One thing we worship leaders do a lot of is craft worship set lists.
Sundays don’t slow down. Completing Sunday’s worship set just means we have a new one to begin on Monday.
But is every songlist created equal? Oftentimes we are so pressured to complete them that we don’t take the time to ask, “Is this a great?”
Is it possible to craft a setlist that hits the mark every time? If so, what would it involve?
Rather than go into a discussion of the best songs, I’m going to outline what I believe to be a great worship set. Killer worship sets do four things:
1. Teach
A powerful worship set should teach people about God – it should be filled with theology. That doesn’t mean you have to cover the full scope of Biblical history and eschatology. It just means that people should learn about the nature of God, not just the nature of human passion. Rather than singing songs about how passionate you are, sing songs that declare who God is.
As Bob Kauflin says in Worship Matters
2. Engage
Worship music is about the people. It’s not about what appeases your creativity or the innovation of your band. If the people aren’t engaged, you’ve failed. You should make it as easy as possible for people to sing, clap, and participate with the music.
This has to do with your songs, your arrangement, your leadership. Don’t perform worship for people. Help them engage and get out of the way. Lead people to a place where they don’t need you anymore.
3. Inspire
If you’re leading worship, you should be inspiring. I’m not talking about being fake or even charismatic. I mean everything about your worship set should inspire people to lift their vision higher. You want to move people’s eyes off their circumstances onto the greatness of God.
Your songs should be powerful, inspiring songs. Your band should be fully engaged. You as the worship leader need to be energized. Even if you’re an introvert you can have an inspiring spiritual energy. Ask God for that.
4. Convict
We need to be careful here. It’s not your job to convict everyone, but worship should always be married with repentance. As we draw near to God, we turn our hearts away from earthly things. We turn from that which steals our attention.
From our song choice to the work of the Holy Spirit, great worship sets cause people to change. That’s because you need more than a great band and great songs. You need the anointing of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit will do what you could never dream of doing.
Where Do I Go From Here?
As you prepare your worship set this week, don’t just look for a few hit songs. Don’t just copy from another church. Take some time and pray. Ask the Lord to guide you in your song choice.
Why? Because worship planning isn’t just about your hard work. It’s about partnering with the Holy Spirit to reach your people.
Go and be awesome.
Question: Do you agree with this worship set DNA? Anything you would add? You can leave a comment by clicking here.
Great practical ideas. One idea I would add is “Express”, express what is in God’s heart for his people, and help the people express their heart for God.
I think you’ve inspired me to write a post about this topic. Thanks David!
Rob, make sure you link back to your post after it’s written! I like your idea of EXPRESS – an even greater point for songwriters, in my opinion.
Well okay then, here’s the post! Thanks for the inspiration: http://www.robstill.com/planning-powerful-worship-sets/
Hey David,
Those are some solid posts to build sets on, no pun intended. The one thing that strikes me is the focus on the people we’re leading. I know lots of worship leaders miss this, so it’s good to talk about creating spaces where we lead each unique individual in the room to encounter the Lord in worship.
I’d add to these posts, or maybe to the foundation under them, something of “songs that honor, bring glory to, and bring pleasure to God.” I think that frames all the other necessary tenants in proper perspective.
Rock on…and happy second of the forty days of Easter!
Dave
Some would argue that all worship songs honor and bring glory to God. Would you beg to differ?
I’m not questioning that. I’d assume they do since I’d also assume that writers of worship songs love Jesus and want to honor Him. I don’t think it’s so much of whether they do or not, it’s about our focus…yes, I want to teach, engage, inspire, and convict people, but the object of that is still people.
So I’m only saying that it’s important to frame our focus on the Object. If our focus in selecting songs misses that, foundationally, then we’ll be working to redirect them since our planning was for them.
It’s kinda like asking the question “should our music be for the churched or the unchurched?” To which I would respond, “neither, that’s the wrong first question.” Worship music in church is for God. Now once that’s settled, do whatever is in your heart to do – lead the individual people in the room as you’re doing music that’s to/for/from God.
Does that make sense?
Excellent! Well said, and specific, yet general enough to work with so many worship styles in many churches.
I’ve mentioned here before how we try to have opening songs that sing ABOUT God: His attributes, character, who He is and what He’s done. We save the bulk of the music for after the message, where we then focus on songs sung TO God, first person, and related (when possible) the the message we have just heard. Responsive worship. Since we’ve taken this approach, we’ve seen a pretty conservative, sleepy church begin to respond visually. More hands in the air, more *physical* engagement in the act of worship. I know that’s not always an indication of true authenticity, but in a church where we haven’t prompted it from the front, it’s exciting to see!
