Jesus In: The Kings - 2 John 12

Series: JESUS IN EVERY GENRE

Dan Stockum - Nov 27, 2022

Sermon Notes     Sermon Slides

Genesis 1:1-11

When the Israelites asked for a king, they were asking for more than a political leader. They were asking for peace and security from some source other than God. This week, we’ll look at the

disappointments we will always encounter when searching for peace and security outside of God, and God’s surprising response to our rejection of Him.

Unknown: Ephesians 5:15 through 21 look carefully. Then how you walk not as unwise, but as wise making the best use of the time because the days are evil, therefore, do not be foolish. But understand what the will of the Lord is, and do not get drunk with wine for that as debauchery, will be filled with the spirit, addressing one, another in Psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs singing and making

Unknown: King Melody to the Lord with your heart giving. Thanks always and for everything to God, the father and the name of our Lord. Jesus Christ, submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.

Unknown: Thank you, Joanna.

Unknown: So over the past year, we as a church, in our weekly Gathering time have sung over 300 songs together. If we account for repeating songs, my records show that we sang 113 different songs and of those 113, 57 of them are songs that you can find in your Hymnal in front of you. The average service had about 25 minutes worth of music. So for the

Unknown: I estimate that we sang about 1,300 minutes together that\'s over 21 hours of singing.

Unknown: So what\'s the deal with singing? Why do we sing so much in church? And as we explore today\'s passage in Ephesians together, we will look at why we seeing what we sing and how we sing. That\'s why we sing what we sing and how we sing. So, why do we sing? First of all, we are created to sing

Unknown: You\'ve probably heard these words from Psalm 139 that\'s a for you formed. My inward Parts, you knitted me together. In my mother\'s womb, I praise you for. I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

Unknown: I praise you for. I am fearfully and wonderfully made, and, and scripture is filled with language like this, especially in the Psalms it says, I praise you. I exalt you, I bless you. I sing to you. In fact, it says that all of creation, sings and worships God, Psalm 64 says all the Earth worships, you sings praises to you, they sing praises to your name.

Unknown: But humans have an, especially unique ability to worship and sing. See, we are made in the image of God. And speaking of being created to sing, did you know that human vocal cords? Develop, when a baby is still in the womb, the vocal cords are in place around week 12 and functional long before a chart. A child is born. You could sing before you could breathe are on your own.

Unknown: Tell me if we weren\'t created to sing. Why do I struggle? Struggle? To remember what I had for breakfast, but I can remember the lyrics to obscure B-side songs that I haven\'t heard in 20 years. Why do I struggle to memorize simple? Passage of scripture, but I can sing to you all 50 states in alphabetical order and I can sing the u.s. presidents in order. Washington Adams, Jefferson Madison Monroe Adams Jackson Van Buren Harrison, Tyler Polk, Taylor Fillmore. And so on.

Unknown: And we are created to sing.v

Unknown: Not only are we created to sing? We are called to sing. Not only do we have that ability to sing, but we should want to sing God. Started this conversation through creation and then he continues the conversation through scripture so we can know him. And how do we respond to that Martha? Martin Luther sums it up like this. He says, let God speak directly to his people through the scriptures and let his people respond with.

Unknown: Grateful songs of praise.v

Unknown: So, what does Scripture say about singing? And it\'s quite a lot, actually, apparently singing is a big deal to God, because there are over 400 references to singing in scripture. At least 50 of those references are direct commands. Psalm 9 says, sing praises, to the Lord who sits enthroned in Sion tell among the people, his deeds, Psalm 96, oh, sing to the Lord, a new song, sing to the Lord, all the Earth, sing to the Lord blesses.

Unknown: Name tell of his salvation day today. Psalms not only give us these direct commands to sing. They also give us Reasons. Why We Sing Psalm 147, says praise the Lord for, it is good to sing praises to our God, for it is pleasant and a song of Praise is fitting. Some 106 gives us Hicks historical examples of singing. It says, then they believed his words, they sang his praises.

Unknown: Raise Psalm 95 acts as a call to worship a call to join together and singing it says, oh come let us sing to the Lord. Let us Make a Joyful Noise to the rock of our salvation.

