The Heart and Art of Leading Worship

Psalms 78:72 NKJV So he shepherded them according to the integrity of his heart, And guided them by the skillfulness of his hands. Leading worship is about

cultivating both areas

The heart of worship leading Worship – The act and attitude of

wholeheartedly giving yourself to God (Mark 12:30, Romans 12:1)oAct – involves action

It’s important to have a Biblical working knowledge of the value and purpose of expressive praise (Doing Praise God’s Way)

People will generally only go where you go

oAttitude – The posture of our heart before God

It is definitely possible to go through the motions of praise

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and worship with no heart connection

Matthew 15:8 NLT 'These people honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me.

Amos 5:21-24 MSG "I can't stand your religious meetings. I'm fed up with your conferences and conventions. (22) I want nothing to do with your religion projects, your pretentious slogans and goals. I'm sick of your fund-raising schemes, your public relations and image making. (23) I've had all I can take of your noisy ego-music. When was the last time you sang to me? (24) Do you know what I want? I want justice--oceans of it. I want fairness--rivers of it.

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That's what I want. That's all I want.oDo you have a personal

worship life before God?

Do you pour out your heart before Him?

Is it difficult for you to believe God loves/enjoys you?

Do you spend personal time in His presence?

Do you choose to worship when you don’t “feel” it?

Do you allow God to do “heart checks” on you?

Are you open to His using others around you to develop your heart before Him?

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Worship leader or lead worshipper?

The art of worship leading Leading worship involves skill sets

that must be honed and developedoNever stop developing your

musical gift Psalms 33:3 NLT Sing a new

song of praise to Him; play skillfully on the harp, and sing with joy.

Practice until you are totally comfortable on your instrument alone or in front of a crowd

Play with other musicians as much as possible

Play with musicians that are better than you whenever you get the opportunity

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Develop a basic understanding of music theory

Watch instructional videosoNever stop developing your

leadership gift Read read read

“Exploring Worship” – Bob Sorge

Attend seminars Shadow other worship

leadersoNever stop practicing sensitivity

to the Spirit Learn to discern the

connection between music and the voice of God being released

There is a strong connection between anointed music and prophetic activity

1 Chronicles 25:1 NKJV Moreover David and the captains of the army separated for the service

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some of the sons of Asaph, of Heman, and of Jeduthun, who should prophesy with harps, stringed instruments, and cymbals. And the number of the skilled men performing their service was:

1 Chronicles 25:3 NKJV …who prophesied with a harp to give thanks and to praise the LORD.

1 Samuel 10:5-6 NKJV After that you shall come to the hill of God where the Philistine garrison is. And it will happen, when you have come there to the city, that you will meet a group of prophets coming down from the high place with a stringed instrument, a tambourine, a flute, and a harp before

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them; and they will be prophesying. (6) Then the Spirit of the LORD will come upon you, and you will prophesy with them and be turned into another man.

Elisha was asked to prophesy to Joram (the evil King of Israel) and Jehoshophat (the good king of Judah) 2 Kings 3:14-15 NKJV And Elisha said, "As the LORD of hosts lives, before whom I stand, surely were it not that I regard the presence of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, I would not look at you, nor see you. (15) But now bring me a musician." Then it happened, when the musician played, that the

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hand of the LORD came upon him.

Leading worship and authority (this is where some musicians like to zone out)oThe senior pastor(s) is/are

ultimately responsible for the worship ministry

The senior pastor(s) must cast the vision for worship to the local church

The senior pastor(s) must lead worship BY EXAMPLE either from up front or from the congregation

The worship leader/team must be submitted to the heart/vision of the senior pastor(s)

oThe worship leader/lead worshipper, under the pastor’(s)’ authority, must LEAD the worship ministry (Psalm 133)

The worship leader/lead worshipper represents the

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senior pastor(s) to the team and the local church

The worship leader/lead worshipper must be able to embrace the “worship vision of the house” and express that to the team and local church with wholehearted support and enthusiasm

The worship leader/lead worshipper carries the responsibility of providing direct oversight and care for the worship team

See yourself “pastoring” the worship team and worship ministry

The worship team must be submitted to the worship leader/lead worshipper

The duties/privileges of the worship leader/lead worshipperoLead by exampleoTake responsibility for song

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Start this process early in the week

God can speak on Tuesday just as well as He can on Saturday or Sunday

Go through the list with a sensitive heart towards what God wants to hear

Develop a good song database

Keep a good filing system of chord charts

Understand, but don’t get boxed into, how songs flow well together

Fast songs tend to lend themselves to energetic, expressive praise

Slow songs tend to lend themselves to intimacy and ministry to/from God

Shifting gears a lot between fast and slow songs can give a

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congregation musical whiplash

Be cognizant of how one key flows into anothero It can be anticlimactic

to lower the key between slow songs

Stay open during the service for changesoProverbs 16:9 NKJV A

man's heart plans his way, But the LORD directs his steps.

oProvide general direction and leadership to the instrumentalists and singers

Pastor the team Lead the team into times

of prayer together/for one another

Worship together Take the time to enjoy one

another at practices Spend time together

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Build relationships Any discipline must be

done out of relationship and with the full support of the senior pastor(s)

oDevelop and implement, with the senior pastor(s), worship team guidelines (Worship Team Faith Commitment)

oAudition potential new worship team members

oLead the congregation into God’s presence (Psalm 22:3)

LEAD ! Be creative!

Use musical interludes and solos during songs – this can be VERY powerful when communicated with the congregationo“Worship Him as we

play”

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o“Close your eyes and let Jesus love you while we play”

You as the leader need to feel the freedom from the team to have people drop out and not play at all and to call out certain instruments to play alone

Communicate with the congregation

Stay open to the Spirit Create “God space” by

lingering in His presence and communicating that to the congregationoUse basic chord

structures that you can communicate with your team (Color Key Chart)

Alternate between 1 and 4

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Use 1 – 6 – 5 – 4 Use 1 – 4 – 5 – 4 Use 6 – 5 - 4

You are prophetic Sing out prophetically Write songs on the spot

oYou can practice these things during rehearsals

Navigate transitions by communicating with the team and congregation where you are going

Use verbal and non-verbal cues so the team knows where you’re leading them

Navigate train wrecks The more comfortable you

are when things go wrong, the more comfortable the congregation will be

It’s ok to laugh it off and keep going

Pass the baton to the pastor(s)

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The pastor(s) can come up and begin singing with the final songoOf course, the

pastor(s) can come up at any time during the worship service and lead in the direction God is laying on their heart

The duties/privileges of the worship leading teamoFulfill the general worship team

requirementsoLead the congregation in

worship by example Notify your face and body

that you are glad to be in the House of the Lord (Psalm 122:1)

oStay attentive to the worship leader/lead worshipper

oStay attentive to the flow of the Spirit and see if you can discern, with the worship leader/lead

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worshipper, what direction He (the Holy Spirit) is taking you in

Even if you think the worship leader/lead worshipper is missing the direction, go with him/her

Whether you are the senior pastor(s), worship leader/lead worshipper or a member of the worship leading team, It all goes back to the heart

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