Transcription
All right. So, this is a video that I've been wanting to do for a very, very long time. Listen, have you ever been in church completely and totally bored or disengaged during worship? I'm talking about everybody around you is just going in and they singing Hallelujah, Hallelujah, raising their hands, got their eyes closed, lifting their their souls unto the Lord, and you're just sitting there like, "I'm not getting anything out of this. This is boring."
Well, there are some very specific reasons for this, and we are going to talk about them in this video, and I'm going to tell you what you need to do about it. And I want to encourage you to stick around to the end of this video because I put something very special together for you that I think will help you immensely in your worship journey.
If worship in church, I'm talking specifically in your church service, feels a little stale or boring, I want to propose that there are things that both the worship team and the worship leaders can probably improve on. And there are things that the worshipper, that would be you and I, need to do in order to have a better worship experience in church. So, first, let's start with the worship team or the worship leader, and then we'll end the video with some things that you and I need to do to make sure that we take responsibility of our own worship experience.
So, before we do this, I really need to make sure that this video does not come off as me saying that I have all the answers or that I'm the greatest worship leader and I'm bashing worship teams or worship leaders in any way. Listen, I led worship for 12 years every Sunday, multiple churches, multiple services, multiple worship teams. This was my life. Picking songs, leading bands, all of that, right? So, I understand how difficult it can be to maintain the same passion and energy week after week, especially when you have multiple services. So, I get it. This is just me providing some tips on my experience on how I feel worship leaders can make worship a little bit better. So, I hope these help.
All right. Tip number one, bury your song selections. All right, so here is the reality. When certain songs are being sung over and over and over again in church, most people may enjoy them for the first week or two, but I'm telling you, I promise, go ask some people in your congregation. Even ask people on your worship team to be honest with you. All right? When you sing a song too much, people get bored. The congregation gets bored. Even the worship team might get bored, right? And what happens is the song actually begins to turn people off because they're like, "Oh man, this song again. We just sang this song last week. We just sang this song two weeks ago." And it just begins to turn people off, which is the reason why when you come across a song that really resonates with the congregation, you need to use it sparingly. You need to be wise in how you use that song because if not, it's going to do the opposite. It's going to have the opposite effect on your congregation. It's going to go from a song that they really, really love to a song that really turns them off because it's sung too much, right? This is why it's critical to do as what I'm saying, which is keep people off guard as much as possible during worship.
Now, what do I mean by this, guys? Listen, my worship leaders, there are hundreds of songs to choose from when it comes to putting a worship set together. For some reason, you have a lot of churches or worship leaders that feel restricted to songs that are released only two to five years ago or two to five months ago, right? And there's the same 12 to 15 songs just kind of rotating around. Listen, guys, there are so many songs that most people in your congregation are very familiar with and they absolutely love them and they haven't heard them in a very, very long time. Why? Because once again, the same 12 to 15 songs, maybe 20 songs are being circulated. But what happens when a worship leader begins to sing an older song? Maybe a song from five years ago, ten years ago. It's not super old, but it's maybe not recent. Something within that worshipper says to them, says, "Oh man, I used to love this song. Oh, I haven't heard this in a while." And what happens? Something in their spirit begins to leap, and they begin to become engaged in worship because it's not just the same old songs. It's the same thing happens. Listen, whenever you hear your favorite secular song that you haven't heard in a while, right? On the radio or on maybe not on the radio, but whatever. You know what I'm talking about. You heard your favorite song. "Oh man, that's my jam. I haven't heard that in a while," right? It's the same concept. It brings up good feelings. It brings up good memories. The same thing happens when you as a worship leader keep the congregation off guard with your song selection.
And that leads me to tip number two. Bury your worship rhythm. All right. Listen, there is no rule that says that every church service must start off with one fast song and end with a slow song. I don't know where that came from, but it didn't come from the Bible, right? We have to stop feeling so restricted and getting so committed to a particular rhythm or cadence or style of song selections where every single service is the same thing. It gets repetitive. It gets stale. It gets predictable. And what happens when service gets predictable? It gets boring, right? So, switch it up a little bit. Move some things around. It's okay to start off a service with a soft, meditative song. How about that? A reflective song, right? It's okay to do that. You don't have to always start off with some extremely high energy song that's going to get people going because the reality is this: a lot of people are coming into your service really cold, and they're not even ready for all that, to be honest with you. And that's a whole another conversation. All right? In terms of what we as worship leaders can do to help people get more ready for service.
