Music That Matters

One of the most common comments I receive from kids is on the music that we use in our worship. This was the first real hurdle for me as a children’s pastor. I came into children’s worship content to repeat the music I had grown up listening to when I was in church. The problem was the kids were different than I was when I was a kid (come to think of it, I don’t think I liked the music that much when I was a kid).

I had asked a young teen, Stephanie, to help with music. The first week she came in she didn’t use any of the music I had suggested. Instead she used some stuff I had never heard. I knew then that I had a lot of learning to do. I did! I began to make music a priority in my life.

Today, I am always on the lookout for the newest music or for what makes the kids really respond to the move of God.

Music is the language of love. God speaks to us through music. So why shouldn’t we be asking kids what music best communicates the message of God’s love to them.

I owe my thanks to Stephanie. She showed me more than music. She showed me that I needed to pay attention to the needs of others and put them over my own ideas of how things “should be”. 

Discipline

Discipline is a hard thing to do ourselves. That is why we often need our parents or teachers to help (ouch!). The value of doing what we need to even when it is hard will take us a long way and make us a much stronger person (on the inside). 

Jesus was a great example of discipline. I think of the time he spent in the garden of Gethsemane and how he sweat blood knowing that he would have to suffer and die such a gruesome death. He was still willing to go through it though. I think it is amazing that someone could endure so much pain and suffering for someone else, especially someone like me.

We all need to know we are loved. The discipline of Jesus shows us that we are loved. Our discipline will help us tell the story of Jesus when it is hard or unpopular. I know that I have put Jesus in charge of my discipline when I can say, “I can do what I need to even when it is hard.” 

What is one of the hardest things you have ever done?

 Have you ever done something really hard for someone else?

 Tell the story of how you came to know the love of Jesus? 

Tell about a time you helped someone else know about the love of Jesus?

 Make a comment below or add a comment to one of the others.