Unknown: And of course the book of Psalms would talk about singing. I mean it\'s literally a collection of 150 worship songs. So let\'s look at other examples in scripture of singing and second Samuel, when the Ark of the Covenant is brought back into Jerusalem David and the house of Israel celebrated by singing playing instruments and even oh yes dancing in second Chronicles when King Hezekiah cleanses the temple after they offered a sacrifice on the altar, the whole congregation

Unknown: Saying and they played symbols Harps liars, and they blew trumpets.

Unknown: When they celebrated the Passover under King Hezekiah still in second chronicles, it says that they praised the Lord day by day singing, with all their might to the Lord in Nehemiah. As they dedicated the rebuilding of the wall, they celebrated with gladness with Thanksgiving and with singing Isaiah explains what will happen when God redeems. His people in chapter 51 it says joy and gladness will be found in her Thanksgiving and the sound of singing.

Unknown: And therefore, the redeemed of the Lord shall return and come with singing unto Zion and everlasting, Joy, shall be upon their head. We moved to the New Testament, both the gospels of Matthew. And Mark, they both document that after finishing, the Passover meal in the upper room Jesus and his disciples saying a him in Acts 16, we read that while in prison Paul and Silas together prayed and sang hymns, both Ephesians and Colossians.

Unknown: Us to address one another with singing and in Revelation 5 after the slain lamb took the scroll from the right hand of him who is Seated on the throne, all of the creatures and Elders in the throne room sang, a new song saying worthy, are you to take the scroll and to open its seals?

Unknown: That\'s less than 20 of the 400 references to singing in scripture. So, God spends that much time. Talking about singing, We had better, pay attention. So we are created to sing. We are called to sing. And if singing is such a big deal,

Unknown: what is it that we should be singing?

Unknown: What should we sing Our passage today tells us to address one another in Psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. I have to admit. When I started doing research for this message, I was excited to finally discover what Paul meant when he said Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs in his letters to both the Ephesians and the Colossians

Unknown: And after hours of research, the answer is we\'re still not sure. I mean, we can draw some conclusions. There\'s things were going to talk about here. But in reality, I\'ve heard people use this passage to justify why hymns are better than modern worship songs, and we should only sing hymns and worship. I\'ve also heard people use this passage to say, why modern worship songs are better than hymns. And we should only sing modern worship songs in church.

Unknown: This passage doesn\'t say either one of those things. This passage can\'t be used to put one style over another. And so, let\'s take a look about why. It says that Psalms hymns and spiritual songs starting with Psalms, the Greek word for Psalms to, No, Surprise is a direct reference reference to the Book of Psalms. We call it the psalter a collection of 150 songs written throughout Jewish history. Several

Unknown: All of which written by King David himself, they were used for prayer for times of devotion and in their services and in their festivals, it was part of the scripture that they had available to them. When Paul wrote this letter, the root word of Psalms though, predates the psalter itself. It literally means plucking of a string or the sound from a stringed instrument because the Psalms were originally accompanied songs, they were accompanied by

Unknown: The instruments commonly available in their day, you\'ll notice as you read through psalms, many of them have instruction or two names at the beginning. For example, Psalm 61 starts out to the choirmaster with stringed instruments. Psalm 45 says, to the choirmaster according to the lilies and the Hebrew word here, translated, according to the lilies is believed to either be the name of the tune that you would sing that song to or it was the instrument that

Unknown: It played the tune that you would, that would accompany the singing of that song. So the Psalms were accompanied, they were sung. And so, we know Paul is, at the very least, instructing us to sing songs from available scripture, and possibly, even encouraging us to use the common available instruments.

Unknown: Okay, so now the word hymns, the word Paul uses here has a much broader meaning than one would think. And to be blunt, hymns doesn\'t mean sing songs out of the hymnal, that you\'ll find in the Pew in front of you.

Unknown: It can\'t mean that because in reality, none of the songs printed in the hymnal that we have here. Existed, when Paul gave this instruction to sing to one another in hymns, in fact, the oldest him Melody. We have printed in our Hymnal and that you\'ll find printed in most modern hymnals is be thou my vision.

