all is, God is with us.” Amen and amen!
May your entire being embrace this reality in new and deeper ways these next few days. Let us, (perhaps here we could say for Argyle purposes, “in our daily lives, with our friends, family, and in our work point to this reality for the world and ourselves this week.”) in our dancing, visual arts, preaching, singing, and playing, point to this reality for the world and ourselves this week.
Prayer: Gracious, living God, we recognize the enormous opportunity we have before us this week: an opportunity to demonstrate your presence, your grace, and your steadfastness to a world that is in desperate need of it. Give us the strength to push through these next few days, filled with your Spirit and faithful to the end! We pray this in your Son’s holy name, Jesus. Amen.
Rev. Joe Stobaugh, O.S.L.
Associate Pastor/Minister of Music, Worship, and the Arts
Argyle United Methodist Church
Argyle, Texas
December 30th, 2007
Matthew 2:13-23
“When Herod saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, he was infuriated, and he sent and killed all of the children in and around Bethlehem who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had learned from the wise men.” (Matthew 2:16, NRSV)
This passage from the Gospel of Matthew was enlivened for me two years ago, when my daughter, Eleanor Grace, was born in the early hours of Christmas Day, 2005. What a joyous moment that was for our family, friends and our congregation! In the midst of that joy however, this word from Matthew was juxtaposed powerfully on the day of mourning for the Holy Innocents. I can’t imagine the shock and grief of those parents, whose children were slaughtered to continue the work of the domination system.
In this time of great joy for so many, may we remember these children, and all the children of our world today, who live in fear and who die by the thousands each day from entirely preventable causes. May we remember that love is costly and that we all have a role and responsibility to alleviate the sufferings of God’s Creation.
Prayer: Holy God, in the midst of these days, may your kingdom come! Help us to claim our responsibility as your partners in establishing your empire on earth: an empire of love, and of justice, not like the empires of this world of violence and coercion. Empower our art for your glory and for your Reign! Let us not turn away nor shield our eyes from the hard things in this life but rather let us work to alleviate them, one person and one community at a time! We pray this in the name of Christ! Amen!
Rev. Joe Stobaugh, O.S.L.
Associate Pastor/Minister of Music, Worship, and the Arts
Argyle United Methodist Church
Argyle, Texas
Children's Music MInistry Philosophy
Hello!
In the next few months I am starting a children's music ministry program in Argyle and have outlined this as my children's music ministry philosophy. What do you think? What have I missed?
I hope to hear from you!
Joe
Make a Joyful Noise to the Lord: Come into God’s Presence with Singing!
--Psalm 100
Philosophy of Children’s Music Ministry
When Jesus asked for the little children to come to him, he meant it! Since the beginning of the church, children have had an active role in worship. Many of the great masterworks of Western art music were composed to be sung with and by children. At Argyle United Methodist Church, we seek to teach our children how to lead in worship through music and liturgy. We believe that a vital part of this process involves helping the children to grow in their faith by singing the hymns, anthems, and songs of the church as a way of deepening their understanding and engagement with their Creator. It is vital that the children understand both the words they sing and the musical language used to communicate them. Therefore we will create an environment that allows for both spiritual and musical expression and education. We desire to enable the church’s children in such a way that their worship participation is their best offering to God.
Goals for Children’s Music Ministry
1. Teach hymns, anthems, and songs of the church.
2. Teach about worship and participate in worship leadership.
3. Educate and develop musical skills.
4. Nurture growth through Christian education.
5. Instill an attitude of service, outreach, and commitment.
6. Provide social activities for fellowship for the purpose of creating community.
In the next few months I am starting a children's music ministry program in Argyle and have outlined this as my children's music ministry philosophy. What do you think? What have I missed?
I hope to hear from you!
Joe
Make a Joyful Noise to the Lord: Come into God’s Presence with Singing!
--Psalm 100
Philosophy of Children’s Music Ministry
When Jesus asked for the little children to come to him, he meant it! Since the beginning of the church, children have had an active role in worship. Many of the great masterworks of Western art music were composed to be sung with and by children. At Argyle United Methodist Church, we seek to teach our children how to lead in worship through music and liturgy. We believe that a vital part of this process involves helping the children to grow in their faith by singing the hymns, anthems, and songs of the church as a way of deepening their understanding and engagement with their Creator. It is vital that the children understand both the words they sing and the musical language used to communicate them. Therefore we will create an environment that allows for both spiritual and musical expression and education. We desire to enable the church’s children in such a way that their worship participation is their best offering to God.
Goals for Children’s Music Ministry
1. Teach hymns, anthems, and songs of the church.
2. Teach about worship and participate in worship leadership.
3. Educate and develop musical skills.
4. Nurture growth through Christian education.
5. Instill an attitude of service, outreach, and commitment.
6. Provide social activities for fellowship for the purpose of creating community.
Sermon for a Wesley Covenant Renewal Service
On the last weekend of 2007 I was given the opportunity to preach at Argyle United Methodist Church, where I am serving as the associate pastor/minister of music, worship, and the arts. I took the opportunity to lead a Wesley Covenant Renewal Service. Below you will find a manuscript of my sermon.
