Worship - Putting God First
More Worship? Thank You, Captain Obvious!
Does anyone else find following Jesus hard? Like downright difficult sometimes? I do. I find my mind and heart quick to wander to things that reflect less of Jesus and more of my desire to satisfy the selfishness in me. Yuck.
Back in September, when we gathered our worship family to kick off another year of serving together, we talked about objects of affection that prevent us from being “all in” following Jesus. I admitted that, too often, I found Jesus blurry in the background of the goals my heart would rather pursue and I disguised my flawed motives in creative, ugly ways. Often, I’ve found myself spending time on simple pleasures rather than doing the hard work in my relationship with Jesus. We ended that night sharing about our distractions and asking the Lord to help us love Him in a way that would make His name great – in us and in the world we live in.
The thing is, I think I’ve been in that particular spot a number of times before in my life. Maybe you have too. You recognize your need for God, promise to do better, be less distracted, try harder only to be tripped up by the trying and feel more discouraged than ever.
What would make 2019/2020 different than other years for our worship crew? How would we personally experience Jesus so we could then lead and love our congregation to do the same? There was only one answer – more worship!
You may be thinking, “Thank you, Captain Obvious!” Of course I would say worship. I get paid to say that! But it wasn’t quite what you might think.
Our Worship Ministry team gathers most Thursday nights to prepare for Sunday services and other serving moments (Celebrate Recovery, Youth, Young Adults, etc.). On those nights, instead of taking only a few minutes to pray and worship, we committed to a new routine of spending 45 minutes in worship and prayer to start our night. We needed more time to give God what was rightfully His: thanks, praise, and glory. To focus our mind’s attention and our heart’s affection on God before we moved on to anything else.
A large panel of Psalm 67 in our Worship Room reminds us to ask the Lord to shine His face on us, so that His ways may be known in all the earth and that salvation would come to the nations. Our crew sought the face of our heavenly Father through these extended worship times with the desire to see others come to know Him. This practically translated through worship in so many ways.
During renovations through July, August and September, our technicians and musicians stepped up to serve in our two Sunday venues. With two teams came twice the amount of practice and praise. Never was there a word of complaint, only a willingness to serve in whatever way was needed. In both the gym and youth centre venues, we experienced the presence of Jesus, watched as people interacted with God, and worshipped in a new way.
Our Young Adult worship nights were a highlight this year. On Monday nights once a month, we gathered to sing, worship, and ask the Holy Spirit to speak. Young adults shared how their loneliness dissipated as they turned their hearts to God. Their voices echoed in the new foyer as they proclaimed Jesus as their Living Hope!
A few of our Worship Ministry musicians and volunteers do so well at serving outside the usual church events at places like the Mustard Seed, Seniors homes, and the Outreach Centre. We hosted the Outreach Centre’s staff Christmas party and they wondered if we could perform some Disney songs for their kids. Let’s just say, Disney singers have nothing on our vocalists at CrossRoads! Those who attended were shocked at the level of excellence and excitement they saw. Were worship songs being sung? Not this time around. But was God glorified? You can count on it!
Those who serve our congregation for Sunday services have such joy and hope in the Lord. Most Sundays, if you turned around, you would witness a camera person or lyrics operator with hands lifted high, praising God. After every service, the front is always open for prayer. Our mantra as a team during those moments is “we don’t stop playing until everyone’s done praying”. Sometimes that means worshipping for an extra 45 minutes, even if only one person is left in the sanctuary. Each technician and musician would serve for any length of time to see God heal, give hope, save, and encounter each person who needs it.
From Celebrate Recovery to Alpha Retreats, from 56ers worship to Sunday services, our hope is always that people encounter Jesus in a way that changes their lives. During this time of “restricted” gatherings, we pray you will take moments to worship the Lord. Whether it be in front of a screen, on a walk, or in another way… may you sing for joy and praise God for who He is and all that He has done (Psalm 67).
Has our current COVID-19 climate got you down? We encourage you to turn on the song Living Hope and sing with all you’ve got. Do you need to know that God will speak to you and show you He has a plan in all this? Give Heaven by Passion a listen. Need a reminder of who God is? Let the tune Way Maker play on repeat.
When Jesus was in the desert being tempted by Satan with personal power and worldly possessions, His simple response was, “worship the Lord God and serve Him only” (Luke 4). In all the stress and anxiety, in a world that wants to distract our attention from Jesus, just worship. Worship God and God alone. Your circumstances may not change, but your heart will. Your eyes will become focused on the One who is worthy of our praise. His name is Jesus.
Dallas Lundell, Pastor of Worship Ministry
