Tag: Leading

Praying for Unction

Unction isn’t a word you hear very often these days, but maybe that’s not such a good thing.

Tullian Tchividjian, the pastor of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church, recently shared on his blog about how his “heart burns” for God’s “sacred anointing”, or “unction”.

While his post is written for preachers, I wanted to share it here because worship leading is another form of preaching. Every week, worship leaders have 15, 20, 30, or more minutes to point their congregations to the greatness and glory of God in Jesus Christ through music. So, read this post and where you see the words “preaching” or “preachers” – insert “worship leading” or “worship leaders”. May we all pray for God’s sacred anointing, his unction, every single time we get up to lead.

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I’m a die-hard believer in unction. Unction is an old fashioned word which describes an effusion of power from the Holy Spirit as one preaches. It is the one thing preachers need above everything else. It is the accompanying power of the Spirit. This is what Charles Spurgeon dubbed “the sacred annointing.” It is power from on high.

In his book on the preaching of Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, The Sacred Annointing, Tony Sargent describes unction well. He writes:

[Unction] is the afflatus of the Spirit resting on the speaker. It is the preacher gliding on eagles’ wings, soaring high, swooping low, carrying and being carried along by a dynamic other than his own. His consciousness of what is happening is not obliterated. He is not in a trance. He is being worked on but is aware that he is still working. He is being spoken through but he knows he is still speaking. The words are his but the facility with which they come compels him to realise that the source is beyond himself. The man is overwhelmed. He is on fire.

Oh how my heart burns for this sacred annointing, this unction! I hope and pray that preachers all over the world would spend much of their sermon preparation time begging God for this power on high. For, it is preachers who are borne along by the Holy Spirit that are used to effect a deep and sobering awareness of God and his truth that transforms.

In his book Lloyd-Jones: Messenger of Grace, Iain Murray writes:

Preaching under the annointing of the Holy Spirit is preaching which brings with it a consciousness of God. It produces an impression upon the hearer that is altogether stronger than anything belonging to the circumstances of the occasion. Visible things fall into the background; the surroundings, the fellow worshippers, even the speaker himself, all become secondary to an awareness of God himself. Instead of witnessing a public gathering, the hearer receives the conviction that he is being addressed personally, and with an authority greater than that of a human messenger.

Given the fact that the ultimate factor in the church’s engagement with society is the church’s engagement with God, my earnest prayer is that, for the sake of the world, more preachers would come to know and understand what Andrew Bonar meant when he wrote: “It is one thing to bring truth from the Bible, and another to bring it from God himself through the Bible.”

Please pray, dear friends, that God would annoint my mind and mouth on Sunday as I preach so that God’s people would hear from God. Please pray that God’s Spirit would so inhabit my words that everyone would leave worship tomorrow being able to say, “God was surely in that place.”

I can’t manufacture unction regardless of how well crafted my sermon is and how well prepared I may be. The biggest work must come from God.

So, come thou fount of every blessing and do for your people what I cannot. Amen.

Read Tullian’s post here.

Being Led as You Lead

Whenever the worship team prays before a service, one of my prayers for us is that we would be sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit. He leads us in our planning and rehearsing, but we never want to walk into a service with everything completely settled. As we’re leading the congregation in singing, we need to be listening for the Holy Spirit’s prompting and guiding. If this means going with everything as we planned and rehearsed, that’s great. But if this means making some sort of change, whether it’s major or minor, skipping something, highlighting something, lingering at a certain point, or some other unplanned direction, we need to be ready.

I’ve found that the Holy Spirit will very rarely lead me or the pastor leading a service to make a drastic change on the fly. He may do that this coming Sunday – but usually if we’re praying for his guidance, and seeking to be faithful to the word of God in our planning, for the lack of a better term, “we will be close” once Sunday morning rolls around.

This past Sunday morning, January 10th, our opening three songs were “Jesus Saves” by Tim Hughes, “You Alone Can Rescue” by Matt Redman and Jonas Myrin, and “Jesus Paid All” by Elvina Hall and John Grape, with a new bridge written by Kristian Stanfill.

I felt led to choose these songs since the sermon was going to be on Romans 4:1-8, highlighting how there are no works we can do to make ourselves righteous before God. We are made righteous through Jesus Christ.

As we came to the end of “You Alone Can Rescue” I sensed the Holy Spirit prompting me to linger for a while before moving on to the next song. As the song drew to a close, I caught the piano player’s eye and motioned for him to keep playing. Then, responding to what I felt I was being led to do, I just sang out a few simple statements of thanks to God for what he has done for us in Christ.

“Oh thank you, Lord.”
“We were dead in our sin.”
“We were lost on our own.”
“You raised us to life.”
“You paid the debt we could not pay.”
“It’s the only way we can approach your throne.”
“You’ve made us sons and daughters of yourself.”
 “Thank you for saving me – all for your glory, Lord.”

