Music Ministry

Expressing Faith through
Choral, Instrumental,
Media & Creative Ministries
by ...

Letting everything
that has breath ...

PRAISE THE LORD!

Thank you for taking time to discover the many faces of Music Ministry.  If you cannot find the information you are seeking, or simply want more information on how you can be involved in this exciting ministry, call 385-5154 and ask for Lynda or David.

Age Graded Children’s Choirs

Children’s Choirs at First Baptist encompass weekly and special event music activities for children ages three years old through grade five. Children’s choirs meet on Wednesday evenings as part of our midweek ministry programming. Call for a listing of Children’s Choirs and their meeting places and time.

It's Music Day Camp time! What a great week this is going to be for boys and girls who have completed grades 1-6. Need to know more about this camp ... call the church office and ask about the grat things planned for this week of exciting music making!

Need a registration form? Simply click the image to the left and a pdf registration form will appear. Bring the form and your $15 registration fee by the church office at your convenience, or mail it to:

First Baptist Church
Attn: Music Day Camp
200 East Center Ave.
Sebring, FL   33870

Youth Choir

Youth Choir is for students grades Seven through Twelve. This choir rehearses weekly and has frequent opportunities for worship service leadership. Additionally, this choir is afforded other music and ministry opportunities throughout the year through special events and activities like musical productions, conferences, retreats, and mission trips.

Sanctuary Choir

Open to all adults (or interested older teens) without audition requirements, Sanctuary Choir has the major responsibility for providing special music for our worship experiences. In addition to weekly service responsibilities, Sanctuary Choir is also involved in the presentation of major celebrations, and seasonal or musical outreach programs.

We Are His Church click to listen/right click to copy

Love Is the More Excellent Way click to listen/right click to copy

       REHEARSAL NOTES

Handbells

Opportunities to express faith and musical abilities through ringing English Handbells is available for children, teens and adults. Choirs rehearse at various times during the week and may require certain music reading skills for participation. Call 385-5154 and ask how you can be involved.

Vocal and Instrumental Ensembles

Singers and Instrumentalist can participate in music making opportunities as soloists or through participation in special ensembles. Interested? Ask David if there is an opportunity for service and expression available to you!

A Rationale for Heritage Worship

written by David M. Thomas, Minister of Music

It seems everything in today’s world has to have some kind of descriptive label attached to it. Worship is no different. The words Traditional, Blended and Contemporary are usually used to describe worship, but at First Baptist Church, Sebring, worship is best characterized by the word Heritage. Heritage is something we receive but also something we pass on. It is a dynamic blending of the proven treasures from the past with the perceived treasures of the present. How is that fleshed out in a worship service? It means that the music, liturgy and worship forms used in worship blend the best of the past and present into an experience that enables God to engage people on mental, emotional and spiritual levels. Worship in this way is at the same time personal and corporate, and always fresh because it is a present – not a past or future – experience.

PHILOSOPHY OF HERITAGE WORSHIP

In our age of rapid change and multiplied diversity, how does the church deal with the plethora of need people bring to our worship settings? An easy question to ask and a difficult one to answer! In fact, many people worldwide are struggling within themselves and with others over this very issue. Is there one “true” style for worship? Can we really meet the worship needs of so many different generations of worshippers? The questions could go on and on, and as long as we seek resolution through human opinion, they will remain unanswered. That’s why we need to turn to the Bible for insights. First, “worship wars” are not a contemporary phenomenon. Jesus experienced the same thing when the woman of Sychar threw down the worship gauntlet in the 4^th chapter of John …

“Our fathers worshiped in this mountain, and you people say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.” (John 4:20, NAS)

Jesus quickly saw through the diversionary ploy of this woman and cut to the heart of the matter. You see, she was looking at the “style” of worship and its trappings as being the thing bringing validity to worship. Jesus parried this by refocusing her attention on the “substance” of worship …

“Woman believe me, an hour is coming when neither in this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, shall you worship the Father. You worship that which you do not know; we worship that which we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshippers. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” (John 4:21-24, NAS)

Jesus’ words forced the woman to realize that worship requires a personal spiritual encounter with the living God! In its simplest terms, worship is God and man connecting with each other. It is a relational experience and not an event as the Samaritan woman thought. So, you see, worship isn’t about whether we sing choruses or hymns, or if we wear suits or open collared shirts, or if we raise our hands or don’t. Worship is about our connecting with God in spirit and in truth! In that vein, only those who know Him personally are truly able to worship.

