Teach Your Church to Worship
Over the last few weeks we’ve been talking about how to begin pastoring our churches in worship. We started out defining the word pastor as shepherd – one who leads and cares for a flock. (read it HERE) The next week we discussed loving our churches well by praying for them. (read it HERE) After all, the best measure of how well you’re loving someone may be how well you’re praying for them. Then we talked about getting to know your church. Last week, we started discussing how to lead/pastor from the stage. Last week was all about modeling worship – showing people how. This week, I want to take thought a step further – don’t just show them how, tell them how! Teach people how to worship.
People tend to kind of figure out how to worship Jesus based on how they see others worship Jesus. Which isn’t a bad thing, that’s why I suggested it last week. It’s just not the best thing. The best thing would be to go to scripture to find out about worship – how did Abraham or Moses or King David or Jesus do it? But most people don’t do that. Most people don’t open their bible to figure out how to worship. They open their bibles to figure out how to fix themselves. So, it’s our job as leaders of worship to teach it.
Don’t let the idea of teaching scare you. It can be pretty simple. Just focus on three areas:
1. What is worship?
Every so often, it’s probably a good idea to define the word worship for your congregation. Basically, you’re just telling them what you’re doing – ascribing worth to God, giving Him glory. Talk through the Greek and Hebrew words for worship. Talk about the words for praise. Sometimes, those of us who have been followers of Jesus for a while forget that there are people out there that don’t understand all that they’re seeing or hearing on a Sunday morning. So tell them what’s going on! Define the terms you’re using! (Need help with this? Read the book Holy Roar by Darren Whitehead and Chris Tomlin).
2. Why do we worship?
This one should be easy! It’s probably something you already do: Talk about the character of God, the love of God, and the faithfulness of God. Share testimony. Talk about the cross and resurrection. Just talk about why we gather to worship God.
I love pointing churches to the creation story, saying something along the lines of, “In the beginning God created, and after everything He created He declared it’s goodness – He made land and water and saw that they were good, He made plants and animals and saw that they were good, He made the sun and moon and saw that they were good! We serve a good God who creates good things. The bible begins with a reason for worship!”
Talking about why we worship is the easiest way to engage people in worship. It makes them go “oh yeah.” Or “It’s amazing that He would do that for me!”
3. How do we worship?
The third teaching focus should be on HOW we worship. Basically, putting words to what we talked about modeling last week. Talk about lifting hands, kneeling, singing, etc. What does the bible say about these things? Why are they happening in your service?
Start with where we see these things in scripture. The psalms are a great place to start when it comes to explaining the actions of worship. You might say something like, “you may be looking around and noticing folks lifting their hands as we sing. One of the reasons we do that is because Psalm 134:2 instructs to lift up our hands and bless the Lord!”
Even a simple explanation like that can make people feel more comfortable, give them the courage to try something new in worship, or even just give them a truth from scripture to consider.
I’m a big believer that leaders of worship ought to be teachers of worship. That doesn’t mean you have to preach sermon after sermon on the subject. But it may mean pausing to explain what you’re doing when transitioning songs. Periodically explaining the what, why, and how of worship has the ability to transform your church. If you want to see people engage in worship – teach them how to do it!
Want to learn more about teaching your church to worship? Check out our FREE TRAINING, Teaching in Worship!