Wednesday, 08 August 2007

"Beautiful"

That's one of the operative words from Sunday. I think I need to write this now before I forget amidst all the crazy sillyness of having double the usual population in your house and three younger cousins who constantly want your attention.

Thanks everyone who prayed! Leading the congregational music from the platform has gotten easier, although PowerPoint snags still keep me on my toes. I definitely noticed a few things that I did differently from Pastor Lew, but I think the worship team/band worked well together as an ensemble in leading the congregation.

Pastor Carlson's two-part sermon on Ephesians 4 and putting on the New Self was well-timed. One of the prevailing themes I've encountered and keep trying to incorporate as a lifestyle is the idea of putting on the "New Self" that Paul writes about in Ephesians and that this New Self produces character traits that Galatians describes as the "Fruit of the Spirit." I can always use a good reminder of that, and I was glad Pastor Carlson chose this past Sunday to do that.

And then there's the special music. I sang Jeremy Camp's version of "Beautiful One" in the morning. I'm not exactly sure why I selected it. I've sang the song many times at The Gathering and at services at Engedi & I like Jeremy Camp's music, so I was definitely not a newcomer, but lately, it just seemed to capture me. The composer, an English worship leader named Tim Hughes, wrote it as a sort of response to Isaiah 53, where the beauty of Jesus the Messiah wasn't recognized, but how we can/should recognize Him as beautiful. I remember praying right before starting that I wouldn't sing this song as a performance for a human audience but simply as if I was just singing to Him with other people being around just being more of an incidental thing. I don't know if I ever completely escape seeing the audience, but I think in a certain sense I did lose myself. It was amazing. And I was glad to hear that some others in the church liked it too.

It's sort of funny, in the evening service, Cassie sang Twila Paris' song, "How Beautiful." It's fourteen years older than "Beautiful One," but the lyrics portray the exact same message. Compare for yourself. And for all you music geeks: they're in the same key, too. Tim Hughes & Jeremy Camp recorded "Beautiful One" in D major, and Twila Paris did "How Beautiful" in D as well, except for the last little bit in E-flat.

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