Joy Engelsman

As a musician and former teacher, I’m not surprised by studies that show that singing helps us learn. Our brains are wired to better collect and retain knowledge when coupled with rhythm and notes. We teach our children the words of Scripture through song because decades later, sometimes even out of the fog of dementia, the songs still resonate on our lips. Singing shapes us more deeply than simple memorization. Lois Lowry, author of the young adult novel The Giver, created a character known as the Singer. In a culture where there was no written history, the Singer’s job was to learn the story of the people and then lead the community in singing their song. They sang to remember, they sang to tell others who did not know, and they sang because, in repeating the stories in song, they themselves were shaped into community, knowing they belonged. As a community called into worship by God, we have the same responsibility as the Singer. Our songs hold the stories of God. So we sing them to remember the stories—not just the facts and details, but the character and actions of the God who saves, protects, guides, comforts, and loves us. We sing together because joining our voices unites our spirits, and we lift our songs to tell those who don’t yet know that our only comfort is that we belong. Psalm 96 provides a template for singing three specific faith stories: salvation, power, and hope. The psalmist also gives us a mandate to sing with intent and delight to give back to God all that is in our hearts in response to all that God has done for us. We sing because our songs hold our stories, and singing our stories shapes us. This service could be ordered in different ways. The version included here highlights how the various actions in worship are related (read the blue headings on their own). I have preached the same sermon but put it closer to the beginning of the service, allowing for more singing in response to the message. I could also imagine singing after each section of the sermon. As we are called into worship, . . . Prelude Adoration Song “Cantai ao Senhor / O Sing to the Lord” Brazilian, LUYH 493, GtG 637, SSS 429 God greets us . . . Greeting and we greet one another, . . . Mutual Greeting joining our voices in adoration and praise. “Sing to the LORD, Sing His Praise” Psalter, LUYH 515, PH 96, PfAS 96B “Ten Thousand Reasons” Myrin and Redman, LUYH 559, SSS 440 “How Great Is Our God” Tomlin, Reeves, and Cash, LUYH 574, SSS 458 with chorus of “How Great Thou Art” Hine, LUYH 553, GtG 625, SSS 14 In the presence of our Holy God we confess our sins, . . . Prayer of Confession: Lord, we owe you an apology. We are sorry for the ways we hold back in worship. We do not approach your throne with awe, and we yawn at the miraculous stories of salvation, power, and hope. We worry about what people around us will think if we sing with too much exuberance, or even if we are moved to tears. Forgive us for forgetting that you gave us our minds and our bodies and our emotions, and help us to worship you with our whole selves. Help us give back to you the reverence and celebration that is due to you. Today we pray for ourselves as your worshiping people. Form us, shape us into the kind of people who remember your story and who sing it with full throats and voices—and who sing kindly and comfortingly for others who need hope. Spirit of God, infuse our hearts and voices with your power and vibrancy so that we can ascribe to you our love with our whole heart, soul, strength, and mind. Through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen. “My God, How Wonderful You Are” Faber, LUYH 548, PsH 499 receive God’s pardon, . . . Assurance of Pardon and commit ourselves to obedient living. “Love the Lord Your God” Strathdee, GtG 62 God speaks to us in his word. Scripture Reading: Psalm 96 Sermon: “Give It Back!” Sermon Notes: We sing because songs hold our stories. Stories of salvation (v. 2): Notice that in the Bible, whenever God does something incredible, people respond to God with a song about how God saved them. Examples include Miriam, Deborah, Joshua, and Gideon. If God has saved us, we sing about it. If we need God’s saving, we sing about it. Stories of power (vs. 3–6): We sing because our songs hold stories of God’s power, which has already saved us, and they hold stories of anticipation that God has the power to save us again. Even our songs of lament reflect God’s salvation and power. When we weep with frustration over injustice and disunity, we are singing in tune with salvation stories and power stories because we are asking God to do again what God did in all those other stories. Stories of hope (vs. 9–13): These verses grow in a crescendo of hopefulness that whatever comes, “The LORD reigns.” God is gracious and righteous and faithful and will make all things right again. We need to sing hope for ourselves, both for a doubting world and for those who stand near us each week in church. Note that the imperative is plural. Worship singing is done in community. Ascribe (vs. 7–8): The English translation, “to credit or attribute,” lacks the energy and force of the Chinese translation 歸還 (“gui huan”), which means to give it back! Whatever God has given us we give back to God in prayer and life and song. If God has blessed us, we sing a song of praise back to God. If God has permitted hardship in our lives, even that we give back to God in our songs of lament. We respond in a time of reflection, . . . After the message, allow for a few moments of silent reflection or another appropriate response. In this case it may be most appropriate to respond by singing. in song, . . . “O Worship the King” Grant, LUYH 2, GtG 41, SSS 2 the profession of our faith, . . . Consider using the contemporary testimony Our World Belongs to God, paragraphs 55–58 (crcna.org/welcome/beliefs/contemporary-testimony/our-world-belongs-god). the celebration of communion, . . . If celebrating communion it would be appropriate to highlight how we feast in anticipation of the heavenly banquet. offering our gifts to God, . . . Offering and our prayers. Congregational Prayer God sends us out with God’s blessing. Zephaniah 3:14–17 We go, confidently joining in the eternal song of adoration. “By the Sea of Crystal” Kuipers, LUYH 489, SSS 374, PsH 620 Postlude

