No One Is Neutral

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No one is neutral.

When the band arrives at rehearsal, when the congregation walks through the doors, as you are playing through the morning in your mind, no one is neutral. Every one of us comes with a mixture of joy and sorrow. Every one of us comes distracted, disrupted, fragmented, and longing to be whole. And yet we approach this sacred task of leading the people of God in worship of God recognizing that we are to offer our very lives - yes, even the broken pieces of ourselves - in worship to God (Romans 12:1-2).

Presence to the Lord throughout the week, and cultivating a life of private devotion before public worship, frees me as I approach the task of leading worship to be present to the team and the congregation. It creates space for me to act as a host to my team, engaging them, and caring for them, rather than rushing, ignoring, or trying to take from them.

Recognizing that no one is neutral allows me to be attentive to those I serve, to lean in or press in as well as release what feels like hostilities or slights. Recognizing that no one is neutral allows me to not take personally the criticism of those I lead. Recognizing that I am not neutral allows me to find rhythms that allow me to serve with open hands, rather than clenched fists.

Practically, this is why I arrive significantly earlier than the team. This is why I sometimes disappear before, or in between services. This is why I really try to make sure that every practical detail is complete before Sunday morning, so that I am able to focus on leading and serving.

Like the psalmist, may we be leaders who pray: “Teach me your way, O LORD, that I may walk in your truth; unite my heart to fear your name.” Psalm 86:11

4 June: Tuesday Refocus

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“Prayer is the act by which we divest ourselves of all false belongings and become free to belong to God and God alone.” - Henri Nouwen

In arguably the most famous prayer in Scripture, Jesus pleads with the Father in the Garden of Gethsemane to ‘…let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will (Matthew 26:39).’ Jesus knew that all of his longings could be place before the Father because He also trusted the Father (Psalm 38:9, John 8:28-29).

Perhaps this is why prayer - for many of us - can seem weak, boring, or unnecessary - we sense that there are places in our own hearts, minds, and lives that have not fully been given over (divested) from our own desires. We fear that God will ask of us something that we are unwilling to give. But God always meets us with Himself. God always gives more grace (James 4:6). Hallelujah.

Father, give us more grace to increasingly divest ourselves of all false belongings and to become free to belong to You and You alone, in Christ’s name, amen.

Amen,

AB

Collaborative Set List

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The thought of collaboratively building set lists gives me indigestion. But in practice, I always walk away so grateful for the opportunity to serve together. To find small ways to die to myself, and learn alongside of others who desire to serve the Lord and his people.

One of the things that has surprised me is how often I’ve met worship leaders who can lead songs but have never been taught how to build a set list. They know how to lead a song but not how to run a rehearsal. They know how to choose a key, but can’t lead the liturgy of the gathering.

At the end of the day, I believe that part of a leader’s main responsibility is to grow other leaders - I hope that regardless of your context or experience you are intentionally pursuing opportunities to develop other leaders. And I think that find a few people who can work together to collaboratively build a set list is a great place to start.

A few things that I have learned along the way:

  • People are more eager to serve, and take responsibility than you might expect - just ask.

  • You need to have clarity on your philosophy of worship.

  • It is easy to become frustrated and pull in different directions when you are not working from a shared understanding of the purpose of the corporate gathering - have you articulated this generally at your church, as well as specifically for this day?

  • You need to articulate the rhythms of how to build a set list - particularly for those who have never had the opportunity to do this before, help them understand the why, not just the what.

  • There are benefits to co-leading, but the more ownership you can give your fellow leaders, the more we all will grow.

  • Recognize that we all have preferences, don’t throw your weight around to get your way. Allow space for others to learn, and allow their own personality, skills, and gifts to shine through.

What would you add?

28 May: Tuesday Refocus

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“To say that God is holy once is enough. To say that God is holy twice is emphatic. To say God is holy three times is superlative. God is holy that our minds cannot comprehend it and our mouths cannot express it. To say that God is holy is to say that God is God. Holiness is the ‘Godness’ of God. Worship that does not revere the holiness of God is not worship. It is the idolatrous veneration of a god of our own making.” - H.B. Charles Jr.

