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!

The Importance of Christian Meditation

Posted on by Tanner Royalty

When you hear the word meditation what do you immediately think of? A fat little bald man? How about peaceful monks sitting Indian style humming and focusing their minds? Meditation is something that is commonly misunderstood in the Christian world and preconceived notions and false ideas have colored our vision into what it really is. It’s absolutely true that some types of ‘meditation’ are not helpful to the Christian. Do not confuse these ideas with true Christian meditation. The religions of the East fall into this category. Even some forms of meditation that are taught by Christian groups are not really helpful. One teaching on meditation tells you to clear your mind, sit comfortably and repeat particular phrases or patterns of sounds until you feel at some sort of inner peace. Personally, I don’t understand the benefit of it because it neither promotes the repentance and fellowship with the Spirit that God enjoys. In this blog post we will explore the idea of Christian meditation and the affect it can have on your personal spiritual health and life.

Scripture meditation is something that I have done and taken very seriously since last semester when I was blessed to be able to take a “Personal Spiritual Disciplines” course at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. I have seen obvious life change with intentional and deliberate meditation on God’s Word everyday. I believe that Scripture meditation is perhaps one of the most neglected disciplines in the Christian life these days. I believe that very few Christians have been taught how important it is to pay close attention to what they think about on an everyday basis. We have all heard the statement, “You are what you eat.” You may wonder how that ties in, but I believe we can put it this way, “You are what you think about.” What we think about is an accurate and personal portrayal of who we really are. You see, today we as believers have become really good at putting on masks or appearing one way when the truth is entirely different. In Matthew Jesus makes it very clear when talking to the Pharisees and teachers of the Law that outward appearances mean nothing when they are false representations of who we really are on the inside. Jesus had this to say in Matthew 23:25-28:

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness. So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

What a shocking statement Jesus makes here. For the longest time I even fooled myself into thinking that if I appeared to have it “all together” then I must really have everything together!

The Pharisees to us are an obvious case of hypocrisy. But do you really think that they intentionally became hypocrites or do you think that they slipped little by little? You see the Pharisees spent all of their time making sure that they obeyed the law perfectly from the time they were children. From the outside, it appeared that they were keeping God’s law perfectly and were therefore righteous men. But guess what…

In spite of all our outward work God is not impressed with what we appear to be!

But what God is really interested in is what we are like on the inside. He wishes to change us from the inside out. His goal is to make us clean on the inside so that we would naturally be clean on the outside.

I have said all of this to frame the conversation for meditation. To meditate means to engage in contemplation or reflection, or pondering, or to focus one’s thoughts on. To ponder is to weigh in the mind, to think about, and to reflect upon. Meditation is a function of both the mind and the heart. You cannot disconnect either the mind or the heart and still be meditating on Scripture. They go hand-in-hand.

Whether we realize it or not, we all spend a large portion of our time in some form of meditation. The thing is, what we meditate on may or may not be worth our time. In fact, what we habitually think about is could be unhealthy for our growth as Christians. Often it is simply unproductive or sinful. Psalm 19:14 says, “May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.” Psalm 104:34 says, “May my meditation be pleasing to him, as I rejoice in the LORD.” Paul even urges the Philippians to meditate on the things and ways of the Lord in Philippians 4:8, “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable-if anything is excellent or praiseworthy-think about such things.” Lastly, in Romans 12 we are urged to “be transformed by the renewing of our minds” so that we can better do God’s will.

In the end, we all have to ask ourselves… What do I meditate on daily?

  • Money?
  • Hobbies?
  • Work/ Success?
  • Relationships?
  • Technology or the newest gadget?
  • Sinful behavior?
  • The pressures and stresses of everyday life?

The list could go on and on, but you get the idea… Those things aren’t Jesus.

Meditation is intentional and a lifestyle. It won’t happen on accident. I have learned that meditation can be done at all times of the day. It requires a bit of planning and extra effort to keep focused because it is work. It is also foreign to the natural state of our hearts, which are naturally depraved and sinful. Meditation is something that we MUST choose to do.

