September Sunday School: Psalms, Hymns, & Spiritual Songs

Dear OBC,

When the Fall season hits, it usually signifies a season of change. The leaves may change colors, and temperatures starts to cool, but we can take hope in the fact that some things will not change like... singing. From the beginning of creation where the angels sang at the creation of the world (Job 38:7), to eternity where we will join in the song of the New Creation (Revelation 5, 14, & 21) the moral command to sing is constant throughout history, and more particularly a constant duty to uphold in the Christian life.

So what do we sing? In the New Testament, Paul gives us two texts that show what we are to sing in Ephesians 5:19 and Colossians 3:16, which are psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs.
Indeed, all three are needed for a healthy diet of singing in the church, and so we are going to take a week to study each of them: 

1. What scripture says about all three, 
2. How each have been used in the church throughout the ages, and
3. Why each are good for the corporate gathering 

(In case there was any wonder, no i don't believe in exclusive Psalmody!).

We can see throughout history that each of these forms of music, in their own way, helped form and shape different Christian communities, with each of them helping to bring a more united identity in Christ. Though there have been "worship wars" throughout church history that have caused division in congregations, my hope for this series is actually the opposite; that we as a church can let song (in whatever form it is; psalm, hymn or spiritual song) unite our hearts together in Christ, and that it leads us to rejoice in the "new song" (the song of salvation) that we have in Christ our Savior.

I look forward to seeing you each Sunday in September for Sunday School!