February 23, 2022
You Lead Me in Worship
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I love leading worship. Each Sunday, we gather to remember and rehearse the mighty acts of God, and I get to help direct that rehearsal!

But my favorite part of Sunday is hearing you sing.

For me, there’s nothing like it. Nothing encourages my heart more. Nothing makes me want to sing more. Nothing makes the truths in our songs more compelling to me than your singing.

Maybe you’ve had a similar experience in worship. You come to church burdened, discouraged, doubting, or ashamed. “Why am I even here?” you ask. But then the convicted singing of glorious truth by your brothers and sisters warms your heart. It lifts the veil, or maybe just gives you the next portion of daily bread you need.

When we sing on Sundays, it’s not only for God or for you. We sing for each other.

In Ephesians 5, Paul is calling a community of Christians to walk in love and unity when he 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, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

“Addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs” encourages those around us. It makes the truths we sing come alive for our co-congregants. Whether you feel particularly caught-up in awe at the glory or mercy or faithfulness of God on a given Sunday or not, you have the opportunity to encourage your brothers and sisters in Christ by declaring our shared confession of faith with them.

When I hear your collective voices rise above the instruments and see your smiling faces, or closed eyes, or raised hands, my soul is swept up. Swept up into both wonder at our God and delight in his family. My family.

The Fords, Hootons, McPhersons, Studdards, Tuals, and Wests from my Gospel Community. We’ve mowed lawns together, delivered meals, and cried together. They’ve listened and prayed for my sin, sickness, and burdens countless times. Blake Clifton, Ryan Hembree, Jacob Davenport, and the many brothers I’ve learned from God’s word with. Joel Burnham, Devra Dato’on, Lindsay Davidson, and dozens of others who have put in hours to serve and bless our church with me. Dear friends who have walked through seasons of infertility, doubt, and sin; and those who are in those seasons right now.

I do life with these brothers and sisters. Brothers and sisters God knows and loves. Brothers and sisters I know and love. Brothers and sisters who know and love me. And singing with them bears a certain testimony to my heart like nothing else. The testimony of a God who brings a family together—and then loves them and is faithful to them through everything.

The truth is, when we gather on Sundays, you lead me in worship. Your worship turns my heart to believe anew and praise anew. This Sunday, let each of us lead one another—together—into remembrance and confession of how great our God is.

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