All right, tip number three. Make room or allow room for spirit-led moments. Now, I know that this one is going to ruffle some feathers, especially in today's church culture where there is only a certain amount of time allotted for worship. I get it. But my question is this: Is there any room during service? Is there any room during worship for a worship leader to have an encounter or an experience during worship where they are allowed to, here it is, I don't know, go off script if the spirit leads? I mean, the pastor goes off script when he preaches, right? The pastor doesn't just read the same thing every week, or maybe he does, right? But if the pastor can, in that moment while they're preaching, hear something from God, or they look out in the congregation, they see someone who maybe they're like, "Oh, you know what? God just gave me something to say," and they go off script. If the pastor can have those moments, why can't more worship leaders have those moments, right? If the worship leader feels led to want to linger a bit longer on a chorus of a song, maybe there's a song, they look out in the congregation, they can sense everybody is in a place of worship, sincere, uh, heartfelt worship, and they're engaged, and there's a sweet spirit, a sweet moment of worship. Is there any room in your service for the worship leader to say, "Okay, let's just stay right here. Let's just sing this over and over again because I believe the Lord is breaking down some things. God is doing something special"? Or is it just quick, quick, quick, we have to just continue to move on? This is very, very powerful. Whenever we make room, we should plan. We should plan for these moments, but we should also plan for possible spontaneity, basically. All right? Build that into your routine for worship.
Tip number four, lead worship. Don't just sing songs. All right, this is why you hold the title worship leader rather than singer. The primary role of a worship leader, first of all, is not to show off how well you can sing. That's why some of the best worship leaders and the best people that you like to listen to in terms of praise and worship don't even have the best voices because that's not the primary role for you to show off how well you can sing. It's to lead people into worship, to create an atmosphere of worship. So, you need to understand, once again, as I said, most people are coming into the service and they're coming in cold. They may have had an argument with their spouse. They may come in stressed out, right? Coming in late. We'll talk about that a little bit later. But there should be a strategic focus on helping people connect the words of the song being sung to their lives. This is what helps them engage during worship. This is what helps them connect what they're singing to what they're actually going through. Listen, I'm not saying you have to preach a sermon. I'm not saying it has to be long, extended exhortations, but there needs to be something, some sort of exhortation present so that the worship leader can help the people connect with the song. There should be a balance between singing and spiritual exhortation during worship, which is why the people leading worship need to have the anointing of God on them and not just be talented and able to sing well.
All right, tip number five. Schedule in response time during worship. Now, if you haven't figured out yet, y'all, I am charismatic in my worship and very extremely conservative in my theology. All right? I, I am all about worship. All right? But sadly, in many churches, there is very little time for worshippers to respond to the music that is being sung. It's just one song after another after another after another with no real transitions between the songs and no real reflection at all on the songs. And even when the last song is over, it just quickly goes into announcements or things like that. Look, sometimes it's just one after the other, and there's really no time for response or reflection. Listen, I get it. If you only have 15 minutes allotted for worship, then maybe you only do one song that week. Or maybe you do two, and you leave time for the people of God to respond to God. Give them time to reflect. Give them time to have their own personal encounter with God during the service. Lean into that silence. I know silence can be very uncomfortable for some people, but it's very powerful. Let people rest in the uncomfortableness of silence and use that silence as an opportunity to teach your congregation the value of silent reflection. In other words, lead them. Lead them.
Tip number six. Oh boy. Be more creative. All right? In other words, don't be lazy in putting your song selections together. All right? One of the most powerful ways that you can be more creative with your song choices is to activate the power of medleys. Right? And if you don't know what a medley is, a medley is basically when you combine multiple songs together that have a similar theme, and you're singing maybe a chorus of this song, a chorus of that song, and they all have a similar theme, and it sounds like one long song, but it's actually a combination of several songs. All right, so let me demonstrate what this might look like. And I probably will violate copyright rules, but we'll go with it. So, let's just say you're starting off and you're singing, "Great is Thy Faithfulness. Great is Thy Faithfulness. Morning by morning, new mercies I see, and all I have needed, Thy hand hath provided. Great is Thy Faithfulness, Lord, unto me." Then, "How Great Thou Art. How Great Thou Art. How Great Is Our God. Sing with me, How Great Is Our God. And all will see how great, how great is our God. For You are great. You do miracles so great." You see what I'm saying, right? You're going in from one song to the next to the next. And boy, I'm telling you, it's powerful. You break out in that type of medley in church, you tie all these songs together that everybody pretty much knows these songs, and they're all reminding people of the greatness of God. Woo! Man, it's going to be powerful, right? Let's just say you're singing Chris Tomlin's song, "Holy Forever," right? You can easily medley this song with the hymn "Holy, Holy, Holy." And then you can bring in the chorus of "Agnes Dei." "You are holy, holy are You, Lord God Almighty. Worthy is the Lamb. Worthy is the Lamb. You are holy, holy, holy, holy Lord God Almighty." You see what I'm saying? Just, just, just flow. Just flow. Let the spirit lead you. We need to get back to that.
All right, tip number seven is the last one as it relates to worship leaders, and it's one of my favorites, and that is to cut the music. Listen, sometimes some of the sweetest moments, some of the most intimate worship moments is when the band completely stops playing, and all that is singing is just the voices of the congregation. No distraction of the beat, the drums, the guitar, the keyboard, the organ. No, turn all that stuff off. And all you hear is just the voices of the congregation. Even the praise and worship team stop singing, and they encourage the congregation to sing, and you're hearing people next to you, in the row next to you, and the few next to you, and the row in front of you, and everybody's just singing together. Oh, what a powerful moment that can be. So, I encourage you, if you're a worship leader, to use that from time to time.