Do you want to hear from God? Seek Him through Scripture meditation and prayer.

Brothers and Sisters, we have briefly thought upon the importance of Christian Scripture meditation, so I will leave you with the words of Joshua 1:8,

This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success.

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.

What is hindering our congregations from Worshipping

Posted on by Tanner Royalty

Every worship leader has had a moment where they really felt the Spirit moving through the words of a given song only to open their eyes and see the congregation staring back at them with the “deer caught in headlights” look. Isn’t it frustrating and confusing? Sometimes it can seem like the more we pour ourselves out into leading our congregations in God exalting worship the more blank stares we receive. It’s almost like the connection is lost in the moment, or like our congregations just don’t get it.

First off, I want to make it very clear that we need to be careful not to judge the effectiveness or the “level” of our congregations worship by the people’s outward response. Because, a response is something that is very unique to every individual… I may respond to a particular situation entirely different than you do. My response being different than yours makes it no less of a response. If our worship is truly as it is called to be then it will bring about new revelations about our Savior and require a response from each and every individual. As I said in my last blog post, “The Bible tells us that worship is not just to engage the audience, but to have them change as a result of it.” I say all of that as a preface to this blog or list to make it clear that just because we don’t see a physical or outward response during our corporate worship doesn’t mean that something is wrong with us our congregations… sometimes God is working behind the scenes of a stone cold face.

That being said, we do have the desire to do all we can to invite authentic worship during our gatherings. Often times that may mean reevaluating the things that we are doing… if you feel your congregation is struggling to worship on Sunday take a look at these things and see if anything we are doing as leaders is fostering a difficult corporate worship environment.

1) Are we providing a context to our worship?

People lead busy lives and sometimes church becomes just another thing on our schedules. When we gather on Sundays are we providing a proper context to our worship or are we just “diving in” and hoping that people follow? I’m not saying that we must always go to a traditional “call to worship” but I am saying that we need to provide an environment that focuses our worship from the beginning. As worship pastors we must be just that… we must pastor and lead our people to the throne room of Christ each and every time we come together. Without context our congregations will struggle to worship every time.

2) Are we leading worship or performing?

Excellence is something that I strive for and I believe we all should… but sometimes we can lose focus of the heart of our worship in the pursuit of excellence. Our excellence is absolutely important, but if it’s not balanced with genuine worship then we have missed the mark and we have done nothing more than perform for an innocent captive audience. The idea of leading worship is entirely different than that of a performance because it requires us to lay our own preferences aside in order to better serve our congregations. If I play the newest songs to perfection with a click track and all original loops but sing them to high for my congregation to sing along then how have I served them? I don’t want my congregation to go into Sunday morning like a crowd heading into a concert…

I want my people encounter God through their worship on Sunday and be changed because of it!

3) Are we singing songs that our congregations know?

Just from reading the title to this point some people will say, “We can’t always stick with what is familiar!” To that point I would have to agree, but we don’t have to force feed new material to our congregations each and every week. When a song isn’t immediately familiar, people listen. It doesn’t mean they’re not worshiping and trying to sing along, it just means that they’re watching the screen trying to figure it out. If we play a new song each and every week and never allow our congregations time to learn the songs that we sing then we create a congregation of screen watchers and eliminate any freedom they had to worship without being glued into a staring match with the screen. When our congregations begin to learn and remember the words to the songs that we sing then they can begin to carry those songs around with them on a daily basis within their hearts and minds and allow the words to soak in and affect them to their very being. By allowing them to learn and enjoy familiar songs we create an environment of expectancy when we gather to worship. People look forward to singing to God the song that has been on their heart and mind all week.

4) Are we connecting with our congregations?

How well do you know your congregation? Are you honed into the pulse of your people? Are you singing songs that reflect the environment within your body of believers? Or are we settling for the “trendy” or “traditional” thing to do? At any given time our churches might not be worshiping because they simply aren’t connecting with us. This connection can take time and concentrated effort to establish… but once we have tapped into that pulse then we can work to truly meet our people where they are and serve them better through our choices and what we do.

