WHY DO
WORSHIP?
Firstly, we
are created for worship. Westminster Shorter Catechism: The
chief end of man is to enjoy God and glorify him forever.
Piper summarizes this as "God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him.”
The bible
tells us that we become like what we worship.
Psalm
135:18 (NIV)Those who make them will be like them, Yes, everyone
who trusts in them.
That is a powerful statement. Therefore, the more I
worship God with all my heart, mind soul and strength, the more I will become
like him and reflect his glory.
Worship has always required choice and change. It identifies which kingdom you belong to,
and it has always been about the glory of God.
The Father
seeks for us to worship Him (John 4:24). We are to worship Him
in Spirit and in truth.
Worship is a
command in scripture – It is not a good idea but a God idea.
Colossians
3:16 “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching
and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and
spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.”
Ephesians
5:18-19 “And do not get drunk with wine, for that is
debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and
hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your
heart…”
Singing is
one of the two chief ways that the Word of God dwells in us richly.
When we sing we build up each other. Ephesians 5:19:
Note specifically here that it says: “addressing one another in psalms and
hymns and spiritual songs…”
Music, melody, art, dance, creativity—all these things
give voice to the mystery and hiddenness of the human heart. Darlene Zschech
WHO IS WORSHIP FOR?
Worship is
about Jesus who deserves our highest praise for ever and ever.
Its about our beautiful savior who died so that we could become sons of the
most high God and free from fear … no longer slaves but Sons.
Worship is
about HIS PRESENCE. In worship, we need to feel the heartbeat
of God. We as worship leaders need to lead from the presence of God ushering
people into His presence. We are channels, catalysts .
Worship is a lifestyle not a program or something we do for 45min each week. It’s who we
are: worshippers. It’s something we do and live from 24/7. That is why who you
have on your team is very important.
The most talented may not get on team if their heart
is not submitted to the leadership and open to input, if they are not
worshippers first. Make sure that you
worship when you are not leading worship. Do not worship only when you lead.
Their music cannot be their identity but rather that they are sons and
daughters of God. Or else you will have a lot of trouble, ego issues etc. etc.
Band is a whole topic by itself.
Worship is something that comes from the inside out, from a life of devotion. Remember that God is not looking for an outside-in,
performance-based or talent-based offering. He has always been looking for an
offering of the heart.
Worship is
God centered, celebrating who God is, what He has done. His
goodness.
Its cross
centered -It’s centered on the finished work of the cross and
not sin centered or man centered – a needy kind of worship is not God
glorifying: begging him to do something for us.
Worship is
not a means to an end. Warfare may happen in worship. It’s
a hidden theme as it were. We see in
Ephesians 5, the command to address one another in song comes right on the
heels of “[make] the best use of the time, because the days are evil”
(Ephesians 5:16).
Don’t worship
in order to get miracles. Focus on the
one who is worthy of worship.
As Bill Johnson
says when the reason for worship is
warfare it is flattery i.e you are doing something in order to gain
something. Imagine if you child only hugged you so that he could get a sweet
from you? How awful!!
Worship
is a response to the worth of the person we are worshipping. So matter what we are going through, his worthship is constant.
That is 100% honesty, transparency and authenticity before God. It recognizes God for who He is from a
place of a yielded heart.
That releases the presence of God and his power into
different situations.
Today worship has become very popular. We all want the
5-7 piece band, loud guitars/drums great voices that could win a Grammy, Dove
etc. etc. All that is good provided we do not forget WHO this is about.
Let’s be
careful not to shift the focus from the wonder of the person worthy of worship
to the medium of worship i.e the music etc.
HOW DO WE
WORSHIP?
We worship
from a place of identity not to get identity– Sons of God
who simply want to delight in Him and his presence. This is critical and key.
If we don’t have this we get into performance, begging or religion.
Scripture gives us many indications from the Psalms ,
in Ephesians, Colosssians etc.
What do we
do when we come together? It says each one of us has
something to bring to the gathering – a psalm, a new song, scripture, a word of
encouragement, the gifts of the spirit etc.
We have to
teach our people how to listen to his voice, when to
step up, and when to listen and hold back. Make lots of room for the work of
the Spirit.
Allow your congregation to participate.
Intentionally make room for it.
So, after the first few songs intentionally pause for
people to participate. Engage them. We do believe in the priest hood of all believers. Do our meetings reflect that?
Is this
possible only in a small setting? Well its easier. In larger setting have a
system whereby people can contribute. Have floater mics, someone to whet
prophetic up front etc. It might be messy at first but that is ok. Its like
children learning to walk. WE don’t stop
them because they fall. We keep encouraging and teaching.
