Have you ever thought about what your space invokes in you or your congregation? Many or most of us are in contexts different from these old European spaces. But every space speaks and every space shapes.
Blessed is the worship leader who knows that the space matters, for their church will discover God’s unique work through the place they call home.
Who of us wants to hear words of critique even when they are true and spoken in love? Our natural instinct is to rebuff such words and deny their veracity. At the same time, few of us know how to offer true words of critique and prefer to avoid them. We often do the same in worship, especially when it comes to the prayers of confession…However, words of hope and grace are meaningless if we don’t understand just how mired we are in sin. What’s more, calls to live lives of justice and grace are missing their mark if we leave the bar too low.
We need to dwell on difficult passages like Psalm 50. We need to hear God’s words of judgement in order to change our ways and receive God’s message of hope and abundant grace.
Is there anything worth celebrating?
When the news cycle is increasingly horrific and our communities are being torn apart, the church needs to be a carillon ringing out the good news of salvation and hope. Use Psalm 107 as an opportunity to share the good news by giving opportunity for those gathered or for pre-selected folks to share their testimony of how they have experienced the redemptive power of God. And may all God’s people join together in praise, for God’s love is steadfast and endures forever.
