Nothing Without You

I read a story from a pastor recently that had a terrific impact on me. He was writing about his early days in ministry and some of the difficulties he faced. Most of these problems were a result of sin that remained rooted in him even after his conversion to Christianity. His problems resulted in a bit of a breakdown. He struggled to find the point in anything he was doing, even in his role as the worship pastor of his church. All of his struggles led to a conversation with a pastor friend of his, in which he stated “I just feel hopeless”. He fully expected his friend to offer encouragement, and assure him that he was not hopeless, but his friend’s response took him off-guard. With compassion, his friend replied, “Bob, I don’t think you’re hopeless enough”.
We can learn a valuable lesson from Bob Kauflin’s experience, and his friend’s response. When we come to Christ we come with NOTHING. Sin blinds us to this fundamental principle and leads us to believe that Christ may complete us, but is not everything. We will sing Nothing Without You by Bebo Norman this Sunday to affirm the reality that we are nothing without Christ, and the things that we do bring need to be offered to Him as a sacrifice.

Hark! The Herald Angels Sing

I apologize for my brief absence from the blog. Christmas Extravaganza has taken it’s toll on me. But, nevertheless, I am here today hoping to shed some light on this well-known Christmas Classic.

Here at First Baptist we believe in singing scripture-affirming songs. By that I mean that we do not go down many paths that lead nowhere. For example, while many churches like the tune, the song Days of Elijah is not one that is in the regular rotation at First because it is confusing at best, and flat-wrong at worst. I call this a ‘duct tape’ song. You take a little of this, and a little of that, and duct-tape it to some chords, and, voila, you have yourself a ‘worship song’.

Hark! The Herald Angles Sing is NOT a duct-tape song. We will end our music set on Sunday with this classic because it is truly a scripture-affirming, God honoring song.

We look at lines in the song like “Veiled in flesh the Godhead see, Hail incarnate Deity”, and we have, knowingly or not, affirmed the divinity of Christ. We are affirming John 1 and singing that God took on flesh and was God living among us. The verse goes on to say “Jesus, our Emmanuel”, which means Jesus is our “God With Us”. He is God. God is He. Hail incarnate Diety!

We could look at the lyrics to this carol all day and not exhaust their meaning, but I hope next Sunday you look at this song with fresh eyes. Not stopping your mind after the first verse, but through faith singing these lyrics from your hearts. Singing to our Savior who was born that man no more may die, born to raise the sons of earth, born to give them second birth.

Angels We Have Heard on High

Silence. Absolute silence. After more than a thousand years of God speaking to his people through the prophets, there was nothing. The book of Malachi concludes the chapter of creation wherein God consistently sent prophets to speak his words. How silent? Over 400 years silent. While we see books like “Maccabees” in the “Catholic Bible”, they (by their own admission) were not written by the prophets. They are simply histories of the time period. In them, they ask where the prophets have gone.

During the period of time that God was speaking through the prophets, he constantly spoke of the One who was to come. The entire Old Testament points toward the day that God would not speak through prophets, but would come to earth himself. Be born of a virgin. Put the government on his shoulders. The scriptures point toward a day when the prophesies would no longer be promises of things to come, but they would be fulfilled. A glorious day that is spoken of throughout the entirety of the many books and centuries of the Old Testament cannon.

But, then, nothing.

Silence.

Generation after generation passed with no word from heaven.

The silence was deafening.

But then, one night “…there were shepherds in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear. And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good new of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger”. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

The silence was broken. Eternity split in two. God sent more than a prophet to speak on his behalf. He sent himself.

When we sing Angels We Have Heard on High, we remember the night that God came to us. We remember those that he first spoke to. We remember the birth. And we sing “in excelsis Deo!” (which means “Glory to God in the highest”) just as the angels did as they proclaimed the incarnation of God. As we sing these things, we remember that God is not silent or still, no matter what our perception may be, but, in the middle of our doubts and fears, is ready to split the sky and change everything. Glory to God in the highest!

O, Come All Ye Faithful

What a great song to summon the saints to place their eyes and thoughts on the King of Angels. I cannot think of a better song to put in the lineup next Sunday to usher in the Christmas season here at FBC. It is a song that you all know well, but (as is often the case) there are threads of glorious thoughts that often go unnoticed in these old Carols.

We often stop paying attention to “old songs” after the first verse. The best (but in some respects worst) example of this is the classic hymn “It Is Well”. Like many of you, I grew up in an environment where the purpose of singing hymns was to finish the song as quickly as possible. Many of you remember worship leaders who would begin the song by saying “Please stand and sing hymn number 243, ‘It is Well’, verses 1 and 4 only…” In my humble opinion, only singing verses 1 and 4 of that song literally guts the song of its best parts. I will save the breakdown of the lyrics for another post, but the point rings true with many traditional Christmas Carols.

The heart of “O, Come All Ye Faithful” is found in its 3rd and final verse. While the first and second verses are voicing the birth to other people (verse 1) and the host of heaven (verse 2) the third is a ringing statement to Christ Himeself. Directing our attention to our King, we exclaim “Hail! Lord, we greet Thee. Born this happy morning. Jesus, to Thee be all glory given!” What is great, though, is that the verse is just getting started. In a direct reference to John 1:1-14, the song affirms that He is the “Word of the Father” now appearing on earth. In flesh. The silence of heaven is broken, and Christ has come to earth.

I hope that as we sing this timeless classic this Sunday you will be struck with the truths found in the lyrics. For we were without hope. A sinful people living as enemies of God. But the Word of the Father came to earth to give His life as a ransom for many.

Such a Success

Sunday night the entire FBC entourage hit the road and went to Dorrisville Baptist Church to lead worship at the community thanksgiving service. The music was great, and the people were better. It was a bit difficult for me getting everything plugged in and set up, but all of the players were more than gracious, and the response was terrific. They represented FBC wonderfully.

Welcome

Welcome to The Next Sunday. As your worship pastor, I see it as essential that you know why we sing the songs we sing on Sunday mornings. This blog will keep you informed of not only what songs First Baptist will be singing, but why we will be singing them.

It is not enough to simply say “I like this song” and do it congregationally. In corporate worship we must affirm truths of scripture. If there is not a solid link between what we sing and a truth about God found in the bible, we sing for nothing. We should prefer to sing a song of a style we dislike that has solid theology than a song that we love with watered-down, ambiguous references to "god". My hope is that, by unpacking these worship songs, you will have a better understanding of the Gospel truths we sing at First Baptist Church.

Aaron