A glimpse of God is to be reminded that He is holy (and that I am not). Beholding the One who dwells in unapproachable light inspires an endless, and repeated song that somehow perfectly articulates who He is without ever becoming repetitive or emptied of meaning (1 Timothy 6:16, Isaiah 6:3). This is the song of eternity past and eternity future. It is the cry of the saints and angels and all of creation - may it be our song as well:   

“…and day and night they never cease to say, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!” Revelation 4:8

Father, would you help us to be holy as Jesus is holy, in Christ’s name, and in the power of the Spirit we pray, amen.

Amen,

AB

26 May: Liturgy + Set List

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  • CREATOR

    Call to Worship: Micah 6:6-8

  • A THOUSAND HALLELUJAHS

  • THE GREATNESS OF OUR GOD

    God is great, and He is good, and He is kind. And he could have chosen to reveal nothing of Himself to us. But we know from Scripture that God is three persons in one God - the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. This morning is Trinity Sunday, the day in the Church calendar when we recognize and celebrate the work of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in salvation. The Church calendar, unlike the calendar that we follow as modern, western people, is oriented around the life of Jesus. So we are going to take a moment to pray these ancient words as we set our attention and affection on the person and work of the Trinity:

Glory to the Father who created us;

Glory to the Son who redeemed us;

Glory to the Spirit who sanctifies us;

Glory to the most high and undivided Trinity.

Whose work is inseparable,

Whose kingdom abides,

World without end,

Amen.

A Trinity Sunday, Prayer of St Augustine

Sermon: 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

Scripture says that we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. And when Christ returns His glory will be undeniable because the glory of God will cover the earth like the waters cover the sea. Let’s set our attention and affection on the One who has come and is coming again. Would you stand if you’re able, we’ll sing together…

  • HYMN OF HEAVEN

  • RAISE UP THE CROWN (ALL HAIL THE POWER)

Benediction

Image Crafting

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Do you want to know what is easy?

Crafting an image when you only see me for 20 minutes on a Sunday morning.

Do you want to know what is hard?

Crafting, managing, and controlling that image when my family sees me up close all day. Keep covered the under-sanctified places of my heart and life when I spend forty hours with my coworkers. Guarding my words (and therefore my heart) when I am in conversation with those who know me well.

In Isaiah 6:8, the prophet says ‘Here I am! Send me.’

In Romans 12:1, we are exhorted ‘…by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.’

In Hebrews 4:16 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.’

All of the disparate pieces of me are gathered up - the fragmented and the fake, the whole and the holy, the polished and the broken - to draw near in worship and obedience. Nothing needs to be kept at a distance, nothing must be hidden away or self-sanitized, but everything in me can together declare: “Teach me your way, O LORD, that I may walk in your truth; unite my heart to fear your name.” Psalm 86:11

As we increasingly rest in our identity in Christ, our grip on our image-crafting is safe to fall away. The gap between perception and reality can lessen, and we are indeed united to fear the LORD - rather than man.

21 May: Tuesday Refocus

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“I’m inclined to believe that God delights in healing our wounded hearts so as to increase our capacity for love. To receive it and give it away requires a freedom that trauma rejects but glory to God that His Spirit is stronger than our pain.” - Jackie Hill Perry

When you have been saved into a family - into a people - nothing that you possess is only for you (1 Peter 2:10). Your gifts and talents, experiences, and the healing of your wounded heart are tools of your own sanctification as well as the building up of the body to which you belong (Romans 12:3-8, 13).

“The Christian leader of the future is called to be completely irrelevant and to stand in this world with nothing to offer but his or her own vulnerable self. God loves us, not because of what we do or accomplish, but because God has created and redeemed us in love.” - Henri Nouwen

Father, may you continue to heal and make whole hearts that have been broken by sin - our sin and the sin of others. So that you may be glorified and our neighbors, families, and enemies alike might be served. In Christ’s name, amen.

