Colossians 3:17
Whatever you do, in word or in deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, giving thanks to the Father because of Him.
This is the 3rd posting on stupid things churches do to keep from growing. This is the most difficult one to write yet, because it sounds so judgmental and subjective. I hope to write about principles and not my personal ideas and preference about worship but not sure if it can be done.
Here's the problem I witness most often; Worship is not God centered. Songs are often weak in theology, talk about one attribute of God over and over or sounds like passionate lovemaking music to Jesus. I am all for intimate worship that is God focused and I don't mind a little focus on 'me and God'. However, worship should leave me with an awe of the power and wonder of God. It should remind me that God can be trusted if I walk with him in obedience. I sometimes am left with feeling after worship that no matter what, God will work it out for me because He is on my side. What happened to my responsibility of faithfulness to God.
When will someone quote Jeremiah 29:11 AND 12. If you turn back to me, them I will hear you.
Worship should be full of If...Then statements. If you love then they will know you are His disciples. If you are connected to the vine then you will bear fruit. If you seek first the kingdom of God then these things will be given to you. What I am saying is that I leave many worship services feeling that I am strong enough to make it instead of God is strong enough to carry me through it. Worship should connect me with God first and foremost. He is the potter and I am the clay.
Secondly, an awful lot of time is wasted in worship. Wasted in announcements, inside jokes, tons of music, long empty prayers, unprepared ushers, long sermons. I have been guilty of all these things and I know they happen but it should be rare. It doesn't bother me if there is a tech problem, that happens. It bothers me if nobody planned prayer time. It is the same ole prayer said the same ole way every Sunday. Come on, get creative and teach people to pray.
How much music is necessary? Think about it... It is not a concert and specials are not special most of the time.
I was at a church yesterday that called all teachers and school employees forward and the congregation came round them and laid hands on them. So cool. There was a brief encouraging message given and then a wonderful prayer prayed over them. I was a guest and thought, "this church loves teachers and school systems!"
When planning worship, who do you have in mind? A skeptic, newcomer, old timer, teenagers? Who? I always tried to plan worship that a newcomer would feel comfortable being part of. I wanted to start with something that anyone could relate to: humor. I wanted to connect with even the skeptic within the first few minutes. I wanted the songs to make sense at the beginning. We are singing lots of weak songs with a great melody. Sing songs that mean something. Shortly after that we would move into a more intimate time of worship. This time was often explained each Sunday in a way like this: "in the next few minutes, we are going to celebrate our commitment and love for Jesus Christ. We welcome you to sing with us or just read the words. This is a time for us to renew, reconnect and celebrate our relationship with Jesus."
Prayer time was focused and different each week. We would focus on things like community issues, government officials, healing, other churches, certain ministries, the lost, the vision of the church, staff and leaders, etc.... I wanted prayer to always be a surprise. Sometimes we would light a candle for a specific need and other times we would anoint with oil? I wanted people to know that we were a praying church and we believed in an awesome God.
The only announcements given were ones that affected the entire church body. Not meetings, not individuals small groups, not youth group stuff.
Birthdays and Anniversaries. Okay, I know this will make a few angry but maybe they don't read the blog anyway. Birthdays and Anniversary time during worship just doesn't fit. You may like it and they may like it but visitors could care less and actually it does nothing for our encounter with God. It detracts and is a waste of time.
Last thought, video your worship service and with your worship leader, pastor and entire team, watch the service and start with a few changes. Wait a few weeks and do it again. Make a few more changes. Work at making worship the absolute best that it can be.
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