The title of today's sermon was "Meaningful Worship Through Responsible Singing". We began by reading Psalm 96, thinking of the questions: What? Why? Who? and How? Verse 9 tells us to worship the Lord in the "beauty of holiness". If we are not holy inside, can we worship God truly? Today we looked at the singers, the song leader, and the songs. Ephesians 5:18-21 tells us to submit ourselves to one another in the fear of God. When we sing together, we need to listen to each other and blend in, opening our mouths so the sound can come out and yet keeping our jaws relaxed so that we don't tire too much when singing. Be at church for the first song! Come in time to relax and meditate before the singing! What are we telling our children when it doesn't matter if we miss the singing? We should be physically and mentally prepared and alert and responsive in our singing. Be a good follower of the song leader and participate even when it isn't your favorite song or one you would not have chosen. Children should feel comfortable and be encouraged to help along with the singing. Prepare for worship and singing by praying.

The song leader should be a spiritual and musical example, always aware that he is leading the congregation in worship. Choose carefully when choosing the song leader. This is an important part of our worship service.

What songs should we sing? John 8:31-32 says, "Ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free". The foundation of our Christian lives is the Truth and not our experience! Some songs are mostly about experience and some talk of God's Truth. We need to have a balance in the kind of songs we sing. It's not that either is right or wrong or better than the other. What songs shall we sing? Songs of worship and truth, songs of testimony and experience; but be balanced. Pick suitable selections for the occasion,k making use of the indexes in the backs of the songbooks. Also pick suitable songs for the singers, both musically and spiritually. Some closing scriptures were Revelation 5,7,14, and 15. We did not read these songs spoken about in Revelation, but were encouraged to study them on our own. Think about who was singing and what they were saying. Also given was Exodus 15 and Psalm 22.

What a blessed weekend and we want to thank Nathan for all the helpful and encouraging things shared!