Unknown: And that dates back to the early 8th Century more than 600 years after Paul\'s letters. And even be thou, my vision has been edited changed re harmonized and sounds nothing. Like it would have sounded over 1,000 years ago. So even the oldest hymns that we have record of were at some point considered contemporary and modern, even the hymns and Corrales written in harmonized by Bach, would have sounded modern and edgy to the earlier generations of Hill,

Unknown: The guard Von bingen and Guillaume do fi and Giovanni palestrina and for those listening that aren\'t as excited about music history. As I am, those are Church composers from the 12th 15th and 16th centuries. All that to say back when st. Francis of Assisi wrote, the hymn All Creatures of our God and King a whopping 1200 years. After Paul wrote his letters back then the music of Bill Gaither and I love Bill Gaither. But back then the music of Bill Gaither might as well have been heavy metal and would have been

Unknown: hemmed as too. Radical inappropriate in the harmonies outlawed in the church.

Unknown: All of the music, we have record of now at some point.

Unknown: It was Modern. And Paul\'s, Psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Cannot be used to justify one generation or style of music over. Another, in any direction.

Unknown: Okay. So what does the word hymns mean? Or what did it mean? When Paul wrote this letter in the Greek word for hymns, who noise?

Unknown: That\'s used in Ephesians, and in Colossians was a common word in Greek culture. Meaning a scription of praise to the gods, it was used throughout Antiquity both in and out of the church with both sacred and secular meanings in the first century. The one difference is Jewish and early Christians, really would have meant a song of praise to our God, to the one true God, but it was also used throughout all of the culture with

Unknown: a wide variety of style. Sing hymns of praise to the one true God.

Unknown: All right, in the third word is songs. The Greek you word used here for songs as oh, dice. It\'s simply the word for song. It\'s a word used both in and out of church and it\'s a word with as Broad and generic as a meaning as possible. It could have meant love songs. It could have meant Tavern songs or battle songs. It\'s the word you would use when referring to a song by Garth Brooks or Taylor Swift. It\'s the same word. We would use to say when I\'m done preaching, we\'re going to sing a song. It\'s the

Unknown: Same word used in Revelation 5 when the elders sang a new song, it\'s the all-encompassing word for song, any genre any style. So Paul makes a modification here and he uses the word spiritual sing spiritual songs. He\'s not modifying the style, simply the content, sing the songs for the church, not the songs for the culture.

Unknown: Song related to the spirit, not the culture, he\'s not modifying the style, simply the content. So while Scholars continue to bait debate, the fine points of Psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. And some thinks that thinks that me and sing Jewish songs, Greek, songs and other songs, or some thinks that means scripture songs, praise songs and personal testimony songs or some even assert that Psalms, hymns. And spiritual songs means old songs, new songs, and spontaneous songs made.

Unknown: Up on the spot, there is agreement among scholarship on one point and that is Paul is drawing from a variety and diverse collection of music available to the church and the Psalms in the early hymns that they would have had included, upbeat songs songs of lament songs of reflection songs with theological instruction, thought songs with personal testimony songs with historical facts and songs that span the entire Continuum of human emotion.

Unknown: So, what should we be singing? When we address one another in Psalms, hymns and spiritual songs as we gather together as a church.

Unknown: All of this, we will sing variety.

Unknown: Variety, we\'re going to sing old songs. Will sing new songs will sing old songs that sound like new songs. Will sing new songs that sound like old songs. Will sing songs of instruction songs, have testimony songs that quote scripture songs to God, songs about God songs to each other. We will focus more on content than style or genre.

Unknown: When we were coming out of the pandemic shutdowns and we were looking at relaunching our in-person gathering Services here at Bridges. The leadership asked me, what would our worship look like and sound? Like it was challenging for me to think through if if you weren\'t here before the pandemic, we had two different Services, each Sunday morning, the same sermon. But two different styles of music and now we would be joining together in one service.

Unknown: I was excited about that choice and I\'m grateful that we are all together at the same time in the same place. Now, it is such a joy to gather together but I got asked, are we going to sound like this church over here or we going to sound like that church over there? Are we going to sound like the music? I found online? Or are we going to sound like this church? I heard on the radio, are we going to use instruments? I heard in this CD or we going to use the instruments in this YouTube video.

Unknown: And it became obvious to me. What the answer was. No.

Unknown: We\'re not going to be any of those. We\'re not going to try to be any of those churches or music teams. No matter how famous or popular at least not on purpose and we\'re not going to try to mimic anyone except Bridges Community Church.

Unknown: So I dubbed our worship style uniquely Bridges, not unique, in the sense that were unlike anyone else or that. We\'re going to go out of our way to be different. But we are going to worship God, in a way that God has uniquely gifted this body of believers.