A New Day is Coming…Are You Ready?
Good morning! My name is Joe Stobaugh and I am the associate pastor/minister of music here at Argyle UMC. I am thrilled to be with you today for several reasons: First, I love this time of year, the week between Christmas and New Year’s and the opportunities it presents us to reflect on the year past to look forward to the year to come. Secondly, it’s National Associate Pastor Sunday! This is one of two weekends a year where senior pastors from across the country take a well-deserved break and give their associate pastors a chance to preach! Oh I do love this weekend! Our senior pastor, Kory Knott is taking such a break after having led us in two excellent Christmas Eve services but will be back with us next week. So for today, you are stuck with me! Let us pray:
God wants to be our God if we will be God’s people…
So yesterday, my wife Sarah and I took our two-year-old daughter, Eleanor Grace, to meet her new pediatrician. The visit was going really well and we were all grooving in nicely with the pediatrician, that is, until the doctor wanted to get some blood samples from Ellie to test her for allergies. Now, pediatricians are smart people: they know that when it’s time to actually draw the blood from the kids, they don’t want to be within a mile of them! So after ordering the tests and finishing up with us, our pediatrician vanished into the midst that is her office and in came two ladies whom I will lovingly refer to as “the baby goon squad!” If you are a parent, you know whom I mean: in our case it was two very kind nurses who came brandishing their weapons, I mean, needles and the little blue rubber tourniquet. They asked me if I would help to help hold Ellie so that they could extract the blood from her arm. I was a bit reluctant to do this because this wasn’t my first rodeo with the whole needle and baby thing and, if the pediatrician, who went to med school didn’t want to participate in this process, I wasn’t sure that I wanted to participate either!!! But, out of love for Ellie, I agreed and helped to hold her down so they could do their work.
We laid Ellie down on the table and I had to put my hand on her chest and hold down one of her arms. Needless to say, two-year-old Eleanor Grace was not a fan of this process. From the screaming and the crying you would have thought that she was being murdered. The worst part of it, for me, anyway, was when her beautiful, tear-stained blue eyes met mine and she gave me the look that said, “Daddy, you are supposed to protect me from these people, not help them!” Of course, my heart broke a little, like it does every time I get that look in the doctor’s office.
To make matters worse, the vein in her left elbow was too small to get all that they needed for her tests, so after a break and a flu vaccination, we had to repeat the process all over again with her other arm. All I can tell you about that was it was a “rinse and repeat” moment!
During the course of the rest of the day yesterday, I tried to be extra loving with her, but I felt like there was a bit of distance between us that hadn’t been there in the morning.
Then, last night, at 3:30 a.m., she woke up screaming that “I’ve had a real bad dream” scream; if you’re a parent you know that scream. So I went into her room and held her, and calmed her down. But, honestly, I wasn’t convinced that she was glad to see me when I came in. I think at that moment she would have rather seen her mom. I am sure her bad dream was related to her doctor’s appointment.
After she had calmed down and I got her back to sleep, I tried to go back to bed myself. But I couldn’t. I was thinking about our relationship and how, even though it was the right and loving thing for me to do, to help the nurses get the tests done, I wondered about the state of our relationship…did my holding her create some sort of weird distance between us.
I found myself wondering if it’s sometimes like that with God and us.
I helped the nurses with my daughter and got up at 3:30 in the morning to love on her because Ellie and I are in a covenant relationship. I have covenanted with her and with God to be her daddy, to be in a deeply committed relationship with her. And, though she hasn’t made the conscious choice to claim me as her father yet, I know that when middle-school roles around, she will start to make that decision. (It’s sad, but I already know that I am not near cool enough!) I will be her daddy, always and everywhere, until my dying day. And she, I pray, will choose to consider me as her dad.
You know, anytime God puts people together in a relationship that relationship can become covenantal.
What kind of covenantal relationships are you in your life? You will notice in your bulletin that there is a place for you to write down those relationships to help you enter into this idea.
If we look around in our lives a bit, we can find all manner of covenants, can’t we? (business, environmental, etc.) Where are some of the covenantal relationships in your life?
For our purposes today, let’s take a moment to define the word covenant from a theological perspective. Used in this way the word covenant is defined as an agreement that brings about a relationship of commitment between God and God’s people. So any relationship that has God at its center can be covenantal.
When I look at my life I find that I am that I am in several of these relationships: my life as a parent to Ellie, (and, I’m pleased to announce, Sarah and I will be new parents again in August of 2008! I tell you what, between Christina and Nathan, and Jennifer and Kory, there must be something in the water at this church!!! But our covenantal relationship has a family has already been renewed and enlarged) my marriage with Sarah is a covenantal relationship, my baptism is a covenantal relationship, my ordination is a covenantal relationship, and I can think of three deep friendships that are covenantal in nature. When I was going through the ordination process I was in a covenant group that met at First Denton every month for three years to talk about ministry. You know, being confirmed is a kind of covenantal relationship. What kind of covenantal relationships do you have in your life?
If we look to the Bible we can find many examples of covenantal relationships. Covenants are found all over the Hebrew Scriptures (or what we sometimes refer to as the Old Testament as Christians).
