Why is singing a “new song” essential to Christian worship?

Posted on by Tanner Royalty

Think of your favorite song…

Why is it your favorite? What kind of memories does that song bring along with it every time you hear it? Music has a way of creating and capturing moments in fewer words and simpler methods than any story teller could ever hope to do in their writing. Songs have an awesome way of conveying messages to sometimes unaware listeners that will stick with them longer than any sermon they will ever hear.

Thinking about the level of comfort that comes along with “old” and familiar songs makes me wonder why in Scripture we are commanded to sing “new” songs unto the Lord and not “old” or familiar songs. In fact, three Psalms start with the words, “sing to the Lord a new song” (Psalms 96, 98, and 149). Isaiah 42:10 says:

Sing to the Lord a new song, his praise from the end of the earth, you who go down to the sea, and all that fills it, the coastlands and their inhabitants.

Why such the emphasis on singing a “new” song… won’t any song of praise work?

Nowhere in Scripture do we find a command to sing “familiar” songs to the Lord… because we do that anyways. Human beings are creatures of comfort and we don’t need to be reminded to do things that we love. Does anyone have to tell you to drink your favorite refreshment or partake in your favorite activity? No! We enjoy that particular refreshment or activity and we naturally gravitate towards it. Singing and worship works in the same way. If we aren’t careful we can get stuck doing the same things and singing the same songs over and over again until they become bland or ritualistic. The Lord desires a “new” song and because of that desire we are reminded over and over again through Scripture.

Other than the Biblical commandment to do so, why is singing “new” songs essential to healthy corporate worship?

  • It creates a “freshness” in our worship.

Have you ever been in a rut? It’s a bad feeling that many of us know all too well. By devoting ourselves to finding, learning, and singing new songs we can help fight against ruts in our corporate worship lives. We have already established that songs capture times, moments, and memories within themselves and hopefully as we mature and advance in our walk with Christ we feel the need to create new memories and moments. New songs can capture new seasons of our church bodies lives and speak to particular situations that are around us currently. We all have those particular “go-to” songs that our congregations just love and have grasped on to, but I would like to encourage you to not go-to those songs so often. God presents new mercy and grace everyday and because of that we should offer up new praise and worship. With new songs comes a freshness in worship. I know that it is easier said than done, but a new song a month or every other week is a good way to get your congregations searching, learning, and seeking new music as well as creating new memories and moments that they will get to relive forever when they hear those particular songs.

  • It provides opportunity for an expansion of our worship vocabulary and library.

How many of us can quote more songs word-for-word than Bible passages? Unfortunately, I know that I can. Songs are memorable and contagious. We hear them, learn them, and memorize them without much effort. By continually playing the same songs we are just feeding that behavior and those words eventually begin to not carry as much weight as before. By introducing new songs we are introducing new material for our congregations to learn and think about without even meaning to! Let’s put new words, thoughts, and phrases in their minds to enable them to worship in new ways, with new words! I catch myself throughout the day humming or singing a particular section of a song without meaning to and I know that I am not alone. As worship pastors, leaders, and teams we should have a desire to place as much Biblical and Godly content into the heads of those around us as possible. What that ultimately comes down to is learning new songs. Let’s put forth an effort to finding solid songs and to teaching them to our congregations so that their worship libraries can be expanded for those times when their minds drift to musical content. Music is widely available everywhere and ultimately we want them worshipping Jesus and not Bieber… so we need to give them songs new songs to sing.

  • It causes us to put forth effort.

In the end, it is just easier to sing old and comfortable songs. It comes natural. But, we serve a God who shows us new mercy and grace everyday and provides a way for us to worship and be creative. If we are going to be good stewards of the abilities the Lord has given us then we need to put forth some effort in our worship. Our eternities in Heaven are going to be spent singing praises to our God, and I’d like to imagine that those praises aren’t going to consist of “Amazing Grace” 1,000,000,000 times… Let’s begin to live our eternities now and praise our God in new and fresh ways. It will take effort, but I promise it’ll be worth it.

Let’s take the challenge together to sing new songs!

