As the early church gathered for worship, the people would read scripture as well as sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs, expressing their gratitude for God! We should abandon any fear about needing to sing well in order to express our gratitude for God. Singing has an innate quality of thanksgiving and hope, especially as we worship God. It does not have to be pitch perfect!
Towards the end of April, we will gather for Youth Sunday. It is a day we look forward to every year as our youth lead us in worship. On April 26, our youth will sing and preach, pray and lead. We are grateful for their voices and their place in our family of faith! We surround them with our encouragement and support as they prepare for this service.
On the evening of April 26, we will gather again for our Spring Choir Celebration. Our preschool, children’s, and youth choirs will sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs, which they have been preparing this year. We look forward to hearing from them! Afterwards, we will have our annual Dessert Fellowship in the Fellowship Hall. We will also have an ice cream social in honor of Marianne Stringfellow, who created the trust fund for our children’s ministry last year.
Singing and scripture speak to us of God’s love! When we gather in the pews and open the pages of scripture, we listen for the Word of God. In April, we will think prayerfully about how we read scripture. Starting April 9 through April 23, we will gather each Thursday at 5:45 p.m. to talk about Reading Scripture Seriously.
We will lean on Robyn Whitaker’s book, Even the Devil Quotes Scripture, reminding us of our responsibility as we read and interpret scripture. We will look at different examples of reading scripture seriously and how it shapes our understanding of God.
– Tripp