Now, if worship feels boring or stale at your church, it may not all be the worship team's fault. There are some specific things that you, as the worshipper, can and should do to take responsibility of your own worship experience.
All right, tip number one, arrive early and prepare your heart. All right. It is really hard to engage in worship when church service starts at, let's just say, I don't know, 11:00, and you're getting into the parking lot at 11:02. You're running in, you got to get your coffee, your water, and then you're jumping into the service at 11:05, and you don't have any time to spend with God, to get your heart right, to confess your sin, to pray right, you don't have any time for that. You're just kind of coming in cold. If you would plan your morning to get there 10 minutes before service and spend that time confessing your sin, interceding for others, praying to God, petitioning God for what you want. Stop seeing this as a time to catch up with people around you or be on your phone or check what's going on on social media. No. See this as an opportunity to set the atmosphere or prepare your heart to have an encounter with God and pray and ask God to speak to you during the worship service.
Tip number two, close your eyes. Now, I know this seems a bit basic, but whenever you close your eyes during worship, it helps you block out all the distractions around you, including just watching the worship team worship. Listen, worship is not a spectator sport. It's not something that you just come to church and watch other people sing. No, it's something that you should be personally and actively engaged in. You don't come to church to watch other people worship. You come to church to worship yourself. And often times there's things going on around you that can be distracting. So, one of the ways that you can truly engage and enter in is to close your eyes so you can focus exclusively on worshiping our great God.
Tip number three, focus on the words more than the melody or the beat. This is specifically important when you come into church and it may not be your song that's being sung, right? It's easy to check out whenever you sing, "Oh, I don't like this song. I can't stand this song," right? But I want to encourage you in that moment, the next time you hear a song that you're like, "Man, I don't like this song," stop focusing on the beat or the melody and zero in on the words of that song and what is it teaching you about faith? What is it teaching you about life? What is it teaching you about hope? What is it teaching you about trust? What is it teaching you about the character of God? I want to encourage you to focus on the words more than the melody or the beat.
Tip number four, sometimes you have to praise God in the midst of your struggle. Meaning, sometimes you may not feel like it, but I encourage you to praise your way through it. Notice what the psalmist said in Psalm 42. He said, "Why are you so cast down, oh my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me?" He was trying to figure out why he was depressed, why he was struggling with anxiety, fear, depression, or whatever. And he said, "Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him, my salvation." The psalmist said, "Look, I don't feel it. I'm not emotionally wanting to do this right now, but yet I will pray." Sometimes you need a "yet" praise type of response.
Tip number five, worship outside of church. Listen, when you and I are overflowing with personal worship time spent outside of church, it almost always naturally flows into the worship service, regardless of the song selection, whether it's your song or not, right? If you spend time worshiping God on your own and not depending on your service to give you that experience all the time, it will flow into your worship experience in church.
So, if worship has been feeling a bit stale lately, you can't control whether your church worship team will adopt some of the things I shared in this video. But what you can control is your part and how you show up for service each week. I said earlier that I'm going to give you something that I believe will help you. All right. Now, what I did was I created a playlist of worship songs that have been ministering to me that when I take my morning walks or I'm in my car on a long drive, I put these songs on and they minister to me. Some of them are older songs, some of them are newer songs. But listen, I need to make something abundantly clear because I can already know where some of y'all are going with this. I do not agree with the theology of every group, nor every song by these groups. I agree with the theology of these songs on this list. I am not one of these people that says, "I will not sing songs by Bethel. I will not sing songs by Elevation. And I will not sing songs by Hillsong." I have a whole video where I talk about why that's not my position. All right? I do believe that many of the songs by all three of these groups are extremely theologically accurate and they can bless your soul. So, you need to have the discernment to be able to discern whether these songs are accurate or not. So, I just want to let you know if you have a problem with songs from these groups, then maybe you won't want to listen to this worship list that I put together for you. But if you are one that doesn't mind these and you're looking for some good worship songs, click the link below. And not only are these songs, these are videos. And I want to encourage you after watching this video to spend the next hour of your time watching these videos. And I promise you, let the Lord speak to you and just worship your way through. And I hope this list will encourage you to have an intimate moment with God on a regular basis.
So, I would love to hear from you. Are you a worship leader? Are you a worship pastor? Do you agree, disagree? What are some other tips that you think I left out that should be on this list? Did this list rub you the wrong way? Are you offended? Let me know in the comments section below. I would love to hear, hear from you. If you're not a worshipper, you're a worshipper, hopefully these list, these tips helped you as well. So, let me know if you want me to do more videos on this topic of worship, and I will do them in the future. Let me know which topics you want me to do in the comments. I'll see you then.