• two hours for prayer
• two hours for bible study
• two hours for worship

they wanted to know more

they cared for each other

they ate together once a week

When I read through the new testament I can imagine the early church following this pattern.

But what I am describing is what I heard from a group of students in a communist country when they described their house church.

Think of this … they are taking 23 or more semester hours in college, which requires enormous amounts of study time, but they find time to gather three times a week… six hours.

As I left the first meeting with them, one of the girls asked for my email address, here is a portion of what she wrote.

I am so honored and happy to spend this wonderful whole night with all of you, and I think our church does need someone who can help us and lead us spiritually. You know it’s really difficult for us to find someone overseas to guide and teach us spiritually. Will you stay in touch and help our church?

She was asking for our help, but what she doesn’t realize is that her passion for God was teaching me something about ‘church.’ They were serious about: gathering, supporting each other, worshiping, and studying God’s Word. It was a major part of their week.

I am excited and humbled by her request and working now on how to support and mentor her and her friends. I am also praying that what I learned from them will stay with me as I try to follow God’s teaching about ‘church.’

Will you pray with me that I and my home church can find ways to meet her request?

you go for two weeks without making a sound?

But even during these times I could not keep silent around my staff and my team. While I couldn’t talk I still needed to communicate.

Silence or not responding to a request or comment is the worst thing I can do. Recently while discussing this topic with a friend he stated that ‘no response’ was probably a ‘NO’ response. While that might be the case, we leaders miss the point of our role if we are ambivalent and silent toward an idea, information request, criticism or complaint.

When my staff comes to my office with an idea or a question the worst response I can give them is ‘not giving a response.’ Silence in these situations communicates loudly:

• that I don’t care
• their question is a bother and…
• it can hurt their self-esteem

So why is ‘no response’ an option for some? It seems easy and it avoids confrontation.

If I don’t have an immediate answer then I need to say that. If I tell them I will get back with them, I need to follow through. If after thinking about the situation and my answer is yes…go for it…I need to say that. And if my answer is NO…I need to say that.

I love times of silence, but my silence in the wrong place can do much harm to the team and/or team member.

Have you ever had a team lead give you a ‘no response’ response?

In sports disappointment rises and falls with wins and losses.

In relationships there are also disappointments, whether it is with family, co-workers or team members, however they are based on actions.

I love my children and I am very proud of them, however there are times I am ‘temporarily disapointed’ with their actions. Its these moments that can be used to mentor and lead them not to make the same mistake again.

I have a great team I work with and lead and there are times I am ‘temporarily disappointed’ in their actions. Here I need to confront through re-communicating expectations so that our team is aligned properly around our values.

Relationships at home and work are ones to be treasured but to do so takes honest and intentional dialog. Then even when we are “temporarily disappointed” the relationships can be repaired.

I have been in those situations where a media tech just couldn’t keep up because of lack of attention and not recognizing that there inattention to their job was creating a barrier for people in worship.

But the situation Sunday was different, you see I watched this person in our rehearsal and from the first moments he was not just engaged in his ministry task but engaged in a private conversation with God. I want media and other tech personnel to be involved in worship.

Missing a slide cue can be a distraction, however this time it was okay.

Here is our setlist:

Songs and Scriptures for Worship

Glory To God Forever. This is a song we have used often and put away for a while. Sunday we brought it out and tried a different arrangement based on a track on the new Vicky Beeching CD.

You’re Worthy of My Praise. Here is a song that we have not in a long time. I wonder if our congregations get as tired of songs as we as leaders do. In the middle of this song I stopped and encouraged to sing the song as if God were standing right in front of them. It made a difference for me.

Psalm 23. I read this out loud and ask the congregation to listen and follow the text on the screen.

God You Are God. If you don’t know this song…find it. We have introduced it as a choir feature and now the congregation can sing it with us…powerful words.

Prayer. Lately we have given specific instructions to our team members on what the subject of the prayer should be. The leader this week did a great job of understand the placement of the prayer and used the lyrics of the preceding and following song as a reference point.

Scripture: 1 Timothy 1:15; Romans 10:9-10 and Ephesians 1:7-8. Worship team members were assigned these scriptures to read in advance of the weekend services and they did a great job communicating not just reading.

Jesus Paid It All. As underscore of the scriptures our keyboard player begin to play the new chorus for the hymn Jesus Paid it All (oh praise the one who…) in the key of the next song. It word great as a follow up to the scripture and intro to the next song.

In Christ Alone. Is there a stronger lyric?

This post is my participation in the blog carnival Sunday Setlists which can be found at The Worship Community.

I’ve made that statement and recently.

The question that has to be behind the statement is:

‘what is the plan?’

