Pensamientos para hoy (afterthought for today)

Music Communicates

Some people believe that our ability to make music and appreciate music is part of what it means to be human. Ian Cross is Director of the Centre for Music and Science at the University of Cambridge in England. Dr. Cross believes that music is integral to our humanity. Cross believes that "Without [music], we're not enabling the expression of a deep, biologically grounded communication system."¹ In other words, one of the ways that humans communicate is through music.

I believe that God also communicates to us through music. The Bible says, "Be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord (Ephesians 5:18-19)," and "Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God (Colossians 3:16)." ²

These verses tell us that music is a form of spiritual communication, but for this communication to be truly spiritual we need to be filled with God's Spirit and we need to allow God's word to live in us. To be filled with the Spirit of God is to be animated by God's Spirit. The filling of the Spirit is a way to describe an experience in which God himself is active in our life energizing us and stimulating us. This experience is usually an overwhelming sense of God's presence that stimulates us to rejoice and to praise him. Through music we are able to express that joy and praise to God and to others. The Bible describes this expression as "speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord" and "teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God." In our worship we speak to God and men by singing!

As you go to worship on Sunday morning, prepare your heart and mind by seeking God and asking him to fill you with his Spirit. Then, when you lift up your voice to God, let him so fill you with his Spirit that you are truly speaking to him and truly allowing him to move you and animate you so that you cannot contain your joy and praise but must burst forth with loud and joyful singing!

Can't wait 'till Sunday morning worship,

Pastor Steve
May 13, 2011

¹Ian Cross, Whatever music is, it's a basic part of being human, [web-page] available at: www.sciencenews.org. Internet accessed on May 13, 2011.

² Ephesians 5:18-19, Colossians 3:16; NASB (New American Standard Bible). Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations taken from the NASB.

Jesus is the greatest teacher who ever lived. One of Jesus' techniques was to relate spiritual ideas to common everyday life. Pensamientos (afterthought) is an attempt to follow Jesus' method of teaching. Its title is in Spanish because we recognize the importance of multi-culturalism. We hope to translate some of these messages into Spanish soon.

Find more afterthoughts at Pensamientos (afterthoughts).

You can read recent sermons by Pastor Lorenz at Featured Sermon.