The concept of the covenant is essential to understanding the Hebrew Scriptures and the Jewish identity, which, of course, is the root of Christianity. The reason the concept of covenant is so important for us to understand is that the covenants that God has made, both with the Israelites, and later, through Jesus with us, are essential to who we understand ourselves to be.
Let’s take a moment and check out some of the major covenants that we find in the Bible. I would invite you to look for some of the patterns we will find in the establishment of these covenants.
Early in Genesis, chapter 9, verses 9-17 to be exact, we come across the Covenant with Noah. You remember this story, right? Noah and the Ark and the flood? Do you remember what God does after the flood? What does God do?... God initiates a covenant not only with Noah and his family but also with all of Creation to protect them from destruction. And God gives them a sign of God’s covenant: a rainbow. God says that whenever God sees a rainbow, than God will remember the covenant and keep it. Whenever we see a rainbow, we should do likewise. For you see God is offering to be the God of all Creation, if we will be God’s people.
As we move forward to Genesis 17:1-22 we find the Abrahamic Covenant. In this passage, God covenants with Abram that God will make Abram ‘exceedingly numerous’ and will make from Abram a ‘multitude of nations.’ God also promises the ancestors of Abram all the land of Canaan and that God will be their God. As for Abram’s and the male members of his houses part of the covenant, they must become circumcised as a sign of the covenant between them and God. It probably goes without saying, but, for this first generation of adult males in this covenant, circumcision was a pretty serious sign of commitment!!!!
Again, in this covenant, we find God offering to be God for Abram and his descendents if they will but respond and be God’s people. You see the pattern? God, in an attempt to restore relationships that are broken, initiates a covenant; God offers to be our God if we will be God’s people.
The third covenant we’ll look at is the Mosaic Covenant found in the Book of Exodus, chapters 19-24. In this covenant story, we find that the Israelites have escaped their slavery in Egypt with God’s help and, after wandering in the desert for approximately three months they come to Mr. Sinai, where God proposes to enter into covenant with the Israelites as God’s chosen people. God gives the Israelites the Law, including the Ten Commandments and offers to be Israel’s God, if they will be God’s people. We see this pattern unfolding again, right? God will be our God if we will be God’s people!
Later in the Hebrew Scriptures, we come across the Davidic Covenant in 2nd Samuel. In this covenant, God tells David that God will establish a royal lineage from David that includes Solomon and, as Kory taught us three weeks ago in his sermon on Joseph, that David’s royal line has it’s fulfillment in Jesus Christ. Though the word covenant is not specifically mentioned in the Hebrew, this story has all the markings of a covenant. God will do wonderful things through David and his descendants if David will be a man of God. As we know, David, like the rest of us, had his good moments and his not so good moments, but in the end, David’s first loyalty was to his God and it was from David that Jesus of Nazareth descended.
Here it is again, right? We find God initiating this covenant: God will be our God, if we will be God’s people.
Finally, in the Book of Jeremiah, we get to the covenant that is our text today. Let me read it to you. Here now what the Spirit of the Lord is saying to the church today:
Read Jeremiah 31:31-34
I will be their God and they will be my people.
This particular covenant, what is often called The New Covenant, is one of the most famous and most misunderstood passages of Scripture among Christians. This passage is a very important one: Paul quotes it in its entirety in his letter to the Hebrews, chapter 8, versus 8-13.
In order for us to get a good grip on it, we need to have some context for the Scripture itself.
Jeremiah lived and worked and prophesied in the time of the Babylonian Exile, which occurred from 597-582 B.C.E. This time was a terrible one for Israel. The nation of Babylon had invaded Israel three times and destroyed the city of Jerusalem and the temple. Everything that was central to Jewish life, identity, and worship was in upheaval. It was a moment in their history when it appeared that all was lost and that God had abandoned them because of their sinfulness.
Jeremiah, in addition to calling the people to repentance and explaining to the people why events were unfolding the way they were, was also offering the nation of Israel hope through the promise of the new covenant. Jeremiah tells the people of Israel that a new covenant is coming and that their relationship with God will be renewed by it. This covenant, while having the same content would differ from the Mosaic Covenant in that the law would be in people’s hearts, and not on stone tablets, like they were when Moses was given them. The idea behind the new covenant was that by God’s love and grace everyone would know the LORD and that God would, by God’s grace, forgive Israel’s sinfulness and its relationship with God would be restored.
Can you imagine what great news this must have been to a conquered people: their God had not abandoned them! Their God was so filled with grace that God would forgive them even their worst transgressions! God would save them! And, even better, God would do all of this not out of a sense of obligation but out of love.
What a glorious word of hope! As people of faith these covenants should be a beautiful reminder to us of how deeply God loves God’s Creation and that God has always been actively engaged in restoring the relationship between God and God’s people.
Now, as Christians, where we have run into trouble when we apply a limited and self-centered world-view to this ancient text. Many of our brothers and sisters interpret this scripture as being for Christians only, thus isolating God’s chosen people, the people of Israel, and, be extension of their worldview, consigning Jews who don’t believe in Jesus to hell. Nothing could be more wrong, or more ignorant. Make no mistake about it: this word was originally intended for the Israelites, not for the Gentiles, like most of us.