I don’t want you leaving this blog thinking there is no place for familiarity because that is not the point at all. To be applicable I will state that I never do more than one new song a week and typically play a single new song two weeks in a row before introducing anything else. But… every church is different and you are the best judge for your particular situation. In the end, we should be singing new songs with songs that we already know and love. God has given us memories of the past for a reason, but we are also made new in His love daily and we should celebrate that with new praise unto Him!

Intentionality is Key

Posted on by Tanner Royalty

The Merriam-Webster defines intentional or intentionality as something done with intention or on purpose. How often do we do things purposefully? When we act with intentionality towards someone or something we are giving them or it perceived worth in our eyes. That’s huge. To whom or what do you give worth?

Here are a few things within our ministries that we as worship leaders should approach with intentionality and allow God to in turn use for His glory:

Your Personal Relationship with Christ

This may seem like a given, but it is far too easy to get in the flow or into a routine and to become a full-time worship leader and a part-time follower of Christ. We as human beings are very good at faking things by becoming “excellent” at what we do without even thinking about why we do it. We all have the church or spiritual mask that we can put on to make people believe we have it all together even if we don’t. Sometimes I myself can be so “task-driven” or goal oriented that I forget to be intentional with Christ. Improving our ministries and getting things done isn’t a bad thing in and of itself, but if we do those things while sacrificing personal devotion then what are we really working for? I lead worship a lot… but I hope that I can be a personal worshipper of Christ even more. Let’s decide right now to never become more focused on the things that we do and how we do them than the REASON behind what we do. Take time to spend with Jesus… your congregations will thank you.

Your Communication

Communication is key! Be intentional to communicate among your leadership and your ministry. I have found that the leadership in any church loves to take time in order to find out what is happening within the body. Fill them in! We don’t have to do this alone.

This also can have another side to it. As worship pastors we are really good at spending time to create structures and worship services and then keeping our reasoning to ourselves! Let people know why you choose the songs you do and place them at certain parts of a service. Some people are better at putting the pieces together than others and I personally am very poor at providing them with all the pieces on a weekly basis.

Your Time

Think back to the last time someone or something had a problem that they approached you with right before rehearsal or a service… if it wasn’t sometime in this last week I am thoroughly surprised. It would be hard for an outsider to understand the amount of stress and last minute emergencies that we as worship leaders deal with on a weekly basis. I have just come to accept them as a part of leading within a body of believers. I also know, from personal experience, how easy it is to stay busy and yet get nothing done. Our time as ministers is limited and often times we are stretched in every direction, but in order to serve our congregations with Godly excellence we must work to be intentional with our time. It’s far too easy to get overwhelmed by all the last minute things that come up, but if we are careful about scheduling in advance and thinking ahead not only will we get more done, but we will free up more time to be intentional in other areas that are on this list. We should strive to never treat our ministries like a list of tasks or jobs that we have to get done every week, and one way to do that effectively is to have a schedule!

Your Relationships

 Jesus was intentional about building relationships with His followers. We should follow that example in order to disciple and mentor those around us. As “Worship Pastors” we need to be acting like a pastor, and that requires more than just singing or playing an instrument. Being intentional within a relationship is essential in establishing influence and developing those around us into productive disciples who can, in return, spend their lives mentoring others. Jesus walked, talked, and ate alongside His disciples. They experienced life together. It was in that way that they were able to be ministered to.

Chip Bell says, “Effective mentors are like friends in that their goal is to create a safe context for growth. They are also like family in that their focus is to offer unconditional, faithful acceptance.” There can be no discipleship without relationship… and relationships are intentional.

Making a conversation out of our Worship

Posted on by Tanner Royalty

How do you view worship? How does your congregation view worship? When we sing “ Lord, I will follow you” or “You give and take away” we are making serious statements to God. Do we treat our worship as a ritual that we do because we are told to or do we see it as a serious conversation between ourselves, our congregations, and God? Hopefully we can say we treat it as the latter.

