Why do we stand in church?

Have you ever wondered on a Sunday morning (or whenever you go to church) why you stand and sit all the time during the service? I think I just found the reason:

Nehemiah 8:5 "Ezra opened the book. All the people could see him because he was standing above them; and as he opened it, the people all stood up."

The date was October 8, 445 BC (the 1st day of the 7th month of the Jewish calendar). Under the prophet (and scribe) Ezra, a second wave of Israelites was returning from exile in Babylon. They had been released from exile by the Persian King, Cyrus the Great, in March 538 BC, after they had been taken into exile by the Neo-Babylonian/Chaldean King Nebuchadnezzar after he had destroyed Jerusalem in 586 BC.

Ezra was reading from the Book of the Law that Hilkiah the high priest found in the temple during the reign of King Josiah (640-609 BC). The occasion was the New Year's Day of the civil calendar, celebrated as the Feast of Trumpets, with cessation of labor and a sacred assembly.

A lot of what we do in worship has its origin in events from the Bible. When we sing the Glory to God we remember the angels who sang at Jesus' birth. When we sing Psalms we are using the same "hymnal" as people did during Old Testament times. When we confess our sins, we are doing what it says we should do throughout the Bible.

Nehemiah 10:28

28 "The rest of the people—priests, Levites, gatekeepers, singers, temple servants and all who separated themselves from the neighboring peoples for the sake of the Law of God, together with their wives and all their sons and daughters who are able to understand-

Last AK Rehearsal before the Fall Concert

AK has worked so hard since the beginning of the school year to prepare for the Fall Concert. The High School Musical medley is 9 minutes and 30 seconds long and is fully choreographed by Hannah Sugars. We had to postpone our regular Wednesday rehearsal this week because of the WLA vs. St. Mary's Springs football game at Fruth Field (we won 28-14!), so we rehearsed tonight, Thursday, Oct 18. We finally had the stage set in the choir room, the guys had their rip away warm-up sweats, and the girls had their spin out skirts.

By the time I shot this take, AK had performed the whole medley twice and had cleaned up a couple of spots. Then they got goofy...

WLA Fall Choral Concert–Oct. 21, 2007, 7 PM

You are all invited to come to Winnebago Lutheran Academy (map) on Sunday, Oct. 21 at 7:00 PM for the first choir concert of the school year–Classic Cole Porter. (Click for PDF file of the program) The concert will feature WLA's four choirs (Traveling, Viking, Freshman, and Academy Kids) singing the music of famed composer/lyricist Cole Porter with the Academy Kids providing entertainment for the younger crowd with a medley of music from High School Musical!

Choir students are asked to be in the choir room at 6:00 PM for warmups. Hope to see you there!

One rehearsal to go...

This is the whole High School Musical medley. We have one more rehearsal, Thursday night, before the Fall Concert (Sun., Oct 21, 2007 , 7 PM, WLA gym) We're performing for a former AKer, Jenny Meyer, who popped in tonight and surprised us with cookies and soda! We love it when veterans come back and visit–especially when they bring treats!

ALWAYS CATCH YOUR PARTNER!!!

So I preach, "Guys! Protect your ladies! If they are going to fall, throw yourselves under them so they never hit the ground!"

Josh never listened....

Actually, Hannah thought it was a different part of the piece and she went for the dip, TOTALLY TRUSTING JOSH TO CATCH HER!!! Just watch her reaction...

WLA vs. Laconia