As Christians, most us can and do, interpret Jesus as being the fulfillment of the new covenant and the offering of it to all of God’s people. In fact, Jesus speaks of himself as being the renewal of the new covenant in Luke 22:20 when he institutes The Sacrament of Holy Communion. God, through Jesus, graciously expands God’s offer of a covenantal relationship to the entire world. Jesus’ ministry, when viewed in its totality, was a ministry of inclusion, not exclusion.
In all of these covenants we find a similar pattern, don’t we? God initiates the covenant and tells God’s people that He will be there God if they will be His people. God is faithful: God will not turn away from the covenants that God has made. It’s important for us to note, that, unlike a contract, a new covenant never nullifies an old covenant, unless both parties agree to its nullification. The covenant that God has with Creation, the covenant that God made with the descendants of Abram, and the covenants that God has with the Jewish people are still valid. This shows us that YAHWEH has been at work trying to reconcile Godself with God’s creation from very near its beginning.
You might be saying to yourself, thanks for the history lesson on covenants in the Bible Joe, but how are we to be God’s people, here, in Argyle, Texas, on December 29th, 2007?
I think the answer is quite simple, really: we are to observe the two great commandments that Jesus gave us: the first being the Shema and the second one being that you shall love your neighbor as yourself.
The Shema comes from the Book of Deuteronomy and is the first prayer that a Jewish person, such as Jesus, learns. It goes like this: “Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and, Jesus added, with all your strength”.
Seems straight ahead, right? Think about the implications of this prayer for a moment. To understand that the Lord our God is one, is no small thing, given all of the competing claims that we have in our own time for what we should put our trust in, right? Some of these idols include money, or fame, or security, or fanatical nationalism, or sex, or fashion, or music, or sports: the list goes on and on. It is hard to not be an idolater in the 21st century. To recognize and live as if the Lord is our God and the Lord alone is quite a difficult thing to do. In fact, without a living relationship with God, a healthy dose of God’s grace and a sense of our own humility, it is impossible.
The commandment continues that we are to love the Lord our God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength. The implication is clear, isn’t it: God wants all of us! Just having a portion of us does not satisfy God, God wants it all: the good, the bad, and the ugly. God desires for us to live an integrated life!
I was blessed in my previous appointment to be in ministry with many addicts who were in the early stages of recovery. Over and over again they told me that one of the biggest relief’s that came from being in recovery was that they were finally living an integrated life: nothing was hidden from God anymore. They were finally living an integrated life! That is what God wants for us!
God wants our hearts, our souls, our minds, and our strength to be employed in loving God and doing what God would have us to do, which transitions, by the genius of Jesus, into the second great commandment that Jesus gives us: to love our neighbors as ourselves.
We talk a lot in the church these days about what it means to take worship outside the walls of the church and into everyday life. How do we put phrases like “to pray without ceasing,” “to live a worshipful life,” to “be the hands and feet of Christ” into practice. I submit to you that the first way that we live a worshipful life is that we make it our business and our passion to love other people. Mother Theresa was often heard to say, “if I judge someone I have no time to love them.” How true is that? One of the most important acts of worship that we can give to God is to love others. Loving God’s Creation is one of the best ways of loving God.
So, friends, a new day is coming. On Monday night and Tuesday we will celebrate the beginnings of a New Year. Are you ready? Are you ready to be God’s people and to have God be your God? Are you ready to put aside whatever idols may be in your life and to worship God alone and to love your neighbor as you love yourself? Are you ready for God to be your God and for you to be God’s people? Are you ready? Let all of God’s children say: Amen!
You are now invited to participate in a brief service of Covenant Renewal from the Wesleyan tradition. Methodists and others have participated in a service like this one since the 1750’s. There will be a bit of spoken liturgy by the pastor, a time of meditation and then you will be invited to say the prayer that you have in your bulletin insert and, if you choose, you may sign the covenant prayer as a sign of your commitment. Here now the proclamation and the invitation to the Covenant Renewal Service:
Liturgy for the Covenant Renewal Service
PROCLAMATION
Brothers and sisters in Christ, the Christian life is redeemed from sin and consecrated to God. Through baptism, we have entered this life and have been admitted into the new covenant of which Jesus Christ is the Mediator. He sealed it with his love that it might last forever. On the one side, God promises to give us new life in Christ, the Source and Perfector of our faith. On the other side, we are pledged to live no more for ourselves but only for Jesus Christ, who loved us and gave himself for us. From time to time we renew our covenant with God, especially when we reaffirm the Baptismal Covenant and gather at the Lord’s Table.
This morning, however, we meet, as the generations before us have met, to renew the covenant that binds us to God. Let us make this covenant of God our own.
INVITATION
Commit yourselves to Christ as his servants. Give yourselves to him, that you may belong to him. Christ has many services to be done. Some are more easy and honorable; others are more difficult and disgraceful. Some are suitable to our inclinations and interests, others are contrary to both. In some we may please Christ and please ourselves. But then there are other works where we cannot please Christ expect by denying ourselves.
Friends, Christ will be the Savior of none but his servants. He is the source of all salvation to those who obey. Christ will have no servants except by consent; Christ will not accept anything except full consent to all that he requires. Christ will be all in all, or he will be nothing.
