Notes of Joy from John!
I recently read an article by Matt Boswell for Church Leaders that I thought was excellent and worthy of sharing about why we should continue to sing hymns in church. There are reasons why we should sing Hymns in church. When mentioning the importance of singing hymns in church, maybe you cringe as you recall a “worship war” in the church. Maybe you’re eager to only sing the old hymns or maybe you wonder why it is important at all. While I certainly don’t think that historic; “traditional” hymns are the only thing we should sing in corporate worship, I am concerned that omitting older hymns in our gatherings silences the rich voices of church history.
Hymns teach us. Hymns are portable sermons that articulate, exegete, and pronounce Biblical truths. They shape the way we view God, man and Christ, and how we are to live in light of the gospel. The truths they communicate preach to us throughout the week following the style of Deuteronomy 6—at home and away, when lying down and waking. Singing for the Christian is formative and responsive, and therefore, must be informed by Scripture. The importance of hymns is that we learn what we sing.
This week as we gather to worship and we sing hymns and other spiritual songs, my prayer is that the worship lifts your intent on the worship of our Lord and not the worship of our “tradition”.
I love serving God and you! See you twice on Sunday.
Because of the Master, John