Thursday 18 December 2014

Happy Christmas from all at CMM

A few thoughts about worship as we enter this special time - taken from chapter 16 of Worship Works.

Mary - a person of praise.

Mary’s story (Luke 1:26-56) is one of the most well-known in the bible. A young girl in a small town ‘up north’ is met by an angel who tells her that she is going to give birth to the Son of God. She shares the news with her cousin Elizabeth, who is also blessed by the presence of the Lord’s Spirit within her. Mary responds with one of the most beautiful and majestic paeans of praise ever written.

Here are some thoughts on the story of Mary's meeting with the angel.

UNCONDITIONALLY LOVED: “highly favoured” (v28) – a greeting“Shalom, favoured lady! Adonai is with you.” Life, including church life, will reveal many of our insecurities, particularly for leaders, and especially those of us involved in worship. Our security should, and can be, that we are unconditionally loved by a compassionate and faithful God. This means we can know that, even if we struggle and sometimes fail in our ministry and walk with Jesus, he is still totally for us and accepting us.

REAL AND HONEST: “greatly troubled” (v29) – a reaction
“Do not be afraid” is a common message from God to his people. In a world that is forever shifting in moralities, spiritualities, authorities, etc., we can be tempted to retreat to a church that always does the same things, in the same way, and in the same time. We are so fearful of change! But the Holy Spirit will always bring change to a church where he is present.

FOCUSSED: “He will be great” (v32) – the purpose of it all is to reveal and proclaim JesusRecently, in a mission planning meeting, we were drawn to the phrase “Make the main thing the main thing”. Nothing could be more relevant when it comes to the worship-life of the church. It is so easy for other things to become our focus, e.g. the music, the instruments, the personnel. The message to Mary was about Jesus: He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. May he be the main thing in our worship, indeed in everything that happens in the church!

ENQUIRING: “How can this be?” (v34) – a good question, a thirst for more
We are supposed to use our minds, and grow in our understanding. An open bible should be a constant companion, both in our ministry and in our private life. Worshippers and worship leaders need to be taught and to grow in their knowledge of Jesus and the bible.

OPEN TO THE SPIRIT: “the power of the Most High” (v35) – the way it works!
The Old Testament prophet once wrote: “Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit” says the Lord (Zechariah 4:6). This is the method, the way God works in his church. He doesn’t need musicians, music groups or choirs. Just see what he’s got in heaven! But he chooses to gift us with such ministries in order to serve and enable the church. But the most important, and ultimately the only essential, is that he is building his church in the power of the Spirit.


Click on the following hyperlinks to have a look at our Christmas newsletters.

May God richly bless you all as you worship Him this Christmas.

Annie's Christmas meetings

While Roger, Mary and Helen travelled to Barrow, Annie was busy in Birmingham.  On the weekend before this, Annie had led a special Christmas evening at Hagley Road Retirement Village with the CMM Choir.  They brought back the lovely Christmas programme of songs, readings and poems from last Christmas, and performed wonderfully for the packed audience.

Then the following Saturday (6th December) she led a special Advent evening at the Community of St John the Divine, in the Alum Rock area of Birmingham.  The sisters have long supported CMM by providing accommodation for both Miriam and Helen, as well as stock!  Sr Ivy also sings in the CMM Choir.  For the last four or five years we have provided a special advent evening for them, and this year Annie was in charge, as Roger, Mary and Helen were away.  She used a very similar programme to the Hagley Road Retirement Village, but specially rearranged to suit small group singing from her team: Amy, Sarah, Simon and David.  David has been a CMM Choir soloist for years and has sung on the Hymn Collection and Grain of Mustard Seed recordings.  It was lovely to have him singing with us again.  The sisters always provide excellent refreshments afterwards too.  Our thanks to them for a blessed evening.

Annie's work was not yet complete, as on Thursday 11th December along with Helen, Jonathan and Linda she led another Christmas meeting, this time at Sutton Coldfield Baptist Church.  Once again it was really well supported, and all those who came really appreciated the readings and songs, calling it a moment of calm in the Christmas rush.

Well done to Annie for all of her hard work.  She now has a well deserved break!

Here are some of the photos from the CMM Choir Hagley Road Retirement Village performance.






06 December 2014 - Worship Works in Barrow

On the first weekend in December, Roger, Mary, Helen, Jonathan and Linda travelled to Barrow-in-Furness in the South Lakes Peninsulas for a Worship Works weekend.  There they were joined by CMM associates Sharon and Debbie.  Sharon's daughter Gemma joined us on flute, and Debbie's son Lou played cornet.  Altogether it was a lovely team to lead the day.

