A message for Akron Alliance Fellowship Church, Akron OH, Sunday, February 4, 2024.
For the “Live in Church” audio of this message, select here.
This message is dedicated to my mother, Ernestine Gaines (1940-2024) and to her caregiver for many years, Gloria Daniels.
Please accept my sincere thanks to all of you in expressing condolences to me and my lovely bride on the passing of my mother. I’ve had some time to reflect on her life and on the things that mattered most to her. She graduated from John Adams High School in Cleveland in 1958, and around the time that me and my brother were born, she began a career at Ford Motor Company as a key punch operator. From there, she became an administrator who provided support for all of the Northeast Ohio Lincoln-Mercury dealerships. Her greatest satisfaction was helping sales associates at the dealerships with promptness and precision. Her 30-year career with Ford involved working in Cleveland at the Grant Avenue office, the Walton Hills Stamping Plant, and moves to Cincinnati and Detroit. She enjoyed her work and the responsibility that came with it. She also enjoyed time with family and loved music and roller skating. In the early 80s, my mother and I checked out a few Thursday evening roller skating sessions at Southgate Skates and Saturday trips to United Skates of America. She was very young looking (some of you have seen a photo of her)—so much so that she even fooled Lynn when she saw us together at the rink.
It’s really a shame that Alzheimer’s Disease and dementia began to dominate her mind not long after her retirement from Ford. The things that she enjoyed doing were slowly replaced with her becoming more of a homebody. She had a couple of dogs that she would walk in the neighborhood, but that became more difficult over time. She watched movies and did some reading to keep up with the news, and of course, listened to music, but relied more often on listening to the radio.
During my appointment with the funeral home to make arrangements for my mother’s funeral, the representative asked if we wanted an organist to provide music or if we wanted to provide our own. It was a no-brainer. Lynn and I both knew that my mother’s love of music needed acknowledgment for the upcoming service. I have a playlist of music that reflects her love of R & B and also what could be deemed as roller skating music. Even during her years of decline, she would often “sing” her words when she did speak. In a study published in Brain & Life Magazine in 2015, European researchers examined a group of people with Alzheimer’s Disease by using brain imaging technologies and compared them with young, healthy participants. The scientists found that the areas of the brain that encode musical memory show very little damage in Alzheimer’s. Alzheimer patients are often given music therapy in an effort to help the patient to relax, reduce frustration, promote positive emotional behavior, and help improve self-esteem, all of which may help to slow the effects of the disease.1
Music, in all forms, arouses, stimulates and organizes many areas of the brain. It explains how music can stimulate our own memories when we hear songs that remain meaningful for us. Have you ever wondered how you may not know all or any of the lyrics of a song and yet you have a wonderful grasp of the music itself? The recall of music often has an emotional connection. It can be attributed to people and places, and when we listen to music or pull up our playlists, it actually reinforces those memories even more.2
Music is within the fiber of our very being. We will see the importance of the impact of music, and it begins with how we are all created in the image of God.
Genesis 1:26-27 NIV
26 Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”
27 So God created mankind in his own image,
in the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them.
We are in the image and likeness of God. Music is a gift of God and He, as the uncreated Creator, uses these words to describe the foundation of the earth:
Job 38:7 KJV
When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?3
And note the words the Lord uses to describe the culmination of His eventual return:
Isaiah 35:10 ESV
And the ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
In our faith, God has given us the ability to appreciate the beautiful sounds of music, and the deep effect that it has upon us. Of course, Scripture provides substantial references to music:
- Psalms, the largest book of songs (making up just over 7 percent of the Old Testament)
- Song of Solomon, songs and poetry
- Ecclesiastes
- Revelation (Chapter 5 and 7 have lyrics)
- Matthew 26:30 (Jesus and the disciples sang a hymn)
- Acts 16:25 (Paul and Silas sung hymns while in prison)4
Moses wrote three songs that are recorded in the Old Testament. He wrote about the victory of the Israelites over Pharoah’s army (Exodus 15:1-18), the faithfulness of God in the face of Israel’s rebellion (Deuteronomy 32:1-43) and a prayer noted in Psalm 90.
David wrote about half of the 150 songs in the book of Psalms, and he appointed the Levitical musicians that oversaw the temple worship and the playing of instruments that we read about in First Chronicles, Chapter 25.
2 Chronicles 5:13-14 NLT
13 The trumpeters and musicians joined in unison to give praise and thanks to the Lord. Accompanied by trumpets, cymbals and other instruments, the singers raised their voices in praise to the Lord and sang:
“He is good; his love endures forever.”
Then the temple of the Lord was filled with the cloud, 14 and the priests could not perform their service because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the temple of God.
There are many other locations in Scripture about music, its use and expression, and how it is an important part of worship, but let’s focus on how we are to be guided by the Holy Spirit and express ourselves to the Lord with music:
Ephesians 5:18b-20 NIV
18b Instead, be filled with the Spirit, 19 speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, 20 always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Notice the emphasis of making music from your heart to the Lord. That is how we are wired to worship Him. Music should be a huge part of our worship. He loves the music that comes from those who have a heart for Him. He loves our music that is shared in the Spirit with adoration and appreciation for Him.
Colossians 3:15-17 NIV
15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. 16 Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. 17 And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Here is a summary of the passage that we just read:
We are called to peace in Christ.
We are called to be thankful through any and all circumstances.
We are called to gratitude as we speak and sing to one another in the power of the Holy Spirit.
We are hard wired by God to communicate with Him and with each other through music.
After going over this message and wrestling over the importance and relevance of music from the heart, it gave me pause as to the significance of one’s life experience with music and why it is so deeply ingrained within us. It is also just as important to recognize how much God truly LOVES our communication with Him.
Our messages within our heart for the Lord, when delivered to Him in songs and in moments of prayer, are indeed sweet sounds.
Now, I want to challenge those of you who believe that you have no musical talent or inclination. I want you to know and understand that EVERYONE has music built within you, because as you were created in the image of God, you have the ability to think about and process music. It does not have anything to do with your level of talent as to playing or singing music. I’m speaking about the internal aspect of worshiping Jesus Christ from your heart. The Scripture is quite clear as to how everyone is to approach God with music and singing that comes from the heart.
Your relationship with Jesus Christ is a one-on-one relationship. It is your unique experience, and as in any relationship that is growing and developing, your task is to sit quietly with the Lord as often as necessary and express yourself to Him from your heart. At first, it may be words. Over time, it may grow and develop as words, poetry and music.
Your personal communication with the Lord will be a collection of sweet sounds to Him.
Psalm 135:3 NIV
Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good;
sing praise to his name, for that is pleasant.
I want to point something out here that is very important for those of you who are not as musically inclined. In spite of what others around you may tell you, it is highly appropriate for you to sing out loud from time to time. Pretend like you are singing in the shower, where everything sounds better! In all seriousness, a person who is offkey giving praises to the Lord sounds more like Luciano Pavarotti to Him. He just wants to hear the true believer of Jesus sing and speak outwardly of His goodness and do it openly while in fellowship.
Psalm 40:3 NIV
He put a new song in my mouth,
a hymn of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear the Lord
and put their trust in him.
Psalm 95:1-2 NIV
1 Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord;
let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.
2 Let us come before him with thanksgiving
and extol him with music and song.
The focus in the second part of this message will be on the sounds in your heart and mind pertaining to prayer. Prayer is any communication that you make with the Lord. In the same manner that your thoughts are audible within your mind, those same thoughts directed to the Lord are what He also hears from you. My lovely bride and I attended last year’s Christian and Missionary Alliance conference named Resonate 2023. The word “resonate” has a number of meanings related to a characteristic of sound, but the one that jumps out to me is “to make, hear or understand a deep, full sound.”5 The sounds of prayer that come from your heart should resonate with your heavenly Father. Your prayers of devotion are the sweet sounds that He enjoys from you.
Have you ever looked at your prayers and your singing to Jesus in this manner? How we live begins with whether or not you or I have a heart for God.
If there is no heart for God, in all candor, the sounds are not pleasing to God.
Galatians 5:19-21 NLT
19 When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, 21 envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.
The bottom line here is that when you fail to involve the Holy Spirit in your life and choose to live according to your flesh, these desires are rooted in selfishness and pridefulness.
Your life is to be a life that resonates with Jesus and also encourages others to stay the course and follow your example. It all starts with living in constant prayer as Jesus leads the way. Prayer and praise is a very sweet sound from the believer who loves Jesus.
Remember, He desires our prayers. He welcomes our praise.
Proverbs 15:29, 33 NASB
29 The Lord is far from the wicked,
But He hears the prayer of the righteous.
33 The fear of the Lord is the instruction for wisdom,
And before honor comes humility.
And please remember that a humble heart before the Lord goes a long way. He hears and responds to those who come to Him in humility.
Now is the time to search your hearts and minds as to what the Lord hears from you. Does he hear sweet sounds? Does he hear from you something else that is not so appealing?
We come under the authority of a very patient, long-suffering God. The importance of humility in the believer is to come under His authority and repent from our acts of selfishness and pridefulness.
Colossians 3:5-6 NIV
5 Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. 6 Because of these, the wrath of God is coming.
I’m offering this passage, which is similar to Galatians 5, for the sole purpose of reinforcing how important it is to do what is right! Let’s not test out the Lord’s patience. He was very clear in His message:
Matthew 4:13-17 NIV
13 Leaving Nazareth, he (Jesus) went and lived in Capernaum, which was by the lake in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali— 14 to fulfill what was said through the prophet Isaiah:
15 “Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali,
the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan,
Galilee of the Gentiles—
16 the people living in darkness
have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of the shadow of death
a light has dawned.”
17 From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”
Jesus wants every believer to pray and sing with sweet sounds that resonate with Him.
Express your love for Jesus in songs, hymns and spiritual songs to Him.
Make a joyful noise for Him as you let your actions follow your words of praise.
Make it your focus to live every moment for Jesus and be a sweet sound in His ear.
“I Love You, Lord”
Written by Laurie Klein
I love you, Lord, and I lift my voice to worship you,
Oh, my soul rejoice,
Take joy, my king, in what you hear,
Let it be a sweet, sweet sound in your ear.6
Copyright © 2024 Melvin Gaines.
1 Honcharuk, L. (2020, March 24). 5 ways music therapy can support mental health. Erika’s Lighthouse. https://www.erikaslighthouse.org/blog/5-ways-music-therapy-can-support-mental-health/
2 Shaw, G. (2022, February 1). How music affects memory in those with dementia. Brain and Life Magazine – Trusted by Neurologists. https://www.brainandlife.org/articles/how-music-affects-memory-in-dementia/
3 The theology and place of music in worship (from RCA Commission on Worship). Faithward.org. (2020, February 29). https://www.faithward.org/the-theology-and-place-of-music-in-worship
4 Houdmann, S. M. (2016, January 5). What does the Bible say about music?. GotQuestions.org. https://www.gotquestions.org/Bible-music.html
5 Vocabulary.com. (n.d.). Resonate. In Vocabulary.com Dictionary. Retrieved January 31, 2024, from https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/resonate
6 Klein, L. (n.d.). I love you, lord Song Lyrics | petra lyrics | Christian music song … NewReleaseToday. https://www.newreleasetoday.com/lyricsdetail.php?lyrics_id=43829
Melvin Gaines 