Lorem Ipsum. Essential Re-choirments Gordon Borror

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1 Lorem Ipsum Essential Re-choirments Gordon Borror Bryan Leech was my friend, pastor, composer, and poet. We served together in many meetings and conference sessions. This is a beautiful thought to ponder from a fellow pilgrim who has spent his life serving (worshiping) Christ with his unique music and poetry, which is published widely. An Elusive Challenge All of us who labor to prepare the elements for worship and who weekly toil in service preparation wish we could discover an easy formula for doing it right. If God did not seem so elusive, why would the Scripture urge us to keep on seeking the Lord? We do this because, however close we are to God, we have to do further searching. We re in a quest. We re engaged in discovery. We who present of worship to others must live with the reality that we re shooting at a moving target. In addition, we have to battle our lethargy, wandering thoughts, limited aspirations, flickerings of wickedness and, worst of all, the prideful presumption that we really know how to do it. For even if we could produce The Perfect Service, we could botch the whole thing by our own lack of devotion, ardor, surrender, and concentration. So we live in an uneasy tension between the challenge to bring to God the very best we can bring by way of preparation, and the realization that we shall never get it right this side of heaven. This can both energize us and get us off the hook. For when the prelude sounds its fanfare, all we can do is hand over our preparedness, like the pre-teen with his few fish and a bread roll, and ask Jesus to multiply the meager offering we present.

2 For worship is not about us, it is about God and God alone. Worship is not about worship. Worship is not about the worshippers. Worship is about being enthralled with our Omnipotent Creator, our Compassionate Savior and the Holy Spirit, who is our comfort and truest inspiration. Bryan Jeffery Leech 2

3 Beyond Our Wildest Dreams! by Arthur Schoonveld Guest Devotional Scripture Reading Ephesians 3:14-21 [God] is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine Ephesians 3:20 Foundations Of Faith Jesus, the Very Thought of Thee Jesus the very thought of thee was originally penned by Bernard of Clairvaux in the 1100s. The son of a knight, Bernard grew up with wealth, power, and opportunities. Instead of pursuing these things in his adult life, however, Clairvaux abandoned his earthly luxuries and became a monk. In this hymn we can see how devout and sincere Clairvaux was. The text expresses the feeling of joy and bliss that only Christ can provide. The lyrics were originally Latin (original title: Jesu dulcis memoria), but were later translated by Edward Caswall in the mid 1800s. Although we usually see five four-line stanzas in hymnals today, the original Latin hymn had fifty. Caswall selected five stanzas (1-4 and 40) to be used as a vesper hymn for the Feast of the Most Holy Name of Jesus In the early years of my ministry I had the opportunity to attend a churchgrowth seminar in southern California. I went with lots of questions about myself, about the church, and about my place in it. I went expecting very little. The first night we were there, I was assigned to a small group that studied Ephesians 3: The group leader read from the Living Bible: "Now glory be to God who by his mighty power at work within us is able to do far more than we would ever dare to ask or even dream of-- infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, or hopes." That text changed my outlook and my attitude about myself and about the church. It has become the verse I have turned to for encouragement more than any other in the Bible. The entire passage reads like a song of praise. The apostle Paul prays that God may strengthen us with power in our inner being and fill us with all his fullness. Paul wants us to experience God's power in our lives and in our church. If for some reason you are discouraged about yourself or your church, turn to the Lord and ask him to fill you with all his fullness and to show you and your church that he is able to do far more than you could ever ask or imagine. Prayer Father in heaven, thank you for reminding us that your power is without limit. Please fill us with your power, and work in us to trust in you completely. In Jesus' name, Amen. during the second Sunday after epiphany. 3

