I Want to Worship Like Andrew Did….

My husband and I have some pretty in depth conversations in the car.  After many years of leading worship, we’ve seen LOTS of different scenarios in churches of many denominations.  It’s really funny what people “THINK”  worship is.  Some people think worship is the preliminary warm up to the sermon.  Some think it’s a time to listen to some nice music.  Some like to be entertained by it.  Some can’t wait for worship to start so that they can sing, clap, dance.  Some use it as a time to show off their newest dance moves to attract attention to themselves and their “flex-ability”.  Some can’t stand it and can’t wait for it to be over.

For true worshippers it’s something that they live every day.  It IS a part of their lifestyle.  They express themselves from the heart singing with every fiber of their being because they can’t find enough ways to tell God just how awesome He is.  It may be by playing an instrument, or leading worship or being on the worship team as a singer or being part of the media team or the ushers or greeters or the dance team or whatever part of worship you’re involved in.  For those who truly love to worship it is NOT a ritual or a segment of the service.  It’s a celebration.

During our conversation in the car while driving, we started talking about how people act during worship services.  Some participate wholeheartedly.  Some stare at the ground and count the tiles on the floor.  Some stand there with their arms crossed looking at you as if to say, “Could you PLEASE NOT sing that song twice through because I’d really like to get out of here and get on with my day.”  I always chuckle  at those faces.  Those are the ones I try to make eye contact with while I’m leading worship and smile at.  It totally rocks them out of their trance some times. 🙂  (yes I really DID just say that.)

We recalled how a young boy at our old church in Western New York used to worship.  Andrew was a sweet young boy.  He was born with learning disabilities and was autistic, didn’t speak much and had other developmental issues.  BUT when it came to worship, he couldn’t wait to get to church.  He was unable to sing or really express himself the way most people do in worship so for him, worship came by moving every part of his body.  Now some folks thought it was distracting.  Some thought it was silly.  But for those who understand worship and the NEED to worship, it was beautiful.  You see Andrew couldn’t sing like the rest of us, but his soul inside of him worshipped through the movements he felt from the music.  His SOUL was going to worship if not verbally, then it was going to worship physically and that’s exactly what he did.  Every part of him moved, his back, his arms, in sometimes a wavy motion or a bending motion but what caught your eye most was the smile on his face – it was like a HUGE beam of light.

Somewhere in the Bible it talks about birds singing their praise to God and there’s another section that speaks about even the rocks crying out if humans don’t praise God.  As we continued to talk I said to my husband, “Isn’t it amazing that our soul was created with the desperate need to WORSHIP GOD in whatever way it can? That Andrew’s soul had such a need to worship that for him, the way he expressed himself was with his ENTIRE BEING?  What would it be like if people really caught on to the fact that their souls were CREATED to worship God?”

For those who attend church week after week and can’t wait for worship to be done, I wonder what it will be like when they get to heaven and find out that we will be worshipping at the throne of God 24/7 crying, “HOLY! HOLY! HOLY! Is the Lord of Hosts!”

The Bible says we were created to worship God. That’s not just in our singing, our playing of our instruments, our interpretive dance, or whatever form or expression you use to worship but our true worship comes in our every day lives.  Our actions towards others.  Our treatment of our spouses, our children, our extended family and those we come in contact with.  Worship is something we are called to do all the time, with our whole heart, our mind, our soul and our body and yes even our actions.

Well this blog ends on a sad note but not really.  Andrew became ill a few years ago with a virus that took his life when he was in his late teens. BUT as Dave (my husband) and I were wrapping up our conversation, Dave said, “Now Andrew is singing, dancing and worshipping God completely healthy with no limitations….how great is that?”

Let’s all worship like Andrew did from his soul and in the process tear down the walls of “I don’t DO worship” when I’m at church and let our guard down and worship God with everything you’ve got.  I bet you’ll be surprised at how it changes your life.

What’s YOUR ministry approach?

From the time I was a child my dad (a Pastor) drummed it into my head “In everything you do, do it as unto the Lord” – of course now I know that this verse is shown quite a few times in the New Testament but even back in the Old Testament as early on as Cain and Abel, we see where  they were to bring the BEST of their first fruits to the Lord.  This pattern continues throughout the Bible when we see reference to a lamb or animal offered as a sacrifice that had no blemish. So don’t you think this is the way we should be approaching ministry each week?

Now I am NOT saying that you should quit your ministry job because you’re human and make mistakes. That is NOT the reason for this blog post. BUT what I AM challenging you to do is to bring your BEST each week not only to the congregation but to GOD in preparing worship if you’re the worship leader or in preparing your sermon if you’re the Pastor or in prepping your lesson if you’re a Sunday School teacher, youth leader, woman’s bible study leader, small group leader – whatever ministry you’re involved in.  Are you putting your BEST effort forward?