Few people would argue the veracity of the above statements, but many will still turn around and strenuously argue that “style” is critically important in our day. How then do we address this position? Individual fellowships have to address this question for themselves. Every body of believers has a mission uniquely its own. No two worship communities are alike. Both believers and the people among whom they serve and minister are unique in their needs, desires and hopes. Ours’ is not a “one size fits all” world. Again scripture puts it this way …

“For the body is not one member, but many. If the foot should say, ‘Because I am not a hand, I am not a part of the body,’ it is not for this reason any the less a part of the body. And if the ear should say ‘Because I am not an eye, I am not a part of the body,’ it is not for this reason any the less a part of the body. If the whole body where an eye where would the hearing be? If the whole were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? But now God has placed the members, each one of them, in the body, just as He desired. And if they were all one member, where would the body be? But now there are many members, but one body. And the eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I have no need of you’; or again the head to the feet, ‘I have no need of you.” (1Cor. 12:14-21, NAS)

What does this mean? God created the many parts of our bodies to function as a whole entity. Every part has function and purpose for the body and no part is useless to the body’s purposes. In the same way, God created the church as a whole entity with many parts. Every part (worshipping fellowship) has significance with God, therefore no “worship style” is more right or less right than any other. That is, given the fact that their worship is indeed in spirit and in truth! So then, this becomes the key question, “Does the worship of my church enable me to engage God on His level and with complete honesty?” Are we simply going through the motions of an event, merely giving God lip service in our worship services, or are we truly meeting Him and presenting our lives as living sacrifices unto Him?

Second, worship is a dynamic experience. We must be involved in order to truly worship. Worship is not a spectator event. You cannot see worship … you must experience it. It isn’t an event; it is an activity. In fact, it is entirely possible to see others engaged in authentic worship and not experience it for yourself. As tragic as that sounds it happens far too often. People erect worship “barriers” that deny them the ability to meet God head on. How? By not participating, by the stubbornness of personal will, by forsaking holiness, by allowing habit to overrule sacrifice.

Third, worship is taught and caught. This is where the idea of heritage comes into play. In Matthew 13:52, Jesus says …

“Therefore every scribe who has become a disciple of the kingdom is like a head of household, who brings forth out of his treasure things old and new.” (Matthew 13:52, NAS)

Believers who have gone on to heaven before us lived experiences with God that were captured in hymnody and other worship genre and which can be wisely brought to the table of worship today as treasure proven by the test of time. Because God was the same yesterday as He is today, the truths gleaned by them, when passed on to us, garner valuable wisdom and insight in our lives. So also, we today are experiencing God and our encounters with Him bring praise to Him through our testamental living and our record for the future. We must be learning from the past and at the same time passing on to the future. That is why family worship is so important to the life of the church.

Families worshipping together is more than just a nicety, it is necessity!   Take a long look at these scriptural imperatives for family and corporate worship …

“Both young men and virgins; Old men and children. Let them praise the name of the Lord, for His name alone is exalted; His glory is above earth and heaven..” (Psalm 148:12-13, NAS)

“And the things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, these entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also.” (2Tim 2:2, NAS)

“And that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.” (2Tim3:15, NAS)

“And it will come about when your children will say to you, ‘What does this rite mean to you?’ that you shall say, ‘It is a Passover sacrifice to the Lord who passed over the houses of the sons of Israel in Egypt when He smote the Egyptians but spared our homes.’” And the people bowed low and worshipped.” (Ex 12:26, 27, NAS)

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