music ministry
Thank you to all the men and women who participated in choir during August. During September, all the choirs WILL begin for the season.
Sanctuary Choir
( College – Adult) No audition required – You must be able to carry a tune and read parts Wednesdays 6:30-8:30 p. m.
Youth Choir
( 6 th Grade – 1 2th) College students are welcome, too Begins Sunday, September 10 4:00-5:00 p. m. This rehearsal will be boys only!!! Every boy interested in Youth Choir must be there! Full rehearsal— boys and girls— begins September 17, 4:00-5:00 p. m.
Chapel Choir( 2 nd Grade – 5 th Grade) Begins Sunday, September 10 7:00-7:45 p. m. Rehearsal and Ice Cream!
Handbell Choir Begins Wednesday, September 20 5:30-6:30 p. m. This Choir is by appointment only.
Advance Notice: Lessons and Carols Service December 10 Dress Rehearsal— December 11 Children MUST be attending rehearsals to participate.
Is serving in the Choir for you? I hope you will prayerfully consider it.
In Christ’ s Service, Kathryn Van Eck the apostles and the church from page 1
place that would promote their long-term spiritual well-being.
Jesus’ church is also a rebuke to hypercollectivism. Authoritarian, unaccountable, autocratic church leaders cannot sustain the long-term spiritual well-being of believers. Apostles( individual) replace themselves with elders( plural) for the sake of the health and well-being of the churches and their members. The New Testament does not envision believers outside of the visible, institutional church.
Dynamic
The church, it must also be said, is more than a structure. It is more than an institution. It is a living organism, a body. The Apostles, especially Paul, use this metaphor to teach the mutual dependence, responsibility, and accountability of members for each other. The Apostle Paul develops these thoughts at length in Ephesians 4:11ff, 1 Corinthians 12:4- 31 and Romans 12:4-21. The well-being of the church begins with gifted men( pastors and teachers) exercising their word gifts for the equipping of the saints and the building up of the body of Christ( Eph 4:11-15). This done, each part works properly and the whole body is built up in love( Eph 4:16). The point in the latter two passages is that gifts are distributed throughout the whole church body. We are all“ members of one another”( Rom 12:5). Our gifts are“ for the common good”( 1 Cor 12:7). God has“ arranged the members in the body” and“ composed the body”( 1 Cor 12:18, 24). None of us can say to another member,“ I have no need of you,” any more than our eye can say that to our hand or our head to our feet( 1 Cor 12:21). All the parts of the body are“ indispensable”( 1 Cor 12:22). This means that I cannot flourish spiritually apart from both the teaching of the gifted pastors and teachers, and a vital, living connection with other believers in the church. My spiritual health, growth, and very survival depends on it. The church is a living body in which all“ contribute to the needs of the church”( Rom 12:13). We cannot have fingers cut off without being hurt. Fingers cannot sever themselves from the whole body without withering and dying.
What is the church? The church is both a living organism and an institution. The church as Jesus envisioned it and as the
Apostles constructed it, has structure, organization, authority, membership, standards of conduct and belief, discipline, means of inclusion and exclusion, officers, a Great Commission, ministry and sacraments. We repeat: the New Testament does not envision a believer outside of the church. Those who believe have baptism, the church’ s rite of admission, administered to them, and they are“ added to the number,” the roll, of the church( Acts 2:38, 47; 4:4). Is not“ in the church” where Jesus wants us, and where we need to be?
Still not convinced? Let’ s return to Jesus’ relation to the church as expressed by the metaphors employed by the Apostles. Two of their favorites are the church as the“ body of Christ” and as“ bride of Christ.” Try to harmonize these with churchless Christianity, with a healthy relationship with Jesus while rejecting the church. Can the head be severed from the body and the body still survive?“ Christ is the head of the church, his body”( Eph. 5:23). Can one love the head and despise the body? Of course it’ s impossible. The head and the body are one, distinguishable but inseparable. How about separating Christ from His bride? Jesus loves His bride. He shed His blood for her. He nourishes and cherishes her( Eph 5:25-33). Can one love Christ and despise His bride? Can one separate Christ from His bride, love Him and ignore her? Imagine inviting a friend for dinner and urging him to leave his wife at home because, as you explain, you like him not her, and are interested in getting to know him better but can’ t be bothered about her.
It’ s Sunday morning. My wake-up routine has been completed. What am I now to do? Do what the Scriptures require and what Christians have done for 2000 years. Go to the public assembly, gathered under the discipline of Christ’ s appointed officers to be ministered to by the word read, preached, sung, prayed, and administered. Gather with those who with you compose the body and the bride of Christ in a given location. God’ s people should consider no other alternative, nor desire any other option.
— TLJ
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