As a worship leader we must be mindful of the things we do and environments we create when we cone together to worship corporately. A fellow blogger put it best by saying that we must, “become students of who we lead. We must pastor them, love them, pray for them, and pour into them.

What are we Communicating?

Posted on by Tanner Royalty

Picture a teacher standing before a classroom full of students who are all on the edge of their seats, captivated and mulling on every word that is spoken. What a great responsibility that teacher holds! The words the say and the things they do can shape a child’s education permanently. Now picture what we as worship leaders and teams do each and every week before our congregations. We are much like that teacher we just described, we hold a massive responsibility each and every week to demonstrate, model, and educate our congregations in true “God-pleasing” worship.

Below I have listed some thoughts on how we can better communicate and model the attitude of a Biblical worshipper from the stage weekly. Be sure to note that this blog post isn’t about what our song selections communicate… that is a whole separate topic that can be expected within the next few weeks. Anyways… let’s get going! 

Is it apparent that worship brings us joy? 

I don’t know how many times I have watched back footage of myself on stage leading worship and noticed that I do not look happy at all, or had my lovely Grandma look me dead in the eye and say, “try smiling more… at least look happy to have the opportunity to lead worship.” How encouraging does an unhappy or emotionally dead worship leader or team member look to a newcomer to our worship services? Psalm 84 makes it clear in the first two verses that naturally our worship should be filled with joy.

“How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord of hosts! My soul longs, yes,  faints for the courts of the Lord; my heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God.” -Psalm 84:1-2

We shouldn’t fake joy… our worship should naturally be filled with joy if we truly understand and believe what we are singing and who we are singing to. Do you believe the words you sing? Seek the Lord and pray diligently that you enter into worship joyfully and express that joy in a natural, authentic, and contagious way. Your congregations attitude towards worship starts with you… model it for them.

Inclusion… Worship isn’t a spectator sport.

There are several ways to make people feel included and there are just as many things that have the opposite affect. Everyone has a friend who sings loudly in the car to every song that comes on the radio… even if they don’t know the majority of the words. Don’t turn your congregations into that friend. It’s typically a good idea to not introduce too many new songs too quickly. Not every person in our congregations is “up-to-speed” by our opinion on modern worship and really the only time they may hear “church music” is when they are at church. We as worship leaders should acknowledge that and allow our congregations time to learn the songs that we sing.

Another way to connect our congregations to the songs that we sing is to choose keys that they CAN sing! Being a natural tenor I’m guilty of messing this concept up more than any other person I know… but we must remember to choose easily singable keys. I’m definitely not saying not to make your congregations put forth an effort. I personally prefer to pick songs and keys that don’t strain people, but also songs that don’t allow them to just mumble along without putting forth any effort to sing and worship at all. Most of us probably don’t lead worship for a church full of professional singers so we shouldn’t hold them to those expectations.

Are we demonstrating excellence?

We also must be aware of how we are representing ourselves and the God in which we worship from stage. It becomes apparently clear when a group of musicians, whether it’s a church band or a local group, is prepared or not prepared for a “set” or group of songs they are going to play in front of people. Do we take our corporate worship time seriously? If we do then we must pursue excellence in that area. The better our worship sounds isn’t necessarily going to please God any more or less… but it models something for our congregations. We as believers should pursue excellence in every area of our lives because we are doing all things for the glory of our God.

“Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men.” -Colossians 3:23

So… what are we communicating?

Be prepared to lead worship. Worship joyfully. Bring others alongside you in worship to our God.

 

 

 

When does Another Chorus become too much Chorus?

Posted on by Tanner Royalty

Think back to a time in worship where just as you were connecting with a certain song it suddenly came to a close. Bummer right? But now think back to a time where you sang a song to death and the worship leader or team continued to repeat the song in its entirety or just a single chorus over and over while your singing became less enthusiastic and your thumb twiddling and fidgeting became more aggressive. Which is worse? As worship pastors and team members we walk a fine line between “not enough” and “way too much.”