Worship
leader need to beware seeing this as a hindrance. Often
times I have noticed someone prays or brings a scripture and fits band in with what’s
on my heart and that only gives me courage to share but everyone now witnesses
a beautiful orchestration of the Holy Spirit speaking and building upon each
contribution.
Look for
connection. When we worship in community we need to have
connection with the people. Understand where your congregation is at and help
them on their journey in worship. Teach a little on worship every now and then.
Be very
patient. We keep having new people in our church. WE go
through cycles of new people and every new season. I have to re teach on
worship because people are either new Christians, or from another worship
experience or from traditional churches. Don’t beat your sheep, feed them. Pray
for them. We carry a pastoral responsibility toward the people as well.
Spontaneous
Vs Rehearsed
I hear too much of a debate on this point. I think
it’s a bit of both. Being prepared is not being in the flesh. God who gave
prophetic words to his people hundreds of years before they came to pass can
speak to us about what course the worship should take.
This is a topic for a worship band training so I won’t
go into lengths here. However we need to
straddle both. Eg) A good vacation is one that is planned and has room for
the spontaneous. It’s a problem if we
are rigid about a setlist. It’s equally bad not to prepare and expect something
magical to happen.
We are not program
driven, neither are we personality driven. We are
people lead by the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives and He is a God or
order and the suddenlys.
Make room
for spontaneous singing. We are slowly loosing this in our
congregations. God activity releases his presence. We are a people of His
presence. Its not about whipping up some kind of spiritual high.
Worship comes in waves and we need to be attentive and
catch the wind of the Spirit.
So we need
to take care of what we are singing. Let our
songs be rich in theology, doctrine. The Wesley brothers knew that the people
could not read nor write so they put scripture and theology to song. In today’s
blip age of one liners, 2 min video clips, whatsapp size messages people’s
retention span has greatly reduced.
Most people remember songs. What are
your people singing when they leave your service? People often go back home
humming a song not a sermon (I mean no disrespect here). In times of joy and
sorrow what are our people singing? Find songs that are rich in content and not
just some happy clappy mumbo jumbo. Make a special effort to find or write good
Hindi songs.
C J Maheny
said “worship is take home theology”
Impact on
the unbeliever -Think of the impact on someone who does not know
Christ. Do they hear the gospel n our worship? This is why Tim Keller says: “Good
corporate worship will naturally be evangelistic”
Let our
worship be multi-generational – What do I mean by this? I
love new songs. I believe they are written for a season and have an anointing
for a season maybe.
At Word of Grace we introduce an average of 12 new
songs every year – both homegrown and from around the world. . Be intentional about new songs and choose carefully
what you introduce to your church. When was the last time you introduced a new
song and is it being done regularly. Timeless
truth sung in a fresh way does something to the worship.
However, retain some of the old as well. There
are older people in the congregation that find it hard to keep up with new
songs and styles but don’t get stuck there.
Worship
builds a Launchpad for the prophetic. You want
that in your meetings. Ask God for the prophetic every time you meet
There needs
to be a good working relationship between the pastor and the worship leader.
There needs to be trust and honour for both to release each other to flow in
the spirit. So if your pastor tells you have only 30 mins. Honor that and make
every song count.
In time he will trust what you are sensing the Spirit and
allow you to flow understand that God is bigger your understanding of time.
Please do not say I’m being stifled etc. Learn to honor. God can do something
in an instant if we trust him.
DOES WORSHIP
HAVE ANY PARTICULAR FORM?
Remember what we started this out with. Worship is
about a person. Its a connection with the object of our love – Jesus.
The
expression of this will differ depending on the cultural context.
We need to beware to imitating styles that people cannot relate with. Know your
congregation and use the right tools to help them engage.
We also
need to be aware of the culture of the Kingdom of this world vis a vis Kingdom
culture. What things in our culture are a hindrance to heartfelt
authentic worship?
We need to
deal with any religiosity that is dead works. It could be
fear/shame. It comes from a place of a slave mentality and not sonship. When
you do this there will be no pressure to perform and make something happen.
WHEN WE HAVE
DONE THIS WHAT IS THE RESULT?
The glory of God will fill the place. People will be
filled with his presence and take is presence into the world wherever they go.
That is how the earth shall be filled with the glory of God even as the waters
cover the sea.
There will be rest in your worship
Make
worship in your church a safe place where people are not afraid to be
themselves.
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