So let us remember that God grants forgiveness of sins if we but repent and ask for God’s grace and seek to follow God. God requires us to put away all of our idols and to worship God and God alone with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. God has given the Lord Jesus Christ as the way and means of coming to God and Christ reminds us that we must suffer with him. Let us not forget God’s holy laws as the rule of our lives. Finally, let us remember that the almighty God searches and knows our hearts.
Confirm this by a holy covenant.
Church, to make this covenant a reality in your life, listen to these admonitions:
First, set apart some time, more than once, to be spent alone before the Lord; in seeking earnestly God’s special assistance and gracious acceptance of you; in carefully thinking through all the conditions of the covenant; in searching your hearts whether you have already freely given your life to Christ. Consider what your sins are. Consider the laws of Christ, how holy, strict, and spiritual they are, and whether you, after having carefully considered them, are willing to choose them all. Be sure you are clear in these matters, see that you do not lie to God.
Second, be serious and in a spirit of holy awe and reverence.
Third, claim God’s covenant, rely upon God’s promise of giving grace and strength, so you can keep your promise. Trust not your own strength and power.
Fourth, resolve to be faithful. You have given to the Lord your hearts, you have opened your mouths to the Lord, and you have dedicated yourself to God. With God’s power, never go back.
And last, be then prepared to renew your covenant with the Lord. I invite you to read the covenant prayer that is on the insert in your bulletin while Ashley plays a piece by Massenet, and to carefully consider if you are prepared to make a covenant with God for the first time, or to renew your covenant with God again. I covenant with you that I will be here to help you sustain your covenant during this year. Following our time of reflection, you will be invited to pray the prayer aloud, together, as a community, for we cannot keep this covenant without help. There is no pressure here, you may choose to sign it and pray it or not, there is no judgment, for God never coerces, God loves. Let the Spirit guide you in these next few moment. Let us be in a time of reflection.
Let us pray:
I am no longer my own, but yours.
Put me to what you will, rank me with whom you will.
Put me to doing, put me to suffering.
Let me be employed by you or laid aside for you,
Exalted for you or brought low by you.
Let me be full, let me be empty.
Let me have all things, let me have nothing.
I freely and heartily yield all things
To your pleasure and disposal.
And now, O glorious and blessed God,
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
You art mine, and I am yours. So be it.
And the covenant which I have made on earth,
Let it be ratified in heaven. Amen.
Please strongly consider taking this covenant home with you, and putting it in a place where you will see if every day this year, to serve as a reminder of the covenant between you and God.
A New Day is Coming…Are You Ready?
Good morning! My name is Joe Stobaugh and I am the associate pastor/minister of music here at Argyle UMC. I am thrilled to be with you today for several reasons: First, I love this time of year, the week between Christmas and New Year’s and the opportunities it presents us to reflect on the year past to look forward to the year to come. Secondly, it’s National Associate Pastor Sunday! This is one of two weekends a year where senior pastors from across the country take a well-deserved break and give their associate pastors a chance to preach! Oh I do love this weekend! Our senior pastor, Kory Knott is taking such a break after having led us in two excellent Christmas Eve services but will be back with us next week. So for today, you are stuck with me! Let us pray:
God wants to be our God if we will be God’s people…
So yesterday, my wife Sarah and I took our two-year-old daughter, Eleanor Grace, to meet her new pediatrician. The visit was going really well and we were all grooving in nicely with the pediatrician, that is, until the doctor wanted to get some blood samples from Ellie to test her for allergies. Now, pediatricians are smart people: they know that when it’s time to actually draw the blood from the kids, they don’t want to be within a mile of them! So after ordering the tests and finishing up with us, our pediatrician vanished into the midst that is her office and in came two ladies whom I will lovingly refer to as “the baby goon squad!” If you are a parent, you know whom I mean: in our case it was two very kind nurses who came brandishing their weapons, I mean, needles and the little blue rubber tourniquet. They asked me if I would help to help hold Ellie so that they could extract the blood from her arm. I was a bit reluctant to do this because this wasn’t my first rodeo with the whole needle and baby thing and, if the pediatrician, who went to med school didn’t want to participate in this process, I wasn’t sure that I wanted to participate either!!! But, out of love for Ellie, I agreed and helped to hold her down so they could do their work.
We laid Ellie down on the table and I had to put my hand on her chest and hold down one of her arms. Needless to say, two-year-old Eleanor Grace was not a fan of this process. From the screaming and the crying you would have thought that she was being murdered. The worst part of it, for me, anyway, was when her beautiful, tear-stained blue eyes met mine and she gave me the look that said, “Daddy, you are supposed to protect me from these people, not help them!” Of course, my heart broke a little, like it does every time I get that look in the doctor’s office.
To make matters worse, the vein in her left elbow was too small to get all that they needed for her tests, so after a break and a flu vaccination, we had to repeat the process all over again with her other arm. All I can tell you about that was it was a “rinse and repeat” moment!
During the course of the rest of the day yesterday, I tried to be extra loving with her, but I felt like there was a bit of distance between us that hadn’t been there in the morning.
