Saturday, Jan. 26.  Notes by Mary Grace Hermano (Talk 1-3) and The Word editor (Talk 4).
Merry Brandybuck: Hey you! Over here! Download a copy!

Talk 1

King David and Michael Jordan: We look to Michael Jordan in skill with basketball, so should we look to King David for worship.

King David was said to be a "man after God's heart."

It is worth putting the effort in setting up a good worship if it leads people to God. If we ourselves are worshipful people, then everything will flow.

King David danced with all his might before the Lord. He didn't care what people thought because he was focused on God. His worship was all about God. It is written that he would not build his house until he first built a temple for God.

If we want to be men and women who lead others to God, we need to be holy ourselves. We need to follow God ourselves.

Talk 2

The Lord uses music to bring us to Him. Thus, some sort of order is needed, and we need to put people in place.

Music Ministry Leader: This person should be spiritually mature and loves the Lord immensely.

Music Ministry Director: This person should know music, knows how the way it needs to be taught and sung.

It is better if the Leader and Director were one person, but it's hard to find this two-in-one kind.

Choose appropriate songs based on theme. Use your heart and your head in choosing songs.

Order of songs

1. Top hits: These are good starters because it gets people's attention. They have to be joyful songs.

2. Glorious/majestic songs: These build up people's energy, leads you to the throne of God. You can also start with these types of songs. Examples are Shout to the Lord, To the King of Ages.

If you started with a slow, majestic song (like To the King of Ages), build it up with the next song, example, Blessed be the Lord My Rock.

3. Songs that lead people's hearts to God. These will almost always be slow songs.

4. End with joyful songs. We always need to bring the momentum back up again.

Letting the music flow

1. Be confident when you sing or play.

2. Don't stop playing or talk amongst each other.

3. Talk to worship leaders on what songs should be sung.

It's hard getting people to sing at the beginning. But God will touch people to sing. God is love... we should give our 100% to Him.

Talk 3

Some tips: Organizing and practicing our music ministry

1. Practice

2. Preparation: Music ministry leader should organize this

3. Words: Open your mouth when you sing

4. Melody: Should be louder than the harmony.

5. Guitars should be in unison, should be in tune with the keyboards.

Interpretation

The band should talk amongst themselves before the worship time to figure out how many times to play the Intro, refrain, and ending. Often, less is more.

Talk 4

We've been talking a lot about worship, but we often don't really know what it is. One definition would be that God meets people in their need through the music. Music has a great effect on people -- without saying one word, people immediately know the mood of the worship with the notes and the rhythm that you play. It's a priviledge to lead people to worship. Everytime we lead people to worship, they change.

The most important in worship is to love it, and to get people to pray. Let your whole body move when you sing or play guitar, because as Mama Mary said, your whole body worships.

But sometimes, worship isn't as healing or changing. We have forgotten that worship is central to a meeting. It shouldn't be routine.

So what is worship? Worship is central to a meeting. It nourishes and refreshes people. Worship is a group of people that have come to believe God. We pay homage to God and admit that He is King. In worship, you do not challenge God's kingship.

Three levels of worship

1. Praise: This is usually the loud part. This is telling God how beautiful He is. It is like courtship.

2. Worship: Telling God He is great and that you offer yourself, your all to Him.

3. Glory: God accepts your offer. This is the time people cry, say prophesies, sing in tongues. This is when people are transformed and they hear God.

Your goal in getting people to worship isn't singing two fast and two slow songs. There's no set formula, in fact, it's better that there's no formula. Let the worship be Spirit-led. When people sing in the Spirit, when they sing in tongues, that's when they are most focused on God.

God will sometimes quiet everyone down and the worship leader will give his or her exhortation. If you have been assigned this task, remember that less is more -- don't talk too much unless the Lord tells you to. Ask people if they have a word from the Lord.

Attitudes of a worship leader

1. You need people who worship to lead people to worship. Come early to the meeting place to focus. Decide who the leader is because there has to be someone who decides what and when to sing. If you are the assigned leader, people will get their cue from you. Let your whole body worship.

2. Let the worship leader be Spirit-led. Give God elbow-room to speak. Prepare more songs than usual -- at least four slow and six fast. Don't announce songs because some songs you prepared could be changed. Let an assistant announce songs or, if you're playing guitar, change pages for you.

3. Follow the prayer leader and listen to his or her exhortation. Your song should have the same messages as he or she.

4. Be committed to the practices. The more people in your band, the harder it will be to coordinate. Second guitarists should make sure that their instrument sounds exactly like the lead guitarist's. Decide on music arrangements.

5. Avoid anything that distracts. Prayer leaders, don't speak too much. Music leaders, don't use action songs. Lead the worship, don't follow it -- know what people want to sing, and sing songs that people know. Start with a song that people already know.

6. Don't sound too good. Make sure that you get people to sing with you and not marvel at how good you are. We're here to lead people to God, not to ourselves.

7. Live righteously. Worship is your life. Your worship mirrors what's in your life. But let not your sins stop you from serving.

A note on praisefests

Praisefests are a festival of praise and music. Compared to smaller worships that are more free-flowing, praisefests are like any worship but with a fixed message or theme, like a talk. It is longer, usually seven to 10 songs.

Smaller worships are supposed to be more free-flowing -- prepare some songs, but be prepared if God speaks and you have to change a song. For this reason, it's always good to have an assistant.

These are just guidelines on how to lead a worship. It is easier to teach the form rather than the feel of worship, and it takes practice. It is important to wait for God's leading.

If you understand the Spirit behind worship, behind everything that we do in the community, the format for giving a talk or leading a camp or leading a worship will follow.

Talks by Terry and Deeda Savage, Kuya Tony (hehehe), and Raffy Urgino. 
Jan. 26, 2002, St. James Church, Chicago, IL.

Related Story: Ad Infinitum, June 30, 2001: Everybody is worshipping, why not you?

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