Well, it is, it is a joy to open God's Word this morning. And the Lord's little funny joke to me was I spilled water on my pants just before I got up here, so that's not distracting at all. I get to talk with you this morning about one of my favorite topics in the world, which is music, but more specifically singing, and more specifically still the church singing. My hope this morning is that this is an encouragement to you because this is something that you, church, do really well. When we gather, when we sing together, this is something you do well, and I am grateful for that.
I love hearing the voice of the congregation. I loved hearing it just now and in the first service. You sing beautifully.
So as As you turn in your Bibles to Ephesians chapter 5, let's be reminded of where we are in this letter.
Paul thus far has begun with reminding Christians of their story.
Jew, Gentile grafted into the same family tree by the blood of Jesus. The fundamental doctrines of salvation, the unifying effect of the gospel, this is the first half of the letter. Then the second half of the letter is Okay, Christians, okay, church, this, in light of what we just have talked about, in light of salvation, in light of being saved by grace through faith, this then is how you live. So this second half of the book, chapters 4, 5, and 6, have all been and will be directions to the church. So we've talked about unity in the body of Christ.
We've talked about putting off our old self, which is corrupted by its deceitful desires. We've talked about being renewed in the spirit of our minds, walking in newness of life. It reminds me of what we often say during baptisms: buried in the likeness of Christ, raised to walk in new life. We've talked about walking in love, being imitators of God. We've talked about God's design for sexual morality.
We've talked about foolish talk and coarse joking, and I will tell you that was particularly convicting in my life as a as the one who grew up watching The Office and still watching The Office a lot, of course joking is something that I need to work on in my life. So we talked about how anything done sinfully in secret, when exposed to the light, becomes visible, which brings us to where we've been camped out for the last couple of weeks.
If you look at Ephesians 5:15-21, this is where Paul is saying, because of all these things we've talked about, Then look carefully, believer, how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of our time. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And verse 18, if you'll follow along with me, says this: And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart.
So our text today provides our focus. Our focus is this: a Spirit-filled church is a singing church. What does it mean to be filled with the Spirit as we address one another using psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord in our heart? Again, a Spirit-filled church must be a singing church.
Father, I pray that this would be an encouragement this morning, an encouragement that singing is a good gift that you have given to your people to do together. Lord, let it be encouraging that this church is a singing church, and let us continue to be encouraged to sing all the louder. All the more full-throated singing, convicted singing. Encourage us this morning, convict us where needed this morning, help us this morning, in Jesus' name, amen.
6 · A hinge question launching the sermon's first major movement
So, why do we sing?
7 · The pastor surveys common answers to "why do we sing" that he has heard over a decade of ministry conversations
Again, our hope, my hope today is that we'll see that a Spirit-filled church must be a a singing church. It must be important if we repeat it a lot. The Bible has taught us that, right? So a Spirit-filled church must be a singing church. Why do we sing?
During the past decade, I have had the privilege of having many conversations around this area, whether it's people auditioning for the band, whether it's just talking about worship around town. My parents were our worship leaders, family members. My grandma always jokes on Sunday morning she prays for all the worship leaders in our family all over the country, and it's such a joy to have grown up in a family that sings. But I know that's not everybody, so I ask the question, why do we sing in church? And I get a lot of different answers.
So let's hear some of these answers that I've gotten, paraphrased of course, because that's been a lot of conversations. So let's think about a couple responses. I've heard things like, the purpose of worship is ushering the congregation into the presence of God. I've heard the purpose of worship is to allow people to connect with God. I've heard that the worship The purpose of singing or worship is that so that I can express my feelings to God about who he is.
It's so that I can feel and the congregation can feel close to God. The purpose of singing is to give praise and honor and glory to God. And at every level, these are sincere answers. And these are sincere thoughts about the nature of what we do when we gather, the nature of our relationship with God on a Sunday morning. And most of these aren't wrong.
The one that I would say, hey, careful with, is we are not doing the ushering. We are not ushering people into the presence of God. The Lord has brought us together this morning. Make no mistake about it. We are gathered by the Holy Spirit.
He invites us, we do not invite him. And that is great. That is a relief to me. Because I always forget to invite people to things. So, thank you, Holy Spirit.
I, here's the deal, I want to express that I agree that I want to express my feelings about who God is. I want to feel close to God. I want to give praise and honor and glory to God. These are good things and good desires, but there's something else that needs to be drawn out here.
8 · The pastor makes the sermon's central theological move: Spirit-filling produces not just vertical worship but horizontal edification
And that is this: Paul reminds his readers that Christ has broken down the dividing wall of hostility. Because of Christ, God's chosen people include both Jew and Gentile. Which means today that you and I are part of the body of Christ, the family of God, not by our own human bloodline, but through the blood of Christ. Paul says, "Don't be unwise but wise. Don't be foolish but understand the will of the Lord." He juxtaposes drunkenness and being filled with the Spirit.
