Well, I go to the old book about this. It says 100 times in the scripture (OT and NT) to sing. There are specific Hebrew words about using strings, cymbals, etc. In the ancient times, singing and "praying" were seen as the same in the religious context.
My point is that worship is not music, but worship IS something. If you say "worship is everything" than worship is nothing in that logic--it is without distinction. If we simply have weekend services as outreach, teaching, or gathering events without the purpose of exalting God in His proper place, I would rather just do something else than be a worship pastor.
Vince
· 2 years ago
Depends...doesn't everything
A worship music driven church needs to protect the music worship and be careful to not let the teaching get too lengthy. Where as a church built on Bible exposition needs to be sure an feature teaching ant not short change it.
Most will fall somewhere in between. Find a out what you do well...and focus on that.
The trick is having a team that can be honest with each other and speak truth about what you do well and what you don't.
I've been to churches with average worship and awesome teaching...which ends up being a good experience. The reverse can be true. Scale back what is weaker and feature what is strong...not ideal, but works.
Andy
· 2 years ago
I think that corporate worship can stand on its own and not be a 'warm up' for a message.
I have been priveledged to go to a church where when the worship was over the pastor got up there, prayed and then said, "God is really doing something here tonight, lets forget the message and continue to worship him."
I'm sure this caught the band a little by surprise, but God really moved in that service. About 1-1/2 hours of worship. People's bodies and minds were healed through prayer time while worshipping. If you were not touched, you were checked out somewhere else.
I know the pastor well, and I know he was sincere. He had a well planned out message, but that night he realized that an effective God centered service required just worship and prayer.
I felt lucky to be there.
Billy Chia
· 2 years ago
Hmmm... the Church artistically/organizationally/creatively inspiring the "secular" world? I see more of this on the horizon.
Mike
· 2 years ago
Alex,
For me, music speaks, for others, the teaching is their gig. Programming and logistics is a crazy thing-- we have to get people out to get the next service in but yet we don't want to stifle the Holy Spirit. I would say support the Lead/Sr Pastor in this but do explain that not everyone is here just to experience his teaching, they are here to experience what God has planned. I would always have one song in the bank each week just in case the Holy Spirit leads that way. We have done this in the past and has paid off.
eric
· 2 years ago
I think one of the main purposes of music in the Church today is to unify people in declaring God's goodness... Music has the power to bring our corporate hearts and minds into focus on one thing. I pray that at most Churches that one thing is Jesus and God's overwhelming greatness.
Look at the examples in the Old Testament. Many times it seems that music is used as a calling and a declaration of Gods goodness. It's almost as if the musicians are saying "Hey everyone... God is here and He is good. You should join us in declaring that fact!"
There are also examples of David using music to soothe the soul as he did when Saul became sick.
No matter how you use it, music is powerful.
Rob Tremonte
· 2 years ago
I agree with everyone in this case. On a side note, worship is a cry from the heart. David spoke to God through music, he shared his heart through music, he gave God the Glory through his music, like Eric said, He set Saul free from demonic opression through his music...
In modern America, we alot of the time distort the simplicity of worship into productions. It's every musicians pitfall.. The beauty of worship music is in the simple hearts cry to our God.
Matt
· 2 years ago
I just saw everyone commenting and I wanted to feel a part of it.
I say yes. Alex, it was cool reading this...along with everyone's comments. While my comment doesn't contribute any substance...reading this may just help me 're-focus' and give me a little kick in the pants for tonights service...in 1hr59min...
Jeff Thompson
· 1 year ago
My pastor recently had a radical passion for worship develop in his life. He's a HARDCORE student of the Word and one day he came to me and said "Jeff, do you what the most frequently referenced command in the Bible is? It's "sing to the Lord". It's mentioned over TWO THOUSAND times in the Bible!" He's started singing to the Lord every morning during his quiet time and says it's revolutionized his life. I truly believe that if the senior pastor doesn't "get" how important worship is to the Lord, it's going to be an uphill struggle. I think a lot of pastors have worship because that's "just what you do in church". If you're in a church like that, my heart goes out to you!
There's Biblically-ordained power in congregational worship. The question is, will we as worship leaders LEAD people to a place where they understand the importance and power of worship?
That's my greatest challenge, week in and week out.
All Comments
My point is that worship is not music, but worship IS something. If you say "worship is everything" than worship is nothing in that logic--it is without distinction. If we simply have weekend services as outreach, teaching, or gathering events without the purpose of exalting God in His proper place, I would rather just do something else than be a worship pastor.
A worship music driven church needs to protect the music worship and be careful to not let the teaching get too lengthy. Where as a church built on Bible exposition needs to be sure an feature teaching ant not short change it.
Most will fall somewhere in between. Find a out what you do well...and focus on that.
The trick is having a team that can be honest with each other and speak truth about what you do well and what you don't.
I've been to churches with average worship and awesome teaching...which ends up being a good experience. The reverse can be true. Scale back what is weaker and feature what is strong...not ideal, but works.
I have been priveledged to go to a church where when the worship was over the pastor got up there, prayed and then said, "God is really doing something here tonight, lets forget the message and continue to worship him."
I'm sure this caught the band a little by surprise, but God really moved in that service. About 1-1/2 hours of worship. People's bodies and minds were healed through prayer time while worshipping. If you were not touched, you were checked out somewhere else.
I know the pastor well, and I know he was sincere. He had a well planned out message, but that night he realized that an effective God centered service required just worship and prayer.
I felt lucky to be there.
For me, music speaks, for others, the teaching is their gig. Programming and logistics is a crazy thing-- we have to get people out to get the next service in but yet we don't want to stifle the Holy Spirit. I would say support the Lead/Sr Pastor in this but do explain that not everyone is here just to experience his teaching, they are here to experience what God has planned. I would always have one song in the bank each week just in case the Holy Spirit leads that way. We have done this in the past and has paid off.
Look at the examples in the Old Testament. Many times it seems that music is used as a calling and a declaration of Gods goodness. It's almost as if the musicians are saying "Hey everyone... God is here and He is good. You should join us in declaring that fact!"
There are also examples of David using music to soothe the soul as he did when Saul became sick.
No matter how you use it, music is powerful.
In modern America, we alot of the time distort the simplicity of worship into productions. It's every musicians pitfall.. The beauty of worship music is in the simple hearts cry to our God.
I say yes. Alex, it was cool reading this...along with everyone's comments. While my comment doesn't contribute any substance...reading this may just help me 're-focus' and give me a little kick in the pants for tonights service...in 1hr59min...
There's Biblically-ordained power in congregational worship. The question is, will we as worship leaders LEAD people to a place where they understand the importance and power of worship?
That's my greatest challenge, week in and week out.