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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2018-01-04, Page 17THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, JANUARY 4, 2018. PAGE 17. From the Minister's Study `n inewsong' for 1S a a new outlook By Pastor Gary van Leeuwen Blyth Christian Reformed Church Music shapes us. Most of us are built to love music, and the music we love and listen to often has the unique ability to shape our worldview, our understanding of life and our priorities - really our whole perspective on life. When we come to know a song well, it becomes like a friend, accompanying us wherever we go. And that friend, like our human friends, influences the way we live. If this is true, then it follows that we ought to be careful about the message that the music we listen to. Music that objectifies people or condones illegal behaviour and violence, for example, can easily lead us astray, first in our thinking and then in our actions. Without careful reflection, songs that may lead us toward wrongful behaviour could easily become our friends. Because songs remain with us, they become part of who we are. In the Bible, in Psalm 96, we are encouraged to sing a new song. What the psalmist doesn't mean is that we should be spending all our time writing and singing songs that are new to us. That can be a good experience, but that is not what his intention is. Rather, the psalmist is well aware of the power of song, and he is also aware how easily we can be led astray from what is right and good. He is concerned that far too often we are influenced by ideas and attitudes and actions which are not helpful. When the psalmist advises us to sing a new song, he is encouraging us to think about what is right and true, what is helpful and what is good. In Psalm 96, he explains what that is. There are at least four things that he wants us to think about so much that those thoughts become our friends and, consequently, influence how we think and life. These four things are as follows: First, God saves us. How we define salvation, of course, depends on how we define the problem. The problem, according to the Bible, is caused by the wrongheaded inclination of the human heart. This problem of the human heart inclines us to look after ourselves first, justifying self-centeredness and greed in terms of self-preservation. After all, we rationalize, if we don't look after ourselves, we can't look after others. But, according to the Bible, that is the very root of the problem. Humanity has lost its relationship with God and therefore doesn't know that he is willing to help us. We have come to believe that the only way we can solve our problems is by ourselves. Salvation, on the other hand, is a realization that only God can help, and the way we can receive help is through faith in Jesus Christ, depending on him to change our hearts as we seek forgiveness of the sin of thinking that we can do without him. Salvation is admitting that we are helpless without God and, thus, seeking his help through Jesus Christ. Second, and related to the first, is the idea that God is capable. It does not take us long to realize that as much as we try, we have a long way to go, as people inhabiting this earth, to making the world into what it could be. In fact, the more people there are in this world, the worse the problems seem to become. We might solve some problems, but in so doing we create others. We need to come to the point of serve our God. It also means that we recognizing that while we are incapable, God is fully able to help us. We can trust that he can bring change our hearts, freeing us from sinful selfishness and setting us on the path toward renewal and restoration. The third part of the song that Psalm 96 encourages us to contemplate is our worship. Worship is much more than what we do in a church on the Sunday mornings we attend. Worship also includes giving our best. God is worthy of our best, and so our worship includes giving our best time and the best of our abilities to give the first of what we receive as blessings to the work of the Lord. Simply attending church is not true worship. Giving our best to God's work and God's purposes is truly what worship is intended to be. And, finally, Psalm 96 reminds us that God's ways are always right, and, being right, they are best for us and the world. This is sometimes hard to swallow because our culture repeatedly tells us that God's ways are outdated and irrelevant. Through experience, from time to time, we learn that our culture is wrong. An obvious example is a failure to Continued on page 18 You're =S uviteI 70 join ?Is gn 1 cis SUNDAYS Morning Service Evening Service 10:00 am 7:30 pm BLYTH CHRISTIAN REFORMED CHURCH p• Minister: Pastor Gary van Leeuwen (� Hwy. 4, Blyth www.blythcrc.ca 519-523-4743 MELVILLE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH BRUSSELS SUNDAY, JANUARY 7 We invite you to join our church family in: Worship & Sunday School - 11 am Coffee & Snacks following the service Come out and meet our new minister, Rev. Charmila Ireland Fridays 11:30 am - 1:00 pm - Soup & More 2 - a free community meal held in Melville's basement, and made possible by the Brussels churches working together. Nursery care available 519-887-6687 Sunday, January 7 at 10:30 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. 650 Alexander St. (former Brussels Public School) Sunday School for children 4 to 12 years of age at 9:30 a.m. Childcare provided for infants and preschoolers during the sermon. Coffee & cookies after the morning service. For additional details please contact Pastor Andrew Versteeg 519.887.8621 Steve Klumpenhower 519.292.0965 Rick Packer 519.527.0173 THE CATHOLIC PARISHES OF NORTH HURON AND NORTH PERTH CORDIALLY INVITE YOU TO ATTEND HOLY MASS. OUR SUNDAY LITURGIES ARE AS FOLLOWS: Brussels: St. Ambrose Saturday 6:00 p.m. 17 Flora Street Winaham: Sacred Heart Sunday 9:00 a.m. 220 Carling Terrace Listowel: St. Joseph's Sunday 11:00 a.m. 1025 Wallace Avenue N. • ANGLICAN PARISH OF NEW BEGINNINGS B LYTH Trinity (J„, 9:15 am Church Office 519-357-4883 BRUSSELS St. John's 11:15 am Church Office 519-887-6862 Everyone Welcome! COME WORSHIP WITH USI BRUSSELS United Church Welcome to Sunday morning worship & Sunday School at 11:00 am Hillary MacDonald (905) 246-7386 Macdonald.hillary@gmail.com Everyone welcome Blyth United Church tiff SA kik Est. 1875 Epiphany Sunday Sunday, January 7 Worship at 9:30 am Guest Preacher: Sandra Cable • Hillary MacDonald OFFICE: 519-523-4224 CHAPEL RON .GL amand11'. @ nd in Auburn' 9-.00om Every Sunday nchapel. hero