The One Thing I Wish Worship Teams Would Stop Doing
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On a typical Sunday morning, churches gather for their worship service. Most of the time, the worship team will come on the platform and begin the service. After some greetings and maybe even a Scripture reading, the time for worship will begin. The worship set usually comprises three or four songs and lasts about twenty to thirty minutes. I know for some of you, the first 30 minutes is just the warmup, because the worship segment in your church lasts about an hour. I will keep that in a separate category.
I am not saying don’t use them. I am saying don’t be afraid to follow what the Holy Spirit is leading you to do. This might mean you do something that you may not have planned. Maybe you repeat a chorus or maybe you don’t get to the last song of the set because the presence of the Lord is so rich. Maybe instead of rushing from song to song, you take a moment to linger in God’s presence and allow the words of the song to sink in for the congregation. The bottom line is you should be flexible and be in tune with what God wants to do.
The goal of every service should be to have a service where the Holy Spirit really has his way. Making space for the Holy Spirit to move is essential for this to occur. This should not just be a prayer, but an expectation. This doesn’t mean you don’t plan or structure for the worship set or the service. It means that if the Holy Spirit moves in another direction, you move in step with him.
I will offer one word of caution. If you are planning correctly and asking the Holy Spirit to guide you, then the set you plan will often be the set you do. However, there may be moments when the Holy Spirit may move in a different direction, and you should be prepared to follow if he does.
If you think I am talking about the Holy Spirit a lot, that is because I am. Without his help and his presence, there is no ministry that can take place in any Sunday service. It does not matter how talented you are. Services that transform lives can only happen when the Holy Spirit is doing the work. For this reason, let him do his work.
If you lead worship or are part of a worship team, thank you for all that you do. Whether you are singing or playing, I know from personal experience it is not easy. It takes time to prepare and commitment to leading people into God’s presence each week. All I request is that you lose the formulas and press into the leading of the Holy Spirit. This will not only make your leading better, but the people in the congregation will be even more blessed. Imagine how wonderful your Sunday services will be when you really allow the Holy Spirit to lead them.
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