7/24/24

symphony  /ˈsɪmfəni/ noun
A long piece of music that is usually in four large, separate movements, that is performed by an orchestra

prayer  /prer/noun 
An act of communication by humans with the sacred or holy.

A Symphony of Prayer. A service in several movements, interweaving scripture, music, drama, offered by God’s people as a prayer. 

This Sunday’s service will be our second annual “Symphony of Prayer.” I went to my first “Symphony of Prayer” back in the 1990’s at a Camp Meeting and have never forgotten it. I couldn’t wait to get home and offer one to the home folks! We did a couple there, I led one for the staff at a church I served after that, and we had one last year. It’s a beautiful, moving service!

Each movement of the service is based on a phrase from the Lord’s Prayer, with related scripture and songs. Interwoven are various types of prayers: adoration, intercession, trust, thanksgiving, etc.  

But, isn’t every service a prayer service? Well, yes, as a matter of fact every service is. That’s why the Church of England entitled their worship book, which contains daily prayer services, weekly Eucharist services, weddings, funerals, etc. as The Book of Common Prayer. No matter the purpose for the service, when the community of God’s people [the original meaning of “common” had to do with community, not “ordinary” like we think of it now], Jesus is in our midst and it’s a time for prayer! 

The “Symphony of Prayer” is one long prayer, beginning with “Our Father” and ending roughly 90 minutes later with “Amen.” 

What happens in the middle? Well . . . you’ll have to come and see!

Why have one now? I’ve been out of high school for . . . um, a while now, but even after 24 years, I still think in terms of school semesters and summer breaks. School starts back next week (remember the good old days when school got out Memorial Day weekend and didn’t start back until after Labor Day weekend?), and people are coming back from their summer vacations and settling back in.

Maybe that’s why autumn has a feeling of starting fresh, like the start of a new school year. 

But more than that, the end of summer has always had a psychological effect on people. It was this pre-autumn time that the Roma’s (the un-pc but more familiar term was “Gypsies”) would break camp. More people change jobs at this time of year than any other. There’s something . . . restless about the end of summer. Warm days are coming to an end (except when you live in Alabama) and winter is coming on. 

I can’t think of a better way of marking such a transitional time than with prayer.

So, on Sunday we’ll pray for the needs of our country and the needs of the world. We’ll also pray for our future as we worship and serve together. We’ll pray for our individual needs as well. 

When you get your order of worship on Sunday, you’ll find a prayer card in it. What we’d like for you to do is to take it home with you and think about a request or multiple requests that are weighing on your heart. Write your request down and bring it to church with you next week. During the service on August 4, we’ll collect them in a “Prayer Box” and I’ll spend the year praying with you about them. 

The request can be personal (I’m the only one that will see it, but still feel free to write “unspoken request” if you want to be absolutely private about it), or it can be for someone else. 

What I’d really like to see are what some people call “BHARs” - Big Hairy Audacious Requests. These are prayer requests that demand faith – prayer requests that can only be answered through the unmistakable action of God’s divine hand. You and I will spend the year praying for them, and when God answers the prayer (notice I didn’t say “if”), we’ll share the answer with the congregation!

This “Symphony of Prayer” is a service of faith as well. We gather because we BELIEVE. We believe God has saved us; we believe God has called us together; we believe God answers prayer. 

We pray; therefore, we believe. We believe; therefore, we pray. 

John Wesley famously wrote, “Give me one hundred preachers who fear nothing but sin and desire nothing but God, and I care not a straw whether they be clergymen or laymen; such alone will shake the gates of hell and set up the kingdom of heaven on earth. God does nothing but in answer to prayer.”

I’m asking for the folks who call Christ Church home to come on Sunday ready to pray. If Wesley is right, that God does nothing but in answer to prayer,” then let us, together, offer up prayers to God thanking Him for what He has done for us, but then trusting God for a future in His service.

And then let’s watch and see what God is going to do!  

Looking forward to praying with you on Sunday! 

Blessings,
Pastor Terry