Then, last night, at 3:30 a.m., she woke up screaming that “I’ve had a real bad dream” scream; if you’re a parent you know that scream. So I went into her room and held her, and calmed her down. But, honestly, I wasn’t convinced that she was glad to see me when I came in. I think at that moment she would have rather seen her mom. I am sure her bad dream was related to her doctor’s appointment.
After she had calmed down and I got her back to sleep, I tried to go back to bed myself. But I couldn’t. I was thinking about our relationship and how, even though it was the right and loving thing for me to do, to help the nurses get the tests done, I wondered about the state of our relationship…did my holding her create some sort of weird distance between us.
I found myself wondering if it’s sometimes like that with God and us.
I helped the nurses with my daughter and got up at 3:30 in the morning to love on her because Ellie and I are in a covenant relationship. I have covenanted with her and with God to be her daddy, to be in a deeply committed relationship with her. And, though she hasn’t made the conscious choice to claim me as her father yet, I know that when middle-school roles around, she will start to make that decision. (It’s sad, but I already know that I am not near cool enough!) I will be her daddy, always and everywhere, until my dying day. And she, I pray, will choose to consider me as her dad.
You know, anytime God puts people together in a relationship that relationship can become covenantal.
What kind of covenantal relationships are you in your life? You will notice in your bulletin that there is a place for you to write down those relationships to help you enter into this idea.
If we look around in our lives a bit, we can find all manner of covenants, can’t we? (business, environmental, etc.) Where are some of the covenantal relationships in your life?
For our purposes today, let’s take a moment to define the word covenant from a theological perspective. Used in this way the word covenant is defined as an agreement that brings about a relationship of commitment between God and God’s people. So any relationship that has God at its center can be covenantal.
When I look at my life I find that I am that I am in several of these relationships: my life as a parent to Ellie, (and, I’m pleased to announce, Sarah and I will be new parents again in August of 2008! I tell you what, between Christina and Nathan, and Jennifer and Kory, there must be something in the water at this church!!! But our covenantal relationship has a family has already been renewed and enlarged) my marriage with Sarah is a covenantal relationship, my baptism is a covenantal relationship, my ordination is a covenantal relationship, and I can think of three deep friendships that are covenantal in nature. When I was going through the ordination process I was in a covenant group that met at First Denton every month for three years to talk about ministry. You know, being confirmed is a kind of covenantal relationship. What kind of covenantal relationships do you have in your life?
If we look to the Bible we can find many examples of covenantal relationships. Covenants are found all over the Hebrew Scriptures (or what we sometimes refer to as the Old Testament as Christians).
The concept of the covenant is essential to understanding the Hebrew Scriptures and the Jewish identity, which, of course, is the root of Christianity. The reason the concept of covenant is so important for us to understand is that the covenants that God has made, both with the Israelites, and later, through Jesus with us, are essential to who we understand ourselves to be.
Let’s take a moment and check out some of the major covenants that we find in the Bible. I would invite you to look for some of the patterns we will find in the establishment of these covenants.
Early in Genesis, chapter 9, verses 9-17 to be exact, we come across the Covenant with Noah. You remember this story, right? Noah and the Ark and the flood? Do you remember what God does after the flood? What does God do?... God initiates a covenant not only with Noah and his family but also with all of Creation to protect them from destruction. And God gives them a sign of God’s covenant: a rainbow. God says that whenever God sees a rainbow, than God will remember the covenant and keep it. Whenever we see a rainbow, we should do likewise. For you see God is offering to be the God of all Creation, if we will be God’s people.
As we move forward to Genesis 17:1-22 we find the Abrahamic Covenant. In this passage, God covenants with Abram that God will make Abram ‘exceedingly numerous’ and will make from Abram a ‘multitude of nations.’ God also promises the ancestors of Abram all the land of Canaan and that God will be their God. As for Abram’s and the male members of his houses part of the covenant, they must become circumcised as a sign of the covenant between them and God. It probably goes without saying, but, for this first generation of adult males in this covenant, circumcision was a pretty serious sign of commitment!!!!
Again, in this covenant, we find God offering to be God for Abram and his descendents if they will but respond and be God’s people. You see the pattern? God, in an attempt to restore relationships that are broken, initiates a covenant; God offers to be our God if we will be God’s people.
The third covenant we’ll look at is the Mosaic Covenant found in the Book of Exodus, chapters 19-24. In this covenant story, we find that the Israelites have escaped their slavery in Egypt with God’s help and, after wandering in the desert for approximately three months they come to Mr. Sinai, where God proposes to enter into covenant with the Israelites as God’s chosen people. God gives the Israelites the Law, including the Ten Commandments and offers to be Israel’s God, if they will be God’s people. We see this pattern unfolding again, right? God will be our God if we will be God’s people!
Later in the Hebrew Scriptures, we come across the Davidic Covenant in 2nd Samuel. In this covenant, God tells David that God will establish a royal lineage from David that includes Solomon and, as Kory taught us three weeks ago in his sermon on Joseph, that David’s royal line has it’s fulfillment in Jesus Christ. Though the word covenant is not specifically mentioned in the Hebrew, this story has all the markings of a covenant. God will do wonderful things through David and his descendants if David will be a man of God. As we know, David, like the rest of us, had his good moments and his not so good moments, but in the end, David’s first loyalty was to his God and it was from David that Jesus of Nazareth descended.