Believe it or not the order of our songs can tend to lead us into conversation through our worship more than anything else we can plan to do. There is really no set way to plan a service or worship set… we can have general plans or ways of doing things but in the end the choice of certain songs is unique to each congregation. In worship planning there are really no right or wrong songs to use… different songs are useful for different things and while one song might provide incredible insight into God’s character and majesty another may provide simplistic but meaningful conversation about our reliance on the Lord. In the end, some songs are written “about” God and are filled with statements about His character (many hymns are written about God). Other songs make statements “to” God, as if in a conversation.

My suggestion is to sequence the songs in a revelation to response method by placing the ones that reveal things about or talk about the ways or attributes of God closer to the beginning of the service as the congregation is preparing themselves and getting in the frame of mind that congregational worship demands. When we provide revelation first it allows the people within our congregation to think and sing about God and it moves them into the mindset of desiring a conversation with the One that they know and hold dear. The method here is much like a gathering or party. Right at the outset of the party typically people aren’t willing to open up and share the personal parts of their lives with each other. Instead we start with “ice-breaker” and casual conversations… we learn about each other (jobs, relationship statuses, hobbies, attributes, etc). Conversations usually become more personal as defenses fall and authentic communication can be accomplished. Therefore, we need to do the same thing with our designed worship experiences… we first learn about God ad meditate on Him and then we can begin to open up and respond to Him through conversation.

Our revelations about God should call us and our congregations to respond. 

Hopefully with this loose structure in mind we can begin to more effectively plan and organize services that have a way of moving people into genuine conversation and worship of God. The ball is ultimately in each individuals court, but we should be good stewards of the leadership that we have been given.

“Give me a Break!”

Posted on by Tanner Royalty

Week after week we plug in, warm up, rehearse, and play. For many, like myself, it has become so much of a routine that when it comes to Sunday we do it automatically. I’m not saying that our worship is not sincere or entirely automatic, but the process of getting to that point is. Weekly we serve alongside faithful team members who consistently use their God-given talents in service to the congregation and it’s Sunday worship. Sometimes it becomes all too easy for us to get caught up in “Sunday routines,” our musical abilities, and the never-ending quest for musical and Godly excellence and we forget to take care of and cherish our most valuable gift… the people around us.

Are we working our volunteer teams to death?

Below, I will give several reasons why I prefer “Team Rotations” when it comes to volunteer activities and services. Keep in mind that full rotations are not always an option in every church and within every service or ministry opportunity. But… when rotations are or become an option I would encourage you to take these points into consideration before making a decision one way or another. So… in what ways does a volunteer team rotation help?

  • Provides opportunity for new membership and mentorship.

If you are like myself or most churches you are always in dire need of more volunteers. We constantly advertise the need and ask around, but never show our congregations the availability of joining new opportunities. When we do worship team rotations (or even media/ tech teams for that case) we are consistently showing our congregations that we have a desire to include new people into our ministries and help them grow into a new position. Not only do we show an inclusive mentality or spirit by providing an opportunity for people to serve, but we also provide an opportunity for ourselves or other “seasoned” members of the ministries they are joining to mentor them and to help them grow. In doing that we are extending the reach of our ministry beyond just a few people and reaching out through new people and new avenues. If we are seeking quality and longevity doing a rotation is the best option by my opinion because we get to mentor, grow each other, and bring in newer members of all ages to serve.

  • Provides opportunity for Worship Team members to get to worship in other ways.

As a worship pastor I can tell you that many times I have felt totally out of place in a worship service where I was not on the stage or had noting to do with the music, planning, production, etc. That shouldn’t be the case. I have heard and even said many times, “I worship through my music.” That is true, but that shouldn’t be my only avenue or method of worship. Instead we should be always worshipping through whatever means is available to us. By rotating on and off the stage we are providing our members the ability to worship through avenues other than leading the worship, and the opportunity to worship alongside their brothers and sisters in Christ instead of having to always lead. It is good to have a break… we may feel uncomfortable with it at first but I guarantee you that in the end it will be beneficial. This method not only provides a break from the routine; but it also gives members time to worship with their physical and spiritual families.

  • Prevents burnout.

