Music makes life memorable.   A soundtrack forges an emotional connection with a movie.  Jingles implant ad slogans in our consciousness that persist decades after product obsolescence.  The playlist of youth is one of the strongest influences on our worldview.  The music of our generation teaches us how to live.   The oft posited statement of a young person that “I don’t listen to the lyrics” is self-deception at best.   Music has power to plant truth, perspective, and emotion deep into our being.

Advertisers know this.  Poets know this as well.  And educators are learning this.   Words set to a song are more easily remembered, than those repeated or memorized.  Even a cursory Amazon search reveals that music is used to teach everything from history to catechism.  All those dates and names and attributes of God, so hard to memorize, are more easily remembered when set to music.

This is why music is such an important part of our culture and our Christian faith.   The Bible instructs us to worship, fellowship, and disciple using hymns, psalms, and spiritual songs.   Congregations are often catechized more from the music they hear and sing, than sermons or Bible studies.   Music is important.  It is a great gift from God given for congregational praise, prayer, and proclamation. And it must be carefully curated by the elders of the church. 

Our hymns, psalms, and spiritual songs must be biblically accurate and theologically clear.   They must express truths about God not the feelings of men.   Our music must echo God’s own Word.  And be faithful to express and teach its history, truths, and promises.  Music has always been an important way to communicate the glorious redemptive story unfolded in the Bible.

Even in the narrative of the Bible itself, God’s people are given songs to recite and remember God’s nature, his promises, and his saving works.   Songs given to remind the present generation.  And instruct the next.   One of the oldest of these songs is found in Exodus 15.   Moses narrated the story in prose, but then records one of God’s greatest hits, ‘The Song of the Sea,’ sometimes called the Song of Moses.   A favorite song of God’s people, sung year after year in their homes, at feasts, and in worship services.   A song that communicates who God is, what he has done, what he does, and what he will do.   A song that gives assurance and confidence for the spiritual battles Christians face.

The Song of Moses is so significant to the church that even the Redeemed in eternity will sing it along with the Song of the Lamb.  This is recounted in Revelation 15:1-4.

And I saw what appeared to be a sea of glass mingled with fire—and also those who had conquered the beast and its image and the number of its name, standing beside the sea of glass with harps of God in their hands. And they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying,

“Great and amazing are your deeds,
    O Lord God the Almighty!
Just and true are your ways,
    O King of the nations!
Who will not fear, O Lord,
    and glorify your name?
For you alone are holy.
    All nations will come
    and worship you,
for your righteous acts have been revealed.”

Revelation 15:1-4

The Bible is full of music. Hymns that equip us to live victoriously. Psalms to express every fear, concern, and emotion to the Lord. And spiritual songs that move us from fear to faith in any crisis. What songs tell your story?

What is the music of your heart and soul?  Is it Songs of Zion? The Song of Moses and of the Lamb?   These are God’s greatest hits.  Songs to be sung around the throne for all eternity.  Are they the soundtrack of your life? Join us as we examine the Song of the Sea in Exodus 15 and consider what it teaches about who God is, what he has done, what he does, and what he will do.

We meet on the square in Pottsville, right next to historic Potts’ Inn at 10:30 am for worship.  Get directions here or contact us for more info.  Or join us on Facebook Live @PottsvilleARP or YouTube. 

The cool, crisp air.  The crunching of fallen leaves. And the low amber lighting of late afternoon means Fall is in full swing.  Hands down, Autumn is my favorite season.  So many fond memories cluster around Fall, its traditions, and its holidays.   It takes me to many happy places in my past.  My mother preparing seasonal feasts.  My wedding day.   Raking mountains of hickory and white oak leaves with my Dad.  And drives through Arkansas’ highways and byways in awe of God’s artistry.   But Fall also reminds me of football.

No, not the hours spent with my Dad listening to Larry Munson call Georgia Bulldog games or any organized league play.   But the informal neighborhood league that existed in suburban Stone Mountain where I grew up.   Colony East and Indian Forrest and my own enclave, Inca Court, put together small 3 to 4 man elite squads which battled it out on a field behind the Stripling’s house for regional bragging rights.  Don, Alan, and I and sometimes Norman, were the pride of Inca Court.  

We practiced every day after school until the light faded or our moms called us for supper.   We cut down small trees to fashion our own goal post.  We were the only neighborhood venue that offered the opportunity to kick ‘real’ extra points.  Though, admittedly, retrieving the balls from the surrounding woods was sometimes a challenge.   It was sandlot ball at its finest.  And we took it seriously. 

Of course, there were no referees and few rules. Controversial plays were resolved by “do-over.”  And every running play inevitably resulted in ‘piling on.’   Even if the ball carrier was clearly down.  The play was not over until every man on the field was added to the pile.   Learning to survive being piled-on was a non-negotiable skill.

In organized play, piling on is a serious offense.  It is a personal foul and carries lengthy penalties.  It is considered excessive force, gratuitous violence.  A vindictive adding of insult to injury.   But for us, piling on was the glorious privilege of every man on the field.  We relished its place in our gridiron heroics.

‘Piling on’ in our idiom has negative connotations.   It denotes addition to a load that is already unbearable, especially harsh or excessive criticism.  It is akin to “kicking them when they are down.”   It speaks of what is gratuitous or excessive beyond what is sufficient.   But ‘piling on’ need not always be a bad thing. 

God delights to pile on.   Not excessive demands or requirements, but grace upon grace, blessing upon blessing, provision upon provision.  We see this both implicitly and explicitly in the Scriptures.  Jesus taught, “give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap.” (Luke 6:38) And John, the beloved disciple, said of Jesus, “For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.” (John 1:16)

In Exodus 14, we see his grace upon grace, God’s piling on blessing upon blessing through the deliverance of Israel through the Red Sea.   He protects and delivers his people.  He destroys their enemies.  He comforts and assures them with his presence.  He watches over them.  He grants them faith.   The only things piled higher than the waters of the Red Sea are the blessings of God’s grace upon grace to an unworthy but elect people.  But even this is not all.  With the pillar of cloud and fire, there is another tremendous gift.  The Angel of the Presence.  The one who is very God of very God, yet would one day take on flesh to deliver us from a greater enemy than any ancient king.

God is no miser of grace.  When he sets his love upon you, he lavishes you with grace upon grace.   He holds nothing back.  “He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?”  His love is higher, wider, deeper and more expansive than you can possibly imagine.  Join us as we examine Exodus 14:15-31 and consider this grace upon grace.

We meet on the square in Pottsville, right next to historic Potts’ Inn at 10:30 am for worship.  Get directions here or contact us for more info.  Or join us on Facebook Live @PottsvilleARP or YouTube.