Sing to the Lord. A Study of Lutheran Hymnody SAMPLE. by Geoffrey A. Kieta. Leaderʼs Guide. Lesson 1 Sing Praises to God... 5

Transcription

1 Sing to the Lord A Study of Lutheran Hymnody by Geoffrey A. Kieta Leaderʼs Guide Lesson 1 Sing Praises to God Lesson 2 Hymns of the Early Church Lesson 3 Martin Lutherʼs Hymns Lesson 4 Hymns of the Reformation Era Lesson 5 The Hymns From the Age of Lutheran Orthodoxy Lesson 6 Lutheran Hymnody During the Age of Opposition Lesson 7 Lutheran Hymnody in the Awakening and Beyond Optional Lesson Lutheran Hymns in Christian Worship: Supplement... 42

2 Sing to the Lord Leaderʼs Guide Page 2 The material on this disk may be adapted, printed, and copied by the purchaser of this kit. However, the following notice must appear at the bottom of each page of the student lessons: 2009 Northwestern Publishing House. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Ownership of this material belongs to either a congregation or an individual, but not both. Purchase by a congregation: Purchase of this material by a congregation gives Bible study leaders of that congregation permission to adapt and copy this material for use in one or more groups within that congregation. (Dual parishes may purchase one copy for use in both congregations.) Purchase by a pastor or other Bible study leader: Purchase of this material by an individual gives the buyer permission to adapt and copy this material for Bible classes he or she teaches or supervises. Buyer has permission to use this material only in the congregation he or she is currently serving or attending. Scripture is taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. All quotations from the confessions, where noted as Kolb and Wengert, are from The Book of Concord edited by Robert Kolb and Timothy Wengert, 2000 Fortress Press, Minneapolis, MN. Used by permission of Augsburg Fortress Publishers. All rights reserved. Northwestern Publishing House 1250 N. 113th St., Milwaukee, WI Northwestern Publishing House Published 2009 ISBN

3 Sing to the Lord Leaderʼs Guide Page 3 Leaderʼs Notes All the hymns included here are specifically Lutheran. This course presents material from church history. It is written in paragraph form and can be read in class. For Lessons 2-7, the handout entitled The Five Centuries of Lutheranism is useful. (See separate file on the menu.) You may want to have copies available at subsequent sessions of this class. In Lessons 2-7, the class will be asked to read or sing hymns and discuss their content. You might read through the hymns or have class members read them. Starting with Lesson 2, you will be encouraged to sing hymns from Christian Worship and from the new Christian Worship: Supplement. All hymn numbers and references are to Christian Worship and the Supplement. Due to time constraints, you may have to limit yourself to singing one verse of each hymn. If you cannot accompany them yourself, it is helpful to have a pianist or an organist in attendance. For the hymns from Christian Worship: Supplement, a two-cd sampler with arrangements of some of the hymns is available from NPH. Other recordings of some Christian Worship hymns are also available. Depending on your situation, it might make more sense to sample the verses, rather than to read all of them. As an alternative to the whole class looking at the entire text of each hymn, you could break out into groups and ask each group to examine a verse. Or you could recast the questions and ask each group to pick out which verse gives the strongest example of law preaching or of gospel preaching, or which verse is the most subjective or objective, for example. If you do that, let them talk among themselves and then discuss as a group. You may decide not to cover all the hymns in each lesson. Or you may want to write your own questions on Lutheran hymns you or some in your class particularly like, although to preserve the thrust of the lesson you may want to focus on Lutheran hymns. Each lesson lists the other hymns in Christian Worship written by the authors of the hymns chosen here. Since the lessons proceed chronologically, each lesson also lists the other hymn writers from the same general time period who contributed to Christian Worship. This study is very adaptable to your time constraints. If you only have two or three weeks for a Bible study, you might do Lesson 1 and then choose one or two other lessons. If you are using the Supplement, you might do the last lesson to help congregation members become more familiar with it. The course can be taught without an extensive knowledge of Lutheran hymnody. The historical sections of this study can simply be read without comments. Most of the material in Lessons 3 and following is designed to simply get the class to look at the words of Lutheran hymns and develop an appreciation for them. However, some additional background knowledge is helpful. The resources listed below will help. If you wish to purchase one book, Christian Worship: Handbook listed below will give you everything you need to understand the hymns, authors, and composers. Resources: A. Chart In a separate file on the CD is a chart of the centuries between the Reformation and the present. B. Books you might want to purchase for this course.

4 Sing to the Lord Leaderʼs Guide Page 4 Christian Worship: Handbook, by C. T. Aufdemberge, available from Northwestern Publishing House. This book supplies complete information on all the hymns in Christian Worship and biographies all the hymn writers. It is the primary source for much of the material about the hymn writers in the study (supplemented by Lutheran Worship: Hymnal Companion by Fred L. Precht, available from Concordia Publishing House). Christian Worship: Supplement Accompaniment for Liturgy, Psalms, and Hymns, available from NPH, supplies the same kind of information for the hymns in the Supplement. Sing With Understanding: An Introduction to Christian Hymnody, by Harry Eskew and Hugh T. McElrath, published by Church Street Press in Nashville, TN. This book tells the story of the development of Christian hymnody and has a decent chapter on the Lutheran chorale. The section on ancient history (covered in Lesson 1) is easier to understand when supplemented by A Handbook of Church Music, edited by Carl Halter and Carl Schalk, from Concordia Publishing House. The Lordʼs blessings on your study. Geoffrey A. Kieta

5 Sing to the Lord Leaderʼs Guide Page 5 Lesson 1 Sing Praises to God The First Hymns Read responsively Psalm 63:2-7. L: I have seen you in the sanctuary G: and beheld your power and your glory. L: Because your love is better than life, G: my lips will glorify you. L: I will praise you as long as I live, G: and in your name I will lift up my hands. L: My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods; G: with singing lips my mouth will praise you. L: On my bed I remember you; G: I think of you through the watches of the night. L: Because you are my help, G: I sing in the shadow of your wings. Prayer: Dear Lord, open our hearts to know your power, which transcends the mightiest power on earth. Open our hearts to know your glory in the face of Jesus. Open our hearts to know your name, which is love. Enable us to rest in the shadow of your wings, trusting in your continual help. Then open our mouths to sing your praises. Amen. Introduction 1. Why do we sing hymns in church? Answers may vary. The most likely response will refer to praising God. Donʼt feel that you have to explain too much at this point. The purpose of the question is to lead into a study of singing hymns. What is praise? 2. Read Romans 12:1,2. What does Paul say our spiritual [reasonable] act of worship consists of? To offer your bodies as living sacrifices. 3. How do you offer your body as a sacrifice? We do not destroy it or use it for sinful purposes. We glorify God by striving to use it according to Godʼs will and for his purposes.

6 Sing to the Lord Leaderʼs Guide Page 6 4. Why do we worship God in this way? Because of the mercies of God, which he has given us in Christ. God saw us poor sinners, who could only earn hell, and he acted to save us. We serve him out of grateful love. 5. How is the transforming of your mind a part of your act of worship? What does that mean in today s society? It means changing the way we view everything and learning to think what God thinks. We adopt his point of view even when it runs contrary to our natural way of thinking of things. 6. Read 1 Peter 1:3-9. What attitude characterizes our worship? Why? Faith. Our worship is based on our trusting in Godʼs promises for us. 7. Even though we don t see Jesus, what do we do? Why? We rejoice, because we are receiving the goal of our faith, namely, the salvation of our souls. 8. Read Ephesians 5:19,20. What are we to use to praise the Lord? Besides praising God, what is another purpose for our songs of praise? Psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. We speak to one another, that is, we proclaim our faith publicly so that others are strengthened in their faith. 9. Read Isaiah 12:1-6. How does Isaiah here underline the proclamation aspect of our praise? Take special note of verse 4, which describes praise as make known among the nations what he has done. Praise springs from the gospel and our gratitude towards God. Praise is proclamation, recounting what God has done. Praise is not just for ourselves, but it is meant to teach and encourage one another in the faith. 10. Read Psalm 33:1-3. Does true praise always include singing? Why or why not? While it might be tempting to say yes, the truth is it does not. Praise is proclaiming the great things God has done, however that is done. But Christians who do not sing to the Lord might want to consider why they are unwilling to do so. The many passages that encourage and even command us to sing do not limit our songs to Godʼs sanctuary. Quite often, Christians sing with glad hearts as they go about their daily work. Humming hymn tunes, singing little snatches of memorized hymns and spiritual songs, leading their children in singing during home devotions are all natural parts of a Christianʼs worship life. 11. How does a Christian sing in a way that praises God? The point of this question is to focus on our motivation. We donʼt sing because we have to. We sing because we want to praise God for all the love he has showered on us in Christ.