Every person is susceptible to burnout… even if they think they aren’t. While using our abilities each and every week we are constantly giving and giving and pouring out all that we are before our congregations while leading them in worship and sometimes we just don’t “take in” enough in return. I have found that I have lost my joy in leading worship before without even knowing it! By allowing breaks for rotation we are allowing and providing periods of refreshment where our team members can be poured into consistently with nothing to be expected of them in return. We aren’t a never ending well of resources and neither are our team members… we can’t expect anyone to give and give without a time of refreshment and refilling.

Hopefully this provides some food for thought and together we can build up our volunteers and increase the longevity of their ministries and the ministries of our churches collectively. In the end, we must take care of our people… they are our most valuable and least replaceable resources.

Want to be a better Worship Leader? Well… who doesn’t

Posted on by Tanner Royalty

The title says it all… I’m not sure if I have ever met someone who didn’t want to be better at whatever they did. But complacency is a dangerous thing and it creeps in when we least expect it and can steal our joy and our determination and commitment to excellence and improvement. The Bible calls us to be excellent and to do everything as if for the Lord. Below I have explored just a few ways or attitudes that can help us become better worship leaders. This list isn’t exhaustive and isn’t a “quick fix” or a step-by-step method to improvement. But… if we commit ourselves to doing these few things I would struggle to say that you, and those around you, won’t notice a difference!

Love Worship!

This may seem obvious but worship shouldn’t just be a job or part of our jobs… it should be a lifestyle that we love and enjoy. Our worship shouldn’t be dependent on our circumstances, work-load, preferences, congregation size or involvement. We should be worshippers on and off the stage and all our worship should be sincere. What we do from the stage on Sunday mornings should just be a normal outflow of what we do all week… each and every day. Our personal lives should echo and resemble what we do on the stage. If we want to be better worship leaders we should stop playing games with our personal worship, because it is exactly as important as it sounds.

Never Stop Learning.

This particular point comes natural for some and is a distant thought for others. We shouldn’t stop pursuing excellence or the betterment of ourselves as worship leaders when we find a position or job. Outstanding worship leaders value training and love learning. Feel like you’re in a “rut” or afraid that you might be developing one? My response to you would be: Don’t get complacent or content where you are… continue moving forward, learning, and becoming a better worshipper and lead worshipper. This point doesn’t mean the same thing for every person in every situation, you don’t have to go to seminary to learn… there are a variety of blogs, podcasts, books, seminars, and resources out there that you can dig into for free! Let’s not become complacent, let’s not shy away from feedback, and let’s never claim to know-it-all.

Be a Team Player and Create Space for Others to Serve.

We can’t do it all on our own… well maybe you can but I’d personally like to choose not to. Within our ministries we should work hard to create a team mentality and we should model servanthood through all that we do. If we want to get better at our craft we must surround ourselves with others who are willing and able to serve. The role of a worship leader isn’t just to lead corporately, we should minister individually as well. We should be open to including others and look for opportunities to encourage and to empower. If our desire is to improve ourselves and our ministries then we must be secure enough about our own calling, position and place, to “give up” a little when it comes to leading.

Be Happy Where You Are.

Sometimes it’s easier to say that, “God has us where he wants us” than it is to believe it. But I assure you… all things occur according to His will. Never stop pursuing Him. Excellent worship leaders are grateful and excited to serve wherever they are. Our happiness and contentment should not be determined by the size of our congregation, the appearance of our building/sanctuary/ stage, the number of Facebook likes or followers we receive on our Twitter accounts or blogs. Our joy should come from Christ alone and our ability to serve Him. Let’s serve faithfully and be joyful servants where we are.

Don’t Depend on Yourself!

Often times we can depend on ourselves and our talent more than the Spirit… I’ve done it. Our worship shouldn’t be talent or performance based, it should instead be authentic and pure. If we want to be better worship leaders then we must stop banking on our own talent and experience and start relying on God and His Spirit. Remain vigilant and obedient and allow God to work through you and your team on a weekly basis. The church doesn’t need another rockstar… it needs some faithful servants.

Give me some feedback and maybe some other points that you can think of below! Thanks all! Stay safe and warm.

How are the songs that we lead shaping the Gospel?

Posted on by Tanner Royalty

Each and every week people flock in and out of the doors of church buildings throughout the United States and around the world. Many have heard the Gospel proclaimed accurately, many have heard compelling stories or corny illustrations, and sadly many haven’t heard (or remembered) anything at all.