Unknown: And I believe that God has truly gifted this body of Believers with talent. That is beyond measure. I am absolutely spoiled by the teams of people that I get to work with every week. So On Any Given Sunday rather than sounding exactly like the new song that you just heard streaming on Spotify, this room is going to be filled with sounds like like Mike Rivers sitting down at the piano. Like he does so well and it\'s going to be filled with the sounds of David\'s

Unknown: I\'m playing piano or cello or let\'s face it any instrument we put in his hands because that man is a genius. That\'s right.

Unknown: I told you I\'m spoiled and we\'ll have Danny on drums and most weeks. We\'ll have Billy on the base or this month. Billy is touring Chile. So we get James on base.

Unknown: James you have been a fantastic addition to this team and I\'m so grateful we got to work with you this month and I really hope that we get to work with you. Long after January is over. Thanks for being with us. Can we thank James for being with us one more time? Seriously thanks man.

Unknown: And when we have enough violin, Viola and cello players in town will have a string section and when we have enough trumpets and trombones and saxophones will have a service with big band Tunes like we did back in December or like Al\'s email to me called it. It sounds like Chicago was leading worship today, I\'ll take that as a compliment by the way.

Unknown: And no matter who sing the original track that streaming on Apple music here at Bridges, it\'s going to sound just a little bit better because Laura is going to be leading it.

Unknown: Along with Beth and along with Pat and Jane and Dean and Kirby land on harmonies like we\'ve never heard and no matter how hard I try, I\'ve been accused that everything icing is going to be just a little bit country and listen and let\'s be honest when I get going when I\'m thinking about what we\'re seeing about, I am not going to stand still because I just don\'t have the ability because let\'s face it. If this afternoon, I jump off the couch in a fun.

Unknown: Burris Applause because the 49ers score a touchdown, I better do the same thing. When we\'re singing about the resurrection of Jesus.

Unknown: And then when we can will later in the choir, as many people are willing to show up whether seasoned Pro or a rookie vocalist, and you want to sing in the choir, you let me know. We will sign you up.

Unknown: And all of that everything that\'s happening on this platform up here, we are going to join together with all of you. A couple hundred of our dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ and we are going to lift up a sound and it will be glorious. It\'ll be beautiful. It will be an offering tube of praise to God. That will be uniquely Bridges.

Unknown: And above all else. There is one thing that I promise it will be

Unknown: It will be true.

Unknown: We will sing the truth more than carefully crafting and curating, the style, the songs, this church sings will be filled with the truth. The truth matters, and the top criteria of any song we choose to lead in this church must be true. Whether it was written yesterday or hundreds of years ago, it must not compromise, the truth of scripture, the parallel passage from Ephesians 5 is Colossians 3 and it says and let the word of Christ dwell in

Unknown: Well in you richly teaching and admonishing, one another and all wisdom singing, Psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, the word of God matters, truth matters. And to be honest with you, I care far more about truth in song than style or genre in stone in song.

Unknown: So, more than everyone in here, liking a song that we sing. I would rather each person in this room be infected with the theologically true earworm. Instead of loving a song that we sang together, I would rather the resurrection of Jesus, infect your mind deeper than baby shark instead of thanks for the him. I would rather hear I can\'t stop singing that song about the cross. So what will we sing? When we gather together we will sing a variety of musical styles.

Unknown: Tile and we will sing the truth.

Unknown: So, the next question, how will we sing?

Unknown: We return to our passage. It says singing and making Melody to the Lord with your heart giving. Thanks always and for everything to God, the father, in the name of our Lord. Jesus Christ, submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.

Unknown: When we worship we worship vertically. I think that part is obvious, many of us know that we sing to God, and that\'s vertical worship, and it\'s obvious on songs, like, Lord, I need you or I need thee every hour, or even a song, like Battle Belongs because we say The Battle Belongs to You.

Unknown: But if we only sing vertically, we are missing a vital piece of worship, because we can sing vertically alone.

Unknown: I do that all the time. Big surprise usually when I\'m driving in the car but we are instructed here in verse 19 not just dissing vertically but to address one another, you can\'t address one another and song by yourself. You can\'t address one another cozied up in your pjs watching an online service.

Unknown: Psalm 149 says, praise the Lord sing to the Lord, a new song, his praise in the Assembly of The Godly in the assembly together with the church in order to address one another, we must be with one, another sing and make Melody with one another to one another. That\'s what we\'re doing when we\'re singing. So many of our worship songs just a few minutes ago. I sang the words to this I hold my hope is only Jesus for my life.

