Beyond Sunday Worship

Worship Podcast

A Worship Leader’s Heart Preparation Checklist

1. Have I spent time in worship offstage this week?

2. Is my songlist Biblical and true to who God is?

3. Have I submitted my plans to the plan of the Holy Spirit?

4. Have I prepared my team spiritually?

5. Am I rested enough for God to use me in my full capacity?

6. Is the Gospel still the best news in the world to me?

7. Am I loving my wife well?

8. Am I being the worship leader of my family?

9. Have I dealt with my besetting sins with God this week?

10. Have I actively spoken about and shared my faith this week?

11. Have I grown in my knowledge of God’s word this week?

12. Is Christ still the greatest treasure of my life?

13. Am I bringing to God a costly offering?

14. Am I pouring into others or simply promoting myself?

15. Am I leading worship in my thoughts, words, & actions?

What other questions help prepare your heart for worship?

Baby Worship [Video]

OK, so I just came across this and wasn’t sure how to react. I started out by laughing out loud for 5 minutes and then was touched by the beauty of this child in the presence of God. The scary thing is this looks a LOT like my church.

Make sure you catch the subtitles.

Take it however you want, but know, this is pure awesomeness 🙂

 

3 Values You Need to Embrace For Your Worship Team To Grow

[This post is part of a series on Tips For Taking Your Worship Team To The Next Level. Check out the rest here.]

Don’t you wish there was an easy way to grow your worship team? Something that could happen quickly? If I created an ebook titled “How To Grow Your Worship Team By the Time You Finish This Book”, a lot of people would read it but it would be full of fantasies.

I’m of the belief that growing your worship team starts by doing good things consistently over a period of time.

Sure, you could decide to pay musicians. That is an option for some. But what if it’s not? What about a worship team that ATTRACTS people? What about a worship team that raises up and releases people of a certain spiritual DNA?

Is this just some idealistic jargon I’m throwing at you?

I’ll let you decide.

Here are 3 values that, I believe, will help to grow your worship team over time.

[Read more…]

20 Creative Musical Ideas To Inspire Your Team

[This post is part of a series on Tips For Taking Your Worship Team To The Next Level. Check out the rest here.]

Worship leaders don’t get much of a break. Before you know it, Sunday is here. Again.

What are we all going to do this weekend? Our songs may differ but there are a few things I can guarantee:

  • “Four on the Floor” kick drum patterns
  • Chimey guitars with lots of delay
  • Huge intros
  • 14 guitar solos
  • Anything you would add?

It’s easy for us to get stuck in these patterns. We see what others are doing and we imitate. I’m not saying you need to reinvent the wheel every week, provide breakthrough musical innovation with every song, and be so cool that Mute Math wants to attend your church to learn a few things.

You’re not creative until you play a drumkit like this 🙂

But the introduction of something different can really “lift” the atmosphere for your band as well as your congregation. As artists in the church, we are seeking to “paint” a bigger picture of God in people’s minds. We want people to leave our services with a true sense of God and sometimes that involves trying something “out of the box”.

While not an exhaustive list, here are 20 musical ideas that may (or may not) work for you and your team:

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Why Giving Up Is Essential To Songwriting Success

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Feel like you’re stuck in a rut with your songwriting? Can’t seem to figure out what to say? Let me give you some input.

Give up.

Close your laptop. Put down your guitar. Forget that piano riff that isn’t working.

Just give it up.

For now.

If you read my last post on the one habit that could save your songwriting, you may think I’m a bit schizophrenic.

Maybe I am. But let me explain.

Does your songwriting ever feel like this? Staring at a bunch of nothing?

[Read more…]