Quality Worship Leading

I think that one of the most important qualities a worship leader needs is humility. No one wants to follow a worship leader who is more focused on getting attention or showing off. Of course we should be using our God given gifts to glorify God, but it doesn't glorify God if we make worship about us. Also, character has a huge role in making a quality worship leader. How a leader acts in private reveals their character, and their character is a reflection of where their heart is. Another important characteristic is spiritual maturity. My worship leader once told me that you cannot lead someone somewhere you have not been, so we have to constantly be pursuing a deeper relationship with God, so that we can lead others to deeper relationships with Him.

Matt Crocker, one of my favorite worship leaders, is a member of Hillsong United and Hillsong Worship. He is well known for writing a lot of music for Hillsong. One of my favorite things about him is that even though he writes a lot of amazing music, he does not take much credit for them and even though he is greatly talented, he does not specifically write music with the intention to sing it himself and gain attention. Matt is humble, even when he performs, by simply focusing his worship on God and not trying to show off, even though he is a greatly talented singer and instrumentalist. He is willing to simply play guitar or keys instead of being up front singing for everyone to see him. Another quality Matt has is character. Not only does he uses his talents to perform, but he also, when traveling with the band, goes on missions trips. Recently, he traveled to Israel and worked with Syrian refugees. I think this shows a lot about his character, because he is willing to serve God, even when the spotlight is off of him. I also like how when he leads worship, he is expressive and moves with the dynamic of the song, but is not distracting to the worship experience. He genuinely seems to be engaged in worship himself, and this makes him a quality worship leader.





Open Heaven

I Surrender

The Missing Element of Worship by Tom Kraeuter

The Missing Element of Worship by Tom Kraeuter basically talks about how worship also should include love. In this book, Kraeuter challenges worshipers to love one another as a form of worship. He argues that true worship comes from loving God and loving your neighbor as well, and that the basis of all worship is relationships.

One point I found was interesting was that Kraeuter starts the book with a scene before church. There are multiple people being judgmental and criticizing each other for petty reasons, such as what someone is wearing or being annoyed that sermons are taking longer than usual. Kraeuter asks if this is a situation in which God would want to be worshiped, when there is ungodly characteristics being reflected. He talks about how loving each other and having a good relationship with other neighbors and God is key to having genuine worship. He talks about how our relationship with God and people is interconnected because you can't love God if you don't love others. Our love for each other affects our worship.

Another interesting point that Kraeuter had was that often we are too comfortable with the way we worship. Sometimes we get angry when someone changes the arrangement of a song or does a new song we don't like. However Kraeuter argues that although we might not like a song, it might affect another person differently. He claims that mature Christians are willing, out of love, to let go of their preferences to bring other people in the worship experience who may not be as mature in their faith. He talks about letting go of our selfish interests and comfort to love others by letting them feel included in worship.

The Gift of Worship

The video the Gift of Worship talks about the importance of worship. Often times we are more focused about what we get out of worship and what worship can do for us, rather than focus on giving ourselves to God thorough worship. Worship is not about us but rather thanking God for the cross. During worship, we should be giving everything God, including our brokenness, and worship God with everything we are through keeping our focus on him.

I think this video was a good reminder that God should always be the focus of our worship. Worship is not about how we feel about the music or if we think the music is somehow benefitting us. Worship is surrendering ourselves to a loving God who sent his Son to die for our sins. It is so easy for us to criticize worship and find ways to blame the music or the worship team as the reason we didn't have true worship, but actually we need to examine ourselves and remember that our focus should be on God, not the music.

Guiding Principles for Worship

Worship is a Dialogue 

When we worship, we are talking with God. He reveals himself and we respond with gratitude.

Worship is focused on Christ

Our focus when we worship is Christ.

Worship is Contemporary

We should worship God in ways that reflect the age we living in.

Worship is Traditional

Our worship can also pull from past music, as past music can still provide insight into who God is.

Worship is Wholistic

Every part of us should be engaged in worship, intellectually, emotionally, with your sense and with you body.

Worship is Participative

Worship should aim to include as much of the congregation as possible.

Worship in Inclusive

Worship is inclusive of all people, and works to include anyone in a stage of life.

Worship is a Balance

Worship is a balance between remembering God is distant but close, order and surprise, and greatness and intimacy.

I'm With The Worship Team

The article “I’m With The Worship Team,” Tom Curley talks about the difference between playing in a band and leading worship. He talks about how a band is exclusive while a worship band is inclusive, and how bands want to keep core members because they think it will mess up the chemistry of the band. Band members also feel entitled to equipment, while worship team members are recognize that they can be replaced or God can call them to a new position. He also talks about how bands focus on performance while worship teams focus on facilitating worship to a sovereign God. 

Overall, I believed this article was very relevant to modern worship teams. I know in my experience, these band attitudes end up destroying the productivity of a band. These exclusive and often hurtful mindsets cause more problems and drama in a worship band. However, these worship team mindsets help a team to be more productive. Also, the worship team mindset is more honoring to God and helps others focus more on God during worship.

Are You Living in Your Element?

Dan Wilt is talking about how God has gifted each person. He talks about how we need to use our gifting to glorify God. We should be using our strengths to glorify God and expand his kingdom. If we use our strengths, we are able to affect more people. He talks about how we need to be rooted in our faith and have a strong foundation. We should be living an inspired, empowered, and communal life.

I liked how Dan Wilt compared different attributes about how we should live our lives to different elements of nature. I think it really helped me to understand what he was talking about. I think that he is right about how we first of all have to be rooted in faith. After that, we can use our gifting to further expand the kingdom. The more we serve others using our gifting, the more effective we are in expanding God’s kingdom.

Songwriter Essay

       Matt Crocker is best known as one of the songwriters and members of Hillsong United. He started playing drums initially, but later transitioned to playing guitar and singing. One of the events in Crocker’s life that affected him greatly includes the death of his older sister when she was only 15. Crocker grew up in Hillsong Church in Sydney, but he first became involved in worship in the youth ministry. He played drums and learned how to write music, leading to him falling in love with writing music. Joel Houston and Marty Sampson, two well known worship leaders, encouraged Crocker to write music for the youth worship team. 

       He published his first song at the age of 18. A few years later, he was able to collaborate with other songwriters at Hillsong Church. Years later, Crocker has published many well known worship songs as well as traveled around the world, touring with Hillsong UNITED. He continues to write songs not only for Hillsong UNITED, but also for Hillsong Church. He continues to lead worship at Hillsong Church when he is not touring with Hillsong UNITED. 
       Many of the songs Matt Crocker has written have personally impacted my life, especially the song “I Surrender”. Hillsong has been incredibly inspirational to me because I know God has called me into the ministry of worship, and members of bands like Hillsong UNITED have dedicated their lives to serve God and follow his calling for their lives. For example, Hillsong UNITED has gone on missions trips to serve the Syrian refugees in the Middle East. One of the things I admire most about Hillsong UNITED is that some worship leaders may act like they are better then the people they are leading, however Hillsong UNITED engages with the people they lead and they serve people that others would ignore. Matt Crocker is such a great example of following God wherever he calls and leading worship wholeheartedly and focused on God. 

Songs written or cowritten by Matt Crocker

I Surrender

Open Heaven (River Wild)

Prince of Peace

Relentless

Search My Heart 

Scandal of Grace

Oceans (Where Feet May Fail)

Glorious Ruins

Gracious Tempest

This I Believe (The Creed)

Oh You Bring