Last Sunday, our congregation safely gathered outdoors to praise God through song for the first time since March. It felt so good to be able to sing with others again! I’m always singing and playing music at home by myself, but there’s something about singing with other Christians that is so encouraging and powerful.

Imagine taking your most prized possession, something valuable, and breaking it—not accidentally, but on purpose. Your reason for doing so? To honor someone. You might think that’s crazy. Why break something like that and waste it on someone else? In Mark chapter 14 we read about a woman who did just that—she came up to Jesus, broke open a very expensive jar of perfume, and anointed him in a beautiful act of worship.

Pastor George loves catechisms. So, in honor of Pastor George’s one-year anniversary of being CPC’s pastor, I’d like to discuss a song that has its foundations in a catechism question. If you’ve been paying attention to Pastor George’s Theologs, or to the liturgy we use in our church services, you’ve probably noticed that Pastor George talks a lot about catechisms. Catechisms are basically summaries of Christian beliefs that are posed in a question and answer format. They are confessions of faith.

I’m tired. Are you tired? I don’t just mean physically tired, like you’re ready to go bed (although I feel that way, too). I mean the mentally and emotionally exhausted kind of tired. I think we can all agree that life in 2020 has not been easy. Right now, I have a lot of friends who are going through rough times, not all related to coronavirus chaos. They are feeling worn and are losing hope fast. As a nurse working during a pandemic, I am feeling worn as well. So today, I’d like to introduce to you a song that shares this sentiment. The lyrics are honest, and in my opinion, they are meant to be sung as a prayer.

In 2016, I took a college course called The Psychology of Death and Dying. At the beginning of the semester, the professor (who I later found out was a devout Christian) asked us if we were afraid of death. When she asked us that, I was not. As a Christian, I have put my faith in Jesus Christ and the salvation from death that I have received through Him. One day I will be in heaven worshipping God with all the saints for eternity. So no, I was not afraid of death. Until April of that year.