Beyond Sunday Worship

Worship Podcast & Blog

Worship Team – 40 Days of Consistency

As a church, our monthly focus for March is “40 Days of Consistency”. We are focusing on maintaining a consistent, daily devotional life. The goal is that this 40 day focus will continue into healthy life patterns of spiritual discipline.

Tonight at our annual Worship Team “Refresh” Night, I’m excited to launch a similar focus for all our worship team members. For those of you involved in worship ministry, you understand the rigors of weekly programming, band rehearsal, song selection, late nights, early mornings, etc. Matters of the heart take a back seat role to the seemingly more urgent responsibilities.

Over these next 40 days, we want to focus on the inner life of the worshiper. We want to increase our unified, focused, spiritual vision. How are we personally growing as worshipers of Jesus Christ? How are we preparing for weekend ministry? Here’s what the next 40 days will look like:

  • Weekly Scripture passage focus
  • Weekly “why we sing” a certain song
  • Weekly personal prayer preparation for ministry
  • Focusing on inwardly/outwardly engaging in the weekend worship

Looking forward to what God is going to do in and through us this month!

Worship Leading Tips/Sarcasms (Part 1)

Some suggestions (sarcasms) for worship leaders:

  • Singing a song over and over and over does not mean you are being prophetic. Know when to move on.
  • A full sound doesn’t invite the Holy Spirit. Enjoy periodic simplicity.
  • Back away from your microphone at times to encourage congregational singing. Your voice does not sustain the presence of God.
  • Just because you are the worship leader doesn’t mean you are exempt from worshiping.
  • Constantly remind yourself that your main purpose is not simply to sound awesome.
  • Becoming Chris Tomlin should not be your goal as a worship leader. Serve your local church and invest in the people.
  • People connect with a worship leader who worships. Don’t be preoccupied with impressing people.
  • Engage your heart and your congregation beyond the song. Help them to realize the presence of God.
  • Your talent is not greater than God’s glory. Don’t act like it is.
  • Behold the Glory of God when you’re off the stage. Stop looking in the mirror.
  • There will always be a more talented person than you. Don’t ever give up.
  • Focus on your heart. Trendy clothes and weird hair is OK, but not essential.

How Do You Handle Entertainment?

It has been on my heart recently to discuss the matter of entertainment. Do you ever think about how much movie, music, TV, video game items you indulge in? Do you ever think about why you indulge? Do you blindly accept all Christian media simply because it has a Christian stamp on it? Do you accept any and all secular media without giving it a critical thought?

Due to the increasing amount of media in our day, it is crucial for followers of Jesus to think critically about what we consume. First John warns us not to love the world, and I fear we flirt with this quite a bit as Christians. If you listen to Christian and/or secular music, you need to think about it. Saying, “This is Christian..it’s OK”, will not suffice. Also, saying, “I just love the music”, referring to secular music, is a lazy answer. If you are letting anything in, have a biblical reason for it.

I listen to both Christian and secular music, but not all. I watch both Christian and secular movies, but not all. I am by no means a perfect example to follow, but I have thought about this and long to glorify Christ in all areas of my life.

Here are some random thoughts that help guide my choices:

  • You are a Christian, filled with the Holy Spirit. Evaluate your entertainment based on what the Spirit is saying to you, not on what Hollywood says is OK (Yes, the ‘Passion of the Christ’ is rated R).
  • Just because music is Christian doesn’t mean it is true theology and good art. Some of it is. A lot of it isn’t.
  • Evaluate all secular music/movies/TV through the lens of your faith – if you think something is harmful, don’t be lazy and say you ‘just listen to the music’ or ‘close your eyes on the bad parts’. It most likely will affect your spirit and weaken your passion for holiness. On the other hand, some secular artists make beautiful art and present a true picture of the world and even faith, sometimes. Enjoy it and praise God through it.

All in all, fight to spend as much time in the Word as you can. Let your favorite entertainment be reading the Word and listening to the Holy Spirit. In my opinion, those are the best times.

Do you agree? I would love to hear your feedback on this one.

DS