He puts against each other, one another, being filled with drink, which is a depressant that causes our disorder and disunity and our senses to be dulled. And then he says, "But be filled with the Spirit," which leads to more order and unity in Christ. We are brought together by the blood of Christ. We are filled with the Holy Spirit. So, here's the thing.
Part of what we do when we sing, when we are Spirit-filled and we gather together as the church, is we sing together for the benefit of one another. This is the horizontal aspect of our worship. There is a vertical— the vertical aspect of our worship is important, but the horizontal is also important.
9 · The pastor clarifies the causal relationship: we do not sing to produce Spirit-filling; we sing because we are already filled
We don't sing, reminder, to usher in the presence of the Holy Spirit. We sing because we are filled with the Holy Spirit.
This means that context— continually, perpetually filled with the Holy Spirit, a cup overflowing. And because our hearts are overflowing with the Spirit, the outpouring and the outworking of that filling is a song. Together, to be done together. Paul says the right response here is to sing and make melody. Singing is both a natural response to being filled with the Spirit and a command that God gives us, which is a gift and for our good.
10 · The pastor grounds the importance of singing in canonical breadth: over 400 references to singing in Scripture, 50 of them commands, the Psalms written for congregational use
Have you thought about that? How it is a good thing, it's a fun thing we do, it's nice to hear people sing, but it's also something God tells us to do because it is a gift. Singing is not an afterthought for God, and I would encourage you to go check my work here. Because I'm going to tell you that the Bible, Scripture, references singing over 400 times, and 50 of those are direct exhortations or commands for God's people to sing. Singing is important to God.
Singing matters to God. God sings over his people, as we see in the Old Testament. The largest book of the Bible is a book of songs, and a lot of these songs were written as reflections from a songwriter, but they were also meant to be sung congregationally. If you look at the top of a bunch of the Psalms, you'll see to the choir master.
That's pretty cool.
11 · The pastor provides a compressed list of reasons for singing, emphasizing the horizontal function: we sing to remind each other of God's character, gospel truth, and ongoing works
So the short answer to my question of why do we sing is that God made it to be a natural response to being Spirit-filled. We sing because of who we are in Christ. But I'm preaching, so here's the longer version. We sing because it matters.
We sing to give honor and glory and thanks to God, yes, We remind, we sing to remind each other of the character attributes of God. His love, His faithfulness, His justice, yes, His wrath, His salvation, His graciousness. We sing to remind one another and ourselves of the truth of the gospel. We sing because it affects our hearts and our emotions, but it also affects the hearts and the emotions of those around us. We sing to be reminded of the wonders that God still does.
12 · The pastor uses a specific song the congregation knows—"Come Behold the Wondrous Mystery"—to illustrate how singing reminds us of the mystery of the incarnation and salvation
Think, church, about the song we sing a lot. It's called "Come Behold the Wondrous Mystery." We sing about the life and work of Christ coming to save sinners because of his great love. It's a wondrous mystery that God, in his infinite wisdom, chose to step into history to save once and for all, to save sinners like you and like me. This week I heard a pastor say something I had not heard before. As I was listening.
He said, "Salvation is a lifelong process with a once and for all beginning." Salvation is a lifelong process with a once and for all beginning. What a wonderful mystery that is.
13 · The pastor tells the story of Horatio Spafford and the hymn "It Is Well," emphasizing that in the midst of deep grief Spafford's greatest need was not emotional relief but the truth of what Christ had done
I think of a song like "It Is Well." In the face of deep grief and loss, Horatio Spafford was drawn to pen one of the greatest hymns of the faith. In the deep pain of losing all of his children, amidst the grief of the death of his family, he looked to Christ at this time and was able to say, "It is well with my soul." He wrote, "Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come, let this blessed assurance control, that Christ has regarded my helpless estate and hath shed his own blood for my soul." The hymn writer here realizes in this moment that his greatest need and comfort in the face of deep loss is the life, death, and resurrection of Christ. The thing he needed most at that moment was not to feel better, but to remember what Christ has done.
14 · The pastor shares a brief pastoral conversation from the first service about a congregant who is emotionally overwhelmed by "It Is Well" because of family memory
And so I had a conversation with somebody in the first service who said, "John, I can't sing that song when we sing it because of what it means to my family and how it reminds me of my grandfather. And even when he couldn't sing, when he couldn't articulate a lot of things, he tried to sing that song. It was an encouragement. And I would say, as I'm singing here, as we're talking about singing here, we're going to talk about a couple times where I couldn't sing because the congregation was doing its job and teaching and admonishing and reminding me of the faithfulness of God.
15 · A structural transition recapping the first movement (why we sing) and launching the second movement (who we sing to)
So in light of this, Why do we sing?
Because God tells us to. Because God made it to be a natural response to being Spirit-filled. So who do we sing to? It's a good question.
16 · A brief aside recommending a resource (Matt Merker's book) before quoting from it
Matt Merker, in his book Corporate Worship, says this, and I hope to have at least an example of this book so you can go check it out in the $0 bookstore next week.
I'll just put it on the table so you can see it. I would highly recommend this book by Matt Merker.
17 · The pastor quotes Matt Merker's definition of corporate worship, which emphasizes that church is not an event to attend but an identity we embody
Corporate worship. A local church is an assembly of blood-bought, Spirit-filled worshipers who build one another up by God's word and affirm one another as citizens of Christ's kingdom through the ordinances. We don't go to church to worship. We worship because we are the church. If we treat church merely as an event to attend, we're more likely to slip into a self-centered mindset. We'll rate a service based on how it served us. Yet the Scriptures show that belonging to a local church is integral to the Christian life. We join and gather because it's who we are.
When we worship, we embody, make visible in space and time, our distinct corporate identity. This is a unique thing that we're to do, a unique job that Christians have when we gather. When we gather and sing to one another, the parallel text to this one, Colossians 3:16, says this: we are to teach and admonish one another using psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. Our text today says that we are to address one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. We are to embrace the one-anotherness of our song.
18 · Brief transition introducing a quotation from John Stott
John Stott says this:
19 · The pastor quotes John Stott to establish historical and biblical precedent for horizontal singing: early Christians sang antiphonally, and some Psalms (like Psalm 95) are not worship of God but mutual exhortation among believers
Whenever Christians assemble, they love to sing both to God and to each other. Sometimes we sing respectively, as responsively, as the Jews did in temple and synagogue, and as the early Christians did also, meeting before daybreak to recite a hymn antiphonally to Christ as to a god. Also, some of the Psalms we sing are in reality not worship of God but mutual exhortation. A good example is Psalm 95, in the singing of which we should turn to one another. "Oh, come, let us sing to the Lord.
Let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation." Here is fellowship in worship, a reciprocal invitation to praise.
20 · The pastor directly answers the question "who do we sing to?" with the congregation's participation ("each other") and then underscores that horizontal singing is not incidental but integral—one of the historic marks of the church
So Who do we sing to? Say each other. See, you're getting it. Look, you can take the middle school teacher out of middle school, but you, you know, you're still going to get them.
All right. This is not a byproduct of us happening to be here together. Singing is not like, oh, we're all together, might as well sing some songs. That's not what it is. This is an integral part of the gathering.
This is one of the marks of the church throughout history. It's been singing to and for the benefit of one another.
21 · A brief illustration of house churches in China whispering songs to one another, emphasizing the universal and essential nature of congregational singing even in persecution
The Lord's bringing to mind at the moment house churches. I heard a recounting of house churches in China whispering songs to one another. What a beautiful picture of the gospel and the importance of this gift that the Lord has given.
22 · The pastor shares a personal story of standing next to his wife at a conference and hearing her sing, which reminded him of truth and brought him joy
So I don't get to sit next to my wife and sing often.
But a few months ago we were at a conference and the room was filled with pastors and wives and church staff and the singing was thunderous, like deafening singing. It was amazing. But my favorite part about that time together was I was standing next to my wife and hearing her belt out these truths about who God is, his faithfulness, his love, the truth of the gospel. That hearing my wife sing at the top of her lungs reminded me of the truth and brought joy and gratefulness to my heart.
23 · The pastor anticipates an objection—isn't horizontal singing self-centered?—and answers by grounding the one-another function in the doctrine of humanity created for community (Adam and Eve), the doctrine of the Trinity (God exists eternally in perfect communion), and the vertical-to-horizontal pattern of Psalm 103-104
So maybe you have a question here. You're saying, John, I get it. I get what you're saying, kind of, but it feels a little bit self-centered. It feels self-centered to say, like, we come to church, this place where we gather in the presence of God to worship God, and you're telling me I have to sing to each other? Okay, yes, I am saying that. Because God understands that we are relational beings.
He created us for community, for relationship. Think about it this way: from the first man being created in God's image means that we were built for community. Adam was made, was created, and God said it's not good for man to be alone. So he made Adam Eve to be his helper, his companion in life. We were meant to dwell in community with others.
God himself was and is in perfect unity for all of time. God the Father, the Son, Holy Spirit, one God, three persons, like we sang about this morning in "This Is Our God," existing for all eternity in perfect union and communion with himself. Part of how we illustrate this God-gathered community is singing to and for the benefit of one another. When we gather. We sing to each other because it encourages those around us, it builds one another up, it lifts up the downcast, it points us to the hope that we have in Christ, it reminds us of gospel truth, and our singing has eternal effect.
Now there may be another among— some among us— I'm gonna be careful not to look at anybody here.
24 · The pastor directly addresses the tone-deaf and non-singers in the congregation, pastorally exhorting them that their voice matters to God and to the body
To the tone-deaf among us, Your voice matters. Again, not just— not looking at anybody.
We hear you. I'm just kidding, we don't.
Let me encourage you by reminding you of this: that your voice, tone-deaf Christian, matters. Your voice, person who can't carry a tune in a bucket, matters. Your voice, when you sing of the faithfulness of God, when you sing the truth of the gospel, your voice matters.
When you sing, when the race is complete, still my lips will repeat, yet not I, but through Christ in me, your voice matters. To those of you who say, I don't sing and I can't sing, I would submit to you that's all the more reason for you to sing. Because your voice matters to God. Hearing you sing the words of Scripture, like we will at the end of the service, "Holy, holy, holy Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come." Hearing you say those words, tone deaf or not, having a clue of what the melody is or not, builds up those around you and reminds those around you of the object of our affections, the reason for our eternal hope. Our holy, loving God.
So sing, even if you think you can't. God will honor that in your life and the life of those around you.
25 · The pastor now explicitly addresses the vertical dimension of worship (singing to God) that has been tacitly assumed throughout
This also brings us to the part that none of us really have to be reminded of. We also sing praise to the Lord, right? The second half of this verse says, "Singing and making melody to the Lord." So here's our vertical spot, right?
We give praise and honor and glory to the Lord, which is such a privilege. We get to relate to God himself, our creator and our redeemer, through song. We see this in Psalm 103 when the psalmist says, "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name." Psalm 104 addresses the Lord by saying, "Bless the Lord, O my soul. O Lord my God, you are very great. You are clothed with splendor and majesty, covering yourself with light as a garment stretching out." the heavens like a tent.
So it's clear there's both a vertical and horizontal aspect of our worship. We sing to one another and to God. Both of these things should take a well— have a place in a well-balanced, well-ordered worship service. We bless and magnify the name of the Lord together because he's worthy of all our honor and glory and adoration and praise. He is worthy of our affection.
So we want to seek to praise the Lord, to bless his holy name, to worship him in splendor and holiness. We want to ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name. Psalm 96 says, ascribe to the Lord, ascribe to the Lord, ascribe to the Lord, which is— it starts by addressing God and then it says, hey everybody, ascribe to the Lord. Remember, ascribe to the Lord, praise the Lord, ascribe to the Lord, give him the glory due his name. But even in this Psalm, we see that The psalmist is reminding the people, yes, the Lord reigns.
Yes, the world is established. It shall never be moved. He will judge the peoples with equity. Let the nations be glad and the earth rejoice. So it says, hey church, sing.
Also remember that God is sovereign. Remind one another of that. The Lord reigns over all things. When the psalmist exalts the name of the Lord, sings praise to the name of the Lord, he then turns his gaze horizontal and says, remember these things about the Lord. We see throughout Scripture songs being sung by God's people that are both vertical and horizontal, and neither is necessarily more important than the other.
But the one, the remembering that why we sing is for each other, often gets de-emphasized or forgotten.
26 · A summary statement reiterating the sermon's core theological logic: Spirit-filling produces overflowing, and that overflow manifests as song that encourages the body
That when we come together, it's a unique privilege and gift to sing because you are Spirit-filled. And because of your Spirit filling and overflowing with the Spirit filling, a proper response is to sing and encourage those around you.
27 · The pastor shares the sermon's emotional climax: a moment at a conference when he could not sing because hearing Todd (a church member and mentor) sing "Yet Not I, But Through Christ in Me" overwhelmed him with the memory of God's faithfulness through Todd and Kathy's counsel over 12 years
Now, I hear Todd singing every Sunday because most of the time, except for today, he's in my left ear. Today he was in my right ear. And he encourages me weekly when he's singing and I'm hearing him, and I'm hearing him. But back to that conference from a few months ago. In this case, he was standing right behind me, and I couldn't sing a word at that moment because he was singing "Yet Not I, But Through Christ in Me," what we just sang, and I started weeping.
Hearing Todd sing the song at the back of my head, I started weeping. And earlier this week, I was walking around upstairs over here in the youth room writing this part and weeping again. Just by myself. Because after having walked together for 12 and a half years, understanding what Todd and Kathy and their family have gone through, joys and sorrows, Todd and Kathy understanding the joys and sorrows of my life and my wife's life, I always say we didn't get great premarital counseling, but we got great post-marriage, post-wedding counseling with Todd and Kathy. I don't know that Ashley and I would be here today if not for Todd and Kathy's wise counsel.
So knowing about Todd's life and thinking about all of those things, knowing that as he sings, when the race is complete, yet not I, but through Christ in me, that he means it and he lives it. And that's a great example to me. And the Lord reminded me of God's faithfulness to my— in my life, and the faithfulness that he's shown through Todd and Kathy in the life of my wife and me and my children. It reminded me of God's faithfulness in bringing us to this church, which has become our family for the last almost 13 years while our family is 2,000 miles away.
28 · A structural hinge launching the sermon's third major movement: what should we sing? The pastor uses humor and congregational participation to re-engage attention and signal the shift
So if singing is important to God and who we sing to matters, then what we sing should also matter.