As a worship pastor it can be hard to be “in the moment” but yet remain conscious of what we are doing and our purposes or motives behind our actions. We must surrender ourselves to the Lord and the guidance of the Spirit in our leading, but remain vigilant and discerning of what is happening around us. To whom much is given much can certainly be expected.

In what ways can we as leaders equip ourselves to follow the Spirit where it leads in worship and prevent the common “overplayed” chorus. Below I will provide a few ideas, this list definitely isn’t exhaustive but I have found these particular methods to be effective.

  • Be open to be flexible.

As lead worshippers we sculpt a service by what we say and do. We must be open to be flexible and be prepared to pursue the Lord where He leads us. In the end, worship isn’t about us anyways. Being flexible may mean cutting a particular song last minute that we rehearsed perfectly, or that fits our particular voice wonderfully. We may not get to play that killer lick that we worked so diligently to learn. It’ okay. Be faithful to follow… although we are labeled as leaders we are really just the lead followers in God’s eyes, shepherds to His sheep.

  • Change it up.

Sure, we can repeat choruses! I have done it many times myself actually, but we need to be able to allow our congregations time to think about what they are singing and not just give them amble opportunity to learn a particular melody or a few lines to a song with little or no thought. The same chorus doesn’t have to always be played or repeated in the same way. A few good ways of repeating a chorus or section of a song without it becoming monotonous is to change the way we are playing it. Build a “soundscape” or provide variety through the way you play. Get comfortable with your team and be easy to follow. Possibly, go a cappella for a time or allow the instruments to slow or decrease in volume until a time comes to build back up. Create a “moment” as a dear seminary professor of mine would say.

  • Be prepared for the unexpected.

You may ask… how does this even make sense? I can’t be prepared for something that I am unaware of or not expecting. In this case I think you can be. Know more songs than just what you are playing in a particular week. I prefer to memorize songs for my services so that I can come back to them as needed without rummaging through a binder, music stand, or filing cabinet. We also need to prepare ourselves and our teams to follow the Spirit by making song keys well known before each service so that everyone is on the same page if a sudden change is made, or a song needs to be added to a service. Having backup or “pocket” songs or choruses in each key is also not a bad idea so in most cases our team members can have an idea of where we are going before we even go there. Remember to equip your media and technical teams for these situations as well.

  • Use Scripture.

This may seem extremely obvious, and I hope that it does, but too often we lace our statements made in transition or throughout our worship services with “nifty” little sayings or “church talk” that literally means nothing to most people. Beautiful speech without the Gospel does nothing to affect lives. Use the Word of God to bring to light the Gospel found throughout the songs that we sing and the Words that we say. The Bible can speak for itself if we would only make room and let it. The practical side of this is something that scares most people, but we need to learn and memorize the Word of God. We must “store up the Word in our hearts” as the Psalmist says in 119. The use of Scripture in our worship services and structures creates an opportunity to plan scripture guided worship services instead of “trendy” or culturally relevant ones. Seek to lead out songs that portray and shape the Gospel correctly for your congregation week in and week out and use the Gospel throughout to bring to light the messages in the songs that we sing and how they point us to Christ.

  • Be discerning.

With the job of leading worship comes many responsibilities. We must be aware of the Spirit while remaining aware of our environment. We can tell when our congregations have just had “enough” of a song or chorus and when they are truly connecting. We must worship God in Spirit and in Truth (John 4:24) and lead others in that type of worship. We must be discerning of what is happening around us. We can plan all we want, but this is where the rubber meets the road. Seek God diligently in your personal worship time and in your planning time for services. Ask God to invade every aspect of your worship and be faithful to follow Him. When we seek the Lord and truthfully desire His guidance we can lead with the confidence that He will lead and guide us according to His will.

 

Ultimately, God’s desire is to use us according to His purposes, and we must be willing, available, and faithful to follow Him wherever He leads. Let’s commit ourselves to being uncomfortable for His name’s sake and not just settling for another chorus. Let’s not take the easy way out by thoughtlessly playing the same thing in the same way time after time. Let’s also commit ourselves to placing the needs and preferences of our congregations above our own, and to challenging them through the Gospel and the songs that we sing.

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.