Music Notes

September marks a unique milestone for SUMC. We celebrate our 125th anniversary on Sunday, Septmber 13th. To mark the occasion, we will have a number of musical highlights in the program, including the gifts of individual members, the chancel and children’s choirs, the bell choir, and music from our contemporary service worship team. It will truly be a grand service.

It reminds me of various points in the Bible when God encourages people to remember and commemorate things. Particularly with the people of Israel in the Old Testament, God set up various holidays and days of remembrance when people could focus on the wonderful things God had done. One of the ways the people were called to remember these occasions was through singing. One such occasion was after God had brought the Israelites through the Red Sea. Moses and Miriam led the nation in a song, declaring, “I will sing to the Lord for he is highly exalted. The horse and its rider he has hurled into the sea.” (Exod. 15:1) Not only did the people sing this song and celebrate God’s victory at that time, but the song was a way for them to carry on the memory of God’s mighty acts to future generations.

So it should be in our lives, as well. God has done great things in our lives as individuals, and in our corporate life as a congregation. What could be a better way to remember this than to sing of God’s faithfulness, and offer remembrances of the good things God has done than with music? So our anniversary is not about anything we have accomplished on our own, but about remembering what God has done for our church. We can sing and offer praises because His presence has been with us in the past, is with us now, and He has promised that it will be with us to the ends of the age.