Six Word Saturday

Singing at Church Sunday: Rather Nervous!!!

The Worship Ministry at my church includes all vocalists, musicians, sound and A/V team members. As such, I have been on the worship team for a few years.

But all of that has been at the back of the church in the sound booth, sitting behind a computer.

On Sunday, I'm going to be at the front of the church behind a microphone, with about 75 pairs of eyes on me. Yikes!!!

Technically, I'm only singing one song, the communion song.

Somehow that's not making me feel much better. Why? Because even though people will be filing down the aisles and gettig their communion and praying and stuff, still it's just going to be me and the backup vocalist up there! And yeah, she's the backup. Wow. I sooo can't believe I'm actually leading a song. I mean really, that's what I'm doing. I'm leading people in worship for this one song, the song during which people are communing with God before they take communion.

I am not making myself feel any less nervous.

Part of my nervousness is that I've not led a song before, haven't stood and said ok, this is how I want the keys and percussion to sound, this is the key I want to sing it in, etc. And of course, I don't really know. I mean, I can hear it in my head, but it comes out differently when I actually sing it. And since I don't play piano and can't tap out the rhythm I want to hear while I sing without messing myself up, I'm gonna be going into practice today feeling somewhat unprepared.

I know, I know, it'll be ok. But please send prayers and happy thoughts my way as you read this, would you?

Because here's the thing. I go to a church that does modern worship songs. And I love it. But a few people think that "Christmas Carols" are too worn out, too cliché to be used on Sunday morning.

I think these people should be wrapped in tissue paper until they submit are missing something very important, however, and this is very specifically why I have chosen O Come O Come, Emmanuel as my song. Not only because it's a hymnal song (written originally in Latin no less) but it's an Advent song, a song for the coming of Christ.

When these songs were written, they were modern worship songs! They were full of passion and joy and expectation, and celebration. This is the birth of Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, our Savior, our Messiah, the One who died and went to HELL for 3 days so that we would never ever ever ever have to experience one second apart from God.

Hello!!! It came upon a midnight clear, on a silent night: angels we have heard on high, singing o come, o come Emmanuel, Gloria in Exelsius Deo!

Forget the fact that people all over the world sing these songs just because everyone sings them. Listen to the heart behind them, imagine the joy, the exultation, the triumphant celebration in Heaven when Jesus God came down onto the earth to restore humanity to Himself. And He came as one of us, to be the humanity we should aspire to become; to be sin replacing our sin, to be the sacrifce we should be forced to give.

And when you sing these words, sing them from your heart. Sing them to your Savior, and sing them to yourself, and this time really listen to what it is you're saying. Because after all, aren't we all waiting for our Salvation to be lived out? Don't we all ardently desire God to come among us, and don't we rejoice when He does?

O come, o come Emmanuel,
And ransom captive Israel.
That mourns in lonely exile here,
Until the Son of God appear.

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Has come to thee, o Israel.