“We were made to worship; if we’re not worshiping God, we could be worshiping someone, something else.” – Cathy 😊
It was 19th Feb (Monday), the worship ministry of our youth group has organized a small workshop to equip new band members and reinforce some of the cultures and values that we believed in and carried.
It was indeed a meaningful and beneficial workshop which I got myself reminded of why I’m here to do what I’m for as a worshiper of God. I’m reminded of my identity as a believer, my highest calling/duty as a Christian is to just worship. Worship Almighty God the Father, Jesus the son and Holy Spirit the helper. Well, it might sound preachy/cliché. But, the truth is we’re human being. Being forgetful and ungrateful are perhaps what we often do.
Pastor Craig said, “worship isn't just the songs we sing. It's about the life we live. Christianity isn't a hobby. It's not just an interest or a piece of our lives. Christ is our life and we are called to lay down our lives daily as an act of worship to Him. (Romans 12:1)
In this workshop, there are 4 different sessions shared by different speaker respectively. I was privileged enough to share on a session with the word of God, a bit of my thoughts and my personal experience in this worship journey.
So, I started with the matter of the heart, the heart of worship. People often said the heart of the matter is really a matter of the heart. True enough, before we can tap into the “why” and “how” part, we need to have that heart of acknowledging God is the One whom we want to give our praise and He is our priority.
We learned that the book of Psalm, is all about worshiping, all about blessing God’s name and praising Him as long as we live. Through this, we looked into Luke 7:36-50, a beautiful account of an extravagant worshiper – a woman. She has an unclean background, came to Jesus and offer Him more than what she could give, and without concerning of how people would think of her.
Below is a brief description of these elements, which are some of the key factor of what a true worshiper should have:
H-humility. Pride is the opposite of humility, and it is the primary hindrance to worship.
E-emotions. Worship often cause emotions, we are called to show it freely, passionately just like how the bible encourage us to shout in joy, make noise and dance.
A-adoration. Recognizing who God is. Giving praise and adoration is also one greatest commitment as a believer which we must maintain.
R-repentance. In order to Worship God, we need to admit the truth – about who God is - and about who we are. True worship requires honest repentance. Repentance means more than just turning away from our wicked sins, but to turn-to God.
T-thanksgiving. We need to understand that true worship come at a cost. We should always give from our hearts with thanksgiving attitude and even more than what we can offer sometimes.
Second session was shared by @jesonhuang through video, we learned more about the practical things on how to serve better in a worship team, especially working with many different team members. We learned the minimum requirements for a band member on their respective roles and tasks. He also emphasized on the importance of knowing the songs, tips in improving your skills of your own instruments. Some practical and very technique practices that can work and start of with as a band member if we are clueless of what we should do. One important criteria is that we must develop an interest first, and turn that into a passion. I agreed that only passion can keep us there and improve.
After lunch break, we had our third session held by Max 😊 He is another incredible worship leader/drummer in the worship team. He shared about the difference of us worshiping, not just another music gathering and playing of songs without any purpose. He reminded us as believer, when we worship, we have a focus. And that focus is God, we recognize who He is and what He has done. Worship can be done in many form, but why music? Because music is the most relatable medium to be used in worship. He also shared different types of expression of worship. He also stressed on why we worship, how worship ministry can bring people into the presence of God instead and it differ from just any other clubs outside.
Let me find what you treasure the most, and I have found what you worshipped. – @maxyong .
Lastly, we had our all times best pianist to share on her experience and some techniques on how to teach/train musicians. What is the benefit of being in such training ground? What the good of serving in ministry?
Well, one great soft skill she shared about that I think we’ll never be able to learn from school but through serving is social intelligence. She said social intelligence can be learned in serving to give a maximum effectiveness. For me, the character and capability I have/can now, it’s really not of me, but because of the ministry / opportunity from people who believed, trained and raised me up. These soft skills are really important as it made me compatible when I went over for further studies.
In Psalm 33:3 “Sing to him a new song; play skillfully, and shout for joy.”
She shared about excellence is where skills start because excellence is the reality of heart. In another word, practice does make it better, skills do not produce anointing. However, anointing rides on the wings of skills.
The more skilful you are, the easier you are to tap into the anointing. – @stephhchia .
At the end of the day, God will look at the heart behind, not the outward appearance. (1 Samuel 16:7). Our worship should be pleasing, bringing a smile to God’s face. 😊
Last thought of my own: Your own time with God affect how you serve in ministry. The more time you spend to understand God, the better you are in being His worshiper.
