Worship Values - By Randy Butler

  1. Dial Direct to God. We want to mostly sing directly to God, rather than singing about some idea about God. We can sing a song about God, as a response, after He as been contacted intimately.

    2. Ephesians 2:17-19. Worship is coming to this place of intimacy with God. It is a sign of the fulness of time.

  2. Making and Taking Time. Some of the Old Testament feasts were a week long! We want to give the worship, gratitude, and thanks that are due Him. Twenty-two minutes is too little and for most people ninety minutes is too much.

    3. We are also looking for God's interaction with us. He wants to interact and dialog, not just receive. Worship is for God. Think of being given the choice to go through one of two doors. One door is labeled, "Its all about me." The other door is labeled, " Its all about God."

  3. Not Hype, but Authenticity. This means we will not be pressured to do the same thing. The goal is not to get worked up to a lather each time.

    4. We want to sing without coaxing the people; without too much instruction or leading. Its hard to image the 12 disciples leading worship with megaphones coaxing the people to do it just a certain way. We do not want to pull peoples' minds away from what God is saying to them in their spirits.

    Conformity is not the goal; be it standing, sitting, clapping, lifting hands, kneeling, silence, reflective attitude. The goal is worship. We say "NO" to making noise that just looks like worship.

  4. Simplicity. We want "assessable" songs. We want songs that most people can sing. We want songs

    5. that are reproducible in the homegroup setting, but are not too barren. 1Corinthians 2:1-4 talks about being plain and simple.

  5. Invite and Follow the Holy Spirit. Expect the Holy Spirit to give you specific direction. Like "sing the chorus again" or "sing the verse again" or "stop the instruments."

    6. Follow the Holy Spirit with your song list. I make up a list of five songs, plus an alternative list of three more. Then in the actual meeting, I'm sensitive to the Holy Spirit about just which songs to use.

  6. Model Servant Leadership. We worship team members are not stars. We have an audience of One, God! Look out for those building their own kingdom.

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  7. A Lifestyle of Worship. The team is not to stand apart from the church. It is not to disappear after the worship set.