Here it is again, right? We find God initiating this covenant: God will be our God, if we will be God’s people.
Finally, in the Book of Jeremiah, we get to the covenant that is our text today. Let me read it to you. Here now what the Spirit of the Lord is saying to the church today:
Read Jeremiah 31:31-34
I will be their God and they will be my people.
This particular covenant, what is often called The New Covenant, is one of the most famous and most misunderstood passages of Scripture among Christians. This passage is a very important one: Paul quotes it in its entirety in his letter to the Hebrews, chapter 8, versus 8-13.
In order for us to get a good grip on it, we need to have some context for the Scripture itself.
Jeremiah lived and worked and prophesied in the time of the Babylonian Exile, which occurred from 597-582 B.C.E. This time was a terrible one for Israel. The nation of Babylon had invaded Israel three times and destroyed the city of Jerusalem and the temple. Everything that was central to Jewish life, identity, and worship was in upheaval. It was a moment in their history when it appeared that all was lost and that God had abandoned them because of their sinfulness.
Jeremiah, in addition to calling the people to repentance and explaining to the people why events were unfolding the way they were, was also offering the nation of Israel hope through the promise of the new covenant. Jeremiah tells the people of Israel that a new covenant is coming and that their relationship with God will be renewed by it. This covenant, while having the same content would differ from the Mosaic Covenant in that the law would be in people’s hearts, and not on stone tablets, like they were when Moses was given them. The idea behind the new covenant was that by God’s love and grace everyone would know the LORD and that God would, by God’s grace, forgive Israel’s sinfulness and its relationship with God would be restored.
Can you imagine what great news this must have been to a conquered people: their God had not abandoned them! Their God was so filled with grace that God would forgive them even their worst transgressions! God would save them! And, even better, God would do all of this not out of a sense of obligation but out of love.
What a glorious word of hope! As people of faith these covenants should be a beautiful reminder to us of how deeply God loves God’s Creation and that God has always been actively engaged in restoring the relationship between God and God’s people.
Now, as Christians, where we have run into trouble when we apply a limited and self-centered world-view to this ancient text. Many of our brothers and sisters interpret this scripture as being for Christians only, thus isolating God’s chosen people, the people of Israel, and, be extension of their worldview, consigning Jews who don’t believe in Jesus to hell. Nothing could be more wrong, or more ignorant. Make no mistake about it: this word was originally intended for the Israelites, not for the Gentiles, like most of us.
As Christians, most us can and do, interpret Jesus as being the fulfillment of the new covenant and the offering of it to all of God’s people. In fact, Jesus speaks of himself as being the renewal of the new covenant in Luke 22:20 when he institutes The Sacrament of Holy Communion. God, through Jesus, graciously expands God’s offer of a covenantal relationship to the entire world. Jesus’ ministry, when viewed in its totality, was a ministry of inclusion, not exclusion.
In all of these covenants we find a similar pattern, don’t we? God initiates the covenant and tells God’s people that He will be there God if they will be His people. God is faithful: God will not turn away from the covenants that God has made. It’s important for us to note, that, unlike a contract, a new covenant never nullifies an old covenant, unless both parties agree to its nullification. The covenant that God has with Creation, the covenant that God made with the descendants of Abram, and the covenants that God has with the Jewish people are still valid. This shows us that YAHWEH has been at work trying to reconcile Godself with God’s creation from very near its beginning.
You might be saying to yourself, thanks for the history lesson on covenants in the Bible Joe, but how are we to be God’s people, here, in Argyle, Texas, on December 29th, 2007?
I think the answer is quite simple, really: we are to observe the two great commandments that Jesus gave us: the first being the Shema and the second one being that you shall love your neighbor as yourself.
The Shema comes from the Book of Deuteronomy and is the first prayer that a Jewish person, such as Jesus, learns. It goes like this: “Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and, Jesus added, with all your strength”.
Seems straight ahead, right? Think about the implications of this prayer for a moment. To understand that the Lord our God is one, is no small thing, given all of the competing claims that we have in our own time for what we should put our trust in, right? Some of these idols include money, or fame, or security, or fanatical nationalism, or sex, or fashion, or music, or sports: the list goes on and on. It is hard to not be an idolater in the 21st century. To recognize and live as if the Lord is our God and the Lord alone is quite a difficult thing to do. In fact, without a living relationship with God, a healthy dose of God’s grace and a sense of our own humility, it is impossible.
The commandment continues that we are to love the Lord our God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength. The implication is clear, isn’t it: God wants all of us! Just having a portion of us does not satisfy God, God wants it all: the good, the bad, and the ugly. God desires for us to live an integrated life!
I was blessed in my previous appointment to be in ministry with many addicts who were in the early stages of recovery. Over and over again they told me that one of the biggest relief’s that came from being in recovery was that they were finally living an integrated life: nothing was hidden from God anymore. They were finally living an integrated life! That is what God wants for us!