4 Singing Lesson 5 Adventures in Great Singing Singing is a process. While there are varying degrees of talent, all people progress in their singing from one step to another. Therefore, be methodical in your approach to singing. It s important to sing for at least minutes five to six days a week. Singing involves muscles. If you stretch and condition your muscles every day, you will make steady progress and in a rather short period of time, your achievements will be considerable. Consistent, daily singing is the key factor in your vocal work. In this lesson, we ll build on the "legato and sustained" singing from the last few lessons and then begin working on "breathing". Warm-up: 1. Making sure that you are singing about "medium loud" sustain a single pitch for four seconds on "hee". Go up the scale in 1/2-step intervals for a perfect fifth. Example: If you re a man start on the C below middle C and sing up to G If you re a woman, start on middle C and sing up one octave to G above middle C. 2. Repeat the exercise on the vowel "ho", going up and down the scale as noted. 3. Next go to the ascending and descending five-note scale (see #4 in Lesson 4) on "hee" for one octave, up and down. Do not start your five-note scale higher than the "fifth" note of the scale. (Example: G above either low C or middle C) Then do the same exercise on the vowel "ho" using the same pattern 4. Now go to the hymn "Holy, Holy, Holy". Sing the hymn unaccompanied using legato and sustained singing. Sing it through twice: once on "hee" and once on "ho". Then go to the hymn "Abide with Me" and sing it in the same manner. 5. Now sing the two hymns on the vowels "hee" and "ho" with accompaniment. As mentioned in Lesson 4, please! be extremely careful about connecting the vowels in both hymns. If you re not sure about "sustained" singing repeat lessons #3 and #4. (Holy, Holy, Holy Abide With Me) 6. Finally return to the five-note pattern on "hee". If you a female, perhaps try to sing up to the sixth or seventh note of the scale. (Example: starting on middle C the last five note pattern would begin or A or perhaps B flat. If it seems too high that is, it is uncomfortable, go no higher than the fifth note of the scale. If you d like to go higher, then make your last starting note an octave above where you started: From middle C to C above middle C.) If you are a man, stick to G as the highest starting point for your five-note scale. The above should become your standard warm-up procedure for the next few lessons. Breathing To set in motion your concept of breathing, do the following: Lay flat on the floor. (Who said great singing was hard?!!) Get a rather heavy book and put it on your stomach. Main Adult Choir Website: 4

5 Breathe normally Lay motionless for two-three minutes observing the how the book rises when you inhale and falls when you exhale. Stand up, this time with your hands just above your waist. Your fingers should be close to your stomach and your thumbs should be just below the ribs in back. Breath normally Do not take a BIG breath! Try to replicate the breathing pattern when you were lying on the floor noticing that when you inhale your mid-section goes out and when you exhale everything goes in. (We ll get a bit more technical in the future, but for now, let s keep it simple!) Breathe in this matter for a minute or so. Next, on the count of five, slowly blow all the air out of your lungs. With your stomach "caved in", hold this position for five seconds. Then on a count of five, inhale (push your stomach out!) slowly. As you do the above exercise, watch yourself carefully in the mirror. Do not, repeat DO NOT allow your shoulders to move up. This is absolutely critical in the breathing process. So, be vigilant. NO rising shoulders!(the key: do not rush the breathing process. Your muscles (and your mind!) need time to be conditioned.) After you have done the above exercise several times, watching yourself in the mirror, try repeating the exercise walking slowly but don t allow the shoulders to move. Next, eliminate the counting, but breathe in and out very slowly using the same method as above. Watch yourself in the mirror. This will take time, but be patient and keep practicing. (When it comes to raising your shoulders, you must be extra careful!) Finally, return to your exercises. Sing through them, this time being vigilant about your breathing process. Using your mirror as your "teacher", you will find that your muscles will adapt within a few days to this new technique. If you want to get ahead, then sing through the hymns, unaccompanied, using your new breathing technique. Today s lesson is rather long, so if you need to divide it up, please do so. A visit from the Pastor A new pastor was visiting the homes of his congregation. At one house it seemed obvious that someone was at home, but no answer came to his repeated knocks at the door. Therefore, he took out a card and wrote "Revelation 3:20" on the back of it and stuck it in the door. When the offering was processed the following Sunday, he found that his card had been returned. Added to it was this cryptic message, Genesis 3:10." Reaching for his Bible to check out the citation, he broke up in gales of laughter. Revelation 3:20 begins "Behold, I stand at the door and knock." Genesis 3:10 reads, "I heard your voice in the garden and I was afraid, for I was naked." 5