Your comments about “engagement” are so important, too. Have I picked keys most people can sing in? Do they know the songs, or am I giving them too much new stuff all at once? Are the rhythms singable by non-musicians? Can different generations engage somewhere in the service with music they relate to? We try for one or two hymns per service (usually re-arranged in a contemporary style), which has kept the older generation engaged in our services and in the life of our Body, while introducing younger generations to some great worship music from the past.
One of my favorite examples is “Shine Jesus Shine”. Yes, I’m tired of the song. Yup, it’s “old”. I plan it maybe twice a year. But when we do it, the room gets LOUD, and people engage. They know the song so well that they can enter in with it effortlessly, and the lyrics hit home again. Always a good reminder to me about getting them in the door and then letting Jesus do His thing.
n
Great points, Neil. I’m glad you brought up the “Shine Jesus Shine” example. As worship leaders, we need to pick songs that will engage our congregations. Oftentimes what moves us doesn’t move the people we serve. Our preferences must be secondary. Thanks for sharing!
so good! I’ll definitely be writing these down to refer back to when forming my set lists. thanks!
No problem, Adam. Thank you!
Hello! I’m a former lurking reader, but I had to comment on this one because Easter was the SECOND time I had ever led worship and I had this exhilarating/horrifying realization that we had to do it all next week!
Our Holy week programming was amazing, so many people put hard work and tears (for reals) into it and God showed up in the worship at our church like never before. Just when the post Easter exhaustion hit, I got a reminder to start planning next week’s set.
How do you repeat that?!?! Well, I can’t try and recreate Easter Sunday, but I think your advice on what makes a set great OUTSIDE of the actual songs is so true and my prayer is that we can create extravagant worship this way, and not rest on the exhilaration of Easters past.
Haha…you just said “for reals!” 😀
The pressure of “one-ups-manship” (making next week’s service more amazing than last week’s) is truly crushing. One church I know of (that has over 12,000 people in attendance) has a plan to vary the services each month. They plan for A, B, and C services. “A” services are like Easter – all the stops pulled out. “B” services have a few creative elements, perhaps a video or short sketch, etc. “C” services are just “worship and the word” basic. So they may plan a couple of C’s, a couple of B’s, and occasionally an A.
That expectation (and plan) takes the pressure off the planning. It doesn’t mean we don’t plan worship well and hear from the Lord, it just means we do it in varying levels of complexity.
Cool thoughts. This is similar to what we do. We are a “small” church (relatively), without a big budget and without a huge pool of talent to pull from. This also serves the purpose of keeping the congregation from coming to hear a show. They are subtly reminded that THEY are the worshippers, not just us. They are the choir!
I have recently been liberated by this philosophy: Show them Jesus. Pure and simple. All of the points David wrote above are important and extremely helpful, but if I am trying to “produce” good worship in my church, I will fail and merely produce a concert. If I am showing them the magnificence of Christ and simply worshipping Him myself, whether with a huge orchestra and choir, great drama, or with a lone piano and a mic, they will soon want to worship with me. Looking at Jesus makes me want to create and create well. But the creativity is not the point. He is.
Take rest and confidence in this!
LaToya! Thanks so much for commenting. Congratulations on such a great service. I feel proud of you even though I don’t know you well 🙂
Keep it up!
Nothing to add really, but wanted to share as we have been working on Point #1 🙂
Our purpose statement: “Changing Lives Through the Unchanging Word”. As we look at our purpose statement through the lens of Worship. We are making an effort to pick and sing with intention, the songs that are inline with God’s Word. I believe when we do that the Spirit can (and will) move in power.
We are being intentional in setting our hearts in the mode that lyrics and melodies of worship songs come from, and are inspired from, The Word of God. As we have processed this (and continue to process) we have come to the confirmation and realization…. THAT is why Worship “changes lives”!!
Always refreshing and confirming to read your stuff David!
I’ve found that at most times it really helps getting a heads up on the upcoming sermon series that our pastor is preparing. This gives me an opportunity to pray and seek God and schedule songs that will flow well with the word. It makes it easier for our congregation to connect the worship and the word. However, we leave room for the Holy Spirit to move us in what ever direction it desires for us to go. Those moments are the BEST!
Do you balance preparation and spontaneity? Or do you lean towards one or the other?
I balance preparation and spontaneity because we have 4 services(2 at each campus). Our media team is great about catching us if the Holy Spirit takes us somewhere else. Which means we have to keep our database updated!