The Practicals Of Worship

What is worship? “Time: 2:15-3:21”

• To understand worship look back at the beginning: go back to the garden or look at the future: heaven on earth. In the garden there were not any worship services; there was walking together, talking together, and loving one another.  

Worship was not about knowledge, it was about experience. It was not about deep theology, it was simply an encounter. “Time: 3:22-8:20”

• Theology by itself does not cause us to worship. Cory shared that he grew up in a church that had amazing teaching and great theology but he did not follow God until he was around nineteen and encountered the presence of God for the first time. 

• “A great idea will motivate me for a time, but encounter can set me on fire for years.”

• Adam had a grasp on the most important part of theology that man knows; the theology that God calls us very good. 

Worship is giving back to God what He gave to us. “Time: 8:34-12:00”

• There’s a story about a man who had three kids who wanted to give their Dad a really good gift so they asked their Dad for twenty dollars so they could buy him a gift. Worship is like that. We search for how to give the Father an amazing gift so we ask God for a decent voice or skills on the guitar to give Him what we have. 

• God first gave us life and calls us very good which causes us to turn to Him and tell Him how good He is.

“Keep the place of encounter beautiful.” “Time: 12:25-14:54”

• When God placed Adam in the garden of Eden He gave two commands: not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and to tend the garden. Keep the place where God comes down to be with you beautiful. For us, that is the garden of our hearts. Keep the place where God meets us clean, pure, and beautiful.

• Leading worship is extra; it’s fun. Go down the well-worn paths of your heart and then suddenly you’ve led the room into that place. Leading worship is about the well-worn paths of your heart. 

“Worship is an exchange of affection.” “Time: 12:55-16:30”

• God tells us we’re good and then we tell Him He’s good.

• Adam didn’t do a thing before God told him He adored him. 

•  Worship is God telling us who we are and us telling Him right back. 

A couple of rules for leading worship. “16:32-25:01

• Relying on your team is a beautiful thing. Cory shared that he had to rely on his team when he felt weak and when he felt that his skills weren’t the best. Cory also shared that Joel Houston went through the same thing.

• Empower your team.

• The prophetic spirit.  Empower your team in prophesying during worship. If we are not prophesying in worship we’re not going where we are supposed to. Ask Holy Spirit what He is doing, what He is saying. Mike Bickle used to say, “keep your antenna up.” When you prophesy in worship and not just play the part, it transforms the set. Worship is when we partner together with God and go down the well-worn paths and it changes the atmosphere. When we partner with God and listen to Him instead of the things that hold us back, the way the atmosphere changes; and that is leading worship, leading people into worship, that’s what it's about, that’s pastoring our teams, and empowering our singers.