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Come Sing with Us
By Joy Hale, Winsted
I just love to sing! And I am so lucky to be a member of the Senior Choir at the Church of Christ in Winsted. I’m lucky for two reasons. First, this is such an awesome group. We have between 25-35 singers on any given Sunday who can sing anything from traditional hymns to Mozart, from dirges to Southern gospel. We can sing a cappella but we prefer to be accompanied by our massive pipe organ. A flute, trumpet, or even a tambourine might highlight us.
Second, I'm just plain lucky that they let me sing despite the fact that I have been endowed with more enthusiasm than talent. Why risk irritating the people next to me each week? Well, I trip over my tongue when I try to explain my thoughts and feelings about personal things like my spirituality. But I can express how I feel by singing the words of others through song. It's easy to do when you have a choir director who is a master at selecting music that is Bible-based and tells the story and glory of our God.
One song in particular really exemplifies this. On Sunday, February 2, we will be singing "Come, Share the Lord" in conjunction with our communion service. The lyrics really tell the story behind this tradition.
We celebrate communion on the first Sunday of each month, and it's a wonderful first step if you are church shopping. Everyone is welcome to take communion here, no matter what your religious background. It makes no difference if you are a believer or a seeker. You'll feel like you belong without losing your anonymity.
As each church serves communion a little differently, I'd like to give you quick heads-up, so you'll know what to expect. We start our worship service with a unison prayer of confession; this is a generic but heartfelt confession of our shortcomings and a plea to help us do better in the future. And because Christ died for our sins, we are then given assurance that our sins are forgiven and forgotten.
Then our deacons serve the bread and wine (juice, really) to the congregation. When you are handed the tray by the person next to you, hold it so that person can take their share, then pass the tray to the next person so they can hold it for you. Take either a pre-cut cube of bread or pull some off the loaf. We wait until everyone is served, and then we eat and drink together on Reverend Jim's signal. The empty cups go in the wooden racks in front of you.
This obviously is just the logistical nitty-gritty, not the spiritual and ritual part of the program. I wish I could convey to you how special and holy this ceremony is and how it ties together all our basic Christian beliefs. But I can't, so I will let the lyrics I will sing on Sunday do it for me:
"We gather here in Jesus name. His love is burning in our hearts like living flame, for through His loving Son, the Father makes us one.
"For He will feed us with His presence here. This bread and wine will do us good. Our deepest hungers He will satisfy, for He is life and peace and rest and drink and food.
"He joins us here. He breaks the bread. The Lord who pours the cup is risen from the dead. The One we love the most is now our gracious host.
"No one is a stranger here—everyone belongs. Finding our forgiveness here, we in turn forgive all wrongs.
"We are now the family of which the Lord is head. Though unseen, He meets us here in the breaking of the bread. Come take the bread, come drink the wine, come share the Lord."
These are the words; come hear the music and capture the Spirit!
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