Yesterday morning, in our worship service. We had what our music staff likes to refer to as a "moment." It's one of those inexplicable passages of time. Sometimes it's a musical "moment"—when everyone just hits their sweet spot congruously. Yesterday morning it was one of those moments when God moved. As worship service crafters, sometimes we try so hard to create these moments, but when God does it, we know it couldn't have been our doing. And that's the best thing in the world.
We did a song called "King of Glory, King of Love," which is a big, fun hootenanny that we hadn't done in a year. We had barely rehearsed it; in fact, the orchestra probably didn't even see the song until yesterday. So, needless to say, I was a little unsure of what to expect. Personally, I was worn out from two weeks of concerts and the going out after them. I was conducting, so my back was to the congregation, but about 2/3 of the way through the song, I looked back and saw the entire congregation on its feet, clapping and rejoicing. Spontaneous. This happened at both services. In fact, second hour, we reprised the song, and the congregation sang with us. People were even cheering. Explaining it doesn't do it justice; in fact, it probably lessens the moment. An e-mail we received later said, "WOW!" And that's what this was.
I have never experienced a moment in church quite like this before. After two and a half years of praying for more of a connection with our people, which has been growing, this was AMAZING. Just rejoicing in Christ and celebrating His Kingship and salvation. I can't really explain it, but if you were there, you know what I mean. There's nothing more exciting and refreshing than hundreds of people all lifting their praises to God all at the same time. Thanks, God, for doing this in our hearts and allowing me to be a part of it.
2 comments:
Amen! In the Old Testament they would have built an altar to mark the spot!
Yeah, that's the kind of thing we 1) always hope will happen but when it actually does, 2) no one knows quite what to do! We try to 3) plan it in to every service 4) never really believing it will happen. We will 5) never really be able to recreate the moment--even with the same song, and 6) will feel empty if it's performed again in the future and a similar response is not reciprocated from the congregation.
Bummer, but fun when it happens!
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