Having a Good Rehearsal… In Your Head

Did you know that you don’t need a room, a stage, equipment, a microphone, an instrument, or any other musicians to have a good rehearsal? Sometimes, all you need is your head.

Not that having an actual rehearsal in a physical space with real live human beings and some sort of instrumentation and equipment set up can’t be helpful. It’s a good idea to have that kind of rehearsal when you can.

But if you’re going to be leading worship for something, you should be running through the songs, and the transitions. You’ll be going over what you’ll play, what you’ll say, and what you’ll pray. You’ll hang out on the parts where you’re not quite sure what to do. You’ll run through different scenarios. You’ll fiddle with different arrangements. All within the confines of your brain.

This way, when you do have an actual rehearsal, and when it comes time for the actual service, your head will (literally and figuratively) be in the game. You’ll be able to lead your fellow musicians and fellow congregants with more ease. You’ll be freer to worship because you won’t be wondering what you’re going to do.

Find some quiet time to mentally prepare and rehearse for leading worship. You might find it helpful to do this while you exercise (for me, it makes running go by more quickly), sit in traffic, drive to church, stare out of a window, sit at a piano or with your guitar, or just lying in bed. Try to focus and run through things from the beginning. Make mental notes or actual notes if you think of anything that you need to remember. Otherwise, just walk through the songs and transitions and get comfortable with where you’re headed.

You’ll be glad you did when real rehearsal or real service starts. All the time you take in advance of leading worship or rehearsals will pay off. Even the time you spend in your head!

Leading Worship with a Heart of Love for the Congregation

Did you know that the microphone you sing into each week amplifies more than just your voice? It also amplifies your heart. You can lead the most well-rehearsed, polished, carefully-selected set of songs in the world, but if you’re leading from a place of frustration or irritation or pushiness, then that’s going to come across loud and strong. This should give all of us worship leaders cause for concern!

But this shouldn’t be a surprise to us. In 1 Corinthians 13 Paul said that even if he could “speak in the tongues of men and angels” but didn’t “have love”, then all he would be is a “noisy gong or a clanging cymbal”. He went on to say that even if he was full of all sorts of prophetic powers, but didn’t have love, he would be “nothing”.

That’s some serious stuff. Think about that. Able to speak in tongues of men and angels? That’s pretty impressive. Full of prophetic powers and able to understand all mysteries? I would say that’s awfully impressive too. But Paul warns that all of this impressive stuff is canceled out if love isn’t present.

If a worship leader isn’t leading with a heart of love for the congregation, he runs the risk of coming across like a noisy gong or clanging cymbal. Do you enjoy listening to noisy gongs or clanging cymbals for an extended amount of time? No. And that’s the point.

How can we lead worship with a heart of love for the congregation?

Not by faking it, that’s for sure. Not by trying harder to smile more and be nicer to the cranky person who always finds time to complain to you five minutes before the service starts. And it’s certainly not by trying to muster up more love from within yourself.

The answer is, of course, that we need Jesus if we want to have a heart of love for the congregation. We know he loved the church so much that he “gave himself up for us” (Ephesians 5:2). His heart is a heart of love. And one of the amazing gifts of the Holy Spirit is that he “pours God’s love into our hearts” (Romans 5:5). We don’t have to muster anything up. We have to run to Jesus each Sunday and ask him to fill us with his Spirit.

Only then will our worship leadership be able to be characterized this way:

“Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” (1 Corinthians 13:4-7)

Those are the characteristics that will bless your congregation and make you a more effective worship leader. Jesus will put those qualities in you, and those qualities will be amplified by your microphone, not by your own trying harder, but by the power of his Spirit.

Another Free Song: Here is Love (Grace Takes My Sin)

I’ve always loved the hymn “Here is Love Vast as the Ocean“. It’s a beautiful melody, but most importantly, it’s a beautiful description of God’s great love for us in Jesus Christ.

The first two verses, written by William Rees, are probably familiar to you:

Here is love, vast as the ocean,
Lovingkindness as the flood,
When the Prince of Life, our Ransom,
Shed for us His precious blood.
Who His love will not remember?
Who can cease to sing His praise?
He can never be forgotten,
Throughout Heav’n’s eternal days.

On the mount of crucifixion,
Fountains opened deep and wide;
Through the floodgates of God’s mercy
Flowed a vast and gracious tide.
Grace and love, like mighty rivers,
Poured incessant from above,
Heaven’s peace and perfect justice
Kissed a guilty world in love.

The third verse is less familiar, and the fourth even less familiar than that. They were written later by William Williams.

We’ve used this song at my church for years. Either just the first two verses during our communion liturgy, or for a while we used Matt Redman’s adaptation. That version had the chorus added: “No love is higher, no love is wider, no love is deeper…”. Great version, which also added the third verse, but the chorus never really seemed to catch on very well with my congregation.

So I was really pleased to come across Kate Simmonds’ version a year or so ago. You might recognize Kate’s name as she used to lead worship at the Church of Christ the King in Brighton, England, along with Stuart Townend, Lou Fellingham and others. Kate’s version put the song into a 4/4 time signature, incorporated the third verse with more modernized language (and a different chord progression), and added a fantastic chorus.

