Resource Search Results

Psalms Encourage Family Faith Formation

It’s easy to see why parents would want their kids to know Psalm 23, “The Lord is my shepherd,” and Psalm 103, “Praise the Lord, my soul.” But do children also need to hear Psalm 13, “How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever?” or Psalm 22, “I cry out by day, but you do not answer”? Robert J. “Bob” and Laura Keeley say yes.

Feature Story | December 12, 2013

Shaped by the Psalms

The Psalms offer us language to express gratitude, lament, confession, and praise in worship. Worship Renewal Grant recipients will describe how they studied and prayed the Psalms to help children and adults understand how the psalms help shape the ways we speak to God and to one another through words, music and the arts.

Audio | January 26, 2012

Bob and Laura Keeley on Lament Psalms and Children

Robert “Bob” Keeley teaches education at Calvin College. He and his wife, Laura Keeley, direct children’s ministries at Fourteenth Street Christian Reformed Church in Holland, Michigan. They write books, curriculum, and plays. Here they talk about making lament psalms accessible to children.

Conversation | September 20, 2011

Worship Resources for September 11

Resources for remembering September 11

Worship Service | Article | August 17, 2011

Worship Resources in Times of Natural Disasters

Many of these resources, initially created for an immediate response to specific events, may be adapted or may help provide ideas for similar resources for other natural disasters or for services remembering these events.

Bibliography | March 16, 2011

Songs for Lent

A list of songs to shape Lent. These songs range from prayers of confession to cries of lament to expressions of trust and praise for God’s grace.

Article | March 04, 2011

The Longest Night - LaSalle Street Church

This service of lament and longing for God's light was held on the night of Wednesday, December 20—the night with the least sunlight of any day on the calendar in the Northern Hemisphere.

Worship Service | Article | October 22, 2010

Singing the Psalms Against a Backdrop of Persecution: A View from Pakistan

Find out how the psalms bring hope to suffering Christians in Pakistan and how the psalms can challenge theologians, poets, and musicians around the world to strengthen faith, ministry, and worship.

Audio | March 23, 2010

From Protest to Praise

Our church can be described as a singing church.

Article | September 01, 2009

What the Psalms Have to Teach Us about Song Writing

Psalms allow us to express a whole range of emotions in powerful ways and at the same time, they tell us a lot about God. This workshop will examine how worship song writers can learn from the psalms as they work on their own craft.

Audio | January 01, 2009

Too Deep for Words? Preaching in the Language of the Spirit

This session explored the possibility of discerning the presence of the Holy Spirit in preaching and then discussed some manifestations of the Spirit in sermons, particularly focusing on the expressions of lament and celebration.

Audio | January 01, 2009

From Lament to Praise

When we gather for worship on New Year’s Eve, we do so to praise God for the past year—to thank God for the wonderful gifts he has given us and to remember his wonderful deeds. But what if our year has not been good? What if, when we think back on the year, all we can remember is pain and heartache?

Article | September 01, 2008

Interview with C.R. “Kees” van Setten about the Power of Musical Lament to Reconcile Jews and Christians

In this email interview from spring 2008, van Setten tells how the music of lament has helped heal European Christians ashamed of how they’ve treated Jews and helped Jews feel God’s presence. He explains how combining lament and praise can enrich evangelical worship.

Feature Story | June 20, 2008

Bringing Our Pain to God: Michael Card and Calvin Seerveld on biblical lament in worship

Lament is an essential ingredient of honest faith, but what does biblical lament look or sound like in real congregations? A feature story exploring how Christians can bring their pain to God in worship.

Feature Story | June 20, 2008

Ideas for Including Lament in Your Worship

A Collection of ideas of how to include lament in your worship.

Article | December 01, 2007

Solidarity with Christ

Images often say more than words ever could. A gripping example of this is a sketch titled Christ Helps Hungry Children created in London in 1945 by Oskar Kokoschka.

Article | March 01, 2007

Worship When Steeples Cry

In this workshop, participants were led to discover the form of Biblical lament and how lament can be used in worship to facilitate the revitalization of a Gospel community experiencing loss and change. The workshop was based on the presenter's book, When Steeples Cry: Leading Congregations through Loss and Change.

Audio | January 01, 2007

Realism and Worship: An interview with John G. Stackhouse Jr.

Worship that shapes us and helps us articulate our actual relationship with God needs to be as real as possible: true to the impossible ideals of the Gospel that both judge our present and promise us a glorious future, and true to the actual needs, opportunities, failures and successes of our life between worship services.

Article | August 24, 2005

Worship Service: A Faith that Sighs and Sings - Habakkuk 3

A worship service plan flowing from the statement that Christian faith "can be found in the deepest despair and at the greatest joy." Habakkuk reminds us that true faith does not ignore life's problems, but meets them head on.

Worship Service | June 01, 2005

Songs of Comfort and Trust in Times of Natural Disasters

A list of songs of comfort and trust to be sung in times of natural disaster.

Article | June 01, 2005