Hymns & Songs ¢ Amelia Leo is a Programmes Executive at the Methodist School of Music, Worship & Church Music Department. She is glad to be involved in the Chen Su Lan Methodist Children’s Home Choir and the development of Singing & Growing in Grace (a Methodist Preschools singing curriculum).
Let all God’s children sing
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ittle Timothy was a little apprehensive about starting Primary One as the environment, the teachers, the uniform and just about everything was new to him. After a few months, he was getting the hang of it when everything changed again as home-based learning was abruptly imposed. Suddenly, poor Timothy had to get used to attending six-hour Zoom classes, meeting friends virtually and being cooped up at home for the large part of each day. Slumped over a chair like a wilted plant, Timothy asked his parents when “normal school” could resume. But no one could provide a certain answer. Such is the world in which our children are growing up—an uncertain, volatile and insecure one. A world where parents can no longer assure their children with certainty that “everything will be okay” tomorrow. How, then, do we as parents, teachers, or children’s and youth ministry leaders, prepare our children to survive and thrive in such times? Preschools, tuition centres and enrichment classes promise parents to nurture their children into multi-talented individuals who can play the violin in two years, memorise and recite poetry, or have a large vocabulary. But what kind of child will thrive in an uncertain world—one with many skills, or one with a character formed by God’s Word? We need to educate not just our children’s minds, but their hearts. “Heart-centred” education involves discovering one’s identity as God’s child, basing one’s confidence on God’s unconditional love and building one’s faith by trusting God in troubled times. One powerful way to educate the heart in this manner is to sing the songs of God. Songs speak to the heart in a unique way that lectures and sermons do not. When God’s children sing His songs, “heart-centred” education in the Word of God takes place and bears fruit in the years to come. So, I echo Mark Patterson: Let all God’s children sing! Do not let their singing go unheard. Give them the Word of God in song and they will be prepared to thrive as joyful, singing sojourners in this uncertain world.
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METHODIST MESSAGE July 2021
The Methodist School of Music (MSM) equips and edifies both the individual and the church through music and the performing arts. Find out more at msmusic.edu.sg.
Let All God’s Children Sing Refrain:
Let all the mountains ring, let all the valleys rejoice. Let all God’s children sing, people, come and lift your voice! Sing it from ev’ry land, praise him from ev’ry shore. Let all God’s children sing for the glory of the Lord! Verse:
God who made the earth and sea, God who reigns in majesty; let our voices now be raised as we worship you with joyful praise. (Refrain, twice) Coda:
Come, children rejoice! Words & Music: Mark Patterson
Listen to a performance of this here:
