The Loudest Singing Church

Nehemiah 12:27-43 August 11, 2024 Pastor Ricky Alcantar

Thesis Singing is a non-negotiable mark of the people of God—rooted in conviction rather than convenience, involving all believers rather than select performers, driven by giving thanks for God's grace rather than waiting to feel thankful, and expressed through whole-person engagement that causes the joy of the Lord to spread to those around us.

Series

Cross of Grace Culture

Type

Expository

Tone

pastoraldidacticcelebratory

Method

grammatical-historicalredemptive-historicalapplicatory

What's in this sermon

The shape of the argument

34 units across exposition, application, illustration, theological claim, and conclusion. The pastor's argument is built from these moving parts.

Pastoral correction · unit #28

"Alcantar applies the overflow principle first to families. He argues that one of the healthiest gifts parents can give their children is to see them sing with conviction and joy, modeling gratitude for God's grace, forgiveness, and sustaining mercy. He frames parental singing not as duty but as testimony—communicating to children the goodness of Jesus and the specific ways God has been faithful to the family."

Doctrinal loci· 10 surfaced

Doxology / Worship · 22 Ecclesiology · 19 Soteriology · 3 Bibliology · 2 Eschatology · 2 Pastoral Theology · 2 Providence / Sovereignty · 2 Theology Proper · 2 Hamartiology · 1 Pneumatology · 1

Bible citations· 15

Illustrations· 3

cultural reference · unit #13 — Alcantar shows a video of a young boy leading a soccer chant in a stadium of 30,000 PSV Eindhoven fans. The boy's effectiveness as a song leader is not his vocal skill but his ability to ignite a roaring response from the entire crowd. Alcantar uses this as a vivid analogy for what happens in Nehemiah 12—the trained singers lead out, and the congregation responds with full-throated participation.
cultural reference · unit #25 — Alcantar shows a video of the UTEP football team singing their fight song with wild enthusiasm—including a player swinging a chair around. He notes that their musical skill is dubious, but their engagement is complete. He uses this to argue that the measure of worship is not skill or perfection but full engagement—hands, heart, and mind actively involved rather than passive presence.
personal story · unit #31 — Alcantar shares a personal story about attending a small-town bandstand concert in Chatham, Massachusetts, where the entire town gathers every Friday night to listen to a modest band play John Philip Sousa marches and do the bunny hop. He describes his initial skepticism ("this is not how I hoped I'd spend my Friday night") giving way to full buy-in ("this is the best town in America"). He uses this as an analogy for what he wants Cross of Grace to be in El Paso—a community whose distinctive, joyful worship seems strange at first but becomes deeply attractive to outsiders who witness it.

Theological claims· 6

Singing is one of the defining marks of the kingdom of Christ—citizens of heaven are a singing people from the Old Testament through eternity. unit #2
Singing is not an occasional practice for the people of God but a core expression of their identity. unit #5
American Christians must shift from evaluating worship by convenience to approaching it with conviction that worship is a core identity commitment, not an optional convenience. unit #7
American culture trains Christians to be spectators of singing performances rather than participants, but this is antithetical to the biblical model where all of God's people sing. unit #11
The biblical model reverses American practice: instead of waiting to feel thankful and then singing, God's people are commanded to give thanks first, and joy follows as they rehearse their reasons for gratitude. unit #16
Biblical worship requires whole-person engagement—head, heart, and hands actively involved—rather than passive attendance out of obligation. unit #24

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Full transcript

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0 · Alcantar introduces the sermon's topic by stating a church goal: Cross of Grace wants to be "the loudest singing church in El Paso

Nehemiah, chapter twelve. If you are new here, we are in a mini series on Cross of grace culture, what it looks like to be Cross of Grace church. We are explaining a number of the things we often say or a number of the things we often do as a church. And one of the things I have liked to say over the last couple of years is that one of our goals at Cross of grace is we want to be the loudest singing church in El Paso. Now, I say that a little tongue in cheek, but it's like more than 50% serious, because we want to have a conviction at Cross of grace that we are to be a singing church. We do not want to be a mumble singing church. If you've ever been part of a ill fated, happy birthday, happy birthday, you know, or, you know, out somewhere where people are trying to mumble their way through amazing grace or something, we don't want to be there. We want to be a rejoicing, roaring, excited, engaged church when it comes to singing. And this has been part of our DNA for the last 45 years. As we talked about celebrating our 45 year anniversary. From the beginning at Cross of grace, we have valued singing. And so we're talking about this today, not because I think we do a bad job singing, but because I want us to be convictionally convinced about the value of singing and about the value of the gathering, which we'll continue to talk about next week. So we're gonna look at this. We could look at this from a lot of places. We're gonna look at this from Nehemiah, chapter twelve, beginning in verse 27.

1 · Alcantar reads Nehemiah 12:27-43, narrating the scene where Israel dedicates Jerusalem's rebuilt walls with two choirs processing along the walls, musicians playing, sacrifices offered, and the whole assembly—leaders, women, children—rejoicing so loudly that the joy was heard from far away

As we see the people of God gathering to worship and see what we can learn from their example. And as we read, let's remember, this is God's word, verse 27. And at the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem, they sought the Levites in all their places to bring them to Jerusalem to celebrate the dedication with gladness, with thanksgivings and with singing, with cymbals, harps and lyres. And the sons of the singers gathered together from the districts surrounding Jerusalem and from the villages of the Nitophathites and also from Beth Gilgal and from the region of Geba and Asmaveth. For the singers had built for themselves villages around Jerusalem. And the priests and the Levites purified themselves, and they purified the people and the gates and the wall. Then I, Nehemiah writes, brought the leaders of Judah up onto the wall and appointed two great choirs that gave thanks. One went to the south on the wall to the dung gate, and after them went Hushaiyah and half the leaders of Judah. Now skip down to verse 38. The other choir of those who gave thanks went north. And I followed them with half of the people on the wall. Above the tower of the ovens, the broad wall, and above the gate of Ephraim and by the gate of Yeshona and by the fish gate and the tower of Hananel and the tower of the hundred to the sheep gate. And they came to a halt at the gate of the guard. So both choirs of those who gave thanks stood in the house of God and I and half of the officials with me. Verse 43. And they offered great sacrifices that day and rejoiced. For God had made them rejoice with great joy. The women and children also rejoiced. And the joy of Jerusalem was heard far away. This is God's word.

2 · Alcantar uses the Olympic Games as an analogy to introduce the idea that every culture has distinctive practices that reveal its identity

Well, I don't know who likes to watch the Olympics. We, as a pastoral team and wives, we got together at the Peterson's house this week and got to watch. Todd has it set up to project onto his wall and all. You've never seen the Olympics until you've seen them at like ten by 20. It is an epic experience. And one of the great things about the Olympics is that you get to catch a little bit of all the different cultures of the world. As you watch, you see, oh, in that country, they do that. So, for example, as people are walking in during the presentation, you immediately see some differences, right? Like mongolian. Mongolia's athletes are in these very intricate uniforms with patterns and designs, right? And they're very stately, and you're like, wow, this has a lot of gravitas. And then the Australians come in, and they're just like, you know, doing peace signs, and they're wearing bright yellow at different parts, and they're, you know, act like everything's a party to them, which I guess it is in Australia. And you're like, okay, I get a little bit of a sense of Mongolia, a little bit of a sense of Australia, and then. And then you get to see who's good at certain events and good at other events, right? So some of these african countries have legacies of running a running culture, as it were, in their nation, or other countries have other types of cultures. And then even as people win or lose, you see the differences between countries. Some athletes from some countries, they may lose and be like. And then they might win and just be the same, right? It's just, they're just not the most expressive or other countries. You just see it on their face. They lose. Ah, you know, they went, ah. Like, it's just, you start to see, okay, I'm starting to see differences here. And you realize, oh, that's what they do in their country. That's a little glimpse of what their country is like. Perhaps my favorite example, though, is the New Zealand rugby teams, right? Where I think I saw a clip of the women's rugby team from New Zealand winning and doing a haka after the victory, right? It's this. If you haven't seen it, you should look it up. It's part dance, part martial arts movement, part chant, part song. It's both intimidating, terrifying, exciting and awesome. And you just get a sense like, okay, I get a little glimpse of New Zealand from that country, each country essentially showing you, this is what our country is like. Now, we talked a couple weeks ago about how we as christians, represent a better country, in the words of Hebrews eleven, that while we are grateful for our earthly countries, we look ahead to that great future city, the kingdom of God, that we are citizens of even now but are not there yet. Right now, we are assigned as ambassadors, where we are right here, right now, to represent that better country. And so, just like olympic athletes sent out from their country to another place, represent we in Christ have been sent out, as it were, from. We've been called out, rather, from among the nations and called together by Christ and given this better country. And so we're gonna talk about one of the marks of our country. How do you know the kingdom of Christ? How do you know what the country of Christ, as it were, is like? Well, here's one way. In our country, we sing as the kingdom of Christ, as the citizens of heaven, we sing. And this is what we have done as the people of God. From the Old Testament all the way through the New Testament and into the future. Revelation ends with what? With singing with people from every tribe and tongue and people and language, singing from the beginning to the end. God's people. One of their marks is that they sing.

3 · Alcantar signals a structural shift from establishing that God's people sing to exploring the biblical rationale (why) and practical implications (how) for Cross of Grace Church

Now, what we're going to ask today is why and how do we reflect that Mark of singing as a people of God?

4 · Alcantar provides the historical context for Nehemiah 12

Now, the people in this particular story face a moment at which you might not think that they would want to sing. The reason for that is that they, the high days of the kingdom of Israel are long gone. Right. The high point of Israel was probably under David and Solomon. And after them, the NatioN goes into decline as a result of the nation's sin. And half of the nation is destroyed, just completely obliterated almost by the AssYrIans, and then half is captured by the BabylOnIans. And Babylon basically pulls many of the best and brightest and takes them into captivity in Babylon. And the people that are left, they're left with a shell of their land. But God is faithful. And despite the people's sin, he eventually brings his people back to their own land. And yet they face a difficult road. The temple is destroyed, the city walls themselves are destroyed. The BuilDings are destroyed, the nation's identity is destroyed. And so Nehemiah, the story of Nehemiah is the story of this governor who leads the people back to reestablish Jerusalem as a people, as, in a sense, a nation again. And so when we arrive at this passage, here's what's just happened. The people have finished rebuilding the walls. They have read God's word, they have confessed their sin, they have covenanted to the Lord, and then they end. Kind of. The big finale of this moment is singing and offering sacrifices to God.

5 · Alcantar answers the question raised by the previous exposition: Why sing in such difficult circumstances? The answer is that singing is not a mood-dependent activity but a core identity marker of God's people—something intrinsic to who they are, not merely what they occasionally do

But you might ask why? Why is that their impulse? Well, because for God's people, singing is part of who we are. It's not something we do occasionally. It's core to our identity, actually, as the people of God.

6 · Alcantar signals a shift in the sermon's structure: he will now contrast American cultural assumptions about singing (convenience, performance) with the biblical model revealed in Nehemiah

Now, to get there, though, we need to move from our american mindset to, I would say, a biblical mindset about the topic of singing.

7 · Alcantar identifies the first cultural-to-biblical shift required: moving from convenience to conviction

So 1st, 1st shift we need to make to become a singing people is we need to move from convenience to. From thinking of what is convenient rather to thinking of what is convictional. Often when we think of singing in America and we think of worship in America, and we think of pretty much anything in America, from buying a burger to getting a coffee to go into the store, we want things to be what we want them to be. Convenient. Everything in America is a race for convenience. And often we can import that into our worship of God. When we think of church, we want to have a convenient service time. We want the building to be easy to get to. We want a nice parking space. We want as little as friction as possible. Now, not all of that is bad necessarily, but often that is at the forefront of our minds.

8 · Alcantar examines the details of the Nehemiah 12 worship service to highlight its radical inconvenience

But notice that this worship service in particular is the opposite of convenient. None of this is convenient, right. The people who are tasked with leading this worship service, they don't even live in Jerusalem, they live outside the city. So they gotta go out and gather everyone up and be like, hey, what are you doing Tuesday? Well, I had plants. No, you don't. Not anymore. Your new plan is coming here and you're leading singing like, okay, what are the accommodations like? Not great. The city's destroyed. I mostly. It does have walls though, and a temple. And you're like, okay, great. Is there air conditioning? No air conditioning. Is there a roof? No roof. Right. How long will the service last? About 6 hours. Okay, you're just going like, none of this seems convenient, right? And notice that there's some references to how long this took. The people had to be the people leading the singing. The Levites had to purify themselves, and then people just attending the service had to be purified. Now we don't know exactly what this entailed, but this is a ceremonial purification. So just to get into the service, to prepare for the service, you had to do all of this. None of this is convenient. And notice something important though, here. The people of God worship here not because it is convenient, but because they have a conviction that this should be done. They have a conviction driving them. They will do this not because it's easy or convenient, but because it is right. And notice that this service, in a sense, is not the end of worship. It is the beginning of worship. It is a renewal of the pattern of worship in Israel. So it's not just saying, hey, we all came together for one big service. Thankfully, we don't have to do that anytime soon. No, they're saying, this is a big worship service and we are committed to continuing to do this. Chapter ten, verse 39, one of their vows is, we will not neglect the house of our God. It had been neglected no more. We'll have a conviction about this.

9 · Alcantar applies the conviction-over-convenience principle to contemporary American Christianity

Now, that means for us, too, today we should have a conviction about worship, a conviction to gather to worship, and a conviction to sing during worship. Now we need this conviction to gather because our american culture is pushing on us. According to Barna, the polling company, regular church attendance has dropped over the last ten to 15 to 20 years. It's dropped from defining regular attendance as three out of every four Sundays gathered in worship to now being two out of every four Sundays. So Barna is seeing this decline and it's so messing with their numbers that they're going, okay, we're just going to lower the bar to just say, if you just come twice a month, sure, we'll count you as a regular attender. That's the culture around us. And I think if we are not convictional, we will drift into that to go, okay, well, when it's convenient, when I don't have anything going on, if I can work worship into my week, then I will do so rather than going, okay, worship is the first thing that goes on the calendar and that moves the other stuff, and then that conviction leads into our conviction to sing.

10 · Alcantar addresses objections to singing head-on, offering his own vulnerability about his lack of musical skill and a humorous story of being told he needs voice lessons

Now, you might think, okay, well, does the Bible really say I have to sing? What if I don't like to sing? Now, look, I'm with you. I'm not a particularly good singer. When I tried leading worship one time in front of the director of worship for Sovereign Grace churches, our family of churches, I had to lead as part of a pastor's college program. And after it, as gently as possible, Bob Cosslin suggested voice lessons. And I said, well, I've actually, I've had a few, you know, a handful of voice lessons. And he goes, really? I mean, just as kind as possible, but just inquiring, just, okay, what did they consist of? And I told him, and he was like, well, that's right. Have you tried doing that? You know, so I just learned quickly. This is like, this is not probably my gift. And yet, here's the reality. As I read the Bible, as we all read the Bible, there are over 50 direct commands in the Bible to God's people to sing. Just in case you didn't get the first, 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 10th, 20th, 30th, or 40th time, the Lord is like, I'm gonna do round 50. I'm just gonna do round number 50. And then you might think, okay, well, you know, I'm still unconvinced. Think about this. In the Bible, if you include examples of singing that are commended and commands to sing, you end up with over 400 references to the people of God singing. Right. Constantly throughout the Bible. So if you read the Bible as a Christian, you should come out of it with the conviction christians sing the people of God sing. In our country, we sing.

11 · Alcantar identifies the second cultural-to-biblical shift: from spectatorship to participation

The second move we need to make is from some of us to all of us. Now, many of us are used to contexts in America where someone else is doing the singing. We in America are used to performances, but not used to participation. Like many of you, I have sat on the couch with a bowl of chips, watching the voice going, like, you know, this person's belting their heart out, doing ten times better than I ever could. And I'm going, eh, it's a little pitchy. The middle section's a little. Yeah, I don't know. You know, and you didn't put your heart into it. I'm eating chips. Right? That's just, that's our culture. So some of us do the singing, and the rest of us watch the singing, but not so among the people of God.

12 · Alcantar expounds Nehemiah 12's all-inclusive participation

Notice that nehemiah gathers all of the people up to sing. Now. They're led by the Levites, they're led by the instrumentalists, they're led by those trained in singing, which is good if you've ever been part of an ugly happy birthday rendition, because there was no one that could match a pitch. This is good to have this. But he doesn't just let the singers go up. He's like, we're all going, I'm going. He gets the leaders. The leaders might think, well, I'm just going to stay here. You guys think, nope, you're coming with us. Half the people are marching this wall. Half the people are marching on the other wall. We are all singing. Even notice this. Even the women. You might think, well, what about the women and children? Surely they weren't singing with, like, a two year old in their arms. Yep, they were. All the women, all the children, all the people, they are all singing. And here's what I want you to see. The instrumentalists from this passage are not the focus. The people of God singing together is the focus. The apparent role of the instrumentalists and the singers was not performance for the people, but rather to enable the people to sing. That's their role. Their role is leading out so that the congregation, the gathering, could follow.

13 · Alcantar shows a video of a young boy leading a soccer chant in a stadium of 30,000 PSV Eindhoven fans

Now, I want to show you a clip of one of the most effective song leaders I've ever sing. Think to yourself, who's the most effective song leader you've ever seen? Maybe you think of some recording artist, some lead singer. I wanted to show you, my young friend. I ran across this clip, and I think it summarizes well the movement from some of us to all of us. [Video clip plays of a young boy leading a soccer chant in a stadium of 30,000 Eindhoven fans.] So I love that. There's so many things about that I love. But look, when notice what's going on at the clip, right? The little guy is an effective song leader, not because he sounds great, but because his little voice ringing out over that crowd causes a roar of response of 30,000 Eindover fans just taking up this call from this little boy. That is, I think, the energy of this passage.

14 · Alcantar applies the soccer chant analogy directly to worship at Cross of Grace

Now, I hope when you hear that, when I hear that, I don't know when he's saying, come on, you boys in red. I don't know who the boys in red are. I don't know where they come from, I don't know who they're playing, but I know this. I will take a bullet for that soccer team right now. Like, I will run through a wall for PSV. Eindover, where are they? Where is Eindover? I have no idea. But I do know this. If that little guy's leading a chant, I'm in. Like, we're all in. And I just love that every, every voice in that gathered group of 30,000 people is ready to go. That, I think, is what we're seeing here in Nehemiah. We're not saying, oh, isn't that great that those instrumentalists are so skilled? That's awesome. Very good, very good, very good. They're leading out so that the congregation can roar in response. That's what we see when we gather as the people of God. So do you see that you too, regardless of your musical ability, regardless of your even comfort level, are called to sing? It's one of the reasons that we, some people have asked, okay, well, why do you? I know some churches are super dark. Now, again, I'm not trying to just take random shots at churches, but some churches are super dark. And the focus is you having a personal experience with the Lord. Now, some of that is not bad, but one of the reasons, intentionally, we've made it so that you can see other humans in this room, is because you all are the people worshiping the band is leading you. It's not as though the band has the spotlights and they're the only focus. You, in a sense, before the Lord are called to sing, and the band is here to enable that. Does that make sense? And that's why you can see each other. Some people were like, I don't like seeing one another. I don't like people seeing me. That's okay. This is part of a call for all of us. It's going to push on all of us in different ways.

15 · Alcantar directly addresses men who resist singing, noting that American masculinity often equates singing with weakness or femininity

Let me just say this too, especially guys. I've noticed in America, guys are the least likely to sing. In America. Often the more sort of big and masculine and manly you are, the less likely you are to sing. I had a guy one time just tell me. I just don't sing. I don't sing. I'm like, why not? He's like, I just don't. Maybe you're there today. You're in the I just don't sing camp. Well, here's the reality. I think often we put singing in the category of I watch performances rather than I'm in that crowd of 30,000 people led, and I don't think, listen, man, if you tell any of those Eindover fans like singing is unmasculine, they're gonna clock you, man. You're not gonna make it out of the stadium alive. Right? So it should be among the people of God in a godly way. In our country, we sing.

16 · Alcantar identifies the third cultural-to-biblical shift: from feeling-driven singing to conviction-driven singing

Third shift from feeling thankful to being thankful. Notice this, often in America, we wait until we are moved emotionally and then sing, right? We feel moved, and so we put on a song to match that emotion. But notice that this is a different order. They're filled with joy at the end, but notice what happens first, verse 27, they gather to celebrate with gladness, with thanksgivings, and the direction given the choir is that they should give thanks. Now, what does this mean? Well, one commentator says this. The types of songs then selected are characterized first and foremost by their exuberant praise of God and their acknowledgement of the benefits that he has rendered, whether to the community as a whole or to the individual in particular. So Nehemiah is not asking like, hey, bud, you feel like singing today? That's okay. Just get in the back. It's fine. Maybe next week. You know, he's like, you're singing. So are you. If one of the officials is like, well, I'm too stately to sing, he's like, nope, get in the back. You're gonna sing. And what are we gonna sing? We are gonna rehearse our reasons to give thanks. That's what they start with. We are going to rehearse our reasons to give thanks.

17 · Alcantar begins a sustained exposition of the substance of Israel's thanksgiving by examining themes from Nehemiah 9-10

Now, we could spend an entire hour on this, but I want to run you through some of the themes we see in chapters nine and ten that they have just read about and have committed to, because this is the substance of what they're thanking God for. So what's the substance of what they're thanking God for? First, they're thanking God for his sovereign grace and setting his love on them. Verse, chapter nine, seven. You chose Abraham and brought him out, meaning that Abraham was the core of this people. And God has set his love on this people not because of anything they did, but because God chose to set his love for them, let love on them, and ever since, he has continued that love for the people of God. Similarly, every time we gather, brothers and sisters, it is an opportunity to marvel at the miracle of God setting his love on us when we had nothing to attract him to us. That is what grace means, undeserved affection and favor from God. Right. Every time we gather, we gather amazed that God has called us out of the world, that God has loved us, that he has set his affection on us from the foundation of the world. That is extraordinary. That's a reason to give thanks.

18 · Alcantar moves to the second theme: God's saving grace

Second, God's saving grace. They talk about God's redemption of them from Egypt. Chapter it's nine six. You saw the affliction of our fathers in Egypt and had rescued them. So they rehearsed the whole story, right? So many of the rituals in Israel's temple worship were retelling the story of how they were once in slavery, but have been freed from that bondage to Egypt by a strong and mighty hand of God himself. His saving work comes up again and again and again and again because the very fact of their existence is a testimony to God's saving work in their lives. Similarly, how much more reason do we as christians now understand God's saving work in our lives? Now they look back to God saving them from Egypt, but we see clearly the fullness of God's salvation. God has saved us from ourselves and our own sin. He saved us from Satan and his forces. He saved us from bondage to death and certain destruction. He has saved us from justice coming its way toward us. He saved us again and again and again and again, from more than we could count, given the time in our service. That is reason to give thanks.

19 · Alcantar moves to the third theme: God's sustaining grace

Third, God's sustaining grace. Not only does God set his affection on us, not only does he save us, he sustains us. They retell the whole story of how God sustained them in the wilderness. Right? Every day they walked in the wilderness, they would die. Apart from God's sustaining grace. No food, no water, no manna. But every day, God did it. God gave them water, God gave them food, God gave them manna, sustaining them each and every day they looked back on God, sustaining them every single day as a nation. And similarly, how much more do we see God sustaining grace? We have thousands of years of God's sustaining grace to look back to, even us as a church. As we are about to celebrate 45 years, we should be aware that every time we gather, every time we sit, as it were, on one of the seats at cross of grace church, we sit on 45 years of God sustaining grace in this church, and even beyond that, on our own individual lives. If you are a Christian, if you are alive, if you are breathing, God is sustaining you. His sustaining grace is everywhere in your life. Therefore, we sing and have reason to give thanks.

20 · Alcantar moves to the fourth theme: God's merciful grace

Fourth, God's merciful grace. Again and again. This is a theme, chapter nine, verse 19. You and your great mercies did not forsake them, our forefathers in the wilderness. So over and over, God's people mess up. They sin, they rebel. They should be destroyed. But God shows mercy. They mess up again and should be destroyed. And God shows mercy. He did not give them what they deserved, not just once, not just twice, but over and over and over for their whole history. And as they looked up at God in this rebuilt city and saw his great mercy to them, that they should have been wiped off the mat by the Babylonians, but God preserved them. God brought them back. That's his mercy. And similarly, how much mercy have we received from God? I mean, we need only to think through this week, this month, this year. What if we said that we should not have? What have we done that we should not have? Think back about the parts of your life that you hope nobody ever finds out about or asks about the words you've said, the things you've done, things that you should have done but didn't, and just watched. Right? And you see, what should you receive as a result of that? Well, that's not what you receive in Christ. You receive his incredible, undeserved mercy, and that is a reason to give thanks.

21 · Alcantar moves to the fifth theme: God's generous grace

Then you receive. What is that? 12345, God's generous grace. Not only does he show mercy to us, not only does he sustain us, not only does he save us, not only does he set his affection on us, he gives us good things. Look. Chapter nine, verse 25. It references how when they came to the promised land, they took possession of houses full of good things. The image is, you didn't walk into a barren cupboard home in the promised land. You walked in. The table is set, the pantry is full, the air conditioner is running at full capacity. I know that feels very vivid right now. God generously gave them all that they experienced in their land. And then they lost it. And then God brought them back again and regave them their land. They're giving thanks because of God's generosity to them. And how much more reason, brothers and sisters, do we have to give thanks for God's generous grace? Every part of our lives carries the generous fingerprints of God. Everything from all the aspects of our salvation. From the gift of the Holy Spirit. We could spend another hour on the gift of the spirit. To the daily mercies of God that we see when we wake up. That coffee exists. Praise the Lord. And we have purchased it and it's waiting for us. That's just me. That's my personal moment of worship. The generosity of God, right? Just the homes we live in, the cars we drove to get here, the job we have, the ability to think, the ability to breathe, the ability for our heart to beat. All of it is a generous gift from God himself. And it calls us to give thanks.

22 · Alcantar identifies the climactic theme of Israel's thanksgiving: the character of God Himself

And then last, behind all of this is the generous, steadfast character of God. The climax of their giving thanks is in. At the end of that chapter, when they recount in your great mercies, you did not make an end of our forefathers or forsake them for you. Listen. For you are a generous, sorry, a gracious and merciful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love. So they look behind all the gifts, behind all the mercy, behind all the sustaining grace, behind all the salvation. And they see the source of it all. A God who does not change, who is always gracious, who is always merciful. They move from thanking God for what he has done and what he is doing to who he is, which is the source of it. All. Right? That is reason enough to give thanks alone, even apart from all of it. Look, any one of these themes would be sufficient. But they layer them on top of one another until it is almost like a. A well that is about to burst out of the ground, right? It is explosive in the shout of praise that emerges.

23 · Alcantar expounds the result of rehearsing reasons for thanksgiving: the people exploded in joy—not because God manipulated their emotions, but because they recounted what God had done and their joy became inevitable

And what is the result as they give thanks? The end result is they offered great sacrifices that day and rejoiced. For God had made them rejoice. With great joy. Now, that's not a reference to God moving in their emotions. It's a reference to all that God had done for them. Meaning, he did this, he did this, he did this, he did this. He did so much that when they recounted what they had to be thankful for, they exploded in joy. So they didn't wait until they felt thankful to give thanks. They gave thanks. And as they did, Joy abounded. Now here's the great thing I love about this. In their history, they did not gloss over any of the hard parts of their history either. They're nothing. They reference being subject to a foreign king. They reference the difficult parts of their history. But notice this, they do not wait for all the hardship in their lives to be removed before giving thanks. They give thanks in the midst of even hardship, because even in the midst of hardship, they have things to be thankful for. And similarly, we want to follow their example. We don't want to go. Okay, great. Once everything in my life resolves, I will be so ready to sing. I'll let you know when that happens, pastor. Right. Once I finally, you know, I'm not dealing with this or that or this person or that person or that financial issue or that other thing, then I'll be ready to give thanks. That's not what the Israelites do. That's not what the people of God do the people of God look for. Do we have reason to give thanks? Then let us do it. We give thanks now in anticipation of that future kingdom and that future day when all of that will be wiped away. But we give thanks now because God's mercy is here with us now. His sustaining grace is here with us now. His graciousness is here with us now. His steadfast love is here with us now, even in the midst of it all. And so they give thanks.

24 · Alcantar identifies the fourth shift required for biblical worship: moving from obligation to engagement

Fourth, how do they give thanks? They move from being obliged to being engaged now. Notice how involved all of this is. Their heads and hearts and hands are all involved, right? Their hands are busy purifying, getting instruments, organizing. Their heads are full of what God has done for them that they've just recited. And their hearts are engaged. And you see this pattern again and again in the Old Testament, in the psalms, there's all these references to raising hands and kneeling and bowing and shouting. And the picture. There is whole mind and body and heart engagement together. Meaning these aren't just people going like, well, I'm here because I'm obliged to be here. But people that are fully engaged in the moment.

25 · Alcantar shows a video of the UTEP football team singing their fight song with wild enthusiasm—including a player swinging a chair around

Now I want to show you one more clip of a group of people that you would not normally think would be singers. And as you can hear from the clip we're about to play, they're not singers, but they are enthusiastic and they are engaged. And I want you to think of how many times have you seen somebody mumble through a national anthem or a school fight song? And the difference that makes versus roaring it out. So let's play the clip and look at this dude that grabs the chair in a second. Here he is. What? I don't know what he's doing. He's swinging a chair around. Okay? That is the UTEP football team, not normally known for their musical skill. Like, we love the UTEP football team, not normally known for musical skill. Right? And then that's. Their musical skill in that clip is dubious, but their engagement is complete. Right? They are engaged with that song. And here's the thing I want you to see. The measure of the worship of God is not while I'm there or I'm mumbling it, the measure of the worship of people of God is, are you engaged in it? Right? Are your hands engaged? Is your heart engaged? Is your mind engaged? Or are you just there?

26 · Alcantar applies the engagement principle across all elements of corporate worship

What we're not aiming for is obligated worship. What we're aiming for as the people of God is engaged worship such that by the end of it, you're flailing a chair around at the end of it. Now, I'm a little concerned about what happened to the guy in front of him when he picked up the chair, but we will just. This will be a no liability zone. If you feel led to pick up a chair and wave it around, we'll just clear you of all liability in the name of Jesus. I'm just kidding. This is what we see. We see not obligation, but engagement. And that's friends. Let me just say that's what we should be doing. As we gather when the call to worship happens, let's be ready and engaged with the truths that call us to worship. When singing happens, you may not know the song, but I'll tell you this. If the UTEP football team can learn the actual words of the UTEP fight song, which I did not know had actual words, we can learn the songs we're singing, you know, and be engaged in them. When the preached word is happening, right? When somebody is bringing the truth of God's word, and it is good and it is joyful and it is right, it is good that we say amen. It is good that we are engaged in mind and have our Bible out with a pen or maybe a notebook. It is good that we are thinking and praying and meditating and wondering, how does this rearrange my life, Lord, rather than while I was there? Right. Engagement is what we're aiming for.

27 · Alcantar expounds the effect of Israel's worship: "the joy of Jerusalem was heard far away

And last, the effect of all this, the effect of all this is profound. One of my favorite verses in all of Nehemiah is verse 40, three's ending. And the joy of Jerusalem was heard far away. Now, this is a key moment, because this people of God had been scattered. They had no identity. In a sense, they ceased to exist for a while, almost as a nation. But this kingdom is being reconstituted. The temple has been rebuilt, the walls are up. The people have been called back to rebuild this kingdom. And that joy spreads from there out to the nations, spreads from there out to their enemies, to their onlookers, back to Babylon, all of it, joy spreading from them to the next, to the next, to the next. And this is exactly what Israel's call was supposed to be originally in Isaiah. Isaiah calls Israel to be a light to the Gentiles, to the ends of the earth. That is the call of this people. And they are finally, after failure and loss and God's mercy and sustaining grace, they are back doing what they were meant to do, which is spreading the joy of God to the people around it who are joyless, spreading the light of God to people around who are in darkness. That is the effect, the overflow, as it were, meaning when the church does its job, when the people of God represent their kingdom with joy and singing, it overflows.

28 · Alcantar applies the overflow principle first to families

Now, there's a few ways this happens, because when you sing, let me speak to the families for a second. When you sing, you spread the joy of Jesus to your family. One of the healthiest things for your kids to see over time is for their mom or their dad to sing, and not out of obligation, not out of, you know, while I'm here, but rather son or daughter, we have so much to give thanks for, son or daughter, you don't know what dad has done in his life that the Lord has forgiven him for son or daughter. You don't know that when you were two, you almost died, but God sustained you. And so you being here is an act of a generous God and his grace, son or daughter, you don't know how good Jesus is and how good he's been to our family. Right? That's what you want them to get. That's what you want to overflow into your family.

29 · Alcantar applies the overflow principle to the congregation itself

And then singing spreads the joy of Jesus, not just to your family, but to your brothers and sisters around you. Look, it is powerful. I think Alec referenced this earlier. It is powerful when you walk in, you know, somebody from your community group or your circle of relationships is going through a trial, and you walk in and you see them singing. There have been so many times I've been unmoved coming into worship going, okay, I got this, and I got that and I got this. My mind is elsewhere. And then I see someone who's gone through a real trial with their eyes closed and their hand up and their voice ringing out, and I go, okay. And their joy of Jesus spreads to me. And by God's grace, I hope it spreads from me to somebody next to me and from somebody there to the person next to them. You do not know, brothers and sisters, how much those around you need your joy. You don't know what they've been through. So let the joy of Jesus spread.

30 · Alcantar applies the overflow principle to outsiders and guests

And then last singing spreads the joy of Jesus to those around us. Look, we always going to have people who don't know Jesus that are part of our gathering, that have been brought by a friend or a son or a dad or somebody. They find themselves here. And here's one of the things that I think the church sometimes misses. We go, okay, well, we don't want to do anything weird because it might freak that guy out, right? So we're just going to make it, like, as non weird as possible. Now, I think some of that is not a bad impulse. We want things as one. Corinthians 14 says, we want everything to be understandable. To somebody who walks in and doesn't know Jesus, everything should be understandable. But here's the thing. If in american culture singing is weird, then let's be weird. I right? If in american culture it is weird to see men with tears streaming down their face and their hands raised in worship belting it out, then let's be weird, because that distinctiveness raises a question. It is intriguing. It makes people around you go, you know, maybe you bring a coworker here and you're thinking like, I don't want to. I don't. I usually put my hands up, but because, you know, Larry's here, or I, or, you know, Susan's here, I'm just gonna do one of the, you know, one of these. Yes, lord. You know, like that. And you're weird. Susan's gonna be weirded out. No, man. The best thing for Susan is to see that you're full of joy and have reason to give thanks, right?

31 · Alcantar shares a personal story about attending a small-town bandstand concert in Chatham, Massachusetts, where the entire town gathers every Friday night to listen to a modest band play John Philip Sousa marches and do the bunny hop

Look, last closing illustration. My wife spent a lot of her summers in Cape Cod, where her grandmother lived at this little tiny town of Chatham, Massachusetts. And this town is charming and old. And every Friday night in the summer, they do. They all go to the bandstand in Cape Cod. And I was initially like, okay, wait, so what happens? So, yeah, the whole town. We all go, and we have. You gotta get there early. You gotta get your blanket out at the bandstand by, like, nine or 10:00 a.m. otherwise you get a terrible spot. So you just go out and it's like, 930 in the morning. And there's all these blankets in the band. You know, this little. This little park with a gazebo in the middle. And you gotta put your band. And I'm asking, okay, what's. So what happens? Oh, the band comes in place. Like, who's the band? Like, the white stripes or something, you know? Like, no, it's. It's like a. Like John Philip Sousa marches, you know? Like, are they well known? Like, no, it's just a bunch of kind of older guys. I'm like, I'm not understanding. So so this is. This is Friday night. This is Chatham, like, just raging on a Friday night. Like, yeah, 100%. And she's like, oh. And the best part is, it all ends in the bunny hop. I'm like, the song, the bum bum bum bum bum. Like, yeah, everybody does it. Everybody gets up, and we all hop around the bandstand. And I am like, okay, okay. This is not how I hoped I'd spend my Friday night. And so you arrive, and, you know, the sun's going down, and the whole. I'm not exaggerating. The whole town is there. And when the band enters, they enter, like Julius Caesar conquering Germany. People are cheering, and, you know, you're like, I don't understand. And then they play, and it really is just like John Philip Sousa marches and american standards, and. And it ends in the bunny hop. And I'll tell you what, though. During the event, at some point, I clicked over from this is weird to this is the best town in America. I will sell everything I own to move to this place, to do this every Friday night for the rest of my life. I did not do that. Thankfully, I have a call here. But in the moment you're in, and here's what I want you to see. At first it seems weird, and then your intrigue grows, and you are. The distinctiveness and beauty of it is what captures you, and that's what I want us to be in the city of El Paso. I want us to be the equivalent of the Chatham bandstand in this community, where some people come in and they're like, I don't get it. But maybe by the end, they're like, okay. That person is full of joy. That person has cancer. They're singing. This person lost a husband. They're singing. They're engaged. They're excited. They're here. They seem so thankful. They seem so grateful. What is going on? Because this is what I want to do every Sunday for the rest of my life.

32 · Alcantar closes by summarizing the sermon's core thesis: singing is not optional but central to the identity of God's people—past, present, and future

So let's keep the people of God singing. It is what we do in our country. It is what we have done for thousands of years. It is what we will do in eternity. Let's sing. Would you stand? And let's pray.

33 · Alcantar offers a brief closing prayer asking God to bless both the preaching and the hearing of His word

And, lord, I pray that you would bless the preaching and hearing of it in your name. Amen.

Where this fits

Recent preaching context

The three sermons immediately preceding this one in the preaching schedule.

Jun 30, 2024

How Do We Face Death?

Because Jesus rose from the dead and conquered death, all who are united to him will likewise be raised with glorified, imperishable bodies, a hope that makes Christians steadfast in the face of death and devoted to eternal work.

1 Corinthians 15:35-58

Jul 21, 2024

The Final Word

Jesus Christ is the final, authoritative word over all creation, history, and human life—speaking as Prophet, ruling as King, and saving as Priest—and Christians must orient their lives around this reality rather than the endless swirl of cultural opinions and political anxieties.

Hebrews 1:1-4

Jul 28, 2024

You Are Sent…To Do What?

We are ambassadors for Christ and the church is our embassy, called to establish outposts of Christ's kingdom through generous hospitality and unapologetic proclamation wherever God has placed us.

Acts 28:30-31

August 11 · This sermon

The Loudest Singing Church

Singing is a non-negotiable mark of the people of God—rooted in conviction rather than convenience, involving all believers rather than select performers, driven by giving thanks for God's grace rather than waiting to feel thankful, and expressed through whole-person engagement that causes the joy of the Lord to spread to those around us.

Nehemiah 12:27-43

Take it further

Discuss · apply · pray

Small groups

6 discussion questions

In Nehemiah 12:27-43, what specific actions do the returned exiles take to dedicate the wall, and what do those actions tell us about what w…

Daily readings

5-day reading plan

This week we meditate on five cross-references that deepen the claim at the heart of Sunday's sermon: God's people are defined by joyful, whole-person singing rooted in conviction about grace—not convenience, not performance, not feeling.

Prayer

Father, Make Us a Singing People

Father, we come before you as a people redeemed by grace and called to be a singing church. We adore you for the mercies that sustain us, th…

Family table

Why Does Our Church Sing?

This prompt invites your family to think about singing not as something that happens at church, but as something that defines who God's peop…

Couples

Singing Together as a Witness

What conviction about worship—about why we sing—did the sermon surface in your own heart this week?…

Memorize

Nehemiah 12:43

This verse captures the sermon's central claim: God's people sing and rejoice not because circumstances are convenient, but because they have been given conviction about God's saving grace. The phrase 'for God had made them rejoice' establishes that joy and singing flow from God's work, not from human feeling—and the final image of joy being 'heard afar off' illustrates how engaged, whole-person worship becomes a witness to the watching city.

Sunday-evening family table

Why Does Our Church Sing?

For the parent

This prompt invites your family to think about singing not as something that happens at church, but as something that defines who God's people are. Listen for your kids to move from 'we sing because we like to' toward 'we sing because we're remembering what God has done for us.'

At church this morning, Pastor Ricky talked about how Nehemiah's people sang really loudly when they rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem—even though their lives were still hard. He said we sing not because we feel like it, but because we're reminding ourselves of what God has done. So here's the question: What's one thing God has done for our family that we should remember and sing about? (Everyone gets to name one thing.)

works for ages 6+; younger kids can listen to what older siblings and parents name; teens can go deeper by naming something personal

Draft · pending review

Couples · three questions over coffee

Singing Together as a Witness

What conviction about worship—about why we sing—did the sermon surface in your own heart this week?
Where in our marriage do we need to shift from waiting to feel thankful to choosing to give thanks first, and then letting joy follow?
What is one way we can invite our kids, our friends, or our neighbors to see the joy of the Lord spilling over through our worship together?

Draft · pending review

Small-group discussion

6 questions for your group this week

In Nehemiah 12:27-43, what specific actions do the returned exiles take to dedicate the wall, and what do those actions tell us about what worship meant to them in that moment?

Nehemiah 12:27-43

→ How is their response different from what you might expect from a people who had just finished difficult, costly work?
Ricky claimed that singing is one of the defining marks of the kingdom of Christ—that God's people are a singing people from the Old Testament through eternity. Where do you see that claim supported in Scripture, and what does it suggest about the place of singing in your own life as a Christian?

Revelation (ending); Hebrews 11
The sermon contrasts conviction with convenience when it comes to worship. What does it look like in your own weekly rhythm to treat worship as a conviction rather than a convenience, and what obstacles typically pull you toward treating it as optional?