So say for me, what should we sing?
Say, what should we sing? I woke you up, right? Because you sound like kind of the nod off and like you don't expect to have to answer back, but remember, I'm a middle school teacher, so Or was a middle school teacher. So yes, thank you for asking. That's a great question.
29 · The pastor recaps the biblical foundation for singing by rereading Colossians 3:16 and Ephesians 5:18-19, emphasizing that singing is both gift and command, and that it serves the purpose of letting the word of Christ dwell richly and teaching/admonishing one another
I hope we have seen thus far that God is clear about his feelings of singing. God is clear that singing together is important. It's a gift that he has given and something we are commanded to do. We see that in Ephesians 5 and Colossians 3:16. Let me remind you of those.
Colossians 3:16, let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another. All wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your heart to God. And Ephesians 5, remembering, addressing one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, because why? Because you are filled with the Spirit, Paul says.
30 · The pastor introduces the cultural and technological shift from hymnals to streaming services, which has exponentially increased the number of available songs
So here's where this becomes interesting, because the improvement in technology over the last number of years has allowed for fast and effective spread of massive amounts of music.
Across the globe. Before technology, there was this little thing, uh, it was a thick book, usually hardback bound, and it had music notes in it. It was called a hymnal. Some of you may know what that is. Some of you don't know what books are because you have computers at school.
But it was a book like this of hymns. It was a published book where it was a curated collection of songs that you sang forever until you spent the money to buy a new hymnal. And so one of the things, one of the reasons that the great hymns of the faith became the great hymns of the faith is because they sang them over and over and over and over again. And they were well written, but they were the ones that they sang each Sunday. So you think about "How Great Thou Art" or "Amazing Grace" or "It Is Well." These are examples of hymns that were sung, that I sung growing up, that my parents sang, my grandparents sang a number of these hymns.
And they are, they are great. But there's a positive to that. The negative is you have those songs. The beauty of so many of technologies, we have access to so many great songs all over the world from, from people, writers all over the world. The radio and streaming services have put tens of thousands of potential songs at the fingertips of those responsible for choosing the music that is to be sung in the gatherings of God's people.
So while a good thing, also a really challenging thing. We Would you agree?
A plethora of options. So what do we do? It's vitally important that if we are to be Spirit-filled Christians who sing to God and for one another, to and for one another, we are wise and intentional about the songs we sing when we gather. This is part of being a Spirit-filled church, allowing the Spirit to even shape the songbook we use. Through scripture as our guide.
Now listen, the main or primary reason a song is sung should never be whether it is popular, right? That could be a good anecdote, but just because it's popular doesn't mean it's good or should be sung in the gathering. So looking at why a particular song has gained popularity is super helpful. Sometimes that's really great, sometimes that's a challenge.
31 · The pastor introduces a four-part framework for song selection used at Cross of Grace, grounding it in Scripture and church history
The following isn't a perfect framework. It is an expression of a framework that has been decided by our pastors and leaders at Cross of Grace after studying Scripture and enduring practices through church history. Every song we sing goes through a version of this framework before being introduced to the church because we're cultivating a hymnbook and we can't sing everything all the time. My encouragement is we should have a framework by which we choose the songs we sing corporately together.
32 · The pastor explains the first criterion: every song must be tested against Scripture for truth (is it true? is it all true? is it clearly true?)
So I'm going to make you respond again. First, is the song true?
Say, "Is it true?" Is it all true? Say it. Say, "Is it clearly true?" Step 1: Is the song true? Is it all true? Is it clearly true?
Every word of that song, every line of that song, should be tested against Scripture. Can it be proven or supported by Scripture? This might seem a little tedious or pedantic, but it's a really great practice. Knowing that the songs we are singing are Scripture truth, that's super helpful. Whatever artistic license a songwriter employs must be bound by the truth revealed in Scripture.
So if we get to a song, it is true, it is all true, we must then ask, is it clear? Are there any lines or words that are distracting or confusing? If so, is it still worth introducing a song? Now, this is super subjective because it really depends on your context. Maybe it's true, it's all true, and we've discovered that, but maybe in the way that the person wrote the song, it's just a little squishy.
It's a subjective thing that churches must encounter, and we do all the time with songs. And we go over them, we think, is this helpful for our congregation, or is it helpful to just be another worship song that people listen to? So, doesn't mean it's going to be out for everybody or in for everybody. Just a thing to think about. There are some good songs, but songs that might not be appropriate in our particular context.
33 · The pastor explains the second criterion: a song must be singable by the congregation—not just the worship team
If we are to teach and admonish one another, address one another in these psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. Second, say for me, is it singable? You're like, is that real? Like, what does that mean? Well, if we are to follow the command of singing together for the benefit of one another, making melody and giving thanks to the Lord, then me and Todd aren't the only ones who should be able to sing it.
