Come and Worship

WORSHIP

COME & WORSHIP • Through Music

Through Music by Terry Dee

Music is the first part of worship. In the Old Testament and the Psalms, God directs us over and over again to come before him with singing, dancing and playing instruments. God inhabits the praises of his people. If you don’t have music, you haven’t invited God into the worship service.

I grew up attending a traditional worship service. It was very prim and proper. I played classical piano and sang in the choir. It was very traditional. And I still find the traditional parts of our 9:45 Unity service very comforting and consoling. But along the way, I encountered God in Scriptures which reminded me that the Holy Spirit comes to us, wanting us to raise hands in praise. And so I respond… and it sets me free! Music lifts my burdens. It gives words and expression to what is deep inside me.

Sometimes, I look around the Sanctuary during worship, and I see people who I can just tell are wanting to physically respond to God in some way during a song. And I just want to say to them, “let it go”. We have to be willing to respond in a way that is pleasing to God, rather than what is comfortable for us.

Music in worship is all a response to God. I’m 75 years old. If God tells me he desires me to worship him with holy hands and respond with spirit and truth, I respond!

Through Message by Lynne Jones

I am in a new season of life and the Christmas season was particularly sad and lonely for several reasons. One because I know it is likely the last Christmas with my mom, or at least the last one she will remember as her Parkinson’s and dementia continue their rapid progression. But in the days leading up to Christmas, the phrase “Emmanuel, God with us” kept coming to mind. Every tearful episode was followed by some deep breaths and a sigh of Emmanuel.

On Christmas Eve, as I sat in the pew next to mom, I couldn’t even sing the last verse of Silent Night as I watched her hold her lit candle high and sing with such joy and enthusiasm. And afterwards, as a dear friend hugged me and said “bless you for what you are doing for your mom”, it was all I could do to get her home before the flood gates opened. Still, I heard the words Emmanuel again.

During Pastor Bob’s Christmas Eve message, he talked about how after seeing the Christ child, God sent the wise men home by another road. And that sometimes we are on a different, often broken road, in our lives. A road we may not have thought we would be on. Yet here we are. And on that road God is with us. Emmanuel.

On Christmas Day, I went for a walk at my favorite

State Park. But I took a different path — a different road. Having never been on it, I didn’t know where it would lead, and I didn’t know what to expect. And as I walked I remembered something a dear friend had shared with me. “Clarity comes on the journey. God’s timing is perfect and just know that he will lead you through whatever he leads you to.”

So here I am. On a different road. One that I have chosen, but one that is still hard to travel. But on the road, I am not traveling alone. Emmanuel.