→ How might your family's Sunday be different if worship was anchored as a non-negotiable conviction?
According to the sermon, American culture trains us to be spectators of singing rather than participants. Where do you experience that pressure—either in church or in the broader culture—and how has it shaped your own willingness to sing in corporate worship?

1 Corinthians 14

→ What would need to change in your mindset to move from spectator to active participant in worship?
The sermon teaches that God's people are commanded to give thanks first, and joy follows—rather than waiting to feel joyful before we sing. Why do you think that reversal matters, and what does it assume about the power of rehearsing God's grace together?

Nehemiah 9:7, 9:19, 9:25, 9:6

→ Can you think of a time when singing or speaking thanks—even when you didn't feel it—actually shifted your heart?
What does it mean for worship to require whole-person engagement—head, heart, and hands—and how might that call challenge the way you currently show up on a Sunday morning?

→ In the next few weeks, what is one concrete way you could participate more fully in the singing and worship of our church family?

Draft · pending review

Daily readings · Monday–Friday

5-day reading plan

Monday Hebrews 11

Hebrews 11 rehearses the faith of Old Testament saints—the same rehearsal of God's faithfulness that moved Nehemiah's rebuilt community to song. These witnesses, though they did not receive the promises in their lifetime, sang and worshiped by faith. We are part of that same cloud of witnesses, called to sing not because we see the end, but because we trust the God who holds it.

Tuesday Revelation (ending)

In Revelation's throne room, the people of God sing without ceasing—the worship that began in Genesis, that filled the temple, that echoed from Nehemiah's walls, never ends. Singing is not something we do until we graduate from it. It is the very language of eternity. Every time we sing on Sunday, we are rehearsing the song we will sing forever.

Wednesday Nehemiah 9:6, 9:7, 9:19, 9:25

Nehemiah 9 shows the people rehearsing God's acts—creation, covenant, provision in the wilderness, abundance in the land. They are not waiting to feel grateful; they are reciting the reasons for gratitude. As we sing the names of God and his works, as we declare what he has done, the affection follows the declaration. This is why singing is so powerful: it is conviction leading emotion, not emotion leading action.

Thursday 1 Corinthians 14

Paul's instruction in 1 Corinthians 14 is relentlessly participatory: everyone has a psalm, a teaching, a revelation. The church gathers not to watch professionals perform, but for all of you to speak and sing. When we reduce worship to a performance and the congregation to an audience, we have fundamentally misunderstood what the body of Christ is. Every voice matters because every believer is a citizen of the kingdom.

Friday Nehemiah 10:39

The returned exiles vow not to neglect the house of our God. This is commitment, not sentiment—a public covenant to show up regardless of convenience. The joy that overflowed into the city was possible only because these people made worship a fixed point, a conviction. This week, as you consider Sunday's call to be the loudest singing church in El Paso, ask yourself: Is worship a non-negotiable in my schedule, or something I fit in if life allows?

Draft · pending review

Pray together this week

Father, Make Us a Singing People

Father, we come before you as a people redeemed by grace and called to be a singing church. We adore you for the mercies that sustain us, the grace that saves us, the generosity that overwhelms us—mercies we so easily forget in the press of our weeks. We thank you that you have made us citizens of your kingdom, and that singing is not an ornament to our faith but a core mark of who we are in Christ.

And yet, Father, we confess that we have drifted into the patterns of our culture. We treat worship as convenient rather than convictional. We show up when it fits our schedule, when the music appeals to us, when we happen to feel moved. We have become spectators instead of singers, waiting for professionals to perform while we sit silent. We have forgotten that every voice in this room matters, that our participation—however imperfect—is what God calls us to. Forgive us for treating the gathering of your people as optional, and forgive us for the fear and self-consciousness that keeps us from singing.

Here is the good news: Christ has given us reason to sing that no circumstance can take away. Just as the exiles returned to a half-rebuilt city, facing uncertainty and hardship, yet they sang because they remembered God's faithfulness—so we can sing because we have been purchased by the blood of Christ, because we are forgiven, because we are sustained by grace we did not earn. We do not wait to feel thankful; we give thanks first, and joy follows as we rehearse all the reasons God has given us to praise him (Nehemiah 12:43). Our singing is an act of conviction, not emotion—a declaration that we belong to the God who saves, sustains, and showers us with mercy.

So we ask you, Father: give us courage to sing without embarrassment or self-consciousness. Make us a church that sings with our whole selves—head, heart, and hands engaged—not because it is easy, but because it is true. Bind us together as a congregation through the songs we sing, and let the joy of the Lord overflow from our worship into our families, our streets, and our city. Help us to be the loudest singing church in El Paso—not for pride, but as a witness to the greatness of your grace. And as we sing together, remind us that we are joining the eternal chorus of heaven itself, where every tongue and every voice will worship you forever. To you be all glory and praise.

Draft · pending review

Memory verse this week

Nehemiah 12:43

And they offered great sacrifices that day and rejoiced, for God had made them rejoice with great joy; the women and children also rejoiced. And the joy of Jerusalem was heard afar off.

Why this verse: This verse captures the sermon's central claim: God's people sing and rejoice not because circumstances are convenient, but because they have been given conviction about God's saving grace. The phrase 'for God had made them rejoice' establishes that joy and singing flow from God's work, not from human feeling—and the final image of joy being 'heard afar off' illustrates how engaged, whole-person worship becomes a witness to the watching city.

Draft · pending review

Where this was preached

About the church

Cross of Grace Church

About us · What we believe

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# Cross of Grace Church

A church preaching expository sermons through the books of the Bible.

## Sermons
- [How Do We Face Death? (1 Corinthians 15:35-58, 2024-06-30)](/CoGElPaso/sermons/2024/06/how-do-we-face-death)
- [The Final Word (Hebrews 1:1-4, 2024-07-21)](/CoGElPaso/sermons/2024/07/the-final-word)
- [You Are Sent…To Do What? (Acts 28:30-31, 2024-07-28)](/CoGElPaso/sermons/2024/07/you-are-sent-to-do-what)
- [The Loudest Singing Church (Nehemiah 12:27-43, 2024-08-11)](/CoGElPaso/sermons/2024/08/the-loudest-singing-church)

## About
- [About the church](/about)
- [Plan a visit](/visit)

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