Is It Common for Music to go on Forever Before the Sermon?

Kenyon Ledford said:

This morning a song went on and on and on, and when it got to the end there were
15 minutes worth of added verses. Then the pastor, and older gentleman stepped up and
someone handed HIM a guitar.

I reckon the music probably was a half hour before the sermon. The other church I've
tried out is about the same. JUST as the music starts to end there's a ballad chord struck
on the piano and then verses are tacked on and on and on.

Is this part of what some people warn against in worship wars, or is this just praise to God
and if I'm not into it I'm not feeling the Holy Spirit?

Thanks

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.............I've always wondered that, too! I guess some people just really, really like to sing by rote?

I personally don't appreciate long worship songs, repeated choruses, and the like. I lead worship at our church and I try to keep the songs brief, but full of meaningful content. I think less is more in things like that.

To answer your question, it's common in certain circles and traditions. But other traditions will do shorter songs and not repeat choruses.

In my tiny church we have one traditional hymn played by the pastor on a keyboard, two video songs, and after the sermon and all business is handled we have another traditional hymn. Today the computer broke down, so we didn't have the videos. Only two hymns. I do find myself drawing close to God through the lyrics of the songs, but I know some churches spend a lot of time in singing.

Kenyon Ledford said:

This morning a song went on and on and on, and when it got to the end there were
15 minutes worth of added verses. Then the pastor, and older gentleman stepped up and
someone handed HIM a guitar.

I reckon the music probably was a half hour before the sermon. The other church I've
tried out is about the same. JUST as the music starts to end there's a ballad chord struck
on the piano and then verses are tacked on and on and on.

Is this part of what some people warn against in worship wars, or is this just praise to God
and if I'm not into it I'm not feeling the Holy Spirit?

Thanks

Click to expand...

I find that endless music in a service, especially when one has to stand up for the whole time, is for me, tiring and boring. I stand there thinking, "Hurry up and get to the sermon!"

Why are they spending so much time with the music? I think it is trying to work up an atmosphere in the belief that if they work up the right atmosphere, the Holy Spirit will work more freely in the service.

The actual fact is that if the people are Spirit-filled, they bring the atmosphere in with them. In fact, they are the atmosphere because they have the Spirit in them. They don't have to try and work up the presence of God in the service, because the presence is already there.

I think that sometimes God thinks, "I hope soon that they stop trying to bring Me down from heaven and just by faith allow Me to move in the way I want through each individual believer!"

I attended an inner-city, all-black Saturday worship once, and they went on and on for 3 hours. They weren't even tired.

Chuckles, the sermon for the start of our Lent at an Eastern Orthodox service was given by a former Baptist pastor and now an Orthodox deacon. I felt like standing up and shouting Hallelujah during his sermon

In my pre-Lutheran days the "musical" portion of the service could involve a great deal of repetition of the same song over and over again.

As a Lutheran our hymns are timely and punctuated at the appropriate times in the Liturgy. But then the sermon isn't necessarily the most important part of the service, and usually doesn't last more than 15-20 minutes (compared to the hour long sermons I grew up with) anyway. The "meat and potatoes" as it were, of traditional Christian worship is the Eucharist.

Truth is the whole liturgy is there to facilitate for us the reception of God's good gifts of Himself through Word and Sacrament. Neither the songs themselves or even the sermon are the point, the point is God's offering of Himself to us and for us here through what He has given.

-CryptoLutheran

Yes, and in some churches like Calvary Chapels, the sermon goes on for an hour or more after the music. I struggle sometimes to stay awake. Then the 'communion' can last too long on top of all that. The last two times, the guy with the cracker and juice platters had to nudge me to wake me up once he got to me. (I try to sit on the aisle). I was dozing with my head bobbing around like an idiot, miserable the whole time, and didn't even know they were passing it out. something about the pastor's deep voice has me wanting to lay across three seats and take a nap. What people might think of me keeps me from doing it. (That's something little kids do when they fall asleep in their parent's laps.)