Andy Stanley writes: Direction not Intention Determines Destination. Making a statement about raising up leaders is only ‘intention’ unless there is “action.”

I can have the best intentions to recruit and train new leaders but intentions are worthless.

My team and I have made the opening statement many times and now it is time to takes steps toward the destination “new leaders.”

Here are the steps we are taking:

• observe all the people on our teams
• identify persons with leadership qualities
• tell them they are being considered for a leadership role
• be very specific when recruiting
• tell them what is expected
• show them what has to be done
• guide them through a training period
• *in our case that includes both leadership skills and spiritual development
• hold them accountable to the expectations
• give them a chance to lead
• let them do it their way
• concretely evaluate their performance
• offer tools for further leadership development
• give them plenty of opportunities
• cut them loose if they do not meet expectations
• encourage at every chance
• give them their own team
• never leave them alone…always be available to support

Do you have a process for identifying and training leaders from within your organization?

• A good instrument needs care. If neglected it will become dirty, parts will stick and it will corrode.
• A good instrument needs constant tuning. It reacts to changes in the weather and how it is used.
• To make the best possible sound the instrument needs to be played. The player only gets better through practice.
• You cannot separate the instrument from the player and still expect great music.

I have a strong conviction that we should not separate our spiritual life from our physical life. God gave us an instrument.

We can’t separate our spiritual and physical portions of our life. Romans 12:1 says: Therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your spiritual worship.

When we accept Christ, God gives us gifts and talents so that we can bring glory to God. I believe it is then our responsibility to use these gifts and talents to the best of our ability. Also that means to use them for as long as we can, stay in shape so that we do nothing to hinder our life span here on earth. I have written on this subject here and here.

A few weeks ago I received a email from someone on my team who has also caught this vision:

Praise report: I have been earnestly working out since last May. However, late 2010 my doctor told me it was time to go on Insulin for diabetes and start on meds for hypertension. This cold had me back at the Dr Friday as I couldn’t talk, eat or stay awake and I never take sick time from work.

I was dreading going to the Dr, but resolved myself to having to be on meds for diabetes and hypertension. My last resting labs my blood sugar was over 140. Friday just running in it was 63. I am no longer in the diabetic range and have worked out of the pre-diabetic range as well.

My blood pressure was in normal ranges for the first time in years. Exercise has helped me avoid hypertension.

What a great blessing and great motivation to keep on keeping on. Just thought you’d appreciate this small victory.

That small victory has turned into a larger one. Last weekend this person completed his first half-marathon.

The body is a miraculous instrument made by God. The instrument has been given to us and it our responsibility to keep it in tune.

It might be easy for us, I include myself in the “us”, to plan in a set formula, but have we lulled our congregations to sleep with the routine? Or have we created such a routine that our congregations know when to enter the room based on what they want to miss?

Before I go on I must state a word of caution: change and creativity can be just as damaging as the routine of the familiar. When we keep our congregations in a state of guessing throughout a service we often make them uncomfortable.

No matter the tradition I believe there needs to be a balance between the familiar and the new, the routine and the unpredictable. The changes from week to week needs to be thought out and help the congregation engage not make them sit and wonder what will be next. I also believe the changes need to be more than a change in song tempos.

Confession here: after looking back at many of the services I have planned I see that the ‘welcome’ happens at the same general place and that I have put little thought into how we encourage response to the sermon. I also noticed that we have made some progress in how we use scripture and prayer, which has been a change to the routine.

So how do we worship leaders balance creativity and the congregation’s need to feel at ‘home?’

• Develop a Biblical philosophy of worship
• Clearly understand that worship is something we do not something we watch
• Establish a set of questions that will help guide you through the worship planning process
• Invite others, trusted friends or staff, to evaluate the services you plan and lead.
• Look back over the services you have planned and see if you have fallen into a routine
• Look back over the service you have planed and see that you have not forced the congregation into accepting something they don’t understand
• Be careful not to add too many new items, songs or changes to any one service or to services over a short period of time.
• Be a lead worshiper

I have caught myself being stuck in a routine. I have also caught myself trying to make too many changes to services.

How do you strike a balance between the familiar and the new?

How do you keep your services from becoming ‘rote’ or ‘routine?’

Bob Kauflin

I can easily travel in those ruts and to make my way out takes some intentional planning.

Thematic ruts happen when I continually plan worship services focused on one portion of the God Story. Our team believes it is important to present the whole story of the Gospel each week and that from week-to-week a deeper emphasis can be given to one aspect. But nothing should be left out.