Unknown: Life as holy bound to his. Oh, how strange and divine I can sing all is mine yet. Not I, but through Christ in me. Who am I singing that too?

Unknown: I certainly singing it to Jesus himself, he can hear, he knows my heart when I sing those words.

Unknown: That\'s also for everyone else in the room. That is horizontal nature of singing together. We need both to sing vertically and we sing horizontally. So the next time you sing it Is Well with My Soul. Remember that you\'re telling God, it Is Well with My Soul but you\'re also telling everyone else in this room and everyone else in this room is telling you

Unknown: Seminary, professor and esteemed church music historian. Donald husted, says music in church is fourfold. It\'s Proclamation, education, pastoral care and fellowship. It\'s Proclamation because we Proclaim God\'s Mighty works. Like when we sing A Mighty Fortress. Is Our God. A bulwark. Never fading.

Unknown: It\'s education As we sing to one another. We make instructions with like take-home theology, we call it. Like, when I sing the words, nothing in my hand. I bring simply to the cross. I cling, we\'re teaching theology.

Unknown: It\'s pastoral care as Houston says because since music isn\'t acknowledged healer of the human spirit.

Unknown: That made me think of when we Sing Because He Lives I Can Face Tomorrow.

Unknown: Because He Lives all fear is gone.

Unknown: And it\'s Fellowship. Like when we sing, like, when we sang this morning, come let us worship the king. Come, let us bow at his feet. Now, any of these songs Could Be Sung vertically, they could be sung in the spirit of testimony, but they cannot fully function without the horizontal aspect of congregational singing, You Can\'t Proclaim educate offer care or Fellowship in musical isolation.

Unknown: So we sing vertically and we sing horizontally.

Unknown: But I know what you\'re thinking.

Unknown: You\'re thinking what if I can\'t sing? What if I don\'t sound so good?

Unknown: That answer is pretty simple. Do it anyway.

Unknown: The psalmist, says, Make a Joyful Noise to the Lord. See, singing is an act of worship and scripture teaches us that worship should be a sacrifice of. Praise Hebrews 13:15 through him. Then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God. That is the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name.

Unknown: Romans 12:1, Steve just preached on this a couple weeks ago. Therefore, I urge you brothers and sisters in view of God\'s Murphy, Mercy to offer your bodies as Living Sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God. That is your true. And proper worship worship is an offering of sacrifice to God in response to what he has already done for us.

Unknown: So we sing vertically. We sing horizontally and we sing sacrificially.

Unknown: The Book of Leviticus outlines the sacrificial system of worship. And while we don\'t worship by offering animal sacrifices anymore on the altar, we learned that these sacrifices start with sacrifice.

Unknown: It sounds a little weird at first but bear with me here, the animal that was to be offered was to be without blemish whether a bowl or a lamb or a goat. It must be the best that you have from your flock with out blemish. See offering up your leftovers isn\'t a sacrifice.

Unknown: But if you continue to read through Leviticus you see that if you couldn\'t afford a lamb or a goat often, you could bring two turtledoves or two pigeons, see the sacrifice or the offering of worship was based on your ability to produce the offering, bring the best that you have to the temple.

Unknown: I\'m reminded of the Widow\'s Mite. Jesus tells the story of the Widow who only has two small coins to us for her offering.

Unknown: Bring the best you have to offer to the temple.

Unknown: The may be the best, you have to offer as an out-of-tune out of time fumbling and stumbling through the lyrics that more closely resembles an injured alleycat rather than an operatic oratorio, but let that be your Widow\'s Mite of melodic worship.

Unknown: I can think of plenty of wonderful vocalist who sang beautifully.

Unknown: But don\'t know the Lord so can\'t offer musical authentic musical worship. And I\'ve known many people who would self-diagnosis not having a musical bone in their body who regularly bring a sacrificial offering of song that would not please your ear but would melt your heart.

Unknown: And just this week my wife Casey reminded me of the lyrics to a song called dandelions by the Christian ska punk band Five Iron Frenzy. Yes I said Christian ska. Punk band

Unknown: But dandelions is a song that describes a mother receiving freshly picked Dan dandelions from her child and cherishes them as yellow flowers instead of weeds.

