Whom Shall I Fear

Great new song from Tomlin! Comes out of 2 Kings.

God is in the Preparation!

Ever wonder why the Holy Spirit is moving, but you are STILL hitting wrong notes? Building Your Rehearsals - Vertical Church Band

Worship Leading: How Are We Preparing?

Leading others in worship can be a challenging responsibility: standing in front of a group of people, wearing our hearts on our sleeves, making ourselves vulnerable is not an easy job. It takes time, patience, practice and a lot of prayer. If we’re leading, singing, playing an instrument, serving upfront or involved behind the scenes, then we will be helping lead people into the presence of Jesus by what we do. All of us who are involved need to have a sense of ownership, commitment and responsibility towards what we do, and all of us must see it as a holy and serious calling.

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. (1 Peter 2:9 ESV)

1 Peter reminds us, that we are all a ‘royal priesthood’. Everyone who is a Christian has been ‘set apart’ in Christ to help each other do something completely remarkable and life-changing, He has brought us ‘out of darkness’ and ‘into his marvelous light’. That’s quite a privilege and quite a responsibility to bring glory to God and serve the people we’re called to lead well.

There’s something that unites sporting legends, astounding singers and brilliant performers of all styles: the more effortless they appear, the greater the amount of work and preparation it represents. To be effective we need to work hard behind the scenes, preparing ourselves for that moment when we lead God’s people in worship.

So lets ask ourselves a simple question, how are we preparing?

Spiritually and Practically:

1. Are we giving enough time to prayer and private worship?

2. Are we giving enough time to practicing and growing in our instrument or     

    gifting?

We need to value both spiritual and practical preparation. If one of these is lacking the congregation can struggle to engage in worship. To lead worship is to take our private cry before God and to make it public. As leaders of worship one of the greatest gifts we can give to the church is that of being spiritually alive and fresh.

There are no shortcuts to developing authentic spirituality. It comes down to the important and obvious disciplines such as reading God’s word, spending time in his presence and a dedication to seek him through prayer. If we have no private cry, then how can we stand in front of others pretending that we do? We live in a culture of quick fixes and instant results and it can be tempting to apply these same principles to preparing a time of worship. We look for short cuts and ways of speeding up the process. The practical considerations for leading corporate worship are vast. Whether it’s choosing the songs, the musical arrangements, organizing technical production or the resources and rehearsals required - it all adds up to a lot of work. Even so, short cuts can leave everyone shortchanged.

So, how are we preparing? I have been asking myself this question for the past few weeks. I want to encourage you to do the same thing. It has helped me to recognize some of these failures I have faced during the week leading up to the service. We need to get it right, right? So, let’s act and do what God has called us to do. Amen?

One Place Noodles Don't Belong

Admit it. You've done it. Here's what you should do instead. This video applies to all instruments not just guitars.

Find Your Frequency

Ever wonder why you can't get that big sound you've been looking for? Jason's got some ideas.

"Personal Worship"

Recently, Rory Noland author of “Worship On Earth As It Is In Heaven” has challenged me to examine my “private” or “personal” time of worship with God. In order for us to be strong worshipers, corporately, we must first be strong in our “private” or “personal” worship.

The Bible tells us that David was a man after God’s own heart. (1 Samuel 13:14, Acts 13:22) He was a Sheppard boy, musician, warrior, king, husband, and father. David is a great example of a worshiper; he not only was strong in his personal worship, but strong and very expressive in corporate worship (Psalm 26:6-7). From alone time in pastures and caves, to leading the procession of the Ark of the Covenant, to his times of obedience to God. Even in times of great regret, David worshiped the Lord (Psalm 51:1-2). David, much like you and I, was flawed due to fall of man in the garden. David struggled with sexual sin, committed murder, and he wasn’t exactly “Father of the Year” (1 Sam 13:21 & 14:24). But through all of his shortcomings, he still continually worshiped the Lord. David demonstrated his faith steadfastly on a daily basis, which pleased the Lord. Another important character trait that David exhibited was that he had the attitude of gratitude and was very thankful for his life and all God had given him.

Lets challenge each other to not be consumed by what the world offers.  Rather be consumed by God’s richness, worshiping the Father “privately”. Getting alone with God and seeking out the intimate time of worship that God desires us to have with him and what our spirit and soul long for. Then we can corporately come together and worship God in spirit and truth for the all world to see and hear.

Seeing Things From God’s Point Of View

A. 1 Corinthians 2:11-16

 1. The natural, or nonspiritual, man/woman: is not able to understand God and his ways, but instead relies on human reasoning or emotions.  For they do not have the Holy Spirit indwelling them (1 Co 2:14-16).   

2. The spiritual man/woman: is spiritually minded, thinks the thoughts of God (1 Co 2:11-13) and lives by the spirit of God.  For they have the Holy Spirit indwelling them.

Through salvation in Christ, the Holy Spirit imparts a new nature by an infusion of divine life (Regeneration), born again. 

Hebrews 5:11-14

“About this we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.”

This verse encourages us not to be complacent in our walk with Christ.  We are to grow & mature.  Those who are weak and immature in the faith lack spiritual discernment concerning what is good and what is evil in this life, what honors God and what dishonors God.  If we are living on milk we are not growing toward the full stature of Christ.  But by strengthening our relationship in Christ, continuing the practice of righteousness and obedience, we are able to start eating the solid food of God’s word and grow toward the full stature of Christ.  And in return we are then enabled by the Holy Spirit to see things from God’s point of view.  Let us not live as children but grow up and be strong God discerning people.

Closing:

There are so many things in our lives that dishonor God and hold us back from maturing in Christ.  Our child side does not want to let go of these things.  So lets throw out the tinker toys and grow up.