Psalm 100
"Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth.
Worship the LORD with gladness;
come before Him with joyful songs.
Know that the LORD is God.
It is He who made us, and we are His,
we are His people, and the sheep of His pasture.
Enter His gates with thanksgiving
and His courts with praise;
give thanks to Him and praise His name.
For the LORD is good and His love endures forever;
His faithfulness continues through all the generations."
Take a quick look at the up and coming guitarist in the picture above. Notice, he's not plugged in. The amplification of the other instruments and also the vocalists in this happy Sunday morning's Worship Team will drown him out completely for the majority of the music. But he's up there, doing his thing with energy and joy.
He's the grandson of one of Hot Spring Church's newest members, a brand new Christian woman who has coming into this community of faith just recently, bringing along her young grandson. (I'll ask about his name for later.) When it is time for the music to begin, he runs up with beaming face, and puts the guitar strap over his shoulder and stands ready, like he's been doing this his whole life. Like he belongs.
It's a first step in training to become a full fledged member of the Worship Team.
He's not the only one in training.
Left to right, our vocalists for this morning are Wanmai, Beemai, Lukmee and Darin. Bell, now 21, used to be one of the little girls, but she is our Worship Leader this morning.
Moses is on the drums, and Saichom is on bass guitar. Pi O, behind the girls above, is really the only adult leader on the whole Team, not counting Bell of course.
Worship is vibrant, and expressive, rehearsed but not too polished. The sound reflects the limitations of our equipment here, and also the sincerity of our hearts to come together to be reminded of the goodness of our God.
I love this.
Thirty years ago, I cut my ministry teeth during a time when we sincerely wanted to bring every effort to our worship with what we felt was a gospel-inspired value we called 'excellence.' And I still believe that's a good base from which we can be sure we are truly offering our best. But somewhere along the way, if we're not careful, it's easy to lose sight of another gospel-inspired value, something we might call 'inclusive participation.' A place where a joyful noise is just as much part of worship as anything else.
Later our lunch together will involve other ways of serving, according to what God has given us.
Folks gathered around the table, sharing in what has been prepared, and some treats that have been brought to round out the meal.
I absolutely adore worshipping with these beautiful souls, my community of faith here in Thailand. So much to sing about. So much to be thankful for. So much to learn.
Rev. Ruth Anne Breithaupt, MDiv.
Canadian Representative/Missionary in Residence
New Family Foundation/Highview Community Church
The mission of New Family Foundation is to
provide a loving home for at-risk and
orphaned children in Northern Thailand to
help them achieve their best potential in
education, vocation and service to society.
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