Many churches have planned their own versions of a Worship 101 series. In fact, this series is a blend of Worship 101 series from two very different congregations with different needs and approaches to such back-to-basics reflections on worship. The one goal they shared was a desire for the series to bring greater unity to their congregations...The following Worship 101 series is easily adaptable to your context and available time. If your congregation needs theological reflection on worship and you have just a few weeks, focus on the major movements of worship. If you have more time, dive more deeply into specific worship practices, applying theology as you go.

Let’s start at the very beginning…a very good place to start. What happens at the very beginning of your worship service? Is it a “good” way to start? How intentional are you about the opening moments? While I think there are many appropriate ways to begin a worship event, I’ve come to appreciate the benefits of a processional as a very good way to start.

Eleanor Vander Linde loved music! She hummed through her housework, she sang in the church and community choirs and she provided music lessons for her four daughters—who all grew up loving and performing music. In a short memoir of her life Eleanor wrote, “My whole life I lived with music, music in my heart, mind and voice!” In honor of Eleanor, I’m sharing two lessons that we, who also love music, might learn from. 

“People can’t worship when they’re learning.” I was working with another planner—I’ll call him Mike—on a combined worship service of our two churches. Together we were responsible for selecting songs, recruiting singers and deciding the order of worship. Mike and I shared many important traits: both of us loved Jesus, both of us were committed to the Church, both us wanted true and good worship to happen at the combined service.

Tucked into a neighborhood of middle class homes in Denver where South Race Street makes a diagonal intersection with East Cornell Avenue sits a 1960s-style building covered by a low-hanging shake roof. For 30 years, a vibrant congregation filled the pews on Sundays, engaging various generations in worship and experimenting with newer styles of outreach and music. Then, 20 years ago, the congregation voted to accept an opportunity to merge with another church in order to plant a ministry in a newer part of the Denver metro area that had few worship options.

In this blog post, Joy Engelsman presents a letter she wrote that encourages readers to consider practicing communion weekly, explaining the lessons we learn through communion, and why practicing it frequently won't make it less "special."

Make new friends but keep the old. . . . These songs for Ascension and Pentecost are presented in pairs: a newer song attached to one that is well known. Your congregation might appreciate having the company of a familiar hymn while they work to learn a new song. The Pentecost songs are arranged to give you the option of weaving the pair together, moving back and forth between the two songs as best fits your particular worship situation.

When I Survey the Wondrous Cross (arr. Kornelis) There are some tunes that journey with us and attach themselves to our lives—songs we can’t get out of our heads.