Using Scripture in Worship

Using scripture in worship experiences is essential. Reading God's word creates a direct connection between our needs and His promise for provision and protection. It reminds us of His goodness and speaks deeper truths that calm fears. There are several different ways to integrate scripture into your worship experience, but if its not done well, clearly or intentionally it can disengage the congregation. Believe me! :)

The most important step you can take in including scripture in your worship sets is to build the worship experience around a selection of scripture. Using scripture that is relevant to a theme used in the service or that the spoken message will be based on will help create a solid foundation of biblical truth for your worship experience. My devotional life revolves around the curriculum that my church and pastor are using and this helps me be really genuine in leading worship; I actually go through the spiritual, scriptural things in my own life that I will then lead people through in worship.

When it comes to the actual worship service, there are several different ways you can integrate scripture. Here are a few ideas for you to experiment with in your setting.

• Using scripture to introduce a song. Obviously, many songs use words and phrases directly from a passage of scripture. Reading the setting and story of that passage can give greater meaning and depth to that phrase.
• Spoken or graphical scriptural during an instrumental. Sometimes instrumental sections of songs can seem disengaging for your congregation. One way to make room for those instrumentals while keeping the congregation engaged in worship is to have scripture on the screens or read by a vocalist. If reading the scripture aloud, it should not only match the theme of the song, but should be read with appropriate energy and emphasis for the music.
• Make scripture tangible. Giving your congregation scripture cards, wrist bands or other tangible items that represent or contain scripture can make its effect and relevance last well into the week and perhaps longer.
• Responsive reading or reading in unison. Taking a passage from the Psalms or looking through hymn and litany books can also provide some great, readable material that can act as a "Call to Worship" or serve as a catalyst for binding the congregation together around a common cause or idea found in scripture.
• Quote relevant scriptural promises throughout a song, even though it may not be directly in the lyric. Finding and memorizing short passages of scripture that you can claim within a song can add new depth to the song. Claim the promise of Jesus that He will "never leave, nor forsake you" before you start the bridge of "You Never Let Go."

You will find that different expressions of scripture will fit better into your worship gathering, so don't be discouraged if it doesn't go as planned. Scripture will add depth and value to your congregations worship experience. It's God's word for us. Truth, inspiration and light that makes the words of the songs we sing and prayers we pray come to life!

Adaptable Worship Experiences

Every church community has a unique make-up that makes it distinct. Everything from the local culture to the facility shape what worship looks like in your church. It's a good thing; embrace it! It's what brought together this body of worshipers and that unique identity will continue to inform and fuel the church in its mission.

In the quest to be relevant, sometimes we veer off course and chase the ideals that work best in another church, but are in fact, irrelevant in our church community. Don't get me wrong... I'm a big believer in doing what works and learning from churches that do things with excellence! BUT, those other models and resources should inform our worship experience rather than determine it.

Create worship music that is relevant and organic to your own congregation. You don't "need" an electric guitarist or drummer to have a worship experience. Use the best gifts that God has already given to your congregation. As their is growth, the holes you see will be filled by God's design and in His time.

Custom fit songs to your setting. I like to tell my team members that learning the song as it is "on the record" is the baseline. From that point, we have creative freedom to switch chords, alter the structure and create a version of that song that fits the moment, the congregation and the band best. Only once you know the song as its been written and performed (might I add with HOURS of creative and technical refining by EXPERTS) can you reconstruct it tastefully.

Don't be afraid of simplifying. I would dare say that it would be inappropriate to do the 7 minute version of "Mighty to Save" every time your team led it. That makes worship predictable and stale. Have a four minute version that is the standard and pull out the extended version when the worship environment calls for it.

Remind your team and congregation that worship is the meshing of many personal experiences into one corporate experience. It's not a concert; the band isn't there to perform to its devoted followers. It's not Spotify; you don't get to just pick all your favorites. This is worship... the mystical gathering of many believers uniting with one voice to sing to their God.


Make it fit. Make it unite. Make it give God the glory He deserves.

We're (NOT) All in this Together!

Curious guests walk into your church every week. Some are believers that are just curious about your church; they've heard about your pastor or the worship band or the children's ministry and want to try it on for size. The other group of curious guests is what I REALLY get excited about though; they're either apathetic or agnostic and have heard or seen something different about your church that has drawn them to walk through your doors.

Do you think about these guests when you create and lead worship experiences? How important is their experience to you? Let me tell you why they should be an important consideration in creating and leading your worship experiences.

It is my belief that the church has two callings. First, to grow and disciple believers in their lifelong relationship with Jesus. Second, to create disciples by introducing them to Jesus and inviting them into a relationship with Him. Both are really important jobs, but many of us are putting to much energy into the first calling and ignoring the second.

In His ministry on earth, Jesus made a big deal about the outsiders. He said that when we serve them, we are serving Him and in His last instruction to His followers, He said to go and tell them the good news. Reaching them is a big deal to Jesus - so we need to make it a big deal in our worship!

Believe it or not, in our corporate worship gatherings we have an opportunity to reach both groups. Here's how you can move in that direction...

• Use artistic expressions well. I've said it before and I'll say it again... if you can't do it well, you can't be credible. Whether its graphics, music or dance... it has to be inspiring, even to skeptics!
• Cast the vision for your team. They need to understand that you're not just trying to lead a congregation of believers to the throne of God, you're also trying to lead people into His grace for the first time. That means as we create and lead people through worship experiences, we allow them to engage at their own comfort level. We can't call them out, force anything out of them or expect any particular response.
• Lead by example. Focus on your personal worship experience as you lead worship. Be genuinely engaged in worship as a conversation between you and God. As you model worship for the attendees, they will be more willing to engage.
• Ask for a heart for non-believers. Pray that God inspires you with a heart for those Jesus-curious guests that come to your church. As God inspires you with a burden for outsiders, you'll be better equipped to serve them in worship. 

As you dig into this topic, I would also recommend checking out "Worship Evangelism" by Sally Morganthaller.

Reviving Liturgy in the Relevant Church :: All Ages, One Message

With our crazy lives and schedules, family worship can be hard enough to pull of, never mind finding relevant meaningful resources. This is the reality for our congregations. Unfortunately, it might be something that doesn't happen in many homes, simply because they can't "find the time."

Why not make it easy on them?

What if "Average Joe" in your congregation was not only being fed spiritually at church, but you were also giving him the resources to feed his family and even giving him a head start?

You can do this by integrating all ages on one liturgical track. There are resources for every age level out there on the various versions of the liturgical year. If you find one that fits your context well, you should be able to make it work for all of your small groups, children's classes and "Kid's Church."

This way, the family sits down to lunch after church and they have something they can actually discuss! Since all 2.5 kids have experienced and learned about a bible theme and story in their different classes and worship gatherings, they all have something unique to share on the topic as well commonality in experience of learning on the topic.

The church has a more united and clear vision; the family, likewise has a united experience and clarity on God's plan for them as they apply what they're learning in their walk with Him.

It gets REALLY good when you take this a step further. Not only does this give great post-church conversation, but it provides a foundation for 24/7 worship. Curriculum also usually include material for daily use and devotion. From the Book of Common Prayer for the common texts to the daily devotionals that are built in to Group or Lifeway's liturgical calendar - there are resources to continue the learning and growing for the family between weekend worship gatherings. You can even share some of these resources on a daily basis through social media to help bring devotional thoughts and bible texts straight to the parishioner.

Reviving Liturgy in the Relevant