ZionFireFriends

Hello, everyone, glad to meet you all. My name is Margolit, and I was told about this website by HelenaZF, and am happy to be on a site devoted to Dance!



First, by way of introduction, let me say that I attend a Messianic Synagogue here in NY, where I've been dancing for and with the L-rd for over 16 years now, and am currently a co-leader of the dance ministry.



Dance has always been an integral part of our worship service. We minister every week. There is an area up front for dancing, as well as space in the back for those who don't dance, or wish to worship more privately, as well as for the younger children with adult supervision. We do all kinds of dancing, from line to circle. And many dances are interchangeable. :twirl:



Over the years, visitors and guests, as well as members, have told us how much our dance has blessed them, and/or ministered to them, and given them a new way to draw closer to the L-rd. <EMOJI seq="1f607">:innocent:</EMOJI>



As you can guess, pretty much most of our music is Messianic, Israeli folk and/or traditional Jewish, but we do use non-Messianic music in our congregation as well. Even many of these songs have choreography.



Our worship time is wonderful! It starts with upbeat, faster-paced praise songs, and brings us down to slower more worshipful music just before our congregational leader (whose wife leads the worship team) gets ready to speak.



Oops, didn't mean to go on so long.



Dancin' for and with Yeshua,



Margolit

Margolit, I'm so happy you have joined us, and am looking forward to hearing your perspective in our discussions.



We have several other members who belong to messianic congregations here who I'm sure you will recognize at the first Shalom!



One of the things I have always loved about messianic gatherings is that most are not afraid to spend time in worship, usually going long beyond the 10-15 minutes most congregations alot. The "3 songs and we're out" thing is so frustrating. How can you get all your praising in on one song, all your worshipping in on the second song, and then all your (you may only pick one here: ministry time/thanksgiving/rejoicing) in on the third song? It takes time to be spiritually washed, focused and yielded to what God is doing in the worship time.

I agree, Helena!



Our worship time lasts 45 min. to close to an hour.



You need time to "immerse" yourself in the Ruach HaKodesh.....to be cleansed, if you will, in body, mind and spirit. And some days, I find I need more time to release it than the first 2-3 songs allow.



For me, dance also serves as a catharsis, a release that nothing else can affect. To lose oneself in the dance, in the pure worship it offers, is liike nothing else in the world. It's especially true with dances you know and have often done before....not necessarily because its done by rote, but because knowing the steps allows your spirit (and your mind) the freedom to be more open for what the Ruach wants to do in and for you. You can do the steps without having to constantly be aware of what comes next where or when.



How many of you have suddenly felt Yeshua's presence in your midst as you dance? Or experienced an unexpected surge of such joy that you can't help but laugh out loud? Many times this occurs during what I call the "cool down" from praise to worship music, when the L-rd's presence is palpable, well into the worship. The focus of dance changes, becomes more prayerful, more personal, more one-on-one.



I am truly thankful that the L-rd has honored me with the gift of being able to worship Him in this way. And I definitely look forward to dancing with Him on "the streets that are golden", as the song says!

Lovely to hear from you, Margolit, and what lovely things you describe. There's just nothing like the feedback you get from the Lord when you're dancing, or flagging, or ...... anything - oops! I'm off again!! noopy:

we have a dance team at our church, that was started by our pastor, many many many years ago, i am now dance leader and because she has the heart of a dancer she allows us to minister every service, we are considered as part of the whole praise team(musicians and singers). we worship freely, and spontaneously as the spirit leads us, but because we flow heavily in this area, choreography happens only for special events.

I love hearing about dance flowing freely in your church. When it is a part of every service, it also becomes a part of the culture of your congregation. I think that is a very good thing.

We too dance freely in our church as part of the praise & worship before the pastor speaks. Awesome joy dancing in HIS presence!

How did I miss this post? It's great to hear from you, and welcome to ZionFireFriends. The forum isn't active anymore, but we do occasionally add new material here and are glad to interact with anyone that visits.