Sun Inspration

Morning Inspiration with Pastor Merritt

They are in every Broadway play. They are in every Hollywood movie. They are at every college football game. They are at every Presidential inauguration. They spend every day of the year with Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, and Donald at Disneyworld.

Interestingly, they are not the reason you go to see any of these events, but you would definitely notice their absence if they weren’t there. What am I talking about? Bands and orchestras.

I have a great admiration for anyone that can play a musical instrument. It is one of my biggest regrets in life that I never learned to play one. However, I discovered something interesting about musicians. If you study any famous musician that has learned to play any musical instrument with perfect skill you will find that they learned their craft and honed their skill by playing in a band or an orchestra. There is a reason for that.

Musical experts know that once you have started to play a musical instrument and reached what is know as “Grade 1 Standard” – that is just being able to play basic notes, you need to play with other people. There is a great deal more to playing an instrument than just reading the music and getting the right notes. Things like ensembles – keeping up with everyone else, dynamics – learning to play louder or softer, ballads – not playing louder than everyone else, synchronizing – playing to the beat of the conductor or the bandleader are all essential parts of becoming an expert musician. Those skills can only be learned by playing in a band or an orchestra.

The reason why most musicians never become world-class musicians is because they neglect this side of their musical education. This world is full of people who took a flute lesson once a week, did their practice alone every night, took one exam at the end of the year, and never became a good musician, because they only did half the job.

It is the reason why a lot of people quit music after having tried to play in a band or an ensemble, because it is very difficult. You have to go at everyone else’s speed. If you can’t read the music fast enough or make a mistake they don’t wait for you. In other words, music is not just the ability to play “a” part; it is the ability to play “your” part. Once you do, once you learn to play in harmony with other instruments and once those instruments come together all kinds of music – classical, rock, jazz, or blues can be reproduced and enjoyed in a way that cannot be produced any other way.

What is true of a band or an orchestra is even more true of a community of believers. When every member of the body of Christ plays their part, when every follower of Christ takes the instrument of their life and begins to play with other members of God’s band a spiritual music is heard and a practical ministry is produced that touches hearts and changes lives like nothing else on earth.

Our mission statement is very simple: Love God, Serve Others and Share Your Story. Serving others is simply playing your part. Jesus told a parable about people playing their parts and how important that is to the church and to God’s Kingdom. Not everyone plays the same instrument and not everyone has the same part. Some instruments are louder than others and some parts are bigger than others, but Jesus tells a parable to illustrate one of the greatest lessons all of us need to learn about the life that we have been given. It is not how much you have that matters to God; it is what you do with what you have that matters to Him. When you stand before God, you are going to be judged as to whether you played your part and how you played it.