Lately, I've been noticing that the church world is split on how to conduct worship in the church. I'm not talking about the issue of contemporary music versus traditional music. I'm referring to the philosophies of Spirit-led worship versus Seeker-driven worship. If you're not familiar with these terms let me briefly explain.
In a nutshell I view Spirit-let worship as placing intimacy with God above anything else. It is not designed to please people, but it is strictly designed to foster a deepening relationship with God. The styles of music that can be used in this arena are all across the board. There are many "traditional" hymns that can be effective in this atmosphere as well as many of the "praise choruses" from the 80's and 90's and all the way into the post-modern music of today. The motto of the Spirit-led worship service says, "We are going on a journey to meet with God, and we will do whatever is necessary to get there"
The other philosophy is the Seeker-driven style of worship. This type of worship service is dedicated to the purpose of making everyone feel like they have a place in the service. Many churches use music heard on secular radio stations so that just about anyone can come in and sing-along. Many churches go out of their way to make this worship service a mini-concert event with lights and fog machines. The motto of the Seeker-driven worship service says, "It doesn't matter what stage of spiritual development you are in, you can come here and find a place. We will find a way to make you feel comfortable."
No matter which type of worship service your church subscribes to, I think there are some important worship lessons that we need to understand from scripture. So many churches have tried to solve the problem of getting the ‘sinner' inside their doors that they turn their worship services into a pep-rally for Jesus.
Now don't get me wrong, I love to celebrate the goodness of the Lord. I love to dance, jump, clap my hands and sing out loud. The best biblical definitions of the word "praise" tell us that we are to be excited about the Lord. Our praise should be demonstrative, and we should not be reserved in our worship. But so many churches stop there and don't progress any further. When they do this they are missing out on intimacy with their Creator.
Experiencing Worship, The Study
Used by churches all over the world to help teach worship, the Experiencing Worship study can help your worship team too.
Your team will learn why we worship and gain a better understanding of how to worship.
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Experiencing Worship, The Study