Overview 

This series seeks to outline and explore a variety of subtopics relating to the main topic: “Worship”. This series is composed of notes taken from multiple worship sermons, conferences, workshops and conversations in an effort to gain a better understanding of what Worship really is, and what God really expects from worshippers and by extension, worship leaders. This series, in no way, fully encompasses all there is to know about Worship but offers a variety of information to aid in the learning experience of better understanding “Worship”. Hence, this series does not limit any individual from further research. It is, however, the aim of this series, that by the end, each person would have gained a better understanding of what it means to worship and to possibly change the way we approach leading others in a Worship session. 

Objectives 

What is Worship? 

Difference between Praise and Worship 

Praise can be defined as the expression of gratitude and respect towards God. It is the joyful recounting of all God has done for us. It is closely intertwined with thanksgiving as we offer back to God appreciation for His mighty works on our behalf. Praise is universal and can be applied to other relationships as well. We can praise our family and our friends. Praise does not require anything of us. It is merely the truthful acknowledgment of the righteous acts of another. Since God has done many wonderful deeds, He is worthy of praise. (Psalm 18:3) 

Worship, on the other hand, is the art of losing self in the adoration of another. Praise can be a part of worship, but worship goes beyond praise. Praise is easy; worship is not. Worship gets to the heart of who we are. Worship expresses your “worth-ship” of Jesus Christ. To truly worship God, we must let go of our self-worship and focus on his worth-ship. We must be willing to humble ourselves before God, surrender every part of our lives to His control, and adore Him for who He is, not just what He has done. Worship is a lifestyle, and not just an occasional activity.

W.O.R.S.H.I.P. 

Worth-ship 

Matthew 26:7-13, Luke 7:37-39 

Your Worship is heavily dependent on your Worth-ship. If He isn’t worth that much to you then He’s not worth your worship. However, if He’s worth that much to you, then you will worship that much. Worship places value on whatever or whomever is being worshipped. People who worship idols only worship them because, to them, they have a certain value. However, in order to ascribe worth or value, knowledge is necessary. Much like valuing a 

car, they investigate all the details on the vehicle documents, exterior and interior of the vehicle. When valuing a house, all the contents within it are included in the valuation. Similarly for us as worshippers, in order for us to ascribe value, we have to examine the God that we profess to worship. Since we cant see him, we have to examine his Word in order to examine him. We have to know Him; who he is, his personality, his likes and dislikes, his birth, his death and everything in between. That means, we have to know his Word. 

There’s a striking correlation between the Word and our Worship. We can’t truly worship without knowing the Word of God. The Word of God teaches us how to Worship and our Worship has the ability to profess or even teach the Word. (Whocan name a story in the 

bible they learnt of from a song? For example, Around the walls of Jericho). Back in the days of David, his songwriting session only included his bible, his instrument and himself. He would just sing the scriptures. Hence, we notice a lot of old testament scriptures being reiterated in the Psalms. Today, we have a lot of song writers writing their own experiences and their own convictions instead of writing about what the Word of God says about God. Nothing is wrong with writing/singing about your life experiences because even in some of the Psalms David wrote about what he was going through at the time. But those life experiences must lead back to God. It must lead us to a deeper level of Worth-ship for Christ based on that experience/testimony. It is also important for us to know the Word of God for ourselves so we don’t get caught up in bad theology or controversial theology. So knowing the Word, helps us to know Christ which helps us to ascribe Worth, which is necessary for our Worship. 

Colossians 3:16 

(Song association game with scripture songs) 

WORt + relationSHIP=WORSHIP

Openness 

True Worship requires openness: Openness with God and Openness with others. Ephesians 5:19-21 

Openness with the Father 

Openness, according to dictionary.com, means lack of restriction; accessibility. Therefore, to be open is to allow access and deny restrictions. In order to truly worship we have to be completely open to God, the Father; Jesus, the Son; and the Holy Spirit . We have to allow him full access to us: to every part of us. There can be no secrets hidden in true Worship. Hence, we confess our sins to God and allow him to purify us and to purify our worship. Proverbs 28: 13, Ephesians 5:19-21 

Openness with God allows us to bask in the fullness of God but that also begs the question: are we ready to surrender our fullness? As initially stated, openness also means lack of restrictions. Are we ready to surrender all that resists us? Are we completely and whole-heartedly surrendered to the King? Openness sometimes requires emptiness. “Emptiness is a prerequisite for Impartation” – Pastor William McDowell. (Read 2 Kings 4:1-6) “The oil stops flowing when there’s no more emptiness” -McDowell. We can only be filled to our capacity to handle more. Continuous openness builds that capacity. 

