Awe

Awe [noun]

1: an emotion variously combining dread, veneration, and wonder that is inspired by authority or by the sacred or sublime

2: archaic

a: DREAD, TERROR

b: the power to inspire dread

Would awe describe sung worship within our churches? Not about the music, the execution, the band, or creativity, but in the way that the people of God see and respond to God as we gather?

In Jesus, we are invited to ‘…with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.’ Hebrews 4:16, but sometimes I wonder if this confidence can quickly shift to being casual, flippant, and irreverent.

Many low-church traditions do an excellent job of articulating and celebrating the immanence of God - the reality that God is knowable and near. Many high-church traditions do an excellent job of articulating and celebrating the transcendence of God - the reality that God is above and completely other than His creation. Either of these realities can - and should - inspire our worship and devotion, but so few traditions (much less Christians) equally grasp these truths.

One of the themes that has emerged from my recent reading has been how living post-Enlightenment means that our world - and therefore our minds and daily lives - are emptied of wonder. What use is wonder when we have knowledge, understanding, and explanation for so many things? Agreeing to the spiritual - and therefore mysterious - reality of our world can often be seen as an intellectual cop-out. A failure to work toward a knowable resolution. But perhaps wonder and knowledge do not need to be on opposing sides, but can in fact hold hands in the way we approach God as the people of God.

Our people inhabit a wonder-less world, are we leading them toward the transcendent reality of God as we gather?

Post-Easter Expectations

One of our church staff's conversations in preparation for Easter is that Easter (for us) is another Sunday. We celebrate the same truths on Resurrection Sunday that we do every Sunday. We open God’s Word, sing God’s Word, pray God’s Word, read God’s Word, apply God’s Word, and live in light of God’s Word on Resurrection Sunday like we do - hopefully - every Sunday. But certainly, we can feel the pressure of trying to cultivate greater meaning or intentionality into this one day - for those who call our churches home, and for those who may walk through the doors for the first time.

Hear me, Easter is not unimportant. The whole purpose of the incarnation, the whole purpose of the season of Advent and Christmas is to lead us to this moment - celebrating the resurrection. The resurrection is of eternal importance.

But often as worship leaders, we can believe that it is our efforts - song choice, skill in leading, our team’s ability to execute with excellence, unique articulation of truth, and creative and artistic prowess - that makes the day special and set apart.

Here is the good news: you are not that powerful. We are not so powerful that our skill and ability - or lack thereof - can make or break the truths we celebrate on Easter or every week. That means whether you sit on this side of Resurrection Sunday feeling the swell of pride in a flawless set list, or the drop of disappointment that what you executed did not live up to the vision in your head and heart, neither reality is the truest thing about you, about the team, about the church, and the resurrection. We bless God for flawlessly executed set lists knowing that was his kindness. And we bless God for unrealized visions knowing that this too is his kindness.

And we lay down what we have been carrying, and serve faithfully into the next Sunday and beyond.

You may also like:

Every Resurrection Sunday 2023

Easter Recovery 2022

Planning Ahead

When I started leading worship in youth group, songs lived in a giant folder. No planning center, and no digital chord charts to be seen - apart from the Word documents I would type myself. It would be normal to arrive at youth group, or Sunday evening Bible study and see other leaders flipping through a folder of chord charts asking, ‘What songs should we sing?’ And yet even with all the advantages of modern technology and resources that are accessible to worship leaders today, I’m surprised how many people still lead from a ‘folder,’ mentality. I often sense - particularly for those who lead as volunteers or are bi-vocationally - that this kind of execution is not a lack of care, thought, or intentionality, but of time.

I have led worship as a volunteer, while working multiple jobs, and on full-time staff. Here are four things I’ve learned that have helped me plan:

Batch work.

I find it easier to get ahead when I can work on one thing at a time. So I will often batch my work by focusing one day on building set lists for the month and scheduling teams. Focusing another day on learning new songs, building tracks, propresenter, and chord charts. Reading, prayer, and long-range planning on another day, etc. This helps me feel like I can do deep work by building rhythms that will help me week to week.

Communicate expectations.

Communication with the team is important. But the team also needs to know what to expect from me. Likewise, working effectively with your pastor requires intentional communication as well.

