Theodore Roosevelt once said,
“You may worship God anywhere, at any time, but the chances are that you will not do so unless you have first learned to worship Him somewhere in some particular place, at some particular time.”
We know that congregational worship is important, but let’s be honest. Sometimes as worship leaders, we wonder why we do what we do.
With such great worship albums out there, why are we needed? If we can have such great worship experiences in our homes and in our cars, why is congregational worship so necessary?
That is the question we tackle in today’s podcast. In addition, I also interview husband and wife duo, Brad & Rebekah about their new album “When We Gather“, which is now released!
At the end of the post, I’ll let you know how you can win one of 5 copies.
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3 Reasons Why Congregational Worship Is So Important
1. Because of God’s Glory
“So music and singing are necessary to Christian faith and worship for the simple reason that the realities of God and Christ, creation and salvation, heaven and hell are so great that when they are known truly and felt duly, they demand more than discussion and analysis and description; they demand poetry and song and music. Singing is the Christian’s way of saying: God is so great that thinking will not suffice, there must be deep feeling;and talking will not suffice, there must be singing” – John Piper
2. Because the Bible Emphasizes It
“And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching” – Hebrews 10:24-25
3. The Christian Life is About Community
“Before the God who is a consuming fire, we don’t shuffle in casually. We don’t demand our artistic preferences. We don’t merely gather with our friends. We don’t merely sing together. As the people of God, we enter into the very presence of God. Encountering God in this way is the very nature of the church. By definition, to be the church is to gather in God’s presence and to worship God together. And when we begin singing, we join the glorious worship that takes place unceasingly before the throne of God” – Jeff Purswell
Post Resources
Resources for Worship Leaders: www.bradandrebekahmusic.com/whenwegather- Download their new album in iTunes HERE.
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How to Win a Copy
In order to win a copy of Brad & Rebekah’s new album, simply leave a comment below! I will pick the winners next week!
Question: Why do you think congregational worship is so important? You can leave a comment by clicking here.
Wouldn’t know the difference if you hadn’t mentioned you used other recording stuff this episode:-)
Congregational worship is very important yeah, it’s motivating, constructive to one another and most importantly it brings much joy to our Father in heaven. That thing you said David about being a spotlight, that’s a great way to approach what worshipleaders are/ need to be. Love it!
Much love and blessings,
Claire
Thanks, Claire!
It’s extremely important to stress the importance of congregational worship… I’ve experienced a lot of alternative ideas in this area over the past 5 years, and all of them were trying to do the right things in the wrong ways. They wanted to act out God’s love more so they decreased their meeting together and put worship on the back burner. Unfortunately it always turned into a lack of devotion for God and a high devotion to people. There has to be balance and adoration and pure love being poured out on our Savior is where it starts. People get tired of the week in week out church routine so they try to spice it up by being relevant, but a lot of times they focus on relevancy rather than devotion to God.
That’s good, Ashley. True outreach can only flow out of deep devotion to Jesus.
Really enjoyed this discussion. Thanks! I especially think that the third point is forgotten – the importance of community as Christians. Passages like Colossians 3:16 and Ephesians 5:9 shed further light on the way God intends His people to gather together to sing praises (in these contexts the emphasis is also on the word of God being central in that singing, and the singing as being an outflow of a Spirit-filled life!)
You and I are called by God to sing praises to Him. It’s not an option. Now it’s also a privilege and delight – and a joy we can share with other believers when we gather to worship God through not only singing, but the preaching of His word, communion, fellowship with other believers (practicing the ‘one-anothers’) and prayer – Acts 2:42.
Are we allowed to worship God through song outside of a congregational context? Absolutely!! We should cultivate personal praise of God throughout every aspect of our lives – including devotional times where our adoration and focus is on worshipping God (including through music). But we can’t let that take away from the necessity of regular corporate worship. The Scripture you cited in Hebrews is so important for so many Christians to grasp today! At the end of the day – we need to honour God and live in obedience to His word and His design for the body of Christ to operate.
Preach it!
Love the quote from John Piper!
One of my favs!
Again, great show. We have been going through the Worship Central course with our worship team and your opening reasons for worship section tied in so perfectly to what God is speaking to us through that.
In the interview section, I really liked how simple and grounded Brad and Rebecca are. I liked how they stressed the importance of making music that is easy for people to listen to and sing. Sometimes I think we get caught up in trying to flex our creative muscle when making songs we end up with complexity for the sake of complexity. I heard an interview with Rivers Cuomo of Weezer where he talked about finding a formula that works for your band, makes your crowd happy, and stick to it. The same can be said for worship music. Find what works for connecting you and your congregation with the Living God and embrace it!
Daniel, love the illustration. Very helpful. Thanks!
First and foremost, it improves musical knowledge and skills. As the congregation becomes more confident, it is inevitable that they will grow in musical knowledge and skills. One of the best and most immediate ways to increase knowledge is to give verbal introduction to songs. This makes people aware of such things as where the song comes from, how or why it was written, something of its history; anything that might bring new insight about the meaning or origin of the song. We can often add a whole new flavor or meaning to even a very familiar hymn or song by offering some small detail about its genesis or a personal anecdote about the important of the song to you.
Improving musical skills is another byproduct of congregational singing. By giving direction about dynamics, or by modulating the tempo, we increase the congregation