Crossroads Community Church

August 15, 2013 · 0 Comments

Good Morning Beloved, it is a very joyful morning indeed. This past week marked the celebration of the 63rd Fiddleville. Shelburne was brimming with festivities as numerous fiddlers from far and wide visited us to share their talents. In retrospect at Crossroads we felt it was a great time to give a Christian view on celebrating with music. We can all agree that music is an integral part of our daily lives. Music soothes the soul, inspires the mind, heals the spirit and rejoices the heart. Music celebrates life, family, friends and God.

Here are a few examples of how music fills noteworthy moments of our lives. When we fall in love, there is always that one special song that landmarks and describes our feelings for our beloved one; that song is sung many times and is probably the first song we dance at our wedding. When a mother is expecting a child there is a loving song she sings repeatedly to her unborn child. We use music to express our appreciation and love to special friends and family with radio dedications or even sing at their birthdays and anniversaries. And even on their farewells or final goodbyes as we lay them to rest we do it with songs that we either play or sing in their honor. Music is with us from the moment of conception to the day we are reborn in Christ to the day we meet Him. Why do you suppose music is so part of our human existence?

Music is a great gift given by our Creator. He created it as a means for angels and humans to praise and worship Him, and to show our affections towards Him; is it any wonder that we also use music to show love to one another? What does the Bible say? Let us read;

“Sing a new song to the LORD! Let the whole earth sing to the LORD! Sing to the LORD; praise his name. Each day proclaim the good news that he saves.” Psalm 96:1-2, and “Shout to the LORD, all the earth; break out in praise and sing for joy! Sing your praise to the LORD with the harp, with the harp and melodious song, with trumpets and the sound of the ram’s horn. Make a joyful symphony before the LORD, the King!” Psalm 98:4-6 again it says “My heart is confident in you, O God; no wonder I can sing your praises with all my heart! Wake up, lyre and harp! I will wake the dawn with my song. I will thank you, LORD, among all the people. I will sing your praises among the nations. For your unfailing love is higher than the heavens. Your faithfulness reaches to the clouds. Be exalted, O God, above the highest heavens. May your glory shine over all the earth.” Psalm 108:1-5

We can definitely see that music is a way to rejoice and celebrate God. We can show Him our adoration, our admiration and our affections, we were created to worship, that is why even in the most indigenous nations you will find people worshipping, it is an innate need of the human spirit. Music is also often accompanied with dancing, many of us are not blessed with the ability to play music or even have a Grammy award winning voice but we can all worship by raising our hands and singing along while others lead. We even sway gently to the sound and some are more exuberant such as King David, “So all Israel brought up the ark of the covenant of the LORD with shouts, with the sounding of rams’ horns and trumpets, and of cymbals, and the playing of lyres and harps. As the ark of the covenant of the LORD was entering the City of David, Michal daughter of Saul watched from a window. And when she saw King David dancing and celebrating, she despised him in her heart.” 1 Chronicles 15:28-29 .

Notice here that Michal wasn’t in favor of David’s exuberance, and God did not bless her because of it. So if we want to be blessed we will offer heartfelt praises to the Lord and we will not judge the passion in which others choose to worship. God gave each of us different gifts and talents with which to praise Him and He longs to hear our hearts sing for joy for it brings joy to the heart of the giver and as Psalm 22:3 says, “God is Holy and God inhabits the Praise of His People.” So In our moments of praise and worship He encounters us there.

This week as we enjoyed and appreciated the many talented fiddlers that graced Shelburne let us always remember that God is the Giver of such gifts and we should definitely praise Him for it and live at peace with one another as Ephesians 5:19 says be filled with the Spirit; speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ; Asherey Shalom and Praise the LORD! For How good it is to sing praises to our God! How delightful and how fitting!