Then we moved on to “Jesus Paid it All”.

It wasn’t a major change to the direction of the service. All I did was sing a few simple truths, drawing a bit from Ephesians 2, highlighting what we had just sung, and transitioning to the next song. Here’s how it sounded:

I don’t do this every week. I actually don’t do it all that often. But yesterday morning, after praying and asking for God’s help to be sensitive to his Spirit, it seemed that he was leading me to not rush into the next song.

This kind of thing can help people be more aware of God’s presence, reminded of the truth, and affected by his Spirit’s active work. In your specific church and context, he will use you in a specific way. It might not be appropriate for you to sing a spontaneous song, or you might not be comfortable with that. It doesn’t have to look or sound a certain way, or resemble how it worked at a conference you attended. Just be ready and be faithful.

If I were to do this every single week, it could become predictable and might be manufactured. If I rambled or did it in a distracting/forced way, it could have the opposite effect. I’ve made some mistakes when seeking to be responsive to the Holy Spirit during a service, and I’m sure I’ll make more.

So this weekend when I lead the congregation in singing, I’ll again pray for the Holy Spirit’s guidance, and I encourage you to as well. He won’t do the same thing two weekends in a row, so I’m excited to see what has in store.

It’s All About Jesus

As a full-time worship leader at a church with multiple weekend services, I planned a lot of services, picked a ton of songs, ran a bunch of rehearsals, and led a good amount of singing in 2009. I made plenty of mistakes, learned important lessons, and hopefully grew in my gifting.

Personally, it was an amazing year of preparing to be a father to Megan, and continuing to learn how to be a husband to Catherine. I love my family, love my church, and love my job. There were seasons of trial and testing, but God proves himself faithful and trustworthy time after time.

Looking back on the year, most weekends, song lists, and rehearsals kind of blend together. Certain services stand out, like the one when I was fighting the stomach flu and had to throw my guitar to a vocalist while I ran to the back room to vomit during the Lord’s prayer. (I made it back out just in time for the next song.) Or there’s the time we had someone disrupt a worship service to the point where the police had to handcuff them and lead them out. But over all, it was a year of just seeking to be faithful to God and his church, and trusting that by the work of his Spirit there was slow but steady growth taking place.

The one worship leading experience that stands out the most was when, in April, I was invited by my pastor to join him in leading a Good Friday service at the CIA, organized by a group of faithful Christians there. Obviously, this was not a setting in which I was familiar operating, but I was thrilled to go and grateful for the opportunity.

I remember praying and asking God how I should lead, what songs I should sing, what the response would be, how I should prepare, etc. I heard God say to me, plainly, “point them to the cross”.

So, at a noon Good Friday service in a conference room on the first floor, I sat at a keyboard and led a group of people in singing songs about the cross, and about what God had done for us in Christ. I will never forget it.

While that experience stands out above the rest as I look back over 2009, my job at that service was no different than a typical Saturday night service in June, or a Sunday morning service in October. And as I look forward to 2010, with at least two services per weekend, retreats, and other settings (familiar or not) in which I will be asked to lead, my marching orders are just as plain. To point people to the cross.

One year from now, when I look back on 2010 – at the services, the song lists, the planning, and the rehearsals – most of which will likely blend together, my prayer is that I will able to say that in every five, fifteen, or thirty minute slot I was given, I pointed people to the centrality of the cross, to the glory of God’s grace, and to the risen and exalted Savior.

This is the job of every worship leader – in a small church meeting in someone’s living room, a big church meeting in a large room, or in a Good Friday service in a Langley conference room – to point people to the cross. It’s all about Jesus. Happy New Year.

Things to Keep in Mind When Leading Worship on Christmas

Churches all around the world will meet several times over the next few days – for Christmas Eve, Christmas day, and then the weekend after Christmas. For many worship leaders and music ministries this is one of the busiest times of the whole year. Extra services, concerts, rehearsals, new arrangements, long days, late nights, and a lot of little details.

I’ll be helping to lead the music at a number of services at my church starting tomorrow. I thought it might be helpful to share a few things I try to keep in mind this time of year.

There will be more non-believers in the room than usual
I’ve already received a number of emails from people in the congregation who are bringing their non-Christian family members to our Christmas services. This is incredibly exciting, and my sincere prayer is that these people will not leave the building without having heard the Gospel clearly presented to them through every part of the service.

With a good number of non-believers in the room, I need to be aware as I’m leading that I am going to be looking out at some people who really want to be there, some who don’t want to be there at all, and some who are really nervous about what their brother or sister is thinking of the whole thing. My confidence is not in my ability to change people’s hearts or get a certain reaction – my confidence is in the power of the Gospel and in the work of the Holy Spirit (however obvious or hidden it may be).