We gathered in the hall at Abbey Road Baptist Church, (where some of us had just been served a wonderful breakfast by Mandy the organiser, and Martin the minister) which was a lovely informal setting, with plenty of flexibility and warmth.  Delegates from the Barrow area were joined by a coach load from St Helen's, including Carole and Graham and a number of regular music week attendees.  It was lovely to see so many familiar faces.

The day itself seemed to go very well indeed, with great feedback for the team.  We had been praying at EBRG on the preceding Thursday, and a number of the words and pictures God had given to the group were shared at Barrow and claimed.  It is so exciting to see God at work.

On Sunday morning the team returned and led the service at the church, this time joined by Sharon's son Anthony on percussion.  Helen led the service through, and Roger spoke on advent, and the God who comes.  It really is an honour to be able to minister in different churches and encourage them.  We continue to pray for Martin and all at Abbey Road Baptist, that God would bless them and lead them forward in their mission and ministry to the community.






Tuesday 2 December 2014

29 November 2014 - Worship Works in Oxford

Devon in action
Just a week after the Worship Works weekend in Welshpool, Roger was on the road again, this time to Oxford.  He took with him Helen and Devon, and they were joined by more local associates Paul, Catherine and Debbie.  It was also great to have Eddie and Jenny at the day - they have been slightly less involved with CMM since Eddie was ordained, so it was wonderful to see them and meet the group they had brought from their church.

The day was hosted by the Christian Music Fellowship choir and was held at Marston URC church.  It was quite a small venue, but very full - Alan was stood at the back the whole time, although that was possibly because the radiators were there!

Once things had warmed up a little it was a fantastic day.  The worship was really moving and powerful, with worshippers from different backgrounds and experiences lifting up their voices together.

A slight challenge came in the second session when there was a problem with the power, and the projector went off - including all of the words for people to sing along.  Helen had to improvise the last half hour of her talk, which was interesting...
That moment the screen went blank

The CMF group looked after the team amazingly well at lunch time with a beautiful spread, which was then shared around with everyone.  Thanks so much to Margaret and Elizabeth for their hard work.

In the afternoon Roger led a workshop on creative worship, and Helen led one on healing in worship at the same time.  Then the final session of the day began again with worship, including the 5/4 hymn 'Sing of the Lord's Goodness', which Paul accompanied with his amazing new keyboard.  It was great fun.

Thanks so much to Michael, Elizabeth, and the whole team at CMF Oxon.  It was a privilege to minister among you.
Paul, Debbie and Catherine

Monday 1 December 2014

22-23 November 2014 Worship Works in Welshpool

On the 22nd November, Roger, Annie, Ann, Amy, Carole and Keith travelled to Welshpool for a very alliterative Worship Works day.  The team had a wonderful welcome at the Methodist Church, for a day that had been organised amazingly by Janice Rhodes.

Annie has led a number of 'musical in a day' events in the area - at Arddleen, Welshpool, Caersws and Newtown.  It was wonderful that many of the people she has met over the years were able to come to this Worship Works day.

One of the joys of the weekend was the number of worship leaders and preachers among those who attended, from a variety of churches.  It was so good to minister among people who will be able to take and use all the team have to share.  A number of those participating were also part of the Jubilate group at the church.

There was only one room available, so instead of splitting into two workshops after lunch, Roger and Annie worked together to lead a special session incorporating some new material from Seasons and Reasons with some creative worship and improvising.

On the Sunday morning the team returned to lead the service.  Annie led a block of praise within the service and Roger spoke Mary anointing Jesus' feet.  Some music from Mary Magdalene was also incorporated, as the Jubliate group will be learning it ready to perform in May.

Some wonderful comments were received after the day:

"It was such a privilege to meet you all, and an experience I will never forget.  I also learnt so much, not just about singing, but about God and prayer."

"Thoroughly enjoyable weekend.  Still singing some of the new songs taught.  A breath of fresh air to worship."


"Everyone I've spoken to since Sunday has asked "When can Roger come again?"! Sunday morning was a "mountain top hour" when we felt really blessed, moved, elated and close to God - and now it's back to earth, but we are already putting into practice some of what we learnt on Saturday - we started our singing practice on Monday with a "thought for the day" and had some quiet time together before we left at the end of the session, and we are planning a Praise Block for the next service we prepare and lead as a group."