Here are the lyrics to the chorus she added:

Grace takes my sin, calls me “friend”
Pays my debt completely
Love rescued me, seated me
With my King forevermore

I love that! So good. This really caught on with my congregation, and we recorded it on my church’s recent CD. By the way, you really should purchase the whole CD.

Kate has very kindly agreed to let me offer the mp3 and chord chart for free here.

So here is the mp3: Here Is Love (Grace Takes My Sin) MP3

And here is the chord chart: Here Is Love (Grace Takes My Sin) CHORD CHART

The vocalist on this recording is the amazing Jordan Ware. Jordan is the worship leader at Winchester Anglican Church in Winchester, Virginia. She’s a gifted worship leader and musician and it was a joy to have her sing on this project!

Free Song: More Than Conquerors

Earlier this year as my church was receiving word that we would need to leave our property, then actually leaving that property, and then transitioning into being a “portable” church, we were also studying the book of Romans in our Sunday morning sermons.

You would have thought our pastor had known we’d be losing our building when we decided to preach through the first eight chapters of Romans. But that wasn’t the case. As always, in God’s perfect timing, he had led us to study just what we needed for that season in our life together.

It was during this season that my church recorded its first live worship CD. One of the songs on the CD that I wrote is called “More Than Conquerors” and was written for my church and based on the amazing truths in Romans 8.

The chorus, based on Romans 8:28 and 8:37 says:

We are more than conquerors
Through Him who loves us
Nothing can keep us from His love
We are more than conquerors
Through Him who saved us
All things will work together for good
‘Cause He is good

Verse one is based on Romans 8:18-25 and says:

These present sufferings – they are nothing
Compared to all that is to come
So we are waiting and celebrating
Our hopes is in a sovereign God

Verse two is taken from Romans 8:1-3 and 8:35 and says:

What can condemn us or separate us?
Jesus has bought us with His blood
Through tribulation and persecution
Our freedom song is growing louder and louder

And finally, the bridge is almost word-for-word Romans 8:38-39:

Not death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers
The present, the future, nor any powers
No height, no depth, nor all of creation
Can keep us from Your love

It didn’t seem right for this kind of song to be slow. So it’s upbeat and celebrative. This is good news for us to declare as God’s people – especially when we lose a massive court case!

You can download the free mp3 here: More Than Conquerors MP3

And here’s the free chord chart: More Than Conquerors CHORD CHART

You can purchase the whole album at www.tfcamusic.org.

Here’s the lyrics video:

Don’t Treat Sunday Morning Like It’s Youth Group

I cut my teeth leading worship at youth group for my church. Sunday nights, Wednesday nights, retreats, and mission trips provided invaluable opportunities to grow. I got to gain experience, make mistakes, learn, receive input, run something resembling a rehearsal, learn how to operate a basic sound system, and enjoy some sweet times of worship.

I think every worship leader should start off this way. Even if they’re out of the youth group age bracket, starting off small, starting off in a casual setting, and starting off with lots of freedom is a great way to build confidence and competence.

But for those who grow up or start off leading worship in a youth group environment, an important shift has to take place at some point. When we begin leading worship on Sunday mornings we can’t treat it like it’s youth group anymore. We can’t be as loose, as cutesy, or as casual anymore. We have to grow up, the way we lead worship has to be more mature, and the way we present ourselves has to be different.

I recently saw a worship leader start off a service this way:

“Good mornin’ everybody! Get on up ya’ll. Hey Willy! Everybody say hey Willy! (Scattered hoots and hollers). If ya’ll don’t know who Willy is just clap anyway. Let me read you this Scripture now…”

Seriously? You’re going to start off a Sunday morning worship service that way?

Call me old-fashioned (and I’ll laugh at you) but I think a teeny bit more decorum is appropriate for the central worship gathering of a congregation. Having everybody clap for Willy is fine for youth group. But on a Sunday morning it smacks of flippancy, and I’m not sure that does a worship leader any favors, especially with the older generations in the room.

My guess is that a good majority of worship leaders who are serving churches right now and leading music of the more contemporary flavor started out doing so in youth group. Many of them serve under pastors or music directors who have helped them mature in how they present themselves. But others haven’t. Maybe they serve under a pastor who’s the same age as them and doesn’t really care if they treat Sunday morning like it’s youth group. Maybe no one has ever mentioned this to them.

Here’s why this matters.

If you treat Sunday morning like it’s youth group, the young and young-at-heart won’t really notice, but the older and old-at-heart will. This will turn them off.

If you treat Sunday morning with a bit more maturity and preparation, no one will complain.

If I were you, I would choose the second option.

Yes, be yourself. Yes, relax. And yes, help people feel comfortable. But don’t take that too far. Don’t be flippant. Don’t be cutesy. Don’t draw attention to your relaxed-ness by being so relaxed that people can’t help but notice how relaxed you are.

You should lead differently depending on a wide range of factors: the venue, the time of day, the average age in the room, the average (can this be measured?) spiritual maturity in the room, the repertoire they’re used to, time constraints, etc. The list is endless.

But the point is that part of growing as a worship leader is growing up and learning to adapt how you lead and how you present yourself in order to serve God’s people more effectively. No two services are the same. No two sessions at a retreat are the same. You need to adapt.

Don’t treat Sunday morning like it’s youth group. Treat it like it’s Sunday morning. Treat youth group like it’s youth group. The two are very different, and so should your approach to them be.