Leaders, Ministry Leadership, Worship Theology
The Five Most Important Facts About Worship
#WorshipSurrenders
If you were to teach your worship team or congregation the five most important things about worship, what would they be? There are five important facts that need to be conveyed to the people we lead in worship. Our role as worship leaders is really about leading people, not one hour of music each week.
1. God wants you to worship Him
In His conversation with the woman at the well, Jesus said, “The hour is coming and is already here when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is looking for those who will worship Him that way.” (John 4:23-25) God wants us to worship Him, He wants you to worship Him.
God is happy when we live good lives but He wants more than that, He is looking for worshippers. He is looking for people who are in love with Him. In fact, they are so in love with Him that they long to be in His presence and worship Him.
2. Worship is one of the most important ways of loving God
The greatest commandment is to love the Lord with all you have. Jesus said, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” (Mark 12:30) Worship is a natural outflow of our love for God. When you love someone, you try to do the things that please them. Husbands learn what their wives like, and then work hard to do those things, or buy just the right present, to please his wife.
The same principle applies to our worship and love for God, God is looking for worshippers who will willingly worship Him with their whole heart. He is looking for people who are passionate in their love for Him. God is not that interested in lukewarm love. He does not want 50% or 75%. God wants you to love Him with your whole heart, soul, mind and strength.
3. God wants you to worship Him according to His Word
When you get to know God and His word, you discover that He likes things done His way. And frankly, His way is always the best way! Jesus said: “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” (John 4:24)
a) What does it mean to worship God ‘in spirit’? God made us with three separate parts to our being….body, soul & spirit. We can best communicate with God on a spirit level since “God is Spirit.” When your spirit connects with God’s Spirit, that’s worship. When you are leading worship, are you just singing the worship songs and going through the motions of worship? Or, is your heart really focusing on God? Do you sing the words and mean them from the depths of your being. That is when true worship begins – when your spirit begins to connect with God’s Spirit.
b) What does it mean to worship God ‘in truth’? In John 17:17, Jesus said: “God’s Word is truth.” To worship God according to ‘truth’, is to worship Him according to the patterns in His Word. “God’s word is truth.” In the Bible it talks about worshipping God by singing, playing instruments, lifting hands, clapping, shouting, dancing, bowing down, standing and giving. The Bible also talks about the attitudes you should have when you come to worship. It talks about being thankful, honest, reverent, with faith, humble, with joy and with your whole heart.
4. Singing and worshipping God on Sunday morning is just one facet of worship. As was mentioned in yesterday’s article, worship is not just meant for Sunday mornings.
- God wants our love for Him to include more than just Sunday mornings. He wants us to live out our love for Him on a daily basis.
- God wants us to live daily with thankful hearts (I Thessalonians 5:18).
- God wants us to do good works and share with the people He brings into our lives (Hebrews 13:16)
- God wants us to pray regularly (Ephesians 6:18).
- God wants us to give a portion of our finances regularly (Malachi 3:10).
- God wants us to love our neighbours as ourselves. (Mark 12:31)
5. The heart of worship is surrendering your life to God.
The Apostle Paul said, “Give yourselves to God…surrender your whole being to Him to be used for righteous purposes.” (Romans 6:13) And then later on in the book of Romans, Paul wrote: “So then my friends, in view of God’s great mercy to us, offer yourselves as a living sacrifice to God, dedicated to His service and pleasing Him.
This is the true worship that you should offer.” (Romans 12:1) True worship comes from a surrendered life. One of the great Christian leaders of the 20th century was Bill Bright, the founder of Campus Crusade For Christ. Through his staff around the world, the Four Spiritual Laws tract and the Jesus film (seen by over 4 billion), more than 150 million people have come to Christ and will spend eternity in heaven because of Bill’s ministry. Bill was once asked, “Why did God use and bless your life so much?”
He said, “When I was a young man, I made a contract with God. I literally wrote it out and signed my name at the bottom. It said, ‘From this day forward, I am a slave of Jesus Christ.” Have you ever made a contract like that with God? Or are you still arguing and struggling with God over His right to do with your life as He pleases? If God is speaking to you, I urge you to surrender to Him. It is the best decision that you will ever make!
Question: What area of your life do you need to still surrender to God? Are you willing to give God complete control of your life?
Mark Cole, along with Branon Dempsey is one of our Worship Team Training Instructors; how would your entire worship ministry benefit from live customized training at your church.