How many times have you left your respective sanctuary or church building and been unable to voice the main point or passage of the sermon in which you just sat under? I would dare to say that it happens more than we believe. I believe that on a typical Sunday if we were to give a survey asking church goers what passages were used or exposited from their pulpits I think we would be shocked at the results. I also believe if we were to give the same survey but instead asked which songs were sung from the stage the results would be much improved. I’m in no way saying this as a jab to our preaching or expositing of Scripture today… I am actually saying this to bring to light how important our song choices are on a weekly basis.

We live in an entertainment driven culture, so sermons or teaching just aren’t stimulating enough to keep some people connected. I found it interesting that researchers have discovered that the brain releases dopamine, a chemical related to attention and focus, when people watch TV or play video games because that “entertainment” is giving the them a “stimulus surge.” In a culture filled with this “surging” it is easy to see and understand why we have collectively become desensitized to things like sermons, lectures, meetings, etc. This lack of focus without “surging stimulation” can be seen first-hand in our sanctuaries and classrooms.

Interestingly enough, the brain also releases dopamine when stimulated with music!

I have said all of that to make my next point clear… our music is important. The songs that we sing will likely be remembered when all else is forgotten, and because of that we must work to make wise choices regarding what we sing and play in our limited time each week. Our music shapes the Gospel for our congregations on a weekly basis whether we want it to or not.

You may be thinking… Geez! How do I even begin to select music that is going to shape the Gospel for someone? Do not fret… below I have provided some helpful thinking points for when you are surfing the web, CCLI, or flipping through sheet music making your selections.

Are we singing for ourselves or for God? Revelation vs. Response.

Unfortunately, to have an “enjoyable experience” has become the leading motivation for much of what we do, and that includes our worship experiences. The idea or expectations of an “entertainment experience” have leaked over into what we do on Sundays and Wednesdays… especially in the modern American church. Our cultural context has somehow managed to define our worship services. Our worship has become more about ourselves rather than about pleasing and glorifying God. We have become horizontally focused rather than vertically focused. Our songs should portray Scriptural truths about God and provide focus on Him and what He has done… not necessarily on what we are going to do for Him. A response to Christ is absolutely important and should be included somewhere in our selections… but it shouldn’t be our primary focus. Our worship is about what we are going to do for Christ… it is about what He has done for us. The Gospel and who Christ is should be apparent in our songs. The Bible tells us that worship is not just to engage the audience, but to have them change as a result of it. We should work to reveal the Gospel through what we sing on Sundays and allow the congregations to decide their response to that revelation for themselves.

Me vs. We & I vs. Us

Our congregational worship takes place together when we gather together… our individual worship should be continuously happening throughout the week. If we hold that to be true then why do we still continue to place the emphasis on the “I” or “me” our corporate worship? Too many of the songs that we sing place emphasis on ourselves and our individual work instead of on Christ and His work through the church. Our songs should be inclusive both in words and meaning, we should sing songs that place emphasis on the church, or bride of Christ, as a whole instead of elevating the personal aspect. We aren’t isolated, we as believers should be dependent on Christ as well as each other and the charge that was given to follow and be disciples of Christ was given both individually and to the body as a whole. Let us sing songs that challenge us to walk beside each other in our pursuit of Christ and His glory here on earth. Let’s replace the “I” and “me” with “us” and “we” and watch the repercussions take place when people live out the words they sing.

Lyrical Content. Are our songs rich and true?

Do we pay attention to what we are singing? Do we pay attention to what we are telling our congregations to sing? Too often we trade a good groove or ear pleasing guitar lick or vocal melody for lyrical content and what we get is a ear pleasing song with no depth at all. If our congregations are only going to remember portions of our service, in which the preaching may not be part, then we need to be leading them in songs that are rich in content. Our songs should proclaim the Gospel, the saving message of Christ, and challenge us to live lives that honor and glorify Him. In a typical service I will personally try to include songs about our need for Christ and His sufficiency to meet that need, songs focusing on the cross and the price that was paid on our behalf, songs about what we as the church are to do now (our response), and songs about the freedom and joy we have in Christ. Now obviously all of these don’t have to be included in each and every service and things can be added and subtracted where there is a need. Most importantly, we just need to keep in mind that our songs inclusive in a way that they are clear in meaning to a first time church goer and illustrate the Gospel correctly and at the same time they should develop in meaning for the seasoned believer.