We should all be able to sing it. Now there's some subjectivity and flexing in that too, because we want to sing songs that are comfortable for women to sing and songs that are comfortable for men to sing. And there's different ranges. There's basses and there's tenors and there's altos and sopranos, and we have to kind of hit the meaty middle, which means sometimes it might be uncomfortable for somebody, but we try to hit the meaty middle of can we all sing together most of the time. So is it singable?
Super important. Range— just the practical music theory of how high does it go? How low does it go? There's a song, just a practical, there's a song I really love by a pretty popular worship outfit. It's a great song, it's a great Easter song, but the bridge of the song is a 2-octave C major scale.
For those who are not musicians among us, most people can sing 8 notes, 7 or 8 notes, that's like comfortable. This is 16. And it starts really low and then it goes really high to the point where the guy leading it can't actually sing The end of the scale, they switch, so somebody else sings it. So it's one of those that I don't know. It's a great song.
I don't know if it's singable for us. And so it's not singable for me. Let me just put it that way. So one of just practical considerations of is it a good song? Is it clearly true?
Is it all true? But it just doesn't work. I can't sing it. Does it make musical sense? Is it good means there are also some objectively bad songs out there.
Let me not pick on a contemporary song like I just did, but let me pick on a hymn. Right? Because sometimes we get the, like, the hymns are the best. I get it. But there's a hymn called God of Concrete, God of Steel, which was the hymn writer's attempt at dealing with the Industrial Revolution.
It is objectively terrible. It is just like— I get it. It's like— it's like— but I— man, we sang it once as a joke in a chapel, a chapel service in college, and I was like, this is interesting. So songs can be bad.
34 · The pastor explains the third criterion: category—what function does the song serve in the service structure? He walks through Cross of Grace's typical Sunday morning arc (adoration, death-to-life, response to grace, post-sermon response) and warns against over-indexing on I/me language, which can create an overly individualistic diet
Third, what's the context?
Say, what's the— sorry, what's the category? Say, what's the category? There he is. What category does the song fit in? Each week, the songs we sing at the beginning of the service help us rehearse the gospel.
We usually start with something that is Trinitarian in nature, something that points us to who God is. Adoration, songs of praise, song of adoration. We sang a psalm this morning. Praise the Lord with everything that's in me. Praise the Lord, right?
We've sung God's words back to him. Then we sing a song or two that are about our story as sinners brought from death to life. What man's place is and what Christ has done. That's kind of the middle of the songs that we sing. So adoration, sing the death to life, and then we respond in light of what Christ has done.
Let us respond in gratefulness and thanks and praise. Today it was, so in light of all that, let the world not see me but Christ in me. Right? So that's the example of that this morning. So, and then after the sermon we try to sing a song of response that helps us not just, like, go to lunch, but to think about what the Lord has seen and then has asked us to think about and spoken to us through his word, and then go to lunch.
So we ask, what is the voice of the song? Where does it fit in the book of songs that we have? Does this addition of a song make it feel— make sense or feel forced? Is there a bunch of I/me language in it? Is I-me language, a song that uses a lot of I-me language, is it bad in the church?
No, the psalmist does it. The psalmist does it all the time. But when that becomes our entire diet, it's a challenge, right? Because then we're me-focused instead of we and God-focused, right? So we want to think about that.
How much of a particular type of song do we have? And look at that carefully.
35 · The pastor introduces the fourth and most pastoral criterion: can this song be sung around a hospital bed? He names specific deathbed scenarios he and Chuck have led in recent years, making the criterion visceral and real
And then this is, This is one that is probably my favorite one for a lot of reasons. Fourth, can I sing this song around a hospital bed?
Are the songs we are singing on Sunday morning giving language to every season of life?
If the songs we sing are for the body, if they are to allow the word of Christ to dwell in us richly, If they are to teach and admonish, then we should be cognizant of whether a song may be sung around the hospital bed of a man in his 50s going to see Jesus after a battle with cancer, or on the bed of a 7-year-old who has gone to see Jesus far too soon, or an elderly saint who is in her last days before she goes to see Jesus.
I just have to say, Chuck, thank you. Because Pastor Chuck and I have had the privilege, the solemn privilege, of leading a lot of these in the last few years.
And hearing the church sing that our hope is not in if the person that we love comes back, or that's not the thing that would give us the most relief in that moment. The relief in these moments is being pointed to our hope in Christ. In every season of life, singing the songs that remind us of the grace of Christ, singing the songs that remind us of his faithfulness even in pain, especially in pain.
Coming out of the hospital bed, singing songs at weddings reminding us that our hope, the hope for every marriage, is is Christ, not one another.
And so singing songs that remind us of that truth. So the way that we think about this is category. In the context of our church songbook, does this song enable us to sing the full counsel of Scripture? Lament, praise, adoration, gospel, joy, confession, assurance of pardon. Does the song have staying power?
That's something we want to think about.
