Life is a journey. When Christ enters a life, that life is forever changed.

2 Corinthians 3:17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18 And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

As a believer in Christ you are being transformed into HIS IMAGE! If this is actually true, as the Scripture says, than we should act accordingly. God is working on your life. He is working in your heart and wants you to leave the old ways of your sin filled life behind and be transformed into the person you were really made to be!

As a worship leader, your heart is the most important thing you have. Your gifts and talents and abilities are great. They will be used for God’s glory to shine, but God wants to take the potential he has given you and transform you into the image of his son, Jesus. Jesus is the perfect human. He overcame all the temptation, he knew the will of his Father. He was the living example of perfect Love and perfect Truth.

Spend some time today seeking the Spirit of God and asking how you can be more like Jesus! Then prepare to lead others in Worship with the transformed life you have been given in Christ!!!

This is the final in a three part series about the basics of Worship Leading and how I mentor Worship Leaders.

You can check out Part 1 and Part 2 if you are interested!

As I’ve discussed, I break down three parts of Worship Leading; the Leading itself, Playing – vocally or instrumentally, and finally Directing; this is the role of Band Director. Again, I break these up into three parts because most people don’t come pre-wired with all three. I have met people who are great singers who need help leading. I have met people who have the heart of a worshipper, but need help learning an instrument. And most often I meet people who have a little of those two skills, but don’t know how to speak ‘Band.’ Some of you know what I mean. That time during rehearsal where you want the drummer to kick on 1 and 3 and snare on 2 and 4. Or maybe you want 4 on the floor. Then the bass player needs to do a chord substitution for the C# instead of the A. Some of that is music theory, some of it is experience with different instruments. All of it is Band Directing. I spend a lot of time coaching Worship Leaders on this. The best approach I’ve found is to co-lead with a Worship Leader and have them watch what I do. I’ll even call out to them what I’m doing, while I’m doing it. Then we’ll follow up and have a specific conversation afterwards. This is a very important skill in Worship Leading that unfortunately is not really taught in schools that I’ve seen. You don’t generally get it in a music education. You certainly don’t get it in a Biblical education. If you were in a garage band in high school, maybe you saw it happening or learned it by accident. Most however, need examples to show them what to do, what to say and when. It is just like learning another language. It is one half the language of music theory and the other half the language of sounds. Sometimes calling out chord changes or rhythm accents. Sometimes just saying ‘boom, boom, boom.’

So, if you are a less experienced Worship Leader, seek out a seasoned veteran Band Director. Chances are you already know one! There is a scary element here of asking for help, but don’t avoid the learning process. One thing I learned a long time ago is that I am usually not the best musician in the group, I am just the leader. My job is not to run musical circles around the team. My job is to pull the team together. My job is to take the weekend guitar shredder and the classical pianist and the classic rock drummer with the basement bass player and create cohesive Worship music. This takes the three skills of Leading, Playing and Directing, all at the same time with excellence to the Glory of our God and King, Jesus!

If you are a seasoned Worship Leader, maybe you could look around for someone less experienced and see if you can teach them what you’ve learned over the years. They will be grateful and the Kingdom of God will grow in ways you probably can’t even imagine!

Make a Joyful Noise!

This is the second installment in the Guide to Worship Leading. You can read Part 1 here.

When I begin mentoring Worship Leaders I always begin with a conversation about three things. The first is Worship Leading. To read more about that check out Part 1.

The second element of Worship Leading is Music – honing your craft, or growing your musicianship. This could be singing, or playing an instrument or both. Each person I mentor has been selected as a worship leader for a reason. Often it is because they are good at singing or playing. As I mentioned last time, that is not the only thing, but it is an important thing. We are called as Worship Leaders to pursue excellence! ‘Live a life worthy of the calling you have received’ (Ephesians 4:1) Sometimes this means giving a Worship Leader in training singing lessons or guitar lessons or encouraging them to go to school for music, etc. We must pursue excellence in our craft, not for the sake of excellence, as we see too often in the ‘ego’ side of life, but we pursue excellence because God is worthy of our best!

If you are a Worship Leader, young or old, experienced or just starting out, you should ask yourself the question, ‘How am I growing?’ I know I ask myself that question all the time! If you are a guitar player, how much are you practicing? If you are a piano player, what styles do you know? If you are a vocalist, how are you managing your voice? This is a whole topic unto itself! Sometimes as singers we forget that our voice is a muscle and just like going to the gym and getting exercise for our body, we need to exercise our voices to maintain them and grow them toward health and effectiveness. How many of you sing multiple services each week? With a rehearsal added, that can lead up to several hours of singing each week. Now how many of you warm up your vocal chords before singing…?

So whatever your instrument, spend time this week dedicating it to God and work toward improving. You don’t need to be the greatest guitar player or piano player or even singer, but I believe there is always room to get better at what you do. As with so much in life it comes down to intentionality. We can reach a level where we coast by, or we can intentionally push into growth. That is what we are here to do! That is the essence of Growing Worship!

God Bless you and your ministry this week!

-Matt

ps – stay tuned for Part 3 of A Guide to Worship Leading

A Guide to Worship Leading – Part 1

When I begin mentoring a Worship Leader I always start with a conversation about three things.

The first thing is ‘Worship Leading.’ Now that might seem a bit obvious, but what I mean here is everything besides singing and playing and music. That’s right, the ‘Worship Leading’ conversation is about LEADING worship. This is what happens before the service, between the songs, and during the week. For some this comes naturally but for others this is what requires the most development. This requires thought and planning and personal, spiritual development.

Worship Leading is being sensitive to the Spirit and being sensitive to the congregation and being the intermediary between the two. This is a place of tension. When you pursue God on your own you can be free to get lost in the moment. When you are a ‘rock star’ you can be egotistical and let all the praise be about you. When you are a worship leader, the moment is about God and about the people. You, the worship leader, have to live in the ‘in-between’ place. You have to be aware of God’s leading and follow Him, but you also have to be leading the congregation to God. Unfortunately, I have often seen both extremes in worship leaders. I have seen ‘rock star’ worship leaders not leading worship, but putting on a show instead. That’s no good. I have also seen worship leaders so entranced in the moment that they forget the congregation was there. Let me make a quick note, that this is actually ok sometimes. As long as you, as the worship leader, comes back to the present moment to lead, ’cause that is your job! For example, if you, as the worship leader, have an amazing personal worship experience, but the rest of the congregation is sitting there wondering how to engage, you have missed the opportunity to lead them to the feet of Jesus.

The job of a worship leader is SO much more than singing or playing guitar. If you are a worship leader, make sure you spend time this week preparing to lead people to Jesus! Think about the words you will say before and after songs. Think about how you will connect the awesome message of Jesus to the people who need God’s amazing grace!

Prepare to LEAD worship!

Stay tuned for A Guide to Worship Leading – Part 2: Music