(1b) Make a joyful shout to God, all the earth!
2 Sing out the honor of His name; Make His praise glorious.
3 Say to God, "How awesome are Your works! Through the greatness of Your power Your enemies shall submit themselves to You.
4 All the earth shall worship You And sing praises to You; They shall sing praises to Your name..."
There are several ways highlighted in these four verses that can encourage us in how we share vocal praise and worship to God. Verse 1 speaks of a joyful shout, i.e. giving praise to God with a loud voice - from our hearts, we can express our adoration to Him. Verses 2 and 4 refer to singing praise to the Lord. And verse 3 gives us some words to say to God. God wants us to bring, as Hebrews 13 mentions, a sacrifice of praise, the fruit of our lips. We can be challenged to speak to and about our Savior.
We are now on Day 18 of this year's Christmas Advent-ure - the theme is "Destination: Bethlehem," and our Savior has been born. Mary and Joseph reached the appointed place for the child to be born, and the Messiah, who would fulfill hundreds of prophecies written about him through the ages, has come into the world.
And, even though he was born in humble surroundings, there was immense spiritual activity surrounding the event. There was a bold announcement to a group of shepherds that night, and we
read the account in Luke 2:
8 Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night.
9 And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid.
10 Then the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people.
11 For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
12 And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger."
13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying:
14 "Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!"
Check out the components - an angel making the announcement, the glory of the Lord manifested, and a multitude of angels praising God. You have to admit, there was plenty of worship that was surrounding the birth of Jesus. Imagine the decibel level that night in the shepherd's fields, today's location in our Advent-ure.
There's a church in Metairie, LA, that is having some trouble with its decibel levels. According to a story on the NOLA.com website, Vintage Church began holding its Sunday morning services in a tent, preparing for its brick-and-mortar building to undergo an expansion.
Neighbors say the loud music and sermons during the services disturb their sleep, causing vibrations throughout their homes and rattling their windows. They've called Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office deputies out 20 times in the past five months, and Executive Pastor Matt Brichetto has received two misdemeanor summons for noise ordinance violations.
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We are now on Day 18 of this year's Christmas Advent-ure - the theme is "Destination: Bethlehem," and our Savior has been born. Mary and Joseph reached the appointed place for the child to be born, and the Messiah, who would fulfill hundreds of prophecies written about him through the ages, has come into the world.
And, even though he was born in humble surroundings, there was immense spiritual activity surrounding the event. There was a bold announcement to a group of shepherds that night, and we
read the account in Luke 2:
8 Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night.
9 And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid.
10 Then the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people.
11 For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
12 And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger."
13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying:
14 "Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!"
Check out the components - an angel making the announcement, the glory of the Lord manifested, and a multitude of angels praising God. You have to admit, there was plenty of worship that was surrounding the birth of Jesus. Imagine the decibel level that night in the shepherd's fields, today's location in our Advent-ure.
There's a church in Metairie, LA, that is having some trouble with its decibel levels. According to a story on the NOLA.com website, Vintage Church began holding its Sunday morning services in a tent, preparing for its brick-and-mortar building to undergo an expansion.
Neighbors say the loud music and sermons during the services disturb their sleep, causing vibrations throughout their homes and rattling their windows. They've called Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office deputies out 20 times in the past five months, and Executive Pastor Matt Brichetto has received two misdemeanor summons for noise ordinance violations.
Liberty Institute, a Christian legal advocacy group, represents the church. Its website says that...
...after a disgruntled neighbor complained that the church’s tent services were “too loud,” Jefferson Parish officials issued a criminal summons for breaking a noise level of 60 dB—which is the noise equivalent of a running dishwasher or a conversation in a restaurant. The parish’s ordinances place sound limits on churches but not on power tools, construction, or demolition noise. Liberty Institute filed a lawsuit against Jefferson Parish on December 10, 2015. In addition, Liberty Institute requested a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) on December 10 to prevent Jefferson Parish from enforcing their noise ordinance in such a discriminatory manner.NOLA.com reported that...
Jefferson Parish officials did not violate a Metairie church's religious rights when the sheriff's office cited a pastor for violating the parish noise ordinance, a 24th Judicial District Court judge determined Tuesday (Dec. 22). Judge Adrian Adams denied Vintage Church's request for an injunction that would stop further citations.The story says that the church was told that before 10 a.m., they can't use any amplified noise -- no drums, no amps for their music, and no microphones for the pastor. The church has two services each Sunday morning, the first of which begins at 9 a.m. The rest of the time, the noise heard at the property line can't exceed 60 decibels, described as the volume of a normal conversation.
Church officials say they've stopped using sound amplification. But in the middle of a service, the church's pastors said it's impossible to know when they're exceeding 60 decibels and when they're not. Brichetto was cited once in October, and once in November.
They say the frequent presence of sheriff's deputies at the church has unnerved members of their congregation, and that they had to explain to members why Brichetto was fingerprinted and cited.
According to the Liberty Institute website, in their lawsuit, Liberty and attorney Roy Bowes make the argument:
They say the frequent presence of sheriff's deputies at the church has unnerved members of their congregation, and that they had to explain to members why Brichetto was fingerprinted and cited.
According to the Liberty Institute website, in their lawsuit, Liberty and attorney Roy Bowes make the argument:
- The government’s actions have placed a substantial burden on Vintage Church’s exercise of religion, without a compelling government interest.
- Issuing criminal sanctions against Vintage Church while permitting much louder sounds from lawn mowers and jackhammers is unwarranted hostility.
- Both of these actions are a violation of the Louisiana Preservation of Religious Freedom Act and the federal Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, rendering the government’s actions illegal.
I definitely see the church's point here, and they have investigated alternatives. Definitely not an in-your-face situation. But, according to the actions of local officials - the church is "too loud."
It must have been loud that night in Bethlehem as the angels proclaimed our Savior's birth. And, as I considered this story from Louisiana, I thought about the volume of our message, spiritually speaking.
First of all, we are told in Scripture to make a joyful noise. There is a time for silence and contemplation, but I believe that we are called to sing and even shout to the Lord. From the innermost parts of our being, we can bring forth a pleasing sound to God, to honor Him, to tell Him how we adore Him, to thank Him for what He's done for us. I believe that God is pleased as we express our praise to Him.
I also believe that we can reflect the glory of God - we can send our message through the way we live. Steven Curtis Chapman said it in a song a few years back: "Live Out Loud." The glory of God was circulating in the shepherd's fields that night as the angels appeared to make their announcement. As we are faithful to live and speak God's Word, we can experience His presence. We can depend on Him to flow through us to make Himself known.
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