Thought for a Thursday

"God is to be praised with the voice, and the heart should go therewith in holy exultation." 

Charles H. Spurgeon 

Crafting a Strong Worship Set List

                Do you think that people are standing in the congregation, analyzing the worship songs that were selected and the order in which they were placed? Or do you think they kind of ‘go with their gut’ and respond to the songs they love while sort of idling along on the songs they dislike? Maybe the answer is both, or maybe it’s neither. My hope is that people are so enraptured with the Lord that they worship Him no matter what songs are showing on the screen.

                Regardless, as a worship leader, I feel like it is my responsibility to craft a set to the best of my ability, rather than just throwing a few songs together. There are so many ways to prayerfully create effective worship sets.  Here are a couple motifs to get your creativity flowing.

Theme: Sometimes I like to center all my songs around a particular theme, especially if it relates to the sermon material. For example, if you are talking about the Holiness of God, you might use the hymn Holy Holy Holy, Revelation Song (Jenny Lee Riddle), and 10,000 Reasons (Matt Redman).

Communion: On weeks that we serve communion, we might focus all of the music on the celebration of the Lord’s Table. You might try: Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone)(Christ Tomlin), The Wonderful Cross (Christ Tomlin/ Matt Redman) Above All (Michael W. Smith), Amazing Love (Hillsong) .

Church Calendar:  The church year can be a great source of worship set ideas. Thanksgiving only happens once a year, you might try a set list including Lord You Are Good (Lakewood Church), 10,000 Reasons (Matt Redman) and  Give Thanks (Don Moen).   You might look for Holy Spirit songs for Pentecost Sunday or songs about God’s care for creation in the springtime.

Move thematically:  This is my favorite type of set, where we move thematically through the music. For example, start the set with a call to worship such as: Come Christians Join to Sing (Christian Bateman), You’re Worthy of My Praise (Jeremy Camp), or Forever (Michael W. Smith). Next, move to a song about what the Lord has done for us. Maybe Because He Lives (Amen) (Matt Maher), In Christ Alone (Passion Band), or Made Me Glad (Hillsongs). Then you can move into our response to what God has done. For example, we might end with Lord I Need You (Matt Maher), The Potter’s Hand (Hillsong), or a simple I Love You Lord (Laurie Klein).

What are your favorite methods to create set lists? 

A Few Thoughts on Prayer from Dr. David Earley’s book, Personal Prayer: the Timeless Secret of High-Impact Leaders

If the Son of God, Jesus Christ, needed to spend time alone with God the Father in prayer, how much more do fallen humans like me need to pray? If Christ prayed in order to lead His disciples and to carry out His ministry, how much more important is it for spiritual leaders, pastors, Sunday School teachers, and worship leaders to pray? Nothing can be more important in the life of a spiritual leader than time in prayer. For example, Dr. Earley discusses Martin Luther’s daily prayer time, which was generally two hours per day for any typical week.  But during a particularly busy week, Luther claimed that he had so much to accomplish that he would start the day with three hours of prayer.[1] Luther’s example demonstrates the need for spiritual leaders to pray: Busy leaders need to pray because it may “be the best time-saving device you have.”[2] Earley, like Martin Luther, believes that spiritual leaders are too busy not to pray. That is a serious re-prioritization that we all need to consider. What would our lives look like if we prayed first and most, and did the rest later?

The Apostle Paul provides instructions for the church when he writes “Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.” [3] Paul means that prayer needs to be a priority and that Christians need to be spiritually alert, watchful for how prayer worked, and thankful for God’s blessings. Apostle Paul also knew how critical prayer was in the life of the believer.

Dr. Earley wrote about many great prayer ideas, but especially three that I will attempt to apply to my own life include: establishing a daily prayer time (23), institute a regular space for prayer (27), and praying for others (33). Dr. Early recommends establishing a daily prayer time because, “most of need to set a daily prayer time or times if we hope to build a dynamic prayer life.”[4] Dr. Early also recommends establishing a place for prayer: “I have found it very helpful to establish a set, solitary place for my daily prayer time.”[5] Lastly, Dr. Earley encourages Christians to pray for others: “One of the purest and most powerful ways for a leader to express and exercise such love is intercessory prayer.”[6] Intercessory prayer, according to Earley, is “coming to God on behalf of another.”[7] I can’t think of any greater gift to give.

I am forever grateful to the person who told me that she threw herself down on the altar to cry out to God to spare my infant son’s life. She prayed fervently –desperately – and hopefully for my child, who is now a bursting-with-energy, happy, healthy 7 year old.  I always believed in the power of prayer, but I never believed in it so much as when my son’s tiny life hung in the balance. I realized that when there is no other recourse, we believe most fully. So how do we carry that depth of belief and certainty in the power of prayer into our daily lives? I guess,  more than anything, it just takes practice.

Prayer works and we need to do it.

Bibliography

Earley, Dave. Personal Prayer: the Timeless Secret of High-Impact Leaders. Chattanooga, TN: Living Ink Books, 2008.

