Welcome to the assembly of the 160th Ave. Church of Christ! We gather Sunday at 9 a.m.(class), 10 a.m., 5 p.m., & Wednesday at 7 p.m. Check the bulletin for various announcements www.160thavechurch.com

To You, O LORD, I lift up my soul. O my God, I trust in You . . . Show me Your ways, O LORD; teach me Your paths. Lead me in Your truth and teach me, for You are the God of my salvation; on You I wait all the day. (Psalms 25:1-2, 4-5 NKJV)

Begin Thinking About Singing

In human nature, every culture

Songs in Scripture Red Sea Ex. 15 rejoice in salvation from enemies End of Moses’ life Deut. 32 teach, admonish David’s work (Psalms) Hymn (23), lament (51), remembrance (77), wisdom (1), kingship (2) Temple (2 Chron. 5:12-13) praise and thanks Solomon’s song (SoS 1:1) romantic love Rebuilding of Jerusalem’s wall (Neh. 12:27) thanks II. Prominent songs A. Red Sea (Ex. 15) rejoice in salvation from enemies v1-10 present victory God provided v11-18 future victory God offered B. End of Moses’ life (Deut. 32) teach, admonish v1-6 The true God v7-14 What God did for Israel v15-18 How Israel responded to God v19-43 How God would respond to Israel C. David’s work (Psalms) Hymn (23), lament (51), remembrance (77), wisdom (1), kingship (2) D. Temple (1 Chron. 5:12-13) praise and thanks for honor of building His house/temple E. Solomon’s song (SoS 1:1) romantic love, not a song of worship but of this unique human experience F. Rebuilding of Jer’s wall (Neh. 12:27) thanks for God allowing them to complete this civil project, not much spiritual about building a wall for protection G. Jesus’ birth?? (Lk. 2:13) We are just told what they said, not how they said it H. Routine by Christians (1 Cor. 14:15; Acts 16:25) public, private, assembled, individually I. Opening of the scrolls (Rev. 5:9) recognizing the uniqueness of the Lamb

Songs in Scripture Jesus’ birth?? (Lk. 2:13) Summary of Jesus’ life?? (1 Tim. 3:16) Routine of Christians (1 Cor. 14:15; Acts 16:25) public, private, assembled, individually Opening of the scrolls (Rev. 5:9-10) recognizing the uniqueness of the Lamb

A Potential Source of Conflict Knowledge, lacking zeal Amos 5:23; Is. 5:12 Zeal, lacking knowledge - Ex. 32:18 - Playing songs to God (1 Cor. 14:15) III. A potential source of conflict between God and man A. Sing with knowledge, lacking zeal and integrity Amos 5:23; Is. 5:12 (Amos 6:5 idle singing in NKJV only) 1. singing is noise to God when, in a few hours, I intend to return to ongoing sin 2. “regard” = to look intently at (Strong) Songs that are sung as routine and not in response to God’s work are boring to us and hated by God. B. Sing with zeal, lacking knowledge 1. Ex. 32:18; Dan. 3:5 a. As also happened with animal sacrifices, priesthood, prayer, and Scripture, man took something God did and used it for his own purposes. b. Today, people believe they are singing to Allah, God without acknowledging Jesus, or any of the millions of Hindu gods. 2. Is God pleased with songs played to Him today? a. In NT, Christians always sung songs, they never played songs---whose idea is it to play songs to God? b. When we begin doing things God has not said to do instead of only doing what He has said to do, we are opening a floodgate that can lead to church donations to camps, infant baptism, polygamy, . . . c. Many people are sincere in the songs they play to God, but it puts them in conflict with God. d. This is not a new controversy—just a forgotten one (the history of Presbyterians, Baptists, and so-called “Christian Ch” all reveal study and debate on this subject).

A Potential Source of Growth Time of commitment To God (I Want to be a Worker, I Am Resolved, And when I think...then sings my soul...) To each other (Love One Another, God’s Family) IV. A potential source of growth A. A time of commitment 1. Saying what we will do is often part of making a commitment (wedding vow, confess Christ, courtroom testimony) 2. Many songs we sing, are commitments to God (I Want to be a Worker, I Am Resolved, And when I think...then sings my soul...) and each other (Love One Another, God’s Family) 3. We must take our words seriously, so we are not singing damnation to ourselves—don’t sing it if you don’t mean it! B. Learning and teaching Col. 3:16 1. How many Scriptures do you know by a melody? (Ps. 19, 23; 2 Tim. 1:12; Ps. 27:1; Rev. 4:8) 2. Every spiritual song begins with something God chose to reveal for our benefit C. Learning to please God more than yourself Mt. 13:22 1. Eccl. 2:8 for whose pleasure did Solomon gather singers and players? 2. For whose pleasure do you listen to country, pop, classical, oldies? 3. When you have the opportunity to please yourself by a song or to please God by a song—how often do you choose your own pleasure? 4. The modern obsession with entertainment (pleasures of this life) often comes at the expense of time and words offered to God, filling our minds with matters below instead of above. D. Putting knowledge deeper in your heart 1. Words we repeat either become monotonous and meaningless or we grow in our appreciation for them the more we say them. a. why did Jesus repeat His prayer in the Garden three times? b. why does God teach all saints to assemble every week resulting in multiple prayers, teachings, songs,...? c. Repetition challenges your faith to either grow stronger (I want more!) or weaker (I want less, boring). 2. Though I have not heard every lesson in the series David M is bringing, I am confident he will challenge your attitude and approach to singing—an opportunity to grow. 3. I am also sure that if you have friends who have some degree of interest in the Bible and worship, they will benefit from hearing these lessons---the least we can do is invite them!