Unknown: The lyrics, say all that I\'ve ever wanted was to give my best to you. Lord search my heart. Created me, something clean dandelions. You see flowers in these weeds?

Unknown: C.s. Lewis says it like this all our offerings weather of music or martyrdom.

Unknown: Are like the intrinsically worthless present of a child, which a father values. Indeed. But values, only for the intention

Unknown: Our best attempts to recreate a Bob Ross landscape would never come close to the overwhelming beauty of God\'s creation. Yet the one who spoke into existence every last detail of the Yosemite Valley receives a toddler\'s cran scribbled. Stick figure attaches it to the fridge and says you made this for me. Well done.

Unknown: God wants our heart intention over, Perfection. So we sing with our heart, sacrificially, with the best that we have to offer. He doesn\'t want lip service. No matter how lovely Jesus makes this clear when he chastises the Pharisees saying you Hypocrites. Well, did Isaiah prophesy of you when he said this people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me, in vain, do they worship me?

Unknown: He wants authentic sacrificial Melody that flows from an understanding of what God has done we sing because even on the days we otherwise can\'t muster a peep and let\'s face it. We don\'t always feel like singing We Are compelled to sing anyway.

Unknown: Paul writes in second Corinthians for Christ\'s love, compels us because we are convinced that one died for all and therefore, all died. And he died for all that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for him who died for them and was raised again.

Unknown: On the night, Jesus was to be arrested.

Unknown: He gathered with his disciples in the upper room, he knew what was coming.

Unknown: He explained to them, that he would be betrayed. He instituted the Lord\'s Supper saying, this is my body given for you. And this cup is my blood of the Covenant, which is poured out for many for the Forgiveness of sins.

Unknown: He knew what was about to happen.

Unknown: And yet, he gave, thanks.

Unknown: And then it says, right before they went to the Mount of Olives, you remember the Mount of Olives where Jesus would ultimately pray, my father. If it be possible, let this cup pass from me right before they went to the Mount of Olives. It says, they sang A Hymn.

Unknown: Jesus knowing full. Well, what was about to happen? Sang with his disciples.

Unknown: And as Jesus was hanging on the cross, he cried out with a loud voice. My God. My God. Why have you forsaken me?

Unknown: Now, he may have been crying out in anguish, but he was quoting a song.

Unknown: Psalm 22 to be exact.

Unknown: And there on the cross, he breathed his last.

Unknown: And he gave up his spirit.

Unknown: Jesus gave up his songs so that we may lift up a Melody. Jesus lost his song so that we may find our voice Jesus saying alone, isolated lonely and broken. So that we might sing together United and with grateful hearts and when Jesus rose from the grave on the third day, he made sure that all who Trust on him will never lose their song again. He ensured that death would no longer be the final Cadence, but only a segue into the next movement. Oh,

Unknown: Death. Where is your Victory death? Where is your sting for the melodic? Overtones of the redeemed will ring out throughout eternity.

Unknown: And on that day, when we see the throne room all who are adopted into the family of God will be singing a new song and it will not cease.

Unknown: That\'s what it means, singing and making Melody to the Lord with your heart giving. Thanks always and for everything to God, the father, in the name of our Lord. Jesus Christ.

Unknown: Not that I\'m happy for my current circumstances right now.

Unknown: but remembering that, no matter the circumstances I\'m in now

Unknown: even though I don\'t deserve it.

Unknown: Jesus, Paid my debt.

Unknown: My sin has been forgiven.

Unknown: and so,

Unknown: We sing.

Unknown: Would you pray with me?

Unknown: Lord. God, we thank you for the gift that is music. We thank you for the gift that we can lift our voices together in a uniquely Bridges way that we, as a family can come together and we can sing to you and we can sing to each other and that through those songs, we can remember things like nothing in my hand. I bring simply to the cross. I cling.

Unknown: And God, we can remember that yet. Not I but through Christ in me.

Unknown: We can remember what your son Christ has done for us.

Unknown: And we thank you that Jesus gave up his song on the cross.

Unknown: We thank you that he cried out on the cross and three days later he rose from the grave so that we will be singing for all eternity and God I am. So grateful for that God, I pray that on the days. I don\'t feel like singing you fill my heart.

Unknown: With a Melody that I can just burst out in singing remembering what you have done for us.

Unknown: And for that, we thank you. We love you. In Jesus name, I pray. Amen.

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