Cringe

Surely the best thing about singing your own songs is that when you ad-lib you don't have to feel guilty about unintentionally or intentionally ripping off stuff you've heard on recordings!

When this happens, it is without doubt, total cringe.

Response?

(A few loosely related thoughts on God, and how we understand our own reaction to God.)

One of the buzz words when it comes to worship is response. We respond to God because of His glory, His faithfulness, His love, His revelation and His invitation to us. As we sing about and acknowledge who He is we are moved to respond in surrender and in worship. Agreed?

Expect

People often respond either physically or emotionally when we sing together and the temptation as a worship leader is to suss out when and how these responses occur and to replicate them. Sometimes the heart behind this is great because we simply want God to meet with us and why change a winning formula? Other times we do it because of our own insecurity. We need the affirmation of knowing people have responded to the way we have prepared. Do we ever limit the work of the Holy Spirit with our expectations? He cannot be boxed!

The Church is a body, full of life, as you grow together, you change together. The way in which God wants to speak to us one day could be entirely different the next. How can we be open to this as worship leaders? All become quakers or sing psalms like the free-church? Not necessarily no (phew!) We operate in a multitude of different styles, and time is often short, but I've a sneaking suspicion that sometimes we are significantly limiting in our facilitating of congregational worship. I need as much guidance as anybody here.

We will magnify

We don't need to hype up the Lord of creation, as if His glory could ever increase! The only change we would hope to see when we meet with God is in us, His people. We need to remember that Jesus became our High Priest (Hebrews 5) so that our meagre offerings of praise could even be looked upon by our Holy Father in heaven.

“But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteous acts are as filthy rags”

Isaiah 64.

How quickly we can lose sight of that.

But equally, what a mystery that the same God loves to dwell in our offerings. How he loves to draw near to us and share intimacy with us, He can't get enough of us, wow! (Psalm 22.3)

Point

When we lead (and always) we need to be an example of people who have caught a glimpse of the glory of the Lord, and want to respond to that with our all.

When we truly see who God is, not when we hit the clouds or rock bottom, that's when we become changed into his likeness.

When we recognise His Transcendence we are filled with awe

When we glimpse His Holiness we become full of sorrow, we can't get near Him.

When we remember His Mercy we are overcome with gratefulness.

When we acknowledge His Sovereignty there emerges a peace from a perspective on our lives.

When we try to comprehend His Grace we are bowled over with wonder, what an awesome God, such love, we could never understand.

All we can do is point to him, creatively, enthusiastically, humbly and full of awe.

Not us

It's important that we don't hold ourselves solely accountable for people's responses. Certainly, we have a responsibility, (If we start leading people in Edinburgh with Swing Low Sweet Chariot, we’re unlikely to lead them into God’s presence),but if we prepare diligently and lead faithfully we can do no more.

In the 16^th Century a man named George Whitfield went preaching in the country and was met with extraordinary responses. People were falling over, laughing hysterically and even barking like dogs. His contemporary John Wesley condemned him and recommended that he weed out and chastise the people who were just making ‘fleshly’ responses. However, Whitfield insisted that if he was to follow that route he would suffocate any response at all. 'Let God be the judge' he said. Wesley soon went on to see the same sort of thing happen in his ministry too…

We are called to be faithful in leading the worship of God but there is a point where we have to relinquish any control and it becomes exclusively a matter between the worshipper and God. Know what your role is.

It's all God

Personally I've been pretty humbled as I learn more about the grace of God. Nothing I can offer him is really worth anything on its own. I am so far from His holiness I need to be led by the hand even in my response to Him. It’s been hard to get my head round how unworthy I am, and therefore what a distance He has gone to save me. Our own imperfection means that every sacrifice of praise we make still has to be sanctified by Jesus blood, that it becomes worship acceptable to the Father. The Holy Spirit is the one that draws us to Jesus before we commit our lives to him, we don’t even know how to pray half the time so the Holy Spirit has to finish our prayers off(Romans 8). It’s all God!

Found this quote from Worshipping Trinity by Robin Parry very helpful. (It's still all God, pretty sweet we get to join in the party!)

“Week after week we have to stir ourselves up and offer God his due and, over a period of time, this can exhaust even the most enthusiastic worshipper... We need to be pointed to the worship that Christ is currently offering and join Him in it. Even our response to God’s grace is a response that God has provided us with himself as a gift.”

“Our response to God is a participation (enabled by God) in God’s own response to God.”

This might seem a bit abstract to some of you but for me it has really changed the way I approach God. We think we have it all sorted as we lead others to God and his praise, but we need to be open to learning more of Him. It can often feel very lonely leading people who might be staring blankly at you, or plotting your gruesome death as you sing Happy day again for the 13^th consecutive week. What an incredible encouragement to know that you are joining not only with the angels, but also with God the Spirit and God the Son in glorifying the Father, esteemed company indeed!

Newsong: Your grace does not run dry

Verse 1:
Broken as I am
I still will lift my voice to You
Father I am weary but
Your promise still is true

Chorus:
Your love, never falters
Your patience, amazes me
And Oh, what a comfort
Your grace does not run dry
Your grace will not run dry

Verse 2:
Who can I depend on but
The God who gave His all?
Stepping with Your Spirit, Jesus
I will follow

Bridge:
Jesus, Saviour
Jesus, Healer
Jesus, what a comfort
Your grace does not run dry

Newsong: Don't leave us unchanged

Verse 1:
Lord, we've come to meet with You
To offer our praise unto You God
And to lift Your name on high

So, as we respond to You
Please open our hearts to who You are
Who You are

Chorus:
Our God, is a God who saves
Is a God who saves
We will worship You Jesus
Our response is praise
to your Holy name
Don't leave us unchanged

Verse 2:
Father would Your love overflow and move
Out of Your church into the world
For Your glory and Your fame

We need more, more of Your spirit to declare
Jesus is Lord of everything
Lord of all!

Bridge:
Our response is praise,
We will worship You Jesus

It's your holy name
Don't leave us unchanged.

Let these words be true for me please

My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly trust in Jesus’ Name.

On Christ the solid Rock I stand,
All other ground is sinking sand;
All other ground is sinking sand.

When darkness seems to hide His face,
I rest on His unchanging grace.
In every high and stormy gale,
My anchor holds within the veil.

His oath, His covenant, His blood,
Support me in the whelming flood.
When all around my soul gives way,
He then is all my Hope and Stay.

When He shall come with trumpet sound,
Oh may I then in Him be found.
Dressed in His righteousness alone,
Faultless to stand before the throne.