Musical ruts happen when our planing team becomes complacent

• with scheduling the same people and same instrumentation each week,
• by not preparing for rehearsals with intentional fresh arrangements

Musical ruts are like painting by numbers with only a few color choices. It takes creative and intentional thinking to color with an expanded palette. Last Sunday we added new musical color that gave life to familiar songs. The first change was adding a cello to our normal instrumentation and the second change was presenting a choir feature with only piano and cello. The texture change of the cello and the simplification of the choir song gave life to the story. (Note: during the choir song we also dimmed all the lights in the room and put no words on the screens. We wanted the congregation to not be distracted by any visual that would hinder focusing on the words.)

Here is our set list:

Songs for Worship

Everything to Me

Great I Am

Psalm 62

You Are God Alone

Welcome

Songs for Worship

What Wondrous Love Is This arr. by Jay Rouse for choir, piano and cello

Majesty (Here I Am)

Sermon

_________________

This post is my contribution to the blog carnival Sunday Setlists which is found at www.theworshipcommunity.com

“Learn the music and then sing the words.”

As a musician and somewhat of a perfectionist, I can easily get stuck in the discipline of rehearsing the notes, but notes are nothing without the words. (Even in many instrumental only presentations it is the words it implies that help connect us to the God conversation.)

As a worship leader in the act of helping the congregation connect to God, I can become overwhelmed with the details of “what’s next?” or “what did I just miss?”

We do God a dis-service if we do not work on the presentation, however, when it comes to the a Christ-centered worship service, its about the words. So a worship service is where we ‘sing the words’ and not worry about the notes. Everyone gathered for worship should be involved in a conversation with God.

Yes we rehearse the words and the musical notes to bring to God our best offering of music…but when it comes time to worship it is about the words.

When the teams on stage get beyond the music and converse with God the congregation will take our lead and ‘sing the words.’

Just because the song was done one way on the recording does not mean it should be done that way in our services.

Just because the song has two different choruses doesn’t mean we should use both of them.

The goal of any worship service is to make God’s Story known and give us the opportunity to respond. The planning of a worship service should start with the goal, the purpose of the service, not with the songs. After planning and leading worship services for the last 31 years I am convinced and convicted that I must start with the Gospel and then plan the service by telling the Gospel. (The Gospel is not just the simple invitation of to be a part of what family, but the unique and awe inspiring way God reveals Himself and His invitation to us through the story passed down through His Word.)

In our service this week we took pieces of songs, whole songs and scriptures to tell God’s story. Here is what that planned looked like…

Opening Song: Indescribable: (the whole song in the key of D)

Service introduction: the worship leader let the congregation know that they were invited to sing and worship but they were encouraged to read aloud all the scriptures that would appear on the projections screens.

Scripture: Psalm 65:1-2 (keyboard gave simple underscore during the reading of this scripture.)

Song: Indescribable (as a response to the scripture the vocals with only string pad lead the chorus of this song. Slower and more reflective than earlier.)

Song: Everlasting God (same keyboard string pad accompaniment and sung in the Key of D. This is low of this song but it worked well.)

Scripture: Psalm 57:1-2,7,9 (band started intro to Everlasting God in key of G while congregation read this scripture.)

Song: Everlasting God (the whole song in G)

Prayer: during the service the worship leader was impressed that he should stop and have prayer. The prayer included: recognition of God’s presence, repentance for our failures and for the needs of the congregation. Using the words of the song to encourage the people to cast their cares on God and find comfort. The set up to the prayer let the congregation know we would sing the song again as a time of assurance that God listens to our prayers and gives us strength.)

Song: Everlasting God (verse and chorus)

Scripture: Psalm 16:5, 8-9

Song: Be Thou My Vision (verses: Be Thou my vision; Be Thou my wisdom and Riches I heed not.) (start with solo and acoustic guitar in the key of D.)

Scripture: Psalm 57:9-11 (piano and keys continues playing Be Thou My Vision under the scripture.)

Song: Everlasting God (chorus with string pad, in Key of D)

Scripture: 1 Timothy 2:1-6 (here we moved from who God is to what God did for us through His Son.)

Song: At the Cross (the whole song)

Scripture: John 3:16

Song: How He Loves (this is a favorite of our students, however it is not the easiest to sing. The text work well here so we used the down chorus and first verse only.)

Prayer: (After singing two songs about how God loves us we need a time to tell God how much we love Him. The worship leader prompted the congregation to do just that without anyone praying out loud from the stage.)

Song: How He Loves (here the worship leader changed the words of the chorus from How He Loves to How We Love You.)

The object of this outline was based on our worship core value of re-telling God’s Story for us. We used the songs and pieces of songs along with scripture to accomplish this goal. The song writers might not like how we used their songs but it is not about the song it is about the Gospel.