God wants our hearts, our souls, our minds, and our strength to be employed in loving God and doing what God would have us to do, which transitions, by the genius of Jesus, into the second great commandment that Jesus gives us: to love our neighbors as ourselves.
We talk a lot in the church these days about what it means to take worship outside the walls of the church and into everyday life. How do we put phrases like “to pray without ceasing,” “to live a worshipful life,” to “be the hands and feet of Christ” into practice. I submit to you that the first way that we live a worshipful life is that we make it our business and our passion to love other people. Mother Theresa was often heard to say, “if I judge someone I have no time to love them.” How true is that? One of the most important acts of worship that we can give to God is to love others. Loving God’s Creation is one of the best ways of loving God.
So, friends, a new day is coming. On Monday night and Tuesday we will celebrate the beginnings of a New Year. Are you ready? Are you ready to be God’s people and to have God be your God? Are you ready to put aside whatever idols may be in your life and to worship God alone and to love your neighbor as you love yourself? Are you ready for God to be your God and for you to be God’s people? Are you ready? Let all of God’s children say: Amen!
You are now invited to participate in a brief service of Covenant Renewal from the Wesleyan tradition. Methodists and others have participated in a service like this one since the 1750’s. There will be a bit of spoken liturgy by the pastor, a time of meditation and then you will be invited to say the prayer that you have in your bulletin insert and, if you choose, you may sign the covenant prayer as a sign of your commitment. Here now the proclamation and the invitation to the Covenant Renewal Service:
Liturgy for the Covenant Renewal Service
PROCLAMATION
Brothers and sisters in Christ, the Christian life is redeemed from sin and consecrated to God. Through baptism, we have entered this life and have been admitted into the new covenant of which Jesus Christ is the Mediator. He sealed it with his love that it might last forever. On the one side, God promises to give us new life in Christ, the Source and Perfector of our faith. On the other side, we are pledged to live no more for ourselves but only for Jesus Christ, who loved us and gave himself for us. From time to time we renew our covenant with God, especially when we reaffirm the Baptismal Covenant and gather at the Lord’s Table.
This morning, however, we meet, as the generations before us have met, to renew the covenant that binds us to God. Let us make this covenant of God our own.
INVITATION
Commit yourselves to Christ as his servants. Give yourselves to him, that you may belong to him. Christ has many services to be done. Some are more easy and honorable; others are more difficult and disgraceful. Some are suitable to our inclinations and interests, others are contrary to both. In some we may please Christ and please ourselves. But then there are other works where we cannot please Christ expect by denying ourselves.
Friends, Christ will be the Savior of none but his servants. He is the source of all salvation to those who obey. Christ will have no servants except by consent; Christ will not accept anything except full consent to all that he requires. Christ will be all in all, or he will be nothing.
So let us remember that God grants forgiveness of sins if we but repent and ask for God’s grace and seek to follow God. God requires us to put away all of our idols and to worship God and God alone with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. God has given the Lord Jesus Christ as the way and means of coming to God and Christ reminds us that we must suffer with him. Let us not forget God’s holy laws as the rule of our lives. Finally, let us remember that the almighty God searches and knows our hearts.
Confirm this by a holy covenant.
Church, to make this covenant a reality in your life, listen to these admonitions:
First, set apart some time, more than once, to be spent alone before the Lord; in seeking earnestly God’s special assistance and gracious acceptance of you; in carefully thinking through all the conditions of the covenant; in searching your hearts whether you have already freely given your life to Christ. Consider what your sins are. Consider the laws of Christ, how holy, strict, and spiritual they are, and whether you, after having carefully considered them, are willing to choose them all. Be sure you are clear in these matters, see that you do not lie to God.
Second, be serious and in a spirit of holy awe and reverence.
Third, claim God’s covenant, rely upon God’s promise of giving grace and strength, so you can keep your promise. Trust not your own strength and power.
Fourth, resolve to be faithful. You have given to the Lord your hearts, you have opened your mouths to the Lord, and you have dedicated yourself to God. With God’s power, never go back.
And last, be then prepared to renew your covenant with the Lord. I invite you to read the covenant prayer that is on the insert in your bulletin while Ashley plays a piece by Massenet, and to carefully consider if you are prepared to make a covenant with God for the first time, or to renew your covenant with God again. I covenant with you that I will be here to help you sustain your covenant during this year. Following our time of reflection, you will be invited to pray the prayer aloud, together, as a community, for we cannot keep this covenant without help. There is no pressure here, you may choose to sign it and pray it or not, there is no judgment, for God never coerces, God loves. Let the Spirit guide you in these next few moment. Let us be in a time of reflection.
Let us pray:
I am no longer my own, but yours.
Put me to what you will, rank me with whom you will.
Put me to doing, put me to suffering.
Let me be employed by you or laid aside for you,
Exalted for you or brought low by you.
Let me be full, let me be empty.
Let me have all things, let me have nothing.
I freely and heartily yield all things
To your pleasure and disposal.
And now, O glorious and blessed God,
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
You art mine, and I am yours. So be it.
And the covenant which I have made on earth,
Let it be ratified in heaven. Amen.
Please strongly consider taking this covenant home with you, and putting it in a place where you will see if every day this year, to serve as a reminder of the covenant between you and God.
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