Coming into the New Year, we focus on change quite a bit. All the changes that happened in 2018, and the changes you hope to make in 2019. Our resolutions vary from eating healthier, stop smoking, being nicer, getting a promotion, quitting the job you hate, reading your bible more, or putting real effort into saving your marriage. We want the new year to be a new start. We seek transformation!
This church has seen a lot of transformation in the past year: name change, service time, service type, personnel, attitude, and even the color of some walls – just to name a few. Some of it has been well received while other bits are still taking some getting used to. But God has started something exciting here at RiverStone, a transformation not just in name, but in the hearts of our congregation as well. We should rejoice as we look forward to 2019!
While going through change is not always fun and exciting, God calls us to rejoice and praise the name of the Lord, even through the change. So I have some words from Rick Warren to encourage us into transformation.
“You celebrate your transformation by simply saying, “Thank you, God. Thank you for your grace. Thank you for your love. Thank you for your goodness. I lift up my praise!”
The Bible says in Psalm 68:4,
“Sing to God, sing praises to his name; lift up a song to him . . . his name is the Lord” (ESV).
For your own transformation, you need to start singing at church. You need to celebrate what God has done in your life and thank him through song. Perhaps you call yourself a “prison singer”—you’re always behind a few bars and you never have the right key!
But the Bible doesn’t say to make your singing pretty. It says to make your singing joyful. You can do that! Anybody can make a joyful noise.
Sing your praise to God—not just for who he is but also for the transformation he’s made in your life.”
Canaan Myers
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