Great devotional resources:
|
|
12/01/04
"Let the words of Christ, in all their
richness, live in your hearts and make you wise. Use his words to teach and
counsel each other. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with
thankful hearts." Colossians 3:16 (NLB)
==========
It's Christmas time. Are you singing carols at your church?
For some reason in recent years singing Christmas carols in church during
December has fallen off sharply. The most common "excuse" I've heard goes
something like: "Everyone is inundated with Christmas music all day during this
time of year so we want to give them a break in church." Say what?!?!
My assessment of the situation? Unredeemed Grinches and Scrooges have
infiltrated the churches!
When I was a kid, we had two or three special Christmas songbooks that appeared
the first Sunday after Thanksgiving. The goal was to sing as many Christmas
carols and songs as we could fit in until about mid-January. It was a great
tradition. Why? Music teaches truth better than just saying it.
So what if the music is being played in stores and on the radio all month?
Worshipfully singing Christ-centered Christmas carols in church is a far, far
different experience than enduring seasonal Muzak mush at the mall.
Every year in nearly every pulpit sometime December you will hear at least one
sermon decrying the descent of the season into materialism. The true Reason for
the season is lost, it is declared. So what is Christmas about?
How about "The First Noel?" Or "O Holy Night?" Or "Hark the Herald Angels Sing?"
Or "It Came Upon A Midnight Clear?" Or "We Three Kings of Orient Are?" Or "O
Come All Ye Faithful?" Singing these and other Christmas carols throughout the
season will help engrave on our hearts the REAL meaning of Christmas.
Besides, which song would you rather have stuck in your head or hear your kids
singing: "Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer?" or "O Holy Night?"
Don't decry Christmas carols and songs in church. Use these songs to build
memories and traditions that point to the birth of Christ -- the Reason for the
season and our Strength all year long. Do you hear what I hear? A song, a song
high above the trees / With a voice as big as the sea...
-- Stephen R. Clark
==========
Stephen (Stephen@StephenRClark.com) resides in Fishers, Indiana and operates
FishersWorship.com and FishersFind.com. He is a professional writer and
communications consultant.
These weekly email devotionals
are provided by FishersWorship.com. The copyright is owned by the author. You
are welcome to use them in your church periodicals or on your church web site as
long as you give complete attribution that mentions both FishersWorship.com as
the source, and that it is copyrighted by the author. For example: "This
devotional is provided courtesy of FishersWorship.com and used by permission.
Copyright (c) 2005 by the AUTHOR. All rights reserved."
Any Fishers, Indiana area pastor, church leader, or other resident may
contribute devotionals for consideration. Go to
www.FishersWorship.com/devotions/default.htm for more information.
Any questions about these devotions or FishersWorship.com should be directed to
Stephen R. Clark, Epiphany Lane Productions, P.O. Box 868, Fishers, Indiana
46038, (317) 435-9673,
info@FishersWorship.com.