---

[1] Dave Earley, Personal Prayer: the Timeless Secret of High-Impact Leaders (Chattanooga, TN: Living Ink Books, 2008),  5.

[2] Dave Earley, Personal Prayer: the Timeless Secret of High-Impact Leaders (Chattanooga, TN: Living Ink Books, 2008), 5,

[3] Col. 4:2, NIV.

[4] Dave Earley, Personal Prayer: the Timeless Secret of High-Impact Leaders (Chattanooga, TN: Living Ink Books, 2008), 24.

[5] Ibid., 28.

[6] Ibid., 33.

[7] Ibid., 34.

Do rainy days and Mondays always get you down? Let's start with sleep.

The incurable Monday Morning Blues; it’s that post Sunday fatigue and discouragement that comes on late Sunday night or early Monday morning.  It’s probably going to show up week after week, so we really need to create a game plan to keep this regular bout of discouragement from bringing us to the point of burn out.  I don’t see this Monday fatigue as any sort of spiritual lack, but rather, our human bodies’ response to stress and adrenaline. Great preachers, such as Charles Spurgeon, and even the prophet Elijah, suffered from depression or discouragement, so why wouldn’t the rest of us struggle at some time or another? It happens to the best of us. We can’t avoid it, but we can be prepared for it.

Pastors and ministry workers are caregivers, constantly in touch with the needs of others, and finding ways to meet those needs. But rarely do we stop and consider our own needs. This is the time to care for our own souls and bodies just like we would care for someone else in a similar state.  Creating our own soul care plan will help us work through these difficult days.

For me, a good night’s sleep is a total game changer. My outlook greatly improves when I can get some good, solid rest. It’s like an emotional reset button. Of course, it’s hard for me to unwind on a Sunday night, so going to bed early is almost impossible. Sleeping in would be marvelous, too – but with small children that need help getting to school, that’s generally not a viable option.  Instead, I try to make Sunday nights as relaxing as possible, so I can unwind and get to bed at a normal hour. I also get up as late as possible on a Monday morning, even if it means rushing a bit to get out the door. That extra half hour of sleep in the morning is totally worth it.

I also try to build in some moments of rest throughout the day on Monday.  For example, if my toddlers fall asleep in the van at some point, I’ll spend some time just resting in the presence of God. Not sleeping, but relaxing with God on my mind. Maybe I’ll read a little Scripture or meditate, but mostly, I just rest in God. Think of it as praying without words. It is a peaceful time that has a soothing effect on my soul, and I always come away feeling more inspired and energetic than I did before.\

My last hope for rest is to sneak in a nap either Sunday or Monday afternoon. I usually crash somewhere around Sunday afternoon, and fall asleep on a heap on the floor, underneath a handful of small children.   It isn’t graceful, but it is effective.

What do you do? How do you give yourself the extra rest you need to deal with Post Adrenaline Depression?

Links to consider

 M. Scott Bashoor has a great explanation of the Monday Morning Blues: The Pastor’s Weekly Wreck.  

Rick Warren talks about Dealing with Discouragement.

Jimmy Smith talks about the different effects of Monday on Pastors.

Prayer for the Weekend

Father in Heaven,

We thank You for Your faithfulness. We praise You for your mercies. We awe in Your unending love.

Just like the expectant hope we have for the long cold winter to become spring, we know that even in our darkest days, You are at work.

When we are weary, You refresh our hearts.

When we are broken, You bandage our wounds.

When we wander away, You call us back to You.

When we feel hopeless, we put our hope in You.

You are not bothered by our needs, but You delight in satisfying them. We have an expectant hope that you will answer all our prayers even when we cannot see You working. Just as the flowers bloom again each spring, You faithfully breathe new life into our dull and dreary hearts.

Help our hearts to bloom with Your love, that we might share with others the sweet fragrance of Your mercy, Your faithfulness, Your hope, Your love. 

Amen.

Thought for Thursday

"How quickly we forget what it's all about. We can get so strategic that we worship so our church will grow, not because He is worthy. But we're doing all this because God is worthy and we want to worship Him." -Tommy Walker 

Wednesday Worship Tip: Do's and Don'ts for Congregational Singing

How do you notify your congregation that it's time to stand and sing?

Do: Invite your congregation to join in worshiping the Lord through song.  "Please join us in singing 10,000 Reasons." "This morning, please join us in worshiping God for His love for us." "Let's thank God together with the song, Thank You, Lord."

Don't: Scold them for not meeting your musical expectations. "What? I can't hear you, sing louder!" "Come on, Congregation, you can do better than that!"

Do: Lead by example. Raise your hands, clap, and show authentic, appropriate emotion.

Don't: Lead with a fake smile or bored/pained expression.

Do:  Plan and prepare the best that you are able. "Dear God, please guide me in planning worship music today."

Don't: Ignore the Holy Spirit if He leads you in a different direction.

Do: Get a good night's sleep the night before so you are at your best.

Don't: Stay up too late to do well.

Do: Ask God to move mightily in your heart, in your worship, and in the church.

Don't: Forget to have a servant's heart as you work with your team and congregation.