Here are the rest of the over 70 creative elements that you can add to your services from Steve Miller.
44. Control the environment. Although they're sometimes unavoidable, such distractions as mosquitoes, excessive heat or cold, or a competing band in the next room can make worship almost impossible. For retreats and conferences, know your setting before you arrive.
45. Weed out distracting mannerisms. The difference between how we perceive that we come across and how we actually come across is often dramatic. Our adult worship leader put mi...read more
I recently attended a worship concert of a highly acclaimed artist. The concert started late in the evening and I had an early schedule the next day, so I ended up leaving after about 45 minutes. During the drive home, I wondered why I hadn’t been “captured” into worship while I was there. After all, here was an internationally recognized worship leader, who is also very skilled as a musician and vocalist. I went with the intent of worshiping my heart out, but left with much less than I had expected. As I pondered what had happened, or rather what didn’t happen...read more
What is good worship leading? Lately I've found myself ruminating about this subject in the least likely places: time-out during one of my son's basketball games, standing in front of the frozen food section, waiting for the little cylinder to pop back into place at the drive-up teller.
It's only worship leading, for heaven's sakes! You'd think I was obsessed. It all started at a worship conference. Wisely the organizers of the event had made sure we weren't just analyzing worship ad infinitum. We were actually scheduled to worship! I was looking forward to our co...read more
So much of worship ministry training these days is philosophical or theoretical but as a practitioner I tend to gravitate towards the practical applications. What I've found through both success and failure is if we make sure the foundational principles are in place we avoid the shallowness and structural weaknesses of many typical worship ministries. The following ten ideas are the pillars that have been critical to building a life-giving organization and creating an atmosphere of freedom and simplicity where people can genuinely enjoy God. These are values and princi...read more
Do you ever wonder why people don't participate in worship the way you would like them to? Have you ever been in a service where it was hard to
worship? Do you know why? If the music is not distracting, and the style of music is to your liking, there should be no reason why you can't worship right?
If I came to your church tomorrow, I could put together two different worship services, and one would have more participation than the other. If I knew a little about your churches background, and had a songlist of the songs your people do, I could plan the two ser...read more
The seventh chapter of Luke paints one of the most beautiful pictures of worship and adoration found in the Scriptures. If we look closely we find some essential building blocks for a worshipping church.
Simon, the Pharisee, must have been excited and a little nervous that Jesus had accepted his invitation to come to his house for dinner. The fact that someone of Jesus' stature and fame would be visiting with him would not go unnoticed by the religious community. The real payoff, though, would come from the common people who followed the miraculous. Their recogniti...read more
This philosophy of worship comes to us from Christ Community Church in Leawood,KS. It is one of the best worded philosophies we have seen and wanted to share it with you.
At the very core of Christ Community Church is a passionate desire to be true worshipers of the Almighty Triune God in all of life. This is expressed clearly in our mission statement: We desire to be a caring family of multiplying disciples influencing our community and world for Jesus Christ. This is a mission of being…to be the people of God… "that everything we are, everything we do and eve...read more
When we discuss the issue of sin in worship or coming before the Lord with sin, we often imply that in order to have true worship we must confess to the Lord each sin committed for that week or that day…..to come before Him with any sin will hinder our worship experience. We teach our people that we must constantly be confessing our sin to the Lord, and if we fail to do so, our worship will not reach heaven. Our prayers will fall short of the pearly gates because we have failed to confess every little sin that we have committed up to that point. Heaven help us if it...read more
Music is a sublime creation of God which is especially suited as a vehicle for believers to express praise to their Creator. How it must then grieve Him (and delight the Enemy) when this special gift all too often becomes a force for division (if not strife) rather than unity in our churches. The Church of Jesus Christ is to be a place where barriers come down - barriers separating Jew and Gentile, man and woman, laborer and executive, young and old. When this occurs it is a powerful testimony to the supernatural nature of the Body of Christ - because people just don't...read more
There seems to be a growing concern for the need of worship planning resources. Ministers of Music and Worship Leaders from across the globe are searching for new ways to plan and lead worship. We feel a deep need to be creative in our worship planning. There seems to be a trend of always needing something new in our worship services. The pursuit of better dramas, special music, the use of various arts in worship are at an all time high. What is behind this never ending searching for something new?
To answer this question we have to look at what we are trying t...read more
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.
One user said..."Your 5 week study course has made a tremendous impact on my life in the study of worship... I would like to express my thanks for a well written study course that leads into a higher realm of praise and worship."
Experiencing Worship, The Study