Beyond Sunday Worship

Worship Podcast & Blog

Archives for March 2011

20 Ways To Increase Your Team’s Desperation For God

[This post is part of a series on Tips For Taking Your Worship Team To The Next Level. Check out the rest here.]

Can you envision it? A worship team fully engaged in the vision. Musicians who not only play good music but worship with intensity. A worship team that is desperate to meet with God. A worship team in love with Jesus.

Doesn’t that sound great? Sadly, many worship teams simply fade into routine boredom. There’s no magic formula to increasing passion on your team, but there are things you can do to help create the culture you want to see.

  1. Be what you want to see in your team.
  2. Speak your vision. All the time.
  3. Quote Scripture like it’s your breath.
  4. Recruit musicians who have a deep passion for Christ and the church.
  5. Give your team members individual, specific responsibility.
  6. Spend time with Jesus together. Just worship.
  7. Speak about what God is doing.
  8. Worship spontaneously.
  9. Share stories of how your team is making a difference.
  10. Ask your team’s input.
  11. Teach your team how to press deeper into worship.
  12. Pray together for the Holy Spirit to move.
  13. Have your senior pastor speak vision to the team.
  14. View your team as your community. And live like it is.
  15. Communicate consistently.
  16. Provide feedback and follow up.
  17. Do something difficult together (raise money, go on a missions trip, bless a smaller church).
  18. Revisit your vision weekly or daily or every minute. Go do that right now.
  19. Encourage your team to engage by speaking up. Don’t just talk at them.
  20. Talk about the meanings of the songs you sing more than just how cool it’s arranged.

QUESTION: What are some other ways of creating a culture of desperation for God? What have you tried?

Seth Godin’s “Poke the Box” Workbook for FREE

One of the most insightful, unsettling, innovative thinkers in the world is Seth Godin. The few books that I’ve read from him have challenged me and got me thinking about my work in a deeper way.

It’s impossible to read his books without being stirred to take action in your life.

I recently purchased the Kindle edition of his newest book, Poke the Box (affiliate link), for $1 (it’s now $4.99 & more than worth the price). I am absolutely loving it so far. It’s a book about initiating & starting. Enough thinking. Enough risk avoiding. It’s time to make your ideas happen.

I received this free PDF workbook and thought I would pass it along. Consider yourself challenged to start that “thing” you’ve been thinking about for too long: start that discipleship strategy, perform that song, start that blog, launch that idea, have the hard conversations. Don’t be afraid of failure. Get going.

 

To download Seth’s “Poke the Box” workbook, click here.

Let’s not just talk about making a difference in our ministries. Let’s do it.

Today.

Whose Name Are You Making Famous?

Sometimes ministry on a stage, in front of people, performing something is tough. Sometimes blogging, networking, marketing, recording music, preaching, leading and promotion are tough. It can feel shallow, promoting yourself and your product.

It gets me thinking:

Whose name am I making famous?

[Read more…]

David’s Free Weekly Worship Leader Newsletter

Is it possible to be too excited? Because I may have just crossed the line. Today I wanted to introduce you to a BRAND NEW FEATURE here on the blog.

I know. So awesome. This is something completely unique and different. It’s not the same as subscribing to my posts via RSS or email. This is a weekly email featuring content found nowhere else on my blog. And it’s completely free.

If you’re familiar with my writings you know I’m passionate about discipling your worship team. Leading worship, being on a team, and encountering God are some of the coolest things on earth. Am I right or am I correct?

This newsletter will ship every Monday, including a devotional for you to use with your worship team. It will feature Bible study, discussion questions, prayer focuses, and other sweet features. It will also be a bit more personal, identifying with the joys and struggles of leading worship and leading a team. Simple, practical, and useful (I hope).

Totally free. Totally awesome. CLICK HERE to subscribe!

Thanks for being such a devoted reader. You, my friend, are even more awesome than this newsletter.

Anything you’d like to see in the newsletter? Let me know in the comments!

How To Dramatically Improve Your Rhythm Section Today

[This post is part of a series on Tips For Taking Your Worship Team To The Next Level. Check out the rest here.]

There is a constant friction within worship teams between the spiritual and the musical. There are some who place no value on musical improvement and focus solely on the “heart of worship”. There are others who are so heavily focused on musical precision and innovation that the heart is buried. What shall we do?

I think we should just be awesome like these guys 🙂

I’m of the opinion that we need both/and not either/or. It’s possible to be so musically excellent that the Person of Christ is no longer in focus. It’s also possible to be so musically awful that the entire worship service is a complete distraction. We need an excellence that draws attention to Christ and invites people to join in.

One of the most important dynamics of an effective worship team is a tight rhythm section. I’ve found that the more a rhythm section works together, the less distracting the music is. It’s then easier to worship without wondering if the drummer will miss his fill or the bass player actually play the bass line. When working with worship teams, rhythm section is the first dynamic I focus on.

So what can you do to improve?

[Read more…]