Determine what is most important.

The artistic sensibility means that I often am aware there is a gap between what I envision, and what I will be able to execute. Is this song as perfect in its transitions as we can make it? Likely not. But we also have four other songs this morning that require attention. This is an example of where I have determined - being able to communicate the larger idea of the liturgy is more important than the tiny details of song transitions that will likely go unrealized by the congregation. Give your time and energy to the things that are important to the Lord, to you, your team, your leaders, and your community - open your hands to the rest.

Recognize the season.

Having a baby? Upgrading your audio visuals? In school? Rebuilding a team? Developing new leaders? Every season we inhabit will shift and change our capacity. It is unfair, and unrealistic to expect that every season will be the same. Life moves in seasons and stages, so allow the seasons and stages to help shape what is most important, what is worth fighting for, and what can fall away.

What would you add?

21 January: Liturgy + Set List

• PSALM 134 (BLESS THE LORD)

  Call to Worship: Psalm 139:1-6, 15-18

  God who created everything takes thought for you. And part of the reason we gather is to turn our thoughts, our attention, and our affection upon the Creator of all things.

• HOW GREAT THOU ART

• WHAT YOU SAID

  All sin is rooted in unbelief - that God is not who he says he is, that he is holding out on you. We need to sing words like: ‘You are good, and everything you do is good, you are kind and everything you do is kind, you don’t fail, you haven’t and you never will,’ first, because it’s true - it is who God has revealed himself to be in his word and in his son. But even on my best day, and in my own strength I don’t believe these things - I need the Holy Spirit to remind me of these truths, I need my brothers and sisters to remind me of these truths when I don’t believe. We’re going to take a few moments now to confess our sin to God and to one another:

Merciful God,
We confess that we have sinned against You
in thought, word, and deed,
By what we have done,
and by what we have left undone.
We have not loved You with our whole heart and mind and strength. We have not loved our neighbors as ourselves.

In Your mercy forgive what we have been,
help us amend what we are,
And direct what we shall be,
So that we may delight in your will and walk in Your ways, To the glory of Your holy name.

Through Christ, our Lord. Amen.

Brothers and sisters hear the good news: The Lord who loves you says in his word that his anger is for a moment, but his favor is for a lifetime. Amen.

Sermon: Mark 14:10-25

The Lord’s Supper

The Apostles’ Creed

• A THOUSAND HALLELUJAHS

Benediction

When You Don't Feel Like Serving

I love leading sung worship. But some days, I don’t feel like leading worship. Some days I feel mad at God, frustrated with my situation, at odds with a brother or sister in Christ, unprepared, empty, or too distracted to be remotely present to the gift and responsibility to stand before the people of God and invite them to behold the Lord.

Living in a fallen world means our circumstances will never be perfect, often they will not even be ideal. Following Jesus means following Him on the mountains as well as into and through the valleys.

So what do we do when you don’t feel like leading? Here are three suggestions:

Be honest. Sometimes the simple act of truthfully confessing to the Lord, or to a trusted brother or sister is enough to free me from a funk. They say admitting you have a problem is the first step. Take the first step, be honest. Acknowledging your feelings and emotions begins to loosen the silent stranglehold.

Confess. Sometimes my sin, pride, or ego are tied up with why I do not want to lead worship. Is there something I need to confess - to God and or to my brothers and sisters?

Serve. Part of growing as an adult is fulfilling your responsibilities even when you do not feel inspired or motivated. In the post last week, I shared about how serving is an invitation to something and Someone outside of self. Part of serving well is moving through my own emotions, preferences, and agenda to participate in the larger story.

What would you add to this list?

Recommended Reading [Part 6]

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5

These are books that have challenged and encouraged me over the past year. I hope you’ll find some that can be useful to you as well:

Beholding - Strahan Coleman

We lead out of who we are. One of the things I appreciated about this book was how it encourages becoming - growing in our experience of God. We become what we behold.

The Secret Place of Thunder - John Starke

John is a great writer, and I have found his writing on prayer particularly helpful. But the tagline alone is worth the cost of the book: ‘Trading our need to be noticed for a hidden life with Christ.’ Whether we stand on large platforms in front of many people, or in the corner at the front of a small room - we are all easily tempted to trade hiddenness for being noticed.

