igniteWORSHIP

Let’s take it back to the beginning – Worship is about GOD. It’s about being constantly aware of Him, on and off stage. This is a 24/7/365 state of being. The more we know about God and the deeper we grow in Him, the more about Him there is to worship. It is a never ending process of discovery.

Worship is a continuous learning curve. Psalm 89:15 says, “Blessed are those who have learned to acclaim You, they walk in the light of Your presence, O Lord”. Of course the obvious implications here is that our worship is a constant and continual journey. It CANNOT stay the same. So where is your congregation on this journey and how are they worshipping? How do you get them moving forward? New songs? Different artists? Playing what the latest genres offer?

Well, those are well-intentioned efforts. But the truth, the real truth, the set-you-free kind of truth, is that worship is not necessarily about the songs we sing. Songs are just arrows pointing us in a specific direction - God. More important than the songs are the WORDS of those songs. Worship is about taking them in, “digesting” them and absorbing them into our hearts. Out of the overflow of the reality of the words in our hearts, true worship will flow out (Luke 6:45). If we spend all our energy focusing on the songs and the melody, the beats, riffs, etc, then worship stops at the screen and at what the congregation can see and hear. It becomes dependent on us as opposed to what they know of God. And then all that happens is that worship leaders start trying to stay “ahead of the game”, as it were, trying to keep the congregation interested and engaged. It is easier for God to be left out of the equation when our attention is burdened by audience participation.

We need to TEACH our congregation, so that they can LEARN how to acclaim God. The best way to do it? Some good old fashioned preaching from the pulpit! Get your pastor involved and begin to teach them about the lifestyle of worship and how that lifestyle translates on Sunday morning, how it is not limited to songs sung but also to the offering and to the sermon. Every person needs to understand the dynamics of worship. It’s a process – it won’t happen overnight and it definitely won’t happen after one sermon (or two for that matter). It will take time for the people you are leading to trust that you are leading them to a place of deeper connection with God.