36 · The pastor pivots from corporate song selection to personal listening habits, applying the same principle: be intentional about what you listen to, because those songs will return in many seasons
So it would seem— here's an encouragement for us— it would seem wise to be intentional about the songs we choose to listen to also, to address one another with and to sing praise to the Lord with. The songs that we sing to the Lord, he will be kind to bring back in many seasons of life.
37 · The pastor shares a personal story of his wife Ashley singing "Amazing Grace" over their newborn daughters in the hard early days of motherhood—postpartum anxiety, exhaustion, fear
I told a story, I think I've told this story before, but my wife Ashley, Piper Joy's pregnancy and birth was pretty hard for us.
And she was our firstborn. And in the wee hours of the morning, Ashley just like, what have we done? We brought this tiny human into the world. How do we take care of it?
Rocking her and then subsequently Teagan later, singing "Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost but now I'm found, was blind but now I see." Hearing Ashley sing that over our girls through tears, trusting that the Lord was good and would give her strength to make it through the next feeding, the next postpartum anxiety thought, Sitting with her, hearing her sing that is a gift because those were the first words of songs my daughters heard in their life. And the first words were the Lord reminding us all of his grace. Remember what I have done for you is what he said in those moments.
38 · The pastor shares a story of his great-grandmother in advanced dementia who could not remember her family but still remembered the hymns she sang growing up
I remember the last time I saw my great-grandma Hirsch.
She didn't remember me, she didn't remember my dad, she couldn't remember her kids. Her photo albums on her nightstand were her books. She thought at that point in her 80s she was back in high school, but she remembered the hymns that she sang growing up. She hardly remembered her name, but she remembered her Savior.
The Lord has given us a gift in music and song. It's a gift that he's allowed for melody to be something that humans latch onto and memorize well in order to hide the word of God in our hearts, to memorize truth. It's a gift that he's incorporated beauty and melody and harmony into the life of the church, of his gathered people, of his beloved.
39 · A structural hinge introducing the sermon's closing application—two questions that move from doctrine to life
So two questions as we end together, and then we sing together.
40 · The pastor's first application question asks what is filling the seat of worship in the listener's heart—is it the Lord, or is something else competing for that place? He grounds the question in the Ephesians 5 contrast between drunkenness and Spirit-filling and presses the horizontal responsibility: we come not just to be encouraged but to encourage, not just to be reminded but to remind
Number one, how often does something else fill the seat of worship in your heart?
So as we think about gathering on a Sunday morning, how often is something else other than the Lord in the seat of worship in your heart? Something we all have to think about, all have to wrestle with. Coming back to this pattern that Paul is telling Christians not to be wise but seek wisdom, not be foolish or make foolish choices but to seek the will of the Lord, not be drunk or filled with drink but be filled with the Spirit. What is filling our hearts today? What fills our hearts each Sunday when we prepare to go to church the next day?
To gather with God's people. Is it our practice to seek the Lord to prepare our hearts as we come together with his people? To encourage? Because remember, part of it's not to just be encouraged, but to encourage. Not to be reminded, but to remind.
Is that what we're asking the Lord to help us do, or is there something else that's taking over our our brains and our hearts and our thoughts.
41 · The pastor's second application question asks whether the listener prioritizes corporate gathering
Which leads me to question number 2. Question number 2 is this: do you make the gathering of God's people a priority in your life or in the life of your family? Look, this is a hard one, especially in our culture. I was trying to look up the actual statistics of church attendance because I thought like average church attendance is like twice a month right now, but I kept looking and like there's like way scarier statistics of like once a month.
33% of people are going once a month. 30% of people are going twice a month. Then there's people that are just showing up every once in a while, right? So whatever it is, church attendance is going down. That's the trend.
The gathering of God's people is not a priority in our culture.
So what do we do? I have toddlers, and those toddlers get sick all the time, and that sometimes prevents us from coming to church kind of regularly. I had a friend who worked really late evenings to the point where they wouldn't get home till like 1 or 2 in the morning. Their workday wouldn't end till like 1 or 2 in the morning, and their whole family came to church. And it blows me away that that is possible because I am a zombie when I go to bed late, and I feel sick for days.
But whatever they had done in their rhythms made it a priority to gather. So my encouragement for us is this: I get that Things will prevent us from coming to church, absolutely. So it's not to bring judgment on that, but it is to say, does the priority of God's people gathered— is that reflected in our schedules and in our hearts and in our lives?
42 · The pastor introduces the principle "church Sunday morning is a Saturday night decision" to make the priority question concrete
There's a pastor in Florida that I occasionally follow on Twitter, and every many Saturday nights he says this: church Sunday morning is a Saturday night decision. And I think that rings so true in so many situations, whether it's work-related, hanging out with friends, a toddler losing a shoe right before getting in the car.
