Our Praise Festival in May
Hallelujah, and welcome from Tsukuba Christ’s Love Church. Today we’d love to tell you about our Praise Festival, a special worship celebration we hold every May.
On this day, the members of our church join together in different groups, and each group leads a song of praise.
A team of young adults. A team of fathers. A mothers’ group. The children from Sunday school. Around ten teams in all take their turn coming forward. Some of them even sing worship songs and poems they’ve written themselves.
They aren’t professional singers. They’re the people who usually sit right beside you in worship.
The fathers sing wholeheartedly. The children sing with all their hearts. The young adults bring the songs they’ve practiced, straight from the heart. It isn’t about singing well or poorly. Each team praises God with a voice all its own.
Why Do We Call It Gospel Praise?
The word “gospel” means good news — the good news of Jesus Christ. In our worship, we sing that hope, holding onto it even through the hardest of times.
But there’s no need to overthink it. When you’re in the sanctuary on this day, you understand what this praise is before anyone explains it.
As one team begins to sing, a child in the front row is the first to start clapping. The row behind picks it up. Before long, even the people who came just to listen find themselves caught up in the rhythm of praise.
Those who sing, and those who listen — the line between them slowly disappears. It isn’t only the platform that’s set apart; everyone in the room joins together in one song of praise. That’s what praising God together looks like.
If You’re Coming for the First Time
You don’t need to be a Christian at all. Here’s one way you might come, and it’s more than enough.
You don’t know a single one of the songs. You can’t follow the words. But as you watch a child up front having the time of their life, you find yourself clapping along, almost without meaning to. That’s all it takes.
Even if you simply listen quietly, that’s enough — God can speak to your heart just the same.
Families with children are very welcome. If your little one gets restless partway through, or runs around, please don’t worry about it. We love hearing children and adults worship together.
Please come — we’d love to see you.