There isn’t a worship leader I know that won’t admit to once or twice flying by the seat of their pants on a Sunday morning for worship . Either the week had been hideously busy or they let other things get in the way. They’ve had to throw a list together in five minutes of what they consider their top “Go To” songs and then cross their fingers it works.  BUT if this has become your normal weekly routine of approaching your ministry responsibility- then THERE IS A PROBLEM.  

Prepping for your sermon should never be left till Saturday just as prepping for worship should NEVER be left till Saturday night when you FINALLY decide to send a list out to your worship team via text at 9pm or 10pm expecting them to pull music and go over anything they may not know on their own.   That is NOT giving your best to God.  Your actions in tossing a list to your team that late shows a blatant disregard for excellence as a leader in your own life and it shows a disrespect to them as musicians or vocalists by not giving them proper time to prep for ministry.  If you’re a Pastor and you’re handing your powerpoints to your media team on Saturday or worse yet on Sunday morning so that they have to scramble to get them into the service format then I’m going to straight up say SHAME ON YOU! The saying goes, “Procrastination on YOUR part does NOT necessitate and emergency on MY part.”  Not to mention you are leaving them under added  stress if they’re all ready dealing with sound issues or other media issues that need to be resolved before the service.

Do you hand your materials to your Administrative Secretary on Thursday afternoon expecting her to get everything done for the bulletin by the time she leaves on Friday? BIG NO NO . I’ve been in that position.  It’s not fair to wait until you “finally get around to it” and then expect her to scramble to get it done so she can enjoy her weekend.  

Now if you’re NOT one of these types I’ve mentioned above then I applaud you because you’re thinking of those who you serve with and you’re also allowing yourself to give your best to God.

If you ARE guilty of these then here’s a few suggestions:

1) As a worship leader, teacher, or even pastor, you should be prepping for your sermons in advance thinking of topics, jotting down illustrations, and most of all BEING IN PRAYER for the service coming up that week.  

2) As a worship leader, you need to be handing your team the list of songs in advance so that they can pull them up on youtube or listen to them off a CD or whatever you use.  And I’m not talking about 2 days ahead of time either.  Take a morning and spend a couple of hours prepping for 4-6 weeks ahead of time. I hold rehearsals every two weeks and cover TWO WEEKS worth of services and intro new songs during that rehearsal.  Then on Sunday morning prior to service it’s a quick dry run through. Don’t get in the mindset of “that won’t allow the Holy Spirit to flow” because guess what? If the Holy Spirit is going to flow, He’s smart enough to do it within the confines of our little worship list.  Yes you can make a last minute change to a song in the set – just not the WHOLE set.

3) Need to get info for the bulletin to your admin person? Then I suggest letting them prep as much of the bulletin as they can AHEAD of time, hand it to you for approval or additions and then YOU need to get it back to them at least 48 hours prior to when it needs printing OR if you have competent people you know that KNOW what they’re doing, then trust them to get it done and printed each week.  If something has been left out decide if it’s really that pertinent and then make an additional announcement about it during the service. Pastors do not need to be administrators if God has given them well equipped staff to handle those things. Trust them to do it.  It’s one more thing off your plate that frees you up for more ministry.  

4) Powerpoint slides holding you up? Type up what you want on your slides in a basic format and let your admin person or media person be responsible for the slide creation each week.  Jot down the main points or even use the “fill in the blank” approach.  This saves YOU time and THEM stress.  

Approach ministry in EXCELLENCE.  Just as you expect your staff or musicians or leaders to give excellence, how much more so should we as Pastors and Worship Leaders/Directors, Youth Leaders etc be expected to do the same? Your worship team, your youth workers, your staff will follow the example YOU set.  

I can say I’ve  been blessed to work with some Pastors who were on the ball with their powerpoints, their sermon notes, bulletin info, etc. AND on the opposite end of that I’ve worked for those who procrastinated and expected me to stay till 7 or 8 pm on a Friday evening or come in on Saturday morning taking time away from my family.   Currently I’ve been blessed to work with a Pastor who is BIG on prepping ahead of time.  I am VERY grateful because it frees me up from the stress of having to guess what’s going on each week for worship.  We meet monthly and plan things out with still allowing the Holy Spirit to have room to do whatever Holy Spirit pleases. 🙂  So please don’t use the excuse that pre-planning “cramps the Holy Spirit’s style” when it’s really YOUR style you’re worried about and it’s your lack of preparation that needs work.  Sorry guys, but you can only throw in so many altar calls in the middle of service to shorten up your preaching time and then people start to catch on. My dad, my uncle and my grandfather spent hours prepping their sermons and in prayer each week while working full time jobs in a secular environment. If you’re full time at your church or even part time, then there’s not much of an excuse for NOT having time to prep. STRUCTURE is one of the keys to successful ministry. 

Start giving EXCELLENCE.  Prep ahead of time.  And WATCH how God honors what you’re doing and how much less stress you feel when it’s time to minister.