If you were raised in church, congregational worship is normal.
You know the ropes – raising your hands, singing, bowing down before God. But for many in our churches today, this is completely foreign.
And to be honest, a little weird.
It’s not that people are disengaged.
It’s not that they hate your songs. It’s not that they don’t want to worship.
They just don’t know how.
Art can be scary. Especially as it relates to its place in the church.
It’s like a wild animal, we avoid even trying to tame.
I love ministry. The work I get to do is such a privilege – leading worship, pastoring people, raising up volunteers, making disciples.
But I also wonder if the walls we’ve made between art and ministry need to come down.
I used to sit down and play the piano for the sake of beauty – getting lost in the moment while I created tones for God’s glory. Now, I sit at the piano to pull off a worship song.
I’ve lost the mystery. I’ve lost the expectation. I’ve lost a the sense of beauty and majesty as it relates to art.
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.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed
Worship leader, you may not be as “cutting edge” as that other church.
You may sing worship songs that are 12 years old.
You may not write your own songs like that uber-talented friend of yours.
You may feel irrelevant. Old. Ill-equipped. Unqualified. But guess what? It’s OK.
There’s a different war you need to be fighting – more important than relevance, innovation, and keeping up.
What is the war? Staying amazed by God.
No matter what you do, don’t cut corners when it comes to gazing upon Jesus in wide-eyed wonder.
Let that sink in. Drink it in deep. Let your heart feel the weight.
[Originally, this post was my featured newsletter last week. I received so much positive feedback that I've decided to repost it here. This is the kind of content you get when you subscribe to my newsletter, along with a free ebook called "Beyond Sunday". You can sign up for that right here.]
We all want to become better, don’t we?
Isn’t that why we attend conferences, read books, and study our heroes? I’d imagine that’s why you’re reading this post. You want to take your worship leading to another level.
I’m always pondering ways to become a better worship leader. The more I thought about what has been instrumental in my development, the more I thought I needed to share this with you.
Some of these points are weird, non-typical. But what I’ve found is that the most helpful lessons I learned weren’t just lectures taught in a classroom.
They were caught in real life.
Ever feel discouraged?
Sometimes you are intimidated, overwhelmed, and stuck comparing your meager beginnings to someone’s massive success. There’s temptation to give up, look down, and punch your progress in the face.
Allow me to challenge you: never stop showing up.
What’s in your worship team toolbox?
Worship Leaders, it’s easy to get discouraged, isn’t it?
When you survey the landscape of modern worship around the world, oftentimes all you see is large churches with incredible talent, massive budgets, and resources you can only dream of.
But the truth is, most churches in America are small churches.
And there are steps we can all take to raise the excellence level of our teams.
This post will outline 9 steps you can apply today no matter how large or small your church.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed
Before you read the rest of this post, I want you to slow down. Pause. Breathe deep.
Seriously. We are in such a rush to get more done – to cram information into our brains and forget what matters most.
This is a blog post about God, His glory, and our responsibility to see and stand in awe.
Our worship services can become so busy for God that we longer take the time to notice God.
We’re not just coming together to sing, we’re coming together to see.
We’re not just gathering to praise, we’re gathering to peer deeper into glory.
It’s standing in awe more than it is standing in line to ask for more of God’s good gifts.
There is a big difference between leading worship and leading people.
To lead worship, all you need is a musical skill set. To lead people requires so much more.
In this podcast I sit down with Rick Muchow. Rick was the Worship Pastor at Saddleback church for 25 years, working under the leadership of Pastor Rick Warren.
He had some fantastic insights to share as it relates to pastoring people in worship.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed
As worship leaders, we love those times when the congregation is with us.
We ask them how they’re doing, and they respond. They sing the songs we chose. They are visibly expressing themselves to God.
Maybe they’re even chanting your name as you take the stage. Ahhh…worship leading bliss.
But what happens when people don’t worship – when the room feels frozen over?
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