The Church Universal

"Sing to him a new song, play skillfully, and shout for joy."
--Psalm 33:3

"This is a true story: At the end of the Palm Sunday worship service, a digruntled parishioner came up to the organist and said, 'This is the eighth year in a row we have had to sing that unfamiliar hymn.'

"When I finished laughing at this story, I reflected on how unwilling we can be to learn a 'new song' to sing to the Lord. We can get so set in our ways as far as what is or is not 'church music,' if there should be formal liturgy or not, if there should be silence or singing during Communion, and if there is singing, does the choir or the congregation do it, etc. We can be so busy worshipping worship styles that we forget we are there to worship God.

"We need to remember that Jesus is alive today and at work among his people, just as he has been since the Day of Pentecost (see Acts 2). Therefore the music we use in worship needs to reflect the church universal in all places and times. We need to include old and new hymns, traditional and modern liturgies, chant and ethnic music.

"In short, we need to open ourselves up to God at work everywhere and reflect that in our worship."
--Valerie Hess, "Spiritual Disciplines Devotional"

What do you love most about worship? What piece of music, liturgy, act of worship, prayer, etc?