Ok.Stephen.Ko

Growing as a Worship Leader

So our worship team is up this week. I’ve had the past 2-3 weeks to think and pray about the song set.

In my younger years as a worship leader, I was very careless (to say the least) when choosing songs; my main interest was choosing songs that had a cool riff or sounded good - you could say that the lyric of the song had little influence on whether I chose it or not. Some weeks, we’d hit the mark, and others would be a country mile off in terms of choosing the right song for the service.

As I look back at the many years of being in the worship ministry, I cannot claim I had a TRUE passion for worshiping God, but a passion for music intermingled with my own pride and selfishness. I loved to sing and make music. But by God’s grace, He pulled me out of the darkness, and instilled in me a truthful, powerful, inspired, and living passion for worshiping Him.

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28

I don’t know what prompted me to pick the guitar up but I thank God for His mercy and His blessings; also, for connecting me with supportive people: my leading lady Elaina, and various leaders, and especially my mom. “From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another.” John 1:16

For all worship leaders and team members, I highly recommend you read Exploring Worship by Bob Sorge; it discusses the foundations of ‘what is praise?’, and ‘what is worship?’ which will help you to understand the form/flow of the church service, and what types of songs (vertical worship, horizontal, etc.) are appropriate when. Great insight!

Continue to pray for your worship leaders and teams: that they will be Spirit-filled.