“Why to Sing” – Rob Bell from Mars Hill Church
If you follow me on twitter then you’ve seen me post about this podcast I’ve been listening to the past couple days but I want to make sure that you get a chance to hear this. Rob Bell is at Mars Hill Church in Grand Rapids, MI and this week he was speaking to his church about why the church sings when we gather together.
One of the comments I made today is that I wish I had heard this message 15 years ago! If you are involved or interested in worship ministry, you MUST listen to this recording. Download the audio, give yourself an hour to listen and pay attention to what he’s saying. Grab your Bible and follow along through the passages that he explores.
But..
This is NOT just for the artsy musicians who like to be a part of the worship team. This is really addressed to the whole church and if the whole idea of the church singing together has always seemed a little… weird… to you, then you MUST listen to this recording. Download the audio, give yourself an hour to listen and pay attention to what he’s saying. Grab your Bible and follow along through the passages that he explores.
Seriously. This is great stuff and Rob makes some amazing points. You can get the audio by click this iTunes link.
Hey Chris,
I just finished listening to this podcast – very thought provoking! Singing in church is one of those things that I expect to do, something that I count on, and ultimately something I don’t give a second thought to in regards to why we sing in the first place. But, this sermon makes you step back and definitely think ponder that and more importantly why we HAVE to sing together.
A few of my responses:
* I really appreciated how (I think it was Troy) they emphasized that singing during a church service isn’t really about singing (i.e., singing well or choosing to sing at all); it’s about being engaged – does one need to be singing to be engaged? No. I like that.
* I loved how Rob and Troy put singing in the broader context of history – both in terms of culture, traditions, musical techniques, etc. and of God’s story. It is so true that we live in a time when the ‘now’ and the ‘individual’ are emphasized. I liked how they explained that singing together as a congregation is about intentionally creating space to remind us that it’s not about ‘now’ and ‘me’, but it’s about tapping into the richness of what has come ‘before’. I’m reading a book by Eugene Peterson right now called “Run with the Horses”. He states that, “Apart from the before, the now has little meaning. The now is only a thin slice of who I am; isolated from the rich deposits of before, it cannot be understood…. If we are going to live appropriately, we must be aware that we are living in the middle of a story that was begun and will be concluded by another. And this other is God.”
* We are all broken people; however, we contain in us divine breath and when we collectively sing with that breath we can proclaim that God is Holy, unblemished, and in control.
* Bottom line: singing together is a reminder; it is a reorientation; it is a map that brings us back to the Truth: we are a part of God’s amazing story of creation, salvation and transformation.
Thanks for posting this Chris!
Blessings,
Christy