Amen,

AB

19 May: Liturgy + Set List

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  • HOLY HOLY HOLY

    Call to Worship: Psalm 16

    One of the reasons we gather is to set the Lord before our eyes again. To be reminded that for all who are in Christ, our lives are held secure in His perfect life and work. Let’s sing about who he is and what he’s done:

  • THE SOLID ROCK

  • WHAT YOU SAID

    Scripture tells us that the foolishness of God is still wiser than the wisdom of man. God is good, but sometimes it does not feel like He is good. Because He is more than we could understand. I think the disciples felt similarly as they saw the resurrected Jesus - don’t go, stay, we want to hold on to you! And Jesus says, it is better that I go, because when I go I will send to you a Helper - the Holy Spirit who will convict of sin, comfort you in your affliction, remind you what I have said, be the sign, seal, and guarantee of your salvation. This morning is Pentecost Sunday, where we remember and celebrate the sending of the Holy Spirit to indwell the life of every believer. We are going to take a minute now to thank God for His Spirit, I will read these words, and then together we will pray:

Almighty God, on this day, through the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, you revealed the way of eternal life to every race and nation:

Pour out this gift anew, that by the preaching of the Gospel your salvation may reach to the ends of the earth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.

Pentecost Prayer, the Book of Common Prayer

Sermon: 1 Timothy 3:1-13

  • ABIDE

  • HOLY IS OUR GOD

Benediction

Identity

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Questions of identity haunt the Christian and the non-Christian alike. I remember hearing Bono give an interview where he quipped that those who felt secure and received all they needed in childhood don’t find it necessary to stand on a stage with people screaming for you night after night. Very few people will find the level of attention and notoriety that has been true of U2 for the last four decades, but isn’t the longing the same? Do we not all desire to be seen, known, and celebrated? Do we not all desire to have work that feels fulfilling, that contributes meaningfully to the world, and that will outlast our time on earth? Don’t we all desire to feel that our identity is secure?

For followers of Jesus, Scripture assures us: “For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.” - Colossians 3:3

As people who are prone to forget, what good news! What a comfort that our lives and identity are secure in, with, and because of Christ - not because of anything we have done or anything we have failed to do.

Although I do not believe that worship leaders struggle with questions of identity any more than others perhaps a complicating reality is the visibility of our role. People often believe they know us when really they know about us. And because our gifts are often exercised in such public ways, it can be easy for people to believe that we are our gifts. It can be easy for us to believe that we are our gifts. All of this can coalesce into an identity built on perception, built on things seen - rather than the hidden life, rooted in Jesus.

When my identity is built on my talent, I am left without value when my skill plateaus or fades. When my identity is built on being the best, I am scared of the gifts of others. When my identity is built on the praise of people, I will continually be chasing their admiration. To build an identity on anything apart from Christ is laying a foundation on sinking, shifting sand.

In my opinion, few contemporary writers have been able to articulate the trues (and the lies) of identity better than Henri Nouwen. So to wrap up this post, I wanted to leave with you a handful of my favorite quotes from Nouwen on identity:

The five lies of identity:

I am what I have.

I am what I do.

I am what other people say or think about me.

I am nothing more than my worst moment.

I am nothing less than my best moment.

Spiritual identity means we are not what we do or what people say about us. And we are not what we have. We are beloved daughters and sons of God.

To the degree that we embrace the truth that our identity is not rooted in our success, power, or popularity, but in God's infinite love, to that degree can we let go of our need to judge.

14 May: Tuesday Refocus

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“Your natural gifts draw attention to yourself while brokenness draws attention to your Lord. With this in mind, power is dangerous in the hands of an unbroken vessel.” - Frank Viola

This is an upside down kingdom. Here the first will be last, the last will be first, to find your life you must lose your life, the humble will be exalted and the high will be brought low (Matthew 20:16, Matthew 10:39, Matthew 23:12). In this kingdom, our weakness is met by the strength of God (2 Corinthians 12:9-10). He breaks us not to crush us, but to bring forth praise (Psalm 51:8), He tears us that he may heal us (Hosea 6:1).

And when we inhabit this kingdom (rather than attempting to construct our own kingdom) we see that all things entrusted to us - gifts, pain, blessings, and loss - are not just for us, but are for the glory of God, and the good of His Church.

“Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures throughout all generations. [The LORD is faithful in all his words and kind in all his works.]’ - Psalm 145:13

Amen,

AB