 

Hopefully with these things in mind and knowing that what we are communicating through our song choices we can be deliberate in picking songs that tell the Gospel story and challenge people to change accordingly. What we do is important. Let’s act like it.

So, what are you song selections communicating week in and week out?

How to make the most of your Worship Team Rehearsals

Posted on by Tanner Royalty

Every worship pastor or praise team member can probably look back in their not-so-distant memory and cringe remembering a “bad” or “rough” experience at a group rehearsal. Practicing together can be a dividing issue among many praise teams and can cause unnecessary complications for worship leaders.

Psalm 33:3 commands several things from us as worshippers… it says, “Sing to him a new song; play skillfully on the strings, with loud shouts.

Skillfully. 

Merriam-Webster defines skillful as: having the training, knowledge, and experience that is needed to do something well.

In other words, practice and rehearsal is needed. End of story.

Frankly, I don’t know if we as worship leaders can ever really get our teams to want to practice week in and week out. That ball is completely in God’s court. In the meantime, there are several things we can do to make our rehearsals as painless and effective as possible.

1) Get content out in advance and allow our teams adequate time to prepare.

Let’s face the facts… most churches aren’t going to pay every musician and vocalist making it absolutely necessary for our team members to work everyday jobs. That being said we cannot expect them to be able to dive head first into our weekly sets the day they receive the content from us. In order for us to be effective as worship leaders we must work ahead and coordinate our services well and in a timely manner. Personally I try to stay planned at least two weeks in advance in order to give my team members time to become familiar with the songs and hone their craft for each song in particular.

2) Place emphasis on coming to practice prepared to rehearse together.

Band rehearsal time is not time for someone to “learn” the song or tune. Band rehearsal is for rehearsing together… as a band. Song learning and individual practice should take place individually and prior to group rehearsals. The more we and our teams prepare in advance the faster it is going to come together in rehearsal and the better it will sound. In other words, everyone should enter into rehearsal already knowing the music and having practiced it at some point before. This will make group rehearsals a lot more efficient and painless for everyone involved.

3) Know what you want the songs to sound like.

Coming in to rehearsal without a clue of what we desire our finished product to be is like an inventor trying to create an invention with no idea in mind of what he wishes to create. This does not mean we have to sound exactly like any particular artist. Every praise team has their own soundscape and we should embrace that. But, we should have enough of the finished product in mind that we can guide and direct our teams effectively in rehearsal.

4) Communicate your vision.

We should seek to be great communicators. Personally I know that my team has no mind readers on it… that being said I have to be able to communicate what I want or what I am hearing in a timely manner that is easy to understand. Nothing causes more stress than a breakdown in communication. We must know our teams, know what we want, and express it!

5) Don’t practice songs wrong!

This may sound obvious but we all have fallen to the temptation to just talk about the changes we want to make in or to a song when it comes time to play it again instead of running through it again… correctly. The way we rehearse is the way we will play when it counts. It is imperative that we rehearse our songs cleanly and correctly in the right keys and at the right tempos. Slight variances will happen on occasion but if we make it a habit to rehearse things incorrectly then it will bite us eventually.

6) Seek perfection but know your limitations.

As leaders we desire to be the best we can be and we wish the same for our teams. We are called to play skillfully and to lead effectively. But, more importantly we are called to be great worshippers. We must continuously practice and work to hone our crafts and abilities to better serve the body and honor our God. While we seek perfection we must know our limitations. I am not saying that we should limit ourselves… but we have to be realistic. My team isn’t going to sound like a carbon copy of Hillsong United and the church with a single piano and organ isn’t going to sound like my team. We have to accept that. We are called to be great at what we do in the environments that God has placed us at this given time.

Let us work to better glorify Christ and edify our congregations with our worship. A good starting point is in our rehearsals.