Dear Friends,
I trust you are all keeping well and are managing to avoid all the viruses that are going around as well as THE virus. At the moment there are times for all of us when simply to keep going is quite a challenge. This morning, when I woke up, I went through in my mind, all that I hope to accomplish today, and gave it all to God. The list is long, and possibly I won’t get to the end of it, but so far (12 noon) it is going quite well.
One of the things I needed to do was to choose hymns for Sunday. Some of you might wonder how this is done. Often, when I am writing my sermon, lines of hymns suggest themselves to me as I think about my theme. This is always helpful. There is also guidance in the hymn-book where hymns are listed by topic as well as alphabetically. Then there are the musical considerations, metre, key etc. And I have always tried to begin and end with something both well-known and uplifting.
It was John Calvin, the Reformer, who said, ‘Among all the other things that are proper for the recreation of man and for giving him pleasure, music, if not the first, is among the most important; and we must consider it a gift from God expressly made for that purpose’. He also said that congregations should always be enabled to sing together as part of their worship. So in choosing our praise, all these things are considered.
During the past months we have for part of that time, not been allowed to sing at all, and so many people have made it clear how much they are enjoying the freedom to express their faith through their singing again. We are delighted to have our choir leading our praise again and we hope and pray that masks will become a thing of the past for all of us before too long, so that we can all have the freedom to express our worship as we would wish. Meantime, let us give thanks for all that we can do, and continue to look for new ways to praise God in our service to his people.
With love and blessings,
Marion
Categories: Minister's Blog