Openness with others 

Worship Leaders cannot be “silent worshippers”. Worship Leaders have to be comfortable being transparent in front of an audience/congregation. We can’t expect the audience to be engaged if the Worship Leaders are not engaged. (Bear in mind, Worship Leaders include the entire team). Openness with others requires humility. Our openness with others in Corporate worship puts our relationship with God on display. Worship Leaders shouldnt just dictate what other worshippers should do but be open enough to lead by example. James 5:16 

This openness extinguishes being grappled with fear or with self. It’s about God and it’s about his people. It’s not about me. In other words, we can’t really be open if we’re fearful or full of self. Our job as worship leaders is to create an atmosphere that welcomes God’s presence and to help facilitate an encounter with the living God. Not trying to control but to facilitate. “What we’re able to see through the eyes of faith is connected to the opening of atmospheres.” -Pastor McDowell.

Reverence and Repentance 

Isaiah 6:1-7 

Worship requires Reverence and Repentance. To have reverence for God is to have profound awe and respect for Him. “Never let Worship become anything other than Jesus. Loving Jesus. Glorifying Jesus. Exalting, honouring and ministering to Jesus.” – Jeremey Riddle, taken from his book, ‘The Reset: Returning to the Heart of Worship and a Life of Undivided Devotion’. True Reverence leads us to true Worship. Worship reveals God to us and it also reveals us to ourselves. Therefore, if we truly have reverence for God, it will lead us to Worship him which also leads to repentance. True Worship can be harsh sometimes because it reveals our impurities. Being in the presence of the most holy and righteous one can highlight how unholy and unrighteous we are, in the same way that Isaiah declared woe is me after he saw the Lord. His reverence for God led him to repent before God because God requires true worship, i.e. pure worship. Our reverence for God sparks our worship but our repentance before God deepens our worship. 

Hebrews 12:28 

Sacrifice 

True Worship often requires a sacrifice. Like David declared in 2 Samuel 24:24 that he will not offer up to God that which costs nothing, in the same way, we should not offer what does not cost us anything. Worship isn’t always easy but requires a sacrifice. Hence, in the old testament days, they had to offer up burnt offerings to the Lord. Spotless, perfect offerings. They had to offer the best. Our Worship should be nothing less than our best. We don’t offer our best because we have to but because we choose to. In the same way the woman decided to offer the ointment from her alabaster box: her most prized possession because she chose to. Even though it wasn’t accepted by others, some didn’t even like how she worshipped but she did it anyway because her worship was not for their entertainment but for the glory of God. Sometimes, our worship may not be acceptable by others but it is not for them. The trick of the enemy is to get us to dilute or stop our Worship when it gets hard, but even when things got hard for Job, he still chose to worship God. True worship is costly, it requires a sacrifice.

Holiness 

Matt Gilman’s “Be Holy” Video. 

Notes from video: 

• The way into holiness is to behold the One who is Holy. 
• Holiness is not achieved by our own human efforts, Holiness is achieved by our proximity to the Fire and by us gazing on the One who is Holy. 
• Fire burns! So if you’re too close, it has no choice but to burn you. (Reference: Refiner by Maverick City) 
• God wants to be touched! 
• We are to be Holy as God is Holy, which is to be different. (Leviticus 11:44-45) 

Intimacy 

True worship starts with intimacy. We first have to have a relationship with God in order to worship him. This relationship requires intimacy. This intimacy requires devotion. Not devotion as in morning devotionals but devotion meaning the act of being devoted to or completely surrendered to. This devotion makes distractions invisible. Devotion focuses your attention. Devotion is singular. It takes you straight to the throne. It does not derail or detour or distract. It is direct. This kind of devotion is what leads to Intimacy. It takes you to that secret place between you and God, that intimate space, that close space. This space is personal, not corporate. Intimacy is never achieved in a crowd, always in private. So corporate worship will only display what happens in personal worship. 

Intimacy is required before ministry. “God is not interested in building the ministry, he’s interested in building the man, out of which flows ministry”, a quote stated by Pastor Joseph Roach. In order to build our ministry we have to first build ourselves. We first must have our own intimate moments with the King in order to express that to others. “God is more interested in developing us rather than displaying us”, stated Travis Greene. Corporate Worship is not a showcase, talent show or an entertainment setting but a sacred setting. It is an opportunity to create an atmosphere for God to move and inhabit the praises of his people. Corporate Worship is an invitation to join together in unity before the Lord. (Psalm 34:3) 

God values intimacy. He even blesses it! (Matthew 6:4). Manifestation is the magnification of what is done in private. Worship is not a worship leader’s responsibility but a Christian’s responsibility. We don’t come to church to worship, we come in worship. We come with our own praise and adoration for him because no one can worship him for the next person.

Power and Practice 

The Power of Worship 

There is power in our worship. Our worship has the potential to move God. Our worship has the potential to release God in the Earth for him to work on our behalf. Our worship has the potential to uproot, tear down, cancel, declare and decree! Our worship has the 

potential to get God’s attention. There is even more power in who we worship. “Be careful not to worship the means to the end, but worship the end himself”, – Miles Munroe. Worship can be fun sometimes. We can get caught up in the music, the voice, the look and the feel of it. Then we end up worshipping our worship rather than the person we worship. We should always remember that we worship for an audience of one. Not for anyone or anything else. He is the one with the true Power. There’s power in our worship only because of who we worship. Our worship gives us access to Him. Therefore, our worship gives us access to his power. 

The Practice of Worship 

Worship requires practice. Worship is continuous and consistent. It requires daily feeding for outpouring. To practice worship is for it to become habitual. This means it is not constrained to only a church setting but it becomes a habit that is done in any setting, at any time, in any form. 

Additionally, the art of leading others in worship also requires practice. When leading worship as a team, there must be synergy between the vocalists, synergy between the vocalists and the musicians, and synergy between the vocalists, musicians and the holy spirit. Ecclesiastes 9:10 says, “Whatever the activity in which you engage, do it with all your ability, because there is no work, no planning, no learning, and no wisdom in the next world where you’re going.” God deserves our best and our best requires preparation. Preparation/Practice places the team on one accord with the same vision to achieve the same goal. It also allows time to iron out anything that needs to be ironed out before it is presented to the king and his people.

What does it mean to Worship in Spirit and in Truth? 

John 4:21-24 

Worship in Spirit, without the truth of God, only creates an emotional experience. Worship that does not engage and inflame your emotions and affections is worthless. Jesus himself criticized the worship of the religious leaders in his day by saying that whereas they honor God “with their lips,” their “heart is far from” him (Matt. 15:7–9). True worship must engage 

the heart, the affections, the totality of our being. But any affection or feeling or emotion stirred up by error or false doctrine is worthless. Worship in truth without spirit can result in a dry, passionless encounter that can easily lead to a form of joyless legalism. The best combination of both aspects of worship results in a joyous appreciation of God informed 

by Scripture. The more we know about God, the more we appreciate Him. The more we appreciate, the deeper our worship. The deeper our worship, the more God is glorified. 

The Significance of Worship 

Who do we worship? What is the point of worship? Why do we worship? Where should we worship? When should we worship? How should we worship? Let us look a little deeper into these questions in order to fully understand the significance of Worship. 

Who 

Exodus 20:3-5 and Luke 4:8 reminds us that we should not worship any other god but The Living God. Worship is to him and him alone. Therefore, our worship should be God-centred and not Self-centered. 

What 

Worship is all about God and his people. Worship is towards God and it is for his people. Worship glorifies God and worship transforms people (woe is me!). Worship plays a vital role in people’s transformation. Transformation requires: 

Worship is never about you or your gift. A true worship leader is able to get the attention of people and direct all attention to God. It is not to gain attention for ourselves or to showcase our gifts and talents. True worship doesn’t just reveal God to us but it reveals ourselves to us. 

Why 

We worship because: 

When 

Worship is not restricted to a particular time. We have access to him at any time, not just at the beginning of a church service. True worship requires a personal relationship. This relationship is cultivated in private before it is showcased in public. Hence, private worship is a must! This can be done at any time we want it to happen. The Lord is always available to us, but are we always available to him? It is, therefore, our responsibility to create the space in our daily schedules to meet with him. 

We worship when there’s a need or without a need. We worship when it’s convenient and even when it’s not. We worship when everything’s going well and even when it’s not. We worship when we’re together and even when we’re not. We worship when we’re on the mountain top and even in the valley. We never have to wait to worship. 

Where 

Since the Lord tore the veil between him and his people, we have been given access to him. Hence, we no longer need to go to the temple to have someone petition God on our behalf. We can commune with God in the car, in the kitchen, in the bathroom, etc. We can worship wherever we are. The Lord resides in the temple and since we have now become the temple, he resides in us. He inhabits the praises offered by us. We worship wherever and whenever we create the space for him to come. 

How 

We can worship in different ways: 

There are seven different types of Praise: 

Our role as a worship team 

Our main role as a worship team is to worship God in spirit and in truth and to lead others to do the same. Additionally, as Worship leaders we are also required to: 

Lead ourselves before leading others 

Engage in transformational leadership 

Maintain our Oil 

How to select a setlist 

A setlist refers to a list of songs in preparation for a praise and worship set. Preparing a setlist requires some level of skills, strategy and synergy. The structure of the tabernacle below helps us in preparing a set list.