Pastor's Corner September/October 2022 Pastor Paul Grossman

​Praise the Lord!
Praise God in his sanctuary!
    Praise God in his fortress, the sky!
Praise God in his mighty acts!
    Praise God as suits his incredible greatness!
Praise God with the blast of the ram’s horn!
    Praise God with lute and lyre!
Praise God with drum and dance!
    Praise God with strings and pipe!
Praise God with loud cymbals!
    Praise God with clashing cymbals!
Let every living thing praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord! (Psalm 150 CEB)

Through August, our Tuesday Bible Study group has been studying the Psalms.  The very title, Psalms, comes from the Hebrew Sepher Tehillim, “The Book of Praises,” and so we have discussed what praise means to us and in scripture.  For many us today, praise might look to us a lot like what is described in Psalm 150, worshipping God with music and emotion.  Who knows, even our hands might start to drift higher and higher above our midline until we are waving them in the air above our heads as we exalt our glorious Creator! 

In the Hebrew scriptures though, praise contains a deeper meaning, to praise God is not just confined to our worship services or to song and dance, rather it is how we orient ourselves in life.  To praise God means to direct all our actions and our lives toward God.  To praise God, is to serve God, and to serve God is to worship God.  I find this meaningful as we start to move into the Fall as let’s face it, the end of summer and beginning of school for many marks a time when we get back to business as usual.  Our regular busy lives have a chance to reassert their rhythm over everything.

When and where do we then have a chance to praise God?  What does it mean to resist those rhythms to instead orient ourselves to the song and dance of serving Christ?  I hope that this Fall we have chance to explore these questions as the church moves to praise God in all that we do.  During the next couple of months, I would invite you to look for the opportunities in this community of faith to hear a different song, to dance to a different beat, and to ultimately let your life praise our God!

This Fall, Community Federated is committed to helping all our people find places and space where they can praise the Lord!  Whether it is Coffee with the Pastor or special worship services or special mission opportunities, we hope we can help you find a moment to serve and worship God, to lift your voice and life in song!  Let us be a people of praise!

Blessings and peace to you all,

Pastor Paul