Honest Worship - Manuel Luz

Manuel articulated some of the things I have wrestled with the past several years: How to have deep formation in our gatherings with creativity and musical excellence—the intersection of ancient practice with modern context. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed and appreciated this book.

A Church Called Tov - Scot McKnight, Laura Barringer

We are either working toward beauty, goodness, and truth, or we are drifting toward the opposite. Whether you are on staff at a church, serving as a volunteer, or attending as a member, each of us can - and should - work toward creating a culture of goodness within our churches. This book will likely become perennial reading for me.

3 December: Liturgy + Set List

Good morning, we’re glad you are here worshiping with us on this first Sunday of Advent. The Advent season is when we look back and remember the first coming of Christ, and look ahead to his return. Each week, we’ll begin our services with this next song that was taken from the words of a Puritan prayer as we remember who Jesus is, and what He has done…

• WONDER AND GIFT

• JOY TO THE WORLD (UNSPEAKABLE JOY)

• LAMB OF GOD

  Readings: Genesis 38:24-30, Matthew 1:1-6a

  Sermon: Genesis 38:1-30

  The good news of the gospel is not that Jesus came to take good people and make them better, it is that Jesus came to take dead people and make them alive. Some of us wear our sin and brokenness on the outside, all of us have sin and brokenness on the inside - and every one of us is equally as in need of a Savior. Your brokenness and sin do not repel God, it invites His grace. So would you stand if you’re able and we’ll draw near to the one who has first drawn near to us in Christ.

• O HOLY NIGHT (HEAR THE GOSPEL STORY)

• HOLY FOREVER

  Benediction

The First Work

Ready or not, Sunday is coming.

Whether you lead worship as a volunteer, bi-vocationally, or have been freed up to lead worship full-time, there are countless practical details that need to be handled before a Sunday service. I tend to be task-driven, so I find powering through a checklist quite satisfying. In fact, I even created a worship leader checklist you can download for free here. Yes, there are many things to do: set lists to build, teams to schedule, lyrics and sound to set up, planning meetings, follow up, and communication. But the longer I lead worship, the more I begin to be convinced that my first work in leading worship is not the tasks, but to become a person of prayer.

Be before do.

Be a worshiper before leading sung worship.

Be present with and to the Lord.

Serve in the secret place before a public space.

We serve out of who we are. We serve out of who we are becoming. In every area, our lives can be ruled by the tyranny of the urgent. How do we continue to choose the good portion even when our time is limited and our tasks are many?

My hope is that prayer increasingly feels more like an anchor instead of a detour to my week, my life, and my ministry responsibilities. I hope that for you as well.

21 Years of Leading

The first time I led corporate sung worship, it was a surprise.

This Fall I have been leading worship for 21 years. In 1,100 weeks of leading worship very rarely has there been a single week where I have not led sung worship at least once. It is wild to look back on that time and see how much has changed, and how much of the foundation upon which those early days were built remains unchanged.

It was Sunday night Bible study with our high school youth group. That morning I had agreed to play keys during worship that evening, but as we drove to church, I realized that the main worship leader was out of town that day. I called my youth pastor on my mom’s cell phone and asked, “Did you want me just to play tonight, or am I leading tonight?” “No, leading!” We turned the car around to get the guitar I had had for more than a year but had only seriously been playing for three months.

My mom helped me build a liturgy and set list with the handful of chords I could confidently play, and I recruited two other freshmen to play keys and sing. We practiced for an hour and led worship that evening for the first time. No microphones, no sound system, and lyrics on an overhead projector against the wall. I did not even have a strap for my guitar. I stood with one foot up on a chair - like Captain Morgan - and my guitar balanced across my leg.

There is often a humility devoid of pretense as we begin something new. There is a simplicity and innocence that mark those experiences that can be difficult to locate again as we grow and mature as people, as leaders, in our theology, and in our competence.

I heard Christy Nockels say that sometimes when she is leading worship a vision of her seven-year-old self flashes into her mind, and she sees herself as a child once again in that moment leading the crowd or congregation in worship. We should pursue excellence, we should seek to honor God and serve His people well with the gifts He has entrusted to us. But I am also learning that growth and maturity look like fighting against hardness of heart and opening ourselves to humility and vulnerability in our serving.