6 Taking care of your voice! (Reprint from the September 2015 newsletter) When it comes to singing, most of us do not really observe good voice care measures on a daily basis. In fact, we would not give a second thought to eating certain foods or caffeinated drinks just before we sing! In fact, there are many important voice care tips that we can learn, so that we can maintain a healthy and strong singing voice, as well as not do too much damage to our fragile vocals! Here are some guidelines that we can follow to take care of our voice: 1. Maintain Good Posture and Proper Breathing Control When Singing 2. Practice Vocal Warm-ups Before We Sing 3. Regular Exercise and Proper Diet 4. Keep Our Neck, Jaw and Face Relaxed During Singing - When we sing, we control our breath using our diaphragm and the surrounding abdominal and intercostal muscles, and our voices with our vocal cords and supporting muscles. We should always take care not to involve other muscle groups. 5. Placing or Focusing Our Voice Appropriately 6. Reduce Speaking Time in Noisy Environments Regarding the usage of medications that we would do best to bear in mind: - Avoid anti-histamines, decongestants and anti-depressants. These tend to cause dryness in our voice and make it difficult for us to sing well, as our vocal cords need to be well-hydrated and moist in order to function properly. - Avoid over-the-counter local anesthetic medication for the throat. These tend to reduce nerve sensitivity in our throat and also create numbness, making our voice more susceptible to damage. - Take antacids for acid reflux. Acid reflux causes acidic fluids to flow back up towards our throat and may hurt our throat tissue as well as our vocal cords! 6

7 ; February 2017 Village Baptist Church Choir Newsletter Choir Member Spotlight Dale Himes Carol Henricksen One of the foundations for the Basses is Dale Himes. He got an early start in singing when he joined a choir class in the 7th grade Hedrick Junior High School in Medford. Like several people in the choir, Dale has been at Village for a long time, over 38 years. His favorite hobby is woodworking. He likes to make little boats for their grandkids. One of favorite hymns is Psalm 100. He first sang it at a concert in Junior High School. It should come as no surprise then that one of his favorite Bible verses is Psalm 100:1-2, "Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands. Serve the Lord with gladness: come before his presence with singing". One of the sunshine s in the Alto section, Carol has been singing for over half a century, 57 years. Amazing! She has been attending Village for over 42 ½ years, so she has seen just about every change in our church. Her favorite hobbies are sewing and cooking. While she has many hymn favorites, her top one is O The Deep, Deep Love Of Jesus. Her favorite Bible verse is Proverbs 3:5-6, Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. February 2 Chuck Jordan, 4 - Bill Phillips, 11 - Sok Tu Kim, 13 - Yan Jiang, 26 - Ning Hallen, 28 Terry Baker 7

8 1 2 ; Village Baptist Church Choir Newsletter February 2017 Book Recommendation I commend this book to your attention not just because it s about our Christine s mother, (which gives us a window to know her better and to pray for her more effectively) but it exhibits a life committed to the will of God. She saw everything that happened as God in action to make her the servant He could really use! She never appears to have had a really bad day because she saw every incident, good and bad as another lesson in her training for what God had for her to do becoming a true disciple of Jesus is to learn that we are all in process toward maturity, and that God allows/brings everything our way to grow and mature us into the person He wants us to be. Our responsibility in all this is to use this life as a student to learn Who God is and how He works through and on us to bring us to Christ-likeness! I am learning, personally, that the responsibility to live in this reality is the key to joy and contentment, as the Apostle Paul says, godliness with contentment is great gain! Observe, the problem with the US culture seems to be discontentment no matter how much money/leisure/stuff we may acquire! --Gordon Reference the book by the ISBN number: X 8