There are so many things on a Sunday morning that are vying for our attention that often the decisions we make on Saturday night will help us be prepared for Sunday morning. Now sometimes you can't be prepared. I have a friend who got all his kids in the car and got to church, got in the front door and said, "Where are your shoes?" to one of his children. He said, "I don't know, I thought you had them." The child had been dressed, got all the way to church, in the doors, no shoes. Right?
That happens, right? It's life, right? I have 2 kids. Some of y'all have like 30, and it's like, it's a challenge. I get it.
In every season of life, it is a challenge. But is it a priority for us?
43 · The pastor shares two personal stories—one from his childhood (his parents made gathering a priority, not legalistically but missionally) and one from Ashley's (her family's rule that no matter how late you stayed out Saturday night, you went to the 8 AM service Sunday morning)
2 quick stories, one from my wife's life and one from mine. I don't remember a ton of the family discipleship, moments. My parents were faithful in trying to train us up in the way that they should go.
But I remember two things. One, we tried to sing a lot just in our family, but we also made it a priority to be at church on Sunday morning. And it wasn't like a legalistic thing, but they really tried— my parents tried to remind me that it's not just a place we went, it was a people that we were with on mission together, encouraging one another in our songs, encouraging one another in the preaching of God's word. And in prayer. The church I grew up in wasn't perfect and still isn't perfect, but I believe that the people that gather there week in and week out were faithful.
That made a lasting and indelible mark on my life that the local church, the gathering of the local church, is important. And Ashley's family had a rule. She doesn't remember totally this rule, but was one of the first things I learned when dating her, uh, in college. The rule was however late you were out on a Saturday night, you would be sitting in the 8 o'clock service every Sunday morning.
Because the gathering of the local church was a priority. Ashley's parents understood that we both— and, and we both as teenagers definitely rebelled against this— they understood that gathering with God's people was a priority. So when we were fighting and saying, can't I just sleep in, we were rousted from bed in the morning by our parents saying, nope, it's time to go worship God. And that formed and shaped us as a family.
44 · The pastor issues a universal call to prioritize gathering regardless of life stage (married, single, college, young, old)
So Church.
Married. Not married. College.
We can make our own decisions in college. I remember that very specifically. High school.
Old. Young. My encouragement is this: prioritize the gathering. No church is perfect. We're going to get it wrong.
Churches around town are going to get it wrong. But when you partner with a local church, Partner with one that preaches the gospel, one that is a gathering of people centered around the Word of God, singing, reading the Word, preaching the Word, praying the Word. It is totally worth it. And parents, specifically for a moment, remind your kids that even through the kicks and screams and the complaints, that the gathering of the local body is important even when you're tired. And I would say this, especially when you're tired.
It's the gift that God has given for edification, for building up, for encouragement, for admonishment, for conviction, for sanctification. It's worth it.
45 · The pastor concludes by reiterating the thesis (a Spirit-filled church is a singing church), encouraging the congregation that they do this well, and exhorting them to sing louder as they learn the songs
So church, be filled with the Spirit. Be continually filled with the Spirit and let your response be your song. Let your heart overflow as you sing the wonders of our God, whether you know the melody or not. Whether you're able to recognize the melody or not. A Spirit-filled church is a singing church.
That a church sings is one of the marks of a healthy church, and church, you do that oh so well. So keep doing it. Keep encouraging those around you with your song. If you're scared to sing, just try. Now I have to say this: there are so many great songs out there, and I know we are aware that we don't always sing what's popular.
But we hope that we sing what matters. So the encouragement is this: keep coming, keep learning the songs, and as you learn the songs, sing them louder and louder and louder and louder till you drown us out, because we're just your accompaniment anyway.
The Lord is a God who says— who does what he says he will. He's a God who saves continues to save even now.
46 · A transition from conclusion to closing worship, naming the songs that will be sung ("Christ Our Hope in Life and Death" and "Holy, Holy, Holy") and framing them as declaration and prayer
Would you stand?
And we're gonna spend a couple more minutes singing and making melody to the Lord with our hearts. As the band comes, we're gonna sing about Christ who is our hope in life and in death. We're gonna sing this as a declaration, and we're gonna sing this as a prayer.
We declare that our one comfort in life and death is Jesus Christ and him alone. And after we sing about our hope in life and in death, who is Christ, we'll sing the words of Scripture: Holy, holy, holy Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come. Spirit-filled churches sing. So Spirit-filled church, let's sing.
47 · The closing prayer asks the Spirit to fill hearts, give strength to voices, and remind the congregation of God's love and faithfulness
Would you pray with me?
Heavenly Father, we are grateful for the truth of your word. Thank you that you have given us the gift of song.
Thank you that you have given us the gift of each other to sing with and to sing to.
So as we sing, fill our hearts. Holy Spirit, continue to fill our hearts. Give strength to our voice.
Remind us of your love, your faithfulness. Lord, if there are any here today that are struggling with, with a sense of hopelessness, Lord, remind them that you are their hope. Our one comfort in life and death is Christ and Christ alone.
Help us remember that this morning as we sing. In Jesus' name, amen.