May the reminders of your own experience be ebeneezers of God’s kindness and faithfulness to you. Thus far the Lord has helped you.

Teaching Concepts

So many things seem normal and common when they are familiar. If you have grown up in church, or at least been in a church long enough to sense the rhythms and liturgy, to use context clues with language and word choice, you likely know this to be true. There are so many aspects to the gathering of the local church that might seem confusing if you have no context.

Why do we sing?

Why do we lift our hands?

Who leads us into God’s presence?

Why should we gather with the people of God?

Why do we sing and celebrate so much about the cross and blood of Christ?

Worship leaders are more than musicians or vocalists, we are theologians, and teachers. Sometimes I wonder if worship leaders do not lean into the responsibility to teach our people why these things matter, because we do not understand why these things matter. But everything becomes more meaningful when you know the story, the history, the intention, and the direction behind what is happening and why.

We cannot force people to worship rightly. We cannot lead well enough, or competently enough to will someone to worship. But we can shepherd people’s attention and affection toward Christ by teaching the truth in our songs, in our transitions, in our prayers, and in our liturgical choices. We can work to provide the context to make sense of raised hands, the purpose of singing, the power of the gathered people, and the only hope that is ours through Christ.

For a worship leader, teaching does not (and perhaps, nor should it) look like spending 20-45 minutes walking through a text of Scripture. But maybe it does look like spending 20-45 seconds thoughtfully articulating the concept behind a song, the definition of words, or a deeper theological truth that through the power of the Holy Spirit could open up the hearts and minds of our people to respond in wholehearted worship, wonder and praise.

1 October: Liturgy + Set List

• REJOICE

  Call to Worship: Psalm 16:7-11

  If you are here this morning as a follower of Christ, the fullness of joy and eternal pleasures are not just a future promise but a present reality in and through Christ. And so we are here to once again set the Lord ever before our eyes. We’re going to introduce a new song this morning that gives us a clearer picture of who Jesus is and what He has done…

• NO BODY

• HYMN OF HEAVEN

  Sermon: Mark 10:17-31

  We started our morning with a call from the last verse of Psalm 16, I want you to hear the first verse of Psalm 16 as well:

• Psalm 16:1-6

  If you are here as a follower of Christ, whether your life feels abundant or constricted - the boundary lines have fallen for your in pleasant places, and you have a beautiful inheritance - not an inheritance of earthly riches, but the inheritance of Jesus. Jesus is your inheritance. Let’s sing to him and about him…

• GOODNESS OF GOD

• BE THOU MY VISION

  Benediction

Questions To Consider

One of the things that our team has spoken about is the need for a deeper dive into our songs and services apart from a weekly service evaluation. And that would open up questions, and facilitate discussion for our whole team around the purpose and movement of our gatherings, apart from song choice, and how each of us can play a part in moving our services in the same direction.

One of the things that sparked these categories in my mind is Mike Cosper’s 10 Questions to Consider at the end of every year. I appreciated how he was able to open a view of the gathering wider than song choice and simply judge a service. The categories below are certainly not exhaustive, but will hopefully fuel deeper thought:

SONGS

• What new songs are we singing, and how are people responding?

• Which songs consistently have high responses (loud singing/participation, comments, humming in the bathroom)?

• What holes are in our master song list (content)?

• What are we singing too much (themes, songs, style)?

• Is the liturgy balancing an awareness of the people, while continuing to lead toward a direction that more closely embodies our values and mission?

COMMUNICATION

• Is it clear?

• Are we equipping our verbal communicators to understand and navigate the movement, tone of the morning, and the moment while still being themselves?

• Are the announcements leading people in worship, and moving them toward mission, not just giving them information?

• What has been confusing?

• Where have we dropped the ball (for the congregation, for the team, with visuals, with helping equip those on the platform knowing how to effectively communicate)?

FORMATION

• What is missing?

• What is stale?

• Are the ordinances being thoughtfully navigated (within the service and by the communicator)

• What has been surprising?

What would you add?

Here are some other similar resources you may find helpful:

Don’t Judge The Service.

Service Evaluation.

10 Questions to Consider.