A Potential Source of Growth Time of commitment Learning and teaching (Col. 3:16) “The law of the LORD is perfect converting the soul…” “The LORD is my shepherd” IV. A potential source of growth A. A time of commitment 1. Saying what we will do is often part of making a commitment (wedding vow, confess Christ, courtroom testimony) 2. Many songs we sing, are commitments to God (I Want to be a Worker, I Am Resolved, And when I think...then sings my soul...) and each other (Love One Another, God’s Family) 3. We must take our words seriously, so we are not singing damnation to ourselves—don’t sing it if you don’t mean it! B. Learning and teaching Col. 3:16 1. How many Scriptures do you know by a melody? (Ps. 19, 23; 2 Tim. 1:12; Ps. 27:1; Rev. 4:8) 2. Every spiritual song begins with something God chose to reveal for our benefit C. Learning to please God more than yourself Mt. 13:22 1. Eccl. 2:8 for whose pleasure did Solomon gather singers and players? 2. For whose pleasure do you listen to country, pop, classical, oldies? 3. When you have the opportunity to please yourself by a song or to please God by a song—how often do you choose your own pleasure? 4. The modern obsession with entertainment (pleasures of this life) often comes at the expense of time and words offered to God, filling our minds with matters below instead of above. D. Putting knowledge deeper in your heart 1. Words we repeat either become monotonous and meaningless or we grow in our appreciation for them the more we say them. a. why did Jesus repeat His prayer in the Garden three times? b. why does God teach all saints to assemble every week resulting in multiple prayers, teachings, songs,...? c. Repetition challenges your faith to either grow stronger (I want more!) or weaker (I want less, boring). 2. Though I have not heard every lesson in the series David M is bringing, I am confident he will challenge your attitude and approach to singing—an opportunity to grow. 3. I am also sure that if you have friends who have some degree of interest in the Bible and worship, they will benefit from hearing these lessons---the least we can do is invite them! “I know whom I have believed and . . .” “The LORD is my light and my salvation” “Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty”

A Potential Source of Growth Time of commitment Learning and teaching To simply please God (Mt. 13:22; Eccl. 2:8) Putting knowledge deeper in our hearts IV. A potential source of growth A. A time of commitment 1. Saying what we will do is often part of making a commitment (wedding vow, confess Christ, courtroom testimony) 2. Many songs we sing, are commitments to God (I Want to be a Worker, I Am Resolved, And when I think...then sings my soul...) and each other (Love One Another, God’s Family) 3. We must take our words seriously, so we are not singing damnation to ourselves—don’t sing it if you don’t mean it! B. Learning and teaching Col. 3:16 1. How many Scriptures do you know by a melody? (Ps. 19, 23; 2 Tim. 1:12; Ps. 27:1; Rev. 4:8) 2. Every spiritual song begins with something God chose to reveal for our benefit C. Learning to please God more than yourself Mt. 13:22 1. Eccl. 2:8 for whose pleasure did Solomon gather singers and players? 2. For whose pleasure do you listen to country, pop, classical, oldies? 3. When you have the opportunity to please yourself by a song or to please God by a song—how often do you choose your own pleasure? 4. The modern obsession with entertainment (pleasures of this life) often comes at the expense of time and words offered to God, filling our minds with matters below instead of above. D. Putting knowledge deeper in your heart 1. Words we repeat either become monotonous and meaningless or we grow in our appreciation for them the more we say them. a. why did Jesus repeat His prayer in the Garden three times? b. why does God teach all saints to assemble every week resulting in multiple prayers, teachings, songs,...? c. Repetition challenges your faith to either grow stronger (I want more!) or weaker (I want less, boring). 2. Though I have not heard every lesson in the series David M is bringing, I am confident he will challenge your attitude and approach to singing—an opportunity to grow. 3. I am also sure that if you have friends who have some degree of interest in the Bible and worship, they will benefit from hearing these lessons---the least we can do is invite them! What effect does repetition have in you? More meaningful, More personal Less meaningful, Boring

Begin Thinking About Singing