We will be singing songs full of rich Gospel truth that people hear while shopping for shoes
“God and sinners reconciled.” “Veiled in flesh the Godhead see.” “Come and behold him, born the King of angels.” “He comes to make his blessings flow, far as the curse is found…” Does Wal-Mart have any idea what amazing bible truth it’s playing through its speakers as people shop for the latest flat-screen TV? Probably not. Do most people give a second thought to the idea that God has reconciled us to himself through Jesus as they sing this song for the hundredth time? Probably not.

Do whatever you can to help people see and celebrate the truth we’re singing. Either by you or your pastor saying something very briefly, or more likely through yours and your worship team’s visible and genuine engagement with God as you sing, you can help these great songs not seem so much like harmless little jingles.

People are more emotionally charged at Christmas time than they are the rest of the year
Family is flying into town. Where will Uncle Steve sleep? Do we have enough ham? Will it feel less awkward this year than it did last year? Why did I put so much on my credit card?

I wish I had a family. Should I invite myself over to someone’s house? What will I say when people ask what I did for Christmas? No one loves me.

Every single person who steps onto this campus tomorrow night will have their own joys, their own sorrows, their own emotions, and their own secrets. I will never know even a fraction of what people are experiencing, whether joyful or difficult.

As a worship leader, it’s good for me to be aware of this for two reasons: First, I’ll lead more effectively and with more sensitivity if I’m seeking to care for and feed my fellow sheep. Secondly, I’ll be more eager to point people to Jesus – Immanuuel – God with us – the one who bore our griefs and carried our sorrows.

Keep Jesus central
Shame on any music ministry or worship leader who set out to dazzle with their creativity, impress with their musical polish, delight with their pomp, or entertain with their talent. They’re like a grand canyon tour guide who can’t stop talking about his shiny name badge. He distracts from the main attraction and reveals his own vanity. Compared to the splendor of the grand canyon, his name badge is nothing. People come to the grand canyon to see the grand canyon, not the tour guide. An effective tour guide points people to the main attraction and steps out of the way.

This Christmas, and all year round, point people to the greatness of God as revealed in his Son Jesus Christ, and then step out of the way. O come, let us adore Him.

What Do I Pray After a Song?

Sometimes it’s hard to know what to pray after a song, if, as the worship leader you’re expected to pray in order to conclude a time of singing or transition into a different part of the service.

There are many ways you can handle this. Sometimes you can leave a period of silence, to encourage people to wait on the Lord and cherish his presence. After some time passes you can briefly pray and encourage people to be seated afterwards. Other times you might feel led to thank God for something you’ve been made freshly aware of as you’ve sung. Sometimes I don’t think I need to add anything at all, so I’ll just say “amen” after a few seconds of lingering on the last chord of a song.

But you don’t always have to make something up on the fly. Reading from Scripture is a great way to “pray” after a song, or reading a pre-written prayer.

This past Sunday we finished our opening time of singing with the familiar Tim Hughes song “Here I Am to Worship”. I would typically be the one to pray after the last song, but on this particular Sunday I looked over at John Yates, my pastor, and he signaled that he wanted to pray instead.

He got up and read an ancient prayer, called the Te Deum laudamus, In the Anglican church this is found in our Book of Common Prayer and in many churches it’s read almost every Sunday. As he prayed, I kept playing piano just to help give a bit of support. (I don’t always play background music when I or someone else prays, but sometimes it seems like it would be helpful.)

Here’s a clip of the song ending and then John closing the time of singing with the prayer.

You are God: we praise you; You are the Lord: we acclaim you;
You are the eternal Father: All creation worships you.
To you all angels, all the powers of heaven,
Cherubim and Seraphim, sing in endless praise:
Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might,
heaven and earth are full of your glory.
The glorious company of apostles praise you.
The noble fellowship of prophets praise you.
The white-robed army of martyrs praise you.
Throughout the world the holy Church acclaims you;
Father, of majesty unbounded,
your true and only Son, worthy of all worship,
and the Holy Spirit, advocate and guide.
You, Christ, are the king of glory,
the eternal Son of the Father.
When you became man to set us free
you did not shun the Virgin’s womb.
You overcame the sting of death
and opened the kingdom of heaven to all believers.
You are seated at God’s right hand in glory.
We believe that you will come and be our judge.
Come then, Lord, and help your people,
bought with the price of your own blood,
and bring us with your saints to glory everlasting.

Don’t get into a rut of praying the same thing every Sunday after a time of singing. There is a time for silence, for spontaneous prayer, for expressing gratefulness to God, for reading Scripture, and for taking advantage of the amazing prayers that have been passed down from generations of faithful Christians.