growingworship

God is Bigger

Posted on by mattodegaard

I have this tendency to make God small.

But God is not small. God is Bigger.

God is bigger than I can imagine.

When I started playing guitar I didn’t know anything. I began the journey like most, learning the basic chords: G, D, Em, C.  Then came that one chord: Bm. I really did not like Bm. It made me stretch, it made me grow. It hurt.

But, I pushed through and got better. I think I got pretty good actually.

Then I watched a man play guitar like I had never seen before. And I wanted to quit. I realized I had not even scratched the surface of guitar playing! Fortunately, I did not quit and I have grown and grown since then. I came to realize that I would never hit the end of the guitar. I could learn and learn all my life and there would still be things I could learn.

I came to realize my relationship with God was similar. I grew up in church so as a kid I thought I had God figured out. But then I had a mentor who showed me that God was SO much bigger than I could imagine! Like guitar, (but so much more) I came to realize that I would never reach the end of God. No matter how much I learn about Him, or how much I come to know Him, there will always be more depth.

God is Bigger.

Spend time this week searching after God. Even if you think you have Him all figured out, you may come to realize, as I did, that God is Bigger.

Keep GrowingWorship.

 

Advent – Week 3

Posted on by mattodegaard

advent-candles

This is the third week of Advent where we celebrate the Arrival of Jesus into this broken world to restore the Peace of God.

Here is the reading for this week:

Isaiah 40:9

You who bring good news to Zion,

   go up on a high mountain.

You who bring good news to Jerusalem,

   lift up your voice with a shout,

lift it up, do not be afraid;

   say to the towns of Judah,

   “Here is your God!”

 

Jesus came into a broken world not that different from our own.

We still need Jesus as much today as the world did then.

We join with the ages on Christmas saying ‘Here is your God!’ His name is Jesus!

 

Sola Scriptura

Posted on by mattodegaard

bible

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.  – 2 Timothy 3

Scripture is the cornerstone of our faith in God. Through Scripture we learn of God’s love, grace and mercy. We learn about his plan through Jesus to bring us back to life and transform us into the image of Christ we were made to be. As worship leaders our songs need to reflect the truth Scripture brings. Our hearts and our words need to flow heavy with His words.

This week, spend time on your own in the Word of God. And if you haven’t already, check your lyrics to make sure the songs you lead are full of Truth from the Scriptures. A great exercise to do is take a song and write down the Scriptures it references. Once you do this it also gives you a great verbal intro into the song next time you lead it!

Keep Growing Worship!

Amazing Grace

Posted on by mattodegaard

amazing_grace
You may be here thinking that God is great and holy but I don’t deserve his love or mercy. That is true. And that is why he send his son Jesus.
Paul says it really well in his letter to a similar church in Ephesus:
2 As for you, you were dead in your sins, 2which you used to live in when you followed the ways of this world and the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the [evil] spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.
3 We also lived among them at one time, following sinful desires and thoughts. We are by nature deserving of wrath.
4 But because of his great love for us, God, in his mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ – even when we were dead in sin –
It is by grace you have been saved.
6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms 7 so that he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, and his kindness [through] Christ Jesus.
8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—9 not by works, so that no one can boast.
10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus … to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
It is through God’s amazing grace that we have life and we practice our worship now so we may learn to praise God forevermore!
Keep Growing Worship!

On Earth as it is in Heaven

Posted on by mattodegaard

skyblueheaven
One of the reasons we gather together for weekend services is to ‘practice’ what it will be like to worship in heaven. John tells us in Revelation of his encounter with God in Heaven that Worship will be the primary activity:
‘No longer will there be anything cursed, but the throne of the Lamb will be in it and his servants will worship him. (Rev 22:3)
Psalm 115:18 tells us that ‘we will bless the LORD from this time forth and forevermore!’
The theologian AW Tozer wryly tells us: I can safely say, on all the authority of all that is revealed in the word of God, that any man or woman on this earth who is bored and turned off by worship is not ready for heaven.
So, here we are, practicing for heaven every weekend and every church gathering of the saints. However, don’t sell the heavenly worship experience short. We are only getting a glimpse here. Worship is like this, but really not like this.
Worship can be loud:
Then I looked and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of MANY angels, numbering myriads and thousands of thousands saying with a LOUD voice,
“Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain,
to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength

    and honor and glory and praise!”
13 Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, saying:
          “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb
    be praise and honor and glory and power,

for ever and ever!”
Rev 5:11-12
For you sports fans out there, if you have ever been to a stadium where there are thousands of people and your team gets the winning score and the crowd explodes with applause and shouts and whistles and screams of joy; it’s kinda like that, but bigger; and louder.
But it can also be contemplative. For example Revelation ch 8 begins with silence and prayer. And at many churches we do both at different times because, again, we are trying to practice and prepare for worship in heaven.
I hope you practice for worship in Heaven this week! You can model what it will look like when we see God face to face. In the mean time, as worship leaders we help create worship experiences where we can get a glimpse of worship on earth as it is in Heaven!

True Worshippers

Posted on by mattodegaard

worship horiz

The small living room is glowing with the scent of candles. The handful of people are not focused on one another, some look at the floor, some at the ceiling, some have their eyes tightly closed. One person quietly strums a guitar while most others sing along. The air is heavy with heart felt praise. This small gathering is an intimate moment in worship.

The huge arena shakes with the power of the sound system. Tens of thousands of people stand and raise their arms toward heaven. It is so loud you cannot hear your own voice. The air is hazy from the light show and fog machine but it adds to the ethereal experience of so many believers in one place, with one voice praising God!

I have worshipped in a living room, I have worshipped in an arena and everywhere in-between. Ultimately it doesn’t matter where you worship. It matters who you worship. And it matters when you worship. Worship is not a once a week thing. It is not only an hour on Sunday. Worship is a lifestyle. It is a habit. It is a spiritual discipline we must practice constantly. Real, true worshippers do not just experience great music or emotional events, they experience the Presence of God!

This week, spend time in the days before your worship services pursuing the Presence of God. It doesn’t matter if your service is 5 or 5,000. All worship matters to God.

Here are some verses to consider about the Presence of God:

‘My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.’ – Exodus 33:14

‘You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.’  – Jeremiah 29:13

‘The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save, He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you by his love, He will rejoice over you with loud singing.’  – Zephaniah 3:17

Experience

Posted on by mattodegaard

I’m reading a book where George Barna says ‘eight out of ten believers do not feel they have entered into the presence of God, or experience a connection with Him, during the worship service. Half of all believers say they do not feel they have entered into the presence of God or experienced a genuine connection with Him during the past year.’

Do you find this to be true in your congregation? Are we that disconnected?

If this is even remotely true than as worship leaders our job is SO much more important! Our role goes far beyond the walls of church on Sunday. We must educate our fellow believers on a lifestyle of worship that flows out of the very heart of God. 

As you lead or just participate this weekend know that you play an important role in Growing Worship!