Worship, Sun 9 Sept: 'Songs of Praise'

This morning we held our annual
'Songs of Praise' service.

Over the last several weeks, the congregation has been quietly nominating favourite hymns, and the choices were absolute crackers.
During worship, we also remembered the Guild, and rededicated our own members as they begin another year's programme at Upper Clyde.
[details will go up shortly on the Guild page].

Including the Guild hymn, we had a total of 9 fabulous hymns and a fairly full house in the hall for morning tea afterwards - singing is very thirsty work!
A great atmosphere, and some excellent singing.

Here's the play-list from this morning:
154 How great Thou art
*Guild hymn: Let us follow Christ's example [tune: Courage Brother]
220 The day You gave us, Lord, has ended
561 Blessed assurance
551 In heavenly love abiding
514 Onward, Christian soldiers
*as we gather the offering we sing: 555 Amazing Grace
461 How sweet the name of Jesus sounds
251 I, the Lord of sea and sky

Readings were taken from the Psalms: Ps 98, 100, 146, and 150.
Rather than a sermon, there were several shorter reflections, including hearing about
two of our hymnwriters this morning - Fanny J. Crosby and Anna Laetitia Waring.
Book-ending these, were reflections on Ps 98, and Ps 150, which are included below....

Reflection on Ps 98/
As part of declaring how great, and how marvellous God is,
the writer of Psalm 98 doesn’t just focus upon the people of Israel –
here we see God’s hand upon the whole of the world:
‘all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of God’ says the Psalmist.
That’s such a great image –
and, for us, God’s people gathering to worship in the Upper Clyde Parish, it’s so encouraging:
we are small, but, we are part of God’s family – we are Christ’s body on earth.
As the world turns, over the course of this day, the wider church
has gathered,
is gathering,
and will gather...
from New Zealand, the islands of the South Pacific, Australia,
the countries comprising Asia,
and across mainland Europe...
God’s praises have been sung.
From the UK and places on Greenwich Mean Time...
God’s praises are being sung.
Across the Atlantic, the Caribbean, the countries of the Americas,
and those near-end points of the date-line that include Anchorage and Hawaii...
God’s praises are yet to be sung...
From east to west,
north to south,
the nations of the world will join in worship and praise God for all that he has done.
We get to be a part of that –
some forms of worship will be very familiar,
some, not at all like how we are used to worshipping...
and yet, all of it, around the globe,
an offering and outpouring of praise to God:
how amazing is that?

There’s a lovely prayer I came across,
reflecting this sense of God’s global community of praise –
so, in prayer, let’s think of our brothers and sisters in the faith those who have gathered,
those who are gathering, and those yet to gather
Let’s pray:
Your church gathers, Lord,
in Virginia and Mozambique,
in Brazil and to the ends of the earth.
Your church gathers, Lord,
in city and country, in suburbs and slums,
in sanctuaries and buildings,
under trees and by streams of water.
Your people gather to praise you, Lord,
in English and in Portuguese,
with organ and guitar and drum,
with voices of young and old,
with song and with silence,
with dance and with prayer.
Your people praise you, Lord,
for hope in the midst of despair,
for strength in times of weakness,
for justice in situations of oppression,
for courage in the face of fear,
for life in the midst of death.
We are the people who call you Lord.
Let everything that breathes, praise you Lord! Amen.

Thereafter we sang: 'The day You gave us, Lord, has ended'
not often heard in morning worship, but a beautiful hymn, so it was lovely to have
the opportunity to sing it today.

Reflection on Ps 150/
‘Praise the Lord!’
And so, we come back to praise –
Creation began with God singing it into existence,
and, at the end of all things,
when time is no more,
when tears are no more,
when sadness, sickness,
suffering and death
are no more...
so there will be an eternity of praise.

The majority of the psalms give us reasons why we should praise God –
here, our psalmist shows us where, and how, to praise God...
and who is to praise God:
Where?
‘Praise God in his sanctuary...
praise God in his mighty heavens’ –
Basically, there are no limits to where you can praise God –
praise God...everywhere, anywhere.
How?
Praise God with trumpet,
with harp and lyre,
with tambourine, strings, and flute,
don’t forget to add some resounding cymbals...
And not just praise with musical instruments:
praise God with dancing.
This is a bit of a tricky psalm for the more reserved in personality.
And who?
Not just humans:
‘Let everything that has breath praise the Lord!’
As God’s people, we join in with all of creation –
singing songs of praise to the One
who made us,
who saves us,
who loves us,
and who is always with us –
not just now, but forever.
Praise is the song of harmony healing the discord
of a broken creation,
a broken humanity;
praise is part of that spiritual armour that deflects cynicism, bitterness and despair –
for praise puts God at the centre and reminds us we are not alone –
that we are beloved
and we are God’s people;
praise is the song that gladdens the heart
and strengthens us to enter out into the world,
sharing the good news that no matter how dark things look,
love wins –
for God is love.

Praise the Lord –
in the sanctuary,
in your hearts,
from your lips –
with every breath,
and with all of creation.

The Shorter Catechism asks:
‘What is the chief end of man?’ –
or/ What is our life’s purpose, as human beings?
The response is:
‘Man's chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever’ –
or/ The whole purpose of our life is to glorify God and enjoy him forever...
Our lives are to be one of continual praise –
to turn our ‘all’
into an ‘alleluia’ ...Amen.