Music Notes

"I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.
Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord
the righteous Judge, will award me on that day and not only to me, but also
to all who have longed for His appearing."
2 Timothy 4:7-8

    Can you remember a time when you were a champion? At a track meet? Perhaps with your high school football team? An academic challenge? A community sports league? I'm sure most if not all of us can recall some time when we hoisted the victor*' trophy, placard, ribbon or cup. Do you remember that feeling? I know I have some wonderful memories from days of victory gone by, one day in particular actually. It was my 18th birthday and the day of the Alaska state swimming championships. I was favored to win an individual race and our team was favored to win the team title. My individual race, the 100 yard freestyle, began and when the water settled and the times registered on the board above the pool I looked up to see that another young man and I had tied; right down to the 100th of a second for 1st place. Not only this, but when all the points were tallied at the end of the meet our boys team shared the victor's podium with another team, once again, tied for 1st place. For a long time I was angry, wishing that my team and I could have won our championships outright, but it wasn't until later in life that I was able to celebrate the reality that only on rare occasions does more than one person get to celebrate an individual victory, or more than one team celebrate 1st place at the same sporting event. Now it is a blessed thought to think of myself triumphing not over another young man, but with him, and my team celebrating victory not over another, but with them.
    Unfortunately in sports not everyone gets to win all the time, but with Christ we can all be champions, eternally. The exhilaration of victory can be ours, and not just yours or mine alone, but all of ours together forever. I wrote a song that I would like to teach you all this month called, *God of Victory.* In our God there is no defeat, only victory; only champions. Celebrate our victory in Christ with me this month.
    Choir is in full swing preparing for our Christmas program. It's not to late to join! We would love more voices and welcome everyone who wishes to come and song with us. We meet Sunday nights at 5pm unless otherwise noted on the calendar.

Worshiping with you,

Nick