Is it just songs? Is it just smooth transitions? Is it just preaching? Are we satisfied with just a tight service?
No. There is much more at stake. There is so much more.
God is moving. Say it out loud. Believe it. Breathe it. The Holy Spirit is at work, awakening hearts to the glory of God.
When you realize what is at stake, you lead differently. You lean in with more anticipation. The mundane becomes not so mundane. Boredom flees. Because even the most routine of tasks are filtered through the work of the Holy Spirit.
Next time you step out on stage, make these confessions:
- The Holy Spirit is moving
- Hearts are awakening
- The Gospel is doing its work
- Bodies are being healed
- Marriages are being restored
- Destinies are being set in motion
- The discouraged are finding hope
- The lost are being saved
- Hope is alive
- The Living God is at work
Imagine what would change about our roles in ministry if we actually believed these things.
You hold your guitar differently when you realize the living God is at work.
You sing with more fire and conviction when you realize the living God is at work..
You play drums like never before when you realize the living God is at work.
Even when it seems no one is engaging. God is at work. Don’t worship a response. Keep your eyes on Jesus. Sure, do your best to build effective setlists and lead with energy. But don’t obsess about the response.
The Living God is at work.
The true and Living God is indeed at work. Thank you for this
Right on time!
A great reminder… thank you!
What is at stake?
OUTSIDE THE CHURCH
Numerous industries would be crying (for loss of profits) were it not for the “modern” church adopting the world as its partner in “relevance”. Musical, audio visual and the trades love the church–they advertise as “Christian”________________________________ so they can appear to be friendly to the cause. They join the church in worshipping the RETAIL JESUS we created for our own pleasure.
INSIDE THE CHURCH
A cancer grows and the very existence of the church is at stake. Pretty musicians with starving egoes, skinny jeans, pop-star copy-cat-status and ankle-deep theology have become our Leaders! They actually think that their existence is necessary for Christian worship.
Just as the world has traded emotional hype for objective/scientific truth (transgender–SSM, etc) so too the evangelical church has become proponents of emotional heresy and stark deniers of biblical truth. Just observe how many times a blog post mentions any verse of scripture as directive for their purpose and practice. They can’t because the Word of God gets in their way.
What is at stake?
BIBLICAL WORSHIP –Romans 12:1-3
WORSHIP THAT DOES NOT REQUIRE MUSIC, MANIPULATION, EMOTION– A BUILDING OR A DAY– SKILL OR PERFORMANCE –ATMOSPHERE OR LOCATION–NEITHER LIGHTS NOR CAMERA NOR ACTION
–Phony vs Real
1 Dear friends, God is good. So I beg you to offer your bodies to him as a living sacrifice, pure and pleasing. That’s the most sensible way to serve God.
–Godly vs Carnal (worldly)
2 Don’t be like the people of this world, but let God change the way you think. Then you will know how to do everything that is good and pleasing to him.
–Spirit vs Flesh (ego)
3 I realize God has treated me with undeserved grace, and so I tell each of you not to think you are better than you really are. Use good sense and measure yourself by the amount of faith that God has given you.
“We have been living on substitutes for so long that if a revival of worship did come, many of God’s people would probably see it as a threat to the Gospel.” –Warren Wiersbe
Thank you so much David, this is very helpful
DS – yes a great reminder…. keep the focus on Him. For the benefit of those who may read the article without the email you sent, you may want to adjust the article and add some if what the email talked about. Thanks as always, for great reminders and insights
Thanks for the reminder!
We don’t worship for the response of the congregation. We worship the Living God because He is worthy. It’s easy to get weary in well-doing and fall into the boredom of the routine of church. It’s easy to blame the people for not responding like we wish they would and become frustrated.
The harder thing to do is have faith that The Living God is moving!
Your blogs and podcasts are such an encouragement to me. Thank you!
I’ve been on worship teams, in the congregation, and gone to world known worship seminars. Yet, the most powerful and precious times of worship were on the bathroom floor, at the washing machine in a dark, damp basement and in my singlewide mobile home.
Nothing fancy, no smoke, lights or even music but my own not so pretty voice.
Although saved at a young age and desiring to always follow the Lord, it wasn’t until I made Jesus King, with a total surrender to His ways did I begin to understand worship. Sometimes it’s the actual unsurrenderd lives of those on the worship team itself that hinder others from entering true worship.
There are worshipers in the congregation, and non worshipers on the platform.
Sometimes the platform is filled with only musicians, not necessarily worshipers. When we let the Holy Spirit lead we don’t need to be led by man.
I appreciate “worship” leaders and their work in bringing us together with music and song, but don’t appreciate them taking themselves too seriously in wanting to “see” things happen.
“Not to us, O Lord, not to us, But to Your name give glory.”
Great comment.. thanks for that reminder!
The most beautiful example of true worship was found in a book called, The God Who Hung on a Cross. It involves lepers building a church with very limited resources and abilities. They came to help but come covered with their shawls to cover their shame from disfigurement. When one of the men took a moment to pray he heard rustling noise around him, opened his eyes and saw the lepers putting their shawls on the ground so as to prostrate themselves before the Lord! What a truly humbling moment. They laid their pride down in honor of God, exposed their shame, and truly worshiped this God(Jesus)who hung on a cross for them. I don’t think the average American church goer can come close to such true humility. Makes you want to throw all your “how to worship God” books out the window.