Week: Jesus Resurrected
We start by pausing and taking a deep breath:
In and out.
In and out.
We remember that God is here, and so together we prepare ourselves to be with God.
Pause
Creator God, who formed us from dust, breathe in us again. We’re ready for the new things that You want to show us and say to us and even create through us today.
Johann Sebastian Bach was born in Germany in 1685, and he was an incredibly talented musician who used his skill with many different instruments to praise God, just as the writer of today’s Bible passage encourages us to.
Read by Sasha
Psalm 150:3-6
Praise him with trumpet blasts;
praise him with harps and lyres.
Praise him with tambourines and dancing;
praise him with stringed instruments and flutes.
Praise him with loud cymbals;
praise him with crashing cymbals.
Let everything that breathes praise the Lord.
Psalm 150:3-6 (NCV)
Johann Sebastian Bach played loads of instruments, including the violin, the viola, the organ and the harpsichord, and he had a beautiful singing voice too. He loved music, and he also loved Jesus.
Johann wrote loads of different kinds of music for churches; happy tunes for celebrating, sad tunes for mourning, dramatic tunes to go with exciting Bible stories! He wrote Christmas music and Easter music and songs to sing during communion. He mixed all sorts of different musical styles together to create new and exciting sounds – making music so good that, almost 300 years after he died, he is still one of the most popular composers in the entire world.
But what was more important to Johann wasn’t that he became famous, it was that his music would help people think about God. ‘The final aim and reason of all music,’ he said, ‘is nothing other than the glorification of God and the refreshment of the spirit.’*
Let’s pause and talk about today’s question which is: Who is our favourite musician or singer at the moment? What is it we like so much about their music?
Johann’s music helped people to express all their feelings to God – refreshing their spirits, as he put it. If we play an instrument, perhaps we could try using it to express our feelings – our prayers – to God. Or maybe we could try singing how we feel to God… perhaps the next time we’re on our own?
Creator God, thank You for the power of music and singing! We ASK You to help us to use it to express how we feel to You.
Let’s pray for Christian musicians and singers who are trying to do what Johann did – to use their music and songs to tell people about God.
Creator God, we pray for Christians – maybe people that we know – who play instruments and sing. We ASK You to inspire them to write songs and play music that open other people’s hearts and minds to receiving Your love for them.
Johann didn’t just write church music. He also wrote music for concerts and dance halls too. But even then he still tried to point people to Jesus. For example, on the bottom of every piece of music he wrote he added the letters ‘I.N.J’, which stood for ‘In the Name of Jesus’.**
Let’s say YES to having the same attitude as Johann.
Lord Jesus, we say YES to loving You with every part of our lives – not just when we’re in church or when we’re doing church-things, but all of the time – when we’re in school, when we’re out with our friends or family. Help us to do everything ‘In the Name of Jesus’!
Let’s put a hand on our heart.
Father God, fill us with Your love. Help us to love You, and everything that You’ve made.
Let’s point to our eyes.
Lord Jesus, help us to see You, and to see others the way that You see them too.
Let’s point to our ears.
Holy Spirit, help us to hear You, and give us courage to do what You say.
* https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/115200.Johann_Sebastian_Bach
** https://www.biography.com/musicians/johann-sebastian-bach
Sasha is 8 and lives in Phoenix, Arizona, USA with her dad, mom, sister, and dog Max. She loves dogs (especially puppies) and anything to do with baby dolls. She is very funny, kind, smart, and she loves traveling!
Phil lives close to a beach in the north of England with his wife, his daughters and his dogs. Phil works for 24-7 Prayer, mostly doing Lectio stuff, and helping to run Prayer Spaces in Schools. He runs a lot, usually for long distances. He likes curry, mountains, reading books and he still plays Pokemon Go.
