How much do your read and study your Bible? I ask this, because as a musician and worship leader, I know how easy it can be to spend all of your time preparing for worship musically and very little spiritually. Now, this isn't a slam on musicians or worship leaders/teams/choirs. It's just the truth. We get so wrapped up in the "experience" of worship that we neglect to spend time with God in Bible study and prayer. And I get it. Music is what moves and motivates us. It's an emotional experience. But there is a difference between being moved emotionally and being changed spiritually.
In Matthew 22:37 Jesus said, “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind."
When we only focus on the emotional experience of worship, we put all of our focus on our "heart". But Jesus also wants us to love God with all our "soul" and all of our "mind". To do that, we've got to spend time with Him in Bible study and prayer.
One of the things that I believe that musicians and worship leaders need to understand is that worship and Bible study (or theology) go together. They are not opposites. They work together to make us better followers of Christ. The more we know God through His Word, the more genuine our worship will be. And the more genuine our worship is, the more we'll desire to seek God in His Word. It's a circle.
To take it a step further, I believe that our "experiences" help solidify and strengthen what we study in the Bible and what we believe to be true about God.
In 2 Peter 1, the Apostle Peter is writing about the "experience" that he, James, and John had on the Mount of Transfiguration with Jesus. Jesus' true glory was revealed, Moses and Elijah showed up, and God spoke from heaven. If ever there was a worship "experience", this was it. And here is what Peter wrote about it in verse 19:
"Because of that experience, we have even greater confidence in the message proclaimed by the prophets."
Because of their "experience" they believed the message of the prophets (Old Testament/Bible) even more. And the same holds true for us. When we worship God in Spirit and in Truth, not only should we experience the presence of God, but it should also reinforce what we have learned about God through our study of His Word.
So, this week, don't just prepare musically. Make sure that you are prepared spiritually as well.
Worship Big!
Brad
15 minutes or 2 hours of worship? Should your corporate time of worship have a time limit? That's still such a huge debate in the worship scene. There are people who live on both sides of the pendulum of the issue and there are those in between. So, what do you believe? Let me give you my take...
One thing that we do at MPBC that I really appreciate is the fact that we make every week of worship a time to celebrate God and to remember what He's done for us. When you talk about how great and awesome God is, it is never wrong. Remember that. Whether you're granted 20 minutes or an hour for worship, know that singing of His greatness will never go wrong. Our goal is to connect with Jesus to connect with people. We are looking for a fresh revealing of Jesus each week.
Here at MPBC, we're structured. We get 20 minutes for music and have 3 services. Musicians and singers have "X's" to stand on. We have click tracks and even cues that keep us together. We have multiple camera platforms that operate on a tight ship. We have a countdown between services and a huge red clock displayed on the back wall. We MUST have structure and a tight schedule to operate efficiently. We have too much going on not to! And you know what?...it's okay! Me, personally, I like the structure we have. I find comfort in it. I think God appreciates structure and planning. It represents responsibility. Even in that structure, God is free to move. It seems to be a common belief among some worship leaders that God can't move within a small amount of time in music. My response is that God can move when and how He chooses. The level of anointing and connection with God, and the length of a worship set really have nothing to do with each other. We look to minister to God and to the person that's broken. We look to minister to the husband and wife that could barely make it to church because of a car full of screaming kids. All types of people make up the body of Christ and God is faithful to move in those people's lives during that time. It creates a lasting effect on them. Our time of worship should be about quality.
So, you're a worship leader who is given exactly 17 minutes of music each week. What are you going to do with that 17 minutes? It's easy to get into making a set-list in this topic, but my answer is pray. Pray what God would have you lead. He is already in your time of worship and He knows exactly who will be in the room and what they'll need for that day. Know your congregation. Don't just play songs that you or your team enjoy just for that purpose. Sing songs that fit. Are you given a strict time limit in your church? Good! Make it count.
Peace,
Justin
With last week's blog post, I shared a video of the Worship Choir singing "Your Mercy" from our Worship Wednesday Service. They did an outstanding job and I know that the video was watched and shared a lot. Well, with this week's post I would like to share with you a video of our Children's Choir singing from last night's service. They sang a song called "Glorious Day" and did an AWESOME JOB! I was extremely proud of them. We've got a young and inexperienced group, but they did really well. Emma Kate and Aiden did a great job leading the song and I know that the church really enjoyed it. The video is below:
Worship Big!
Brad
With this week's post, I'm really excited to share with you the video of the Worship Choir singing last night at our Worship Wednesday Service. Over the last few years our choir has morphed from a performance choir into a worship choir. They do a WONDERFUL JOB leading in worship each Sunday, but I also wanted them to have the opportunity to sing by themselves. So, they are now doing a choir special each time we have one of our Worship Wednesday Services. Below is the video of them singing "Your Mercy" from last night's service. It is OUTSTANDING!
Worship Big!
Brad
