Our Mountain View Christian school offers Praise and Worship sessions on Fridays! I'm excited to use this blog to give you a behind the scenes look at the first Praise and Worship session of our 2023-2024 school year!
Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth! Serve the LORD with gladness! Come into his presence with singing! For the LORD is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations. Psalm 100: 1, 2, 5
NEW PRAISE BOOKLET!
The theme for this year's praise book is "Serve the LORD with gladness!" This idea manifested one day when I was walking down the school hallway, and saw this old crumpled up piece of paper taped onto the wall. It had seen better days, and was hanging on for dear life, but the message was still clear and powerful - "Serve the LORD with gladness!" In that moment it clicked, and I knew I had found the perfect cover photo for my new booklets!
SONG SELECTION
The next step in creating this years Praise booklet was song selection. Aside from the tedious hours of photo copying and practicing every song on the piano, song selection was by far the most difficult part of the process! This is probably because I have a deep love for so many praise songs that it is very hard to narrow it down into a concise collection! But, I took a few things into account such as the theme - Serve the LORD with gladness - which lead me to include quite a few songs inspired by the Psalms. Here's a few examples from within my booklet;
"Clap Your Hands" (Psalm 47:1)
"How Majestic Is Your Name" (Psalm 8:1)
"Great Is the Lord" (Psalm 145:3)
"On Eagles Wings" (Based on Psalm 91)
"As the Deer" (Psalm 42)
Another factor I took into account while creating this booklet, is that, this year we have added a Kindergarten Program! So, I intentionally added songs that are easy to learn with refrains and fun upbeat tempos!
MOUNTAIN VIEW CHRISTIAN SCHOOL -
OUR FIRST PRAISE SESSION!
For our first praise session, I started off with the students gathered around the piano. I love being able to hear each voice and the group blending together. This also allows me to guide and help them easier, as I can see if someone is lost. (The songs with page turns or repeat signs can be challenging for students new to sight reading).
The song line up is written on the dry erase board for guidance. We also had extra time for a bonus song, so we sang one of my favorites- "I Love to Tell the Story" - at the end of the session!
Another way to "Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth!" is by using percussion instruments! So, I gave a brief music lesson on rhythm and how to play the maracas! Then, the students had the opportunity to play percussion along with the next praise song!
CLOSING THOUGHTS
Matthew 18:20, "For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them."
Despite being a small worship group, we filled God's sanctuary with loud praises! I really was moved to see our students "Serve the LORD with gladness!" I'm excited about upcoming praise sessions this year, and I hope the students are too!
Our praise and worship sessions are just a small part of how St. Stephen Lutheran School offers a Christ-centered education. If you think your child's educational upbringing would be enriched by our Mountain View private school, feel free to email me at admin@ssls.org. We look forward to hearing from you!