The Choir Director Sermon

About 3 years ago I was Choir Director at Providence Christian Church (Nicholasville, KY) and was asked by the Senior Pastor to fill-in one Sunday while he was out of town. I recently came across the words I spoke for the Sermon that day:


It has been 10 years since I was last asked to speak or should I say “preach” a message from the pulpit. In May of 1999, I was a senior in high school, and it was the annual Youth Sunday at CCC. I had waited years for my turn to speak from that pulpit to 400+ member congregation that I grew up in. I only recall a little bit of what I shared that day. At the time it felt sort-of like a “farewell” speech, and so I talked a lot about the past. Probably because, there I was, an 18 year old about to depart for college, 80 miles to the west. And other than the fact that I wanted to be a musician, I didn’t really know back then what my future was really going to hold.

I named a few people in the congregation who had a big impact on my life, and I shared a couple of meaningful stories from church camps and mission trips, and how they shaped me into the person I was. I think I could have easily preached that sermon once a year for the last 10 years. It would have been different every time. People moved in and out of my life, and I have encountered numerous worship & service experiences that shaped my faith.

So here I am today, after 10 wonderful months of serving as Choral Director and Jerry has handed me his “baton” and asked me to share some words with you. Don’t worry choir….next time I am away on a Sunday, I don’t plan on asking Jerry to direct you! We are facing a few challenges right now, but Providence...…as we are only 7 ½ years from the 200th Anniversary as a congregation, I have 2 more challenges for you today.

For just a couple of minutes I want to try something new & different. (Go figure! Right!?) My first challenge requires us to be a little interactive with each other. I need you to grab that strip of white paper, and a pen or pencil that I told you about at the beginning of worship. You are about to become involved in a spiritual exercise! Do you possess a spiritual gift that you can use, to serve as a part of the Body of Christ? The answer is Yes! Have you given thought to what the gift or gifts might be, and dedicated it to the Lord? If your answer is Yes. Than wonderful, let’s do it again! If you answered No, well today is your chance, because that’s exactly what we are going to do.

God has equipped every Christian with unique spiritual gifts, and when we discover what they are….. a powerful and fruitful new growth can take place in our lives. God has prepared you for this, since the day you were born. Be still now and listen to how God is calling you to serve for the better of the church. To strengthen the life of this congregation AND our denomination as the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).

Now, I invite you to meditate on the words of our second New Testament scripture as we hear from Paul’s letter to the Romans 12:1-8.


"I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness."


I invite you to take a few moments and pray and discern about which spiritual gift will allow you to minister to the needs of the church. Or which gift will allow you to fulfill your personal needs as a follower of Christ? Write down one, or even more than one, of these gifts. We are called to responsibility through our faith, and we have now responded to the music which God plays in our lives. As we receive our offering later on this morning, I will invite you to place this strip of paper in the collection plate as an offering to God and a commitment to do serve by using the Spiritual Gifts he has blessed each of us with. If you have yet to write something down, that’s OK! Feel free to take this strip of paper home with you for the week, as you continue to discern God’s call for you.

As choral director I am constantly thinking about our worship services. I have to choose the hymns, and choir anthems or special music for each week. Every now and then I like to throw in something new and different just to see what the experience is like that week. Did you notice the word I used just then? I like to think of what we are doing right now as an experience. Not a performance or a lecture, but an experience. Take a look at this slide on the wall to my left.


How many of you would agree that this graphic portrays our weekly worship services?

“Many people regard going to church as they would attending a play on the stage. They think of themselves as spectators, with the preacher/worship leaders/musicians as the main performers, and if God is anywhere in the production, it's on the sidelines."

Here is your second challenge Providence…What would our Sunday worship service be like if our mindset was focused in a new direction such as this……

"God is the audience, the congregation is the actors, and the preacher/worship leaders/musicians should be only a prompter to help all to draw closer to God."


Take a moment and soak that in. What if each of us walked into this room on Sunday mornings prepared to experience this? Isn’t it refreshing? And exciting to think about?

How many of you attended the Maunday Thursday Service back in April? Folks let me tell you something, that service was THIS kind of experience. Go ahead and do it now. Mark your calendars for the evening of Thursday, April 1, 2010. Be in this room and I guarantee that you will feel closer to Jesus that you ever have in your life. Folks, I cried that night in this room. We closed with communion, and then dismissed in silence. For several minutes I sat on the front row. In fact, I was the last one left in the room, as I meditated on why we were there that night and what Jesus did those last days of his life for us. I wept in amazement and gratefulness and experienced the Holy Spirit in this room for the first time!

Have you felt overwhelmed by the Spirit in this room while worshipping here at Providence? Try this experience…. and see what happens. It’s possible. I am a witness. Let’s worship in way that we can be blessed by the Holy Spirit every single time we gather!! And when you do, come share your story with me and with each other. God is here, and God is watching.

At the beginning of this message, I spoke about how the last time I “preached” 10 years ago, I spoke mostly about the past, because I didn’t know what my future was going to hold. Well, did you notice in the last several minutes I haven’t spoken about the past? I have challenged you to think about your future. Our future as a congregation. And, as we move forward I hope you will join me on this journey. I know exactly where I am heading on this journey of life...exactly what eternal gift I am working towards.

Finally, on this important day in the life of our congregation here at Providence, I want to take this opportunity, because I do have the microphone….. to share with you one final thought, or I guess I should say pose a question, to which I feel is important to think about in a time like this. What is the purpose of a church? …….. As opinions are being formed, and decisions take place, I believe that it is important to discern this question: What is the purpose of the church??” Here are my 3 answers to this question. Take them for what they are:

Number 1- The church is where we worship as a community, and recommit our relationship with God. Through prayer, hearing of the Word, singing praises and celebrating the life, death, and resurrection of his son Jesus Christ.

Second – The church is about doing the works of God, by taking the gifts that God has given us and applying them where he calls us to use them.

And third – The purpose of the church TODAY, should be focused on the precious gifts of life that God has given to this congregation for the present and the future. And some of their names are Ruthie, Erin, Dallas, Jesse, Abigail, Lorelei.

Will you join me in prayer……God of the faithful in every time,Today you have called us into your church to be one body in Christ Jesus.You have provided us with the gifts we need to do your service. Grant that we may willingly take our part; that we may support one another; And that we may seek the greatest gift, which is love. Knead us together into one loaf with all your people throughout the world, through your Spirit of unity. Amen.

What is God doing?

In August of 2009 I shared these words below with Providence Christian Church (Nicholasville, KY) where I was serving as Choir Director at the time. My 2 years there were a blessing, and I give thanks every day for that experience. On that particular Sunday morning in worship, I played piano and sang Chris Tomlin's "I Will Rise" after preceding it with this:


What is God doing through us?

There is no doubt that the Holy Spirit is with us in each and every Sunday, when we come together for worship.

And so today I want to make sure you are listening…because God is speaking to us. God is calling us…..Calling you to engage in God’s mission for the church.

Are you listening??
What abilities & talents has God blessed you with, for the mission of the church?

Myself & many others have been blessed with the gift of music. For me, I had a single moment when God spoke to me and said that this is what I needed to do with the rest of my life. Now, I won’t get into the details of this moment right now. I would be glad to share that story with anyone that wants to hear it later. Personally, I feel that I was called to use my talents and share my faith to bring others closer to God.

That’s why I am sitting here today. It’s not about me folks! All of the music that takes place in this sanctuary is an offering of praise to God. Remember what I shared 2 months ago when I spoke from the pulpit….God is the audience when we gather together to worship. When the choir presents an anthem, they sing with love and thanksgiving for Christ. When instrumentalists play fantastic melodies, it is all for the Glory of God. When I sing a song as I will in just a moment, I am hopeful that you will hear the words as they come out of my mouth just as if I were standing in the pulpit. I think it is easy to get lost in the music sometimes when you are sitting out there.

And so today this piece of music is a prayer, & I invite you to join me in this prayer. I invite you to listen for the Word of God speaking to you today.

How are we, as a congregation, called to fulfill God’s mission for the church? How are you, as a follower of Christ, being called to engage in this mission?

Are you listening?

Who are we to say "No"?

After hearing the responses from many faith organizations this past week about President Obama's support of gay marriage, this scripture spoke clearly to me today.

"While Peter was still speaking, the Holy Spirit fell on everyone who heard the word. The believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles. They heard them speaking in other languages and praising God. Peter asked, “These people have received the Holy Spirit just as we have. Surely no one can stop them from being baptized with water, can they?” He directed that they be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they invited Peter to stay for several days." (Acts 10: 44-48)

If you have received the Holy Spirit as I have, then who am I to stop you from being baptized and committing your life to Christ? As a Christian I feel it is my responsibility to invite & welcome others to church as they journey in faith. No matter what their sexual preference. God loves us all, and we should love everyone just as Jesus did when he walked the Earth.


"I Am" by Mark Shultz

Thank You Notes

It's late on a Friday night. I always stay up late to catch "Late Night w/ Jimmy Fallon" so I can see his "Thank You Notes" segment. If you've never seen the show or this segment, you should check it out! It is a great way to wrap up the week! It does always put me in the mood to mail some thank you notes to those who have influenced or touched my life. But at this time of day - I can't trust my words to come out in the best of ways. So why am I writing this??? Another can't miss of Jimmy Fallon's show is the "Slow Jammin' the News" segment. That's a can't miss!

I'm also an avid watcher of the "Late Show w/ David Letterman." I've been a regular viewer since the summer before my freshman year in high school. Friday nights were always entertaining on The Late Show with the "Friday's Mailbag" segment. Many band & church trips have attributed to my addiction to late night tv. And thank goodness, because the 11 p.m. Local News is NOT a way to end the night. How depressing.....

A blog for another day.

For your viewing pleasuse, one of my favorite moments in late night television:

Jimmy Fallon & Justin Timberlake - History of Rap 2 (Starts at 1:25)

Walk and Talk

It's been 5 months since I last made a blog post. Wow, how the time flies! For me things have never been better and I'll have to play some catch up over the next few weeks. For most of my evenings these last 5 months I've been at church, working on something for church, or catching up on my "real-job" before going to bed. Now things have calmed down just enough for me to resume writing my random thoughts here. So best of luck, I'm counting on you!

This week I decided to look back at my post from January 1st. I listed 4 New Year's Resolutions. I've done really well keeping up with 2 of these! I have significantly reduced the amount of fast food (burgers & fries) I inhale. Yea me! And as for my resolution of making Twitter "my thing" - I have been a Twitter phenom! (Follow me: @cteesdale) WARNING: My commentary during Kentucky basketball games is intense!

Now, I'll be the first to admit that I have been slacking on 2 of my resolutions. But hey, it's May! Summer is almost here, and I'm going to kick these both into gear right now! I said I would blog more often than in 2011......so here we are. I'm not going to post daily but I'm going to aim at twice a week. Deal? The fourth and final resolution I made for 2012 was to exercise more. I did openly admit on January 1st that this resolution would be the least likely to take place. But with the help of a small little mental breakthrough last weekend, I've become motivated enough to take control of this resolution!

This week I've been walking 30 minutes a day. So far so good! My Olympic Stadium (otherwise known as Hartland Park) has been peaceful and inspiring these first few days. I'm having fun with it and looking forward to meeting my personal goals I've set out for. Unlike, many of my friends (Steven Page, Shana Page, Chad Snellgrove, and others) I will not - I repeat - will NOT be running a marathon any time soon. However, I am going to get into shape - one way or another. Just a heads up - You'll see lots of "Walk & Talk" these next couple of weeks. Hopefully the actors of my favorite tv show will make a reunion video called "Jog & Talk" for the month of June to give me that extra push for the summer heat.

(Disclaimer: This video was not my mental breakthrough from last weekend, but a fun discovery to go along with week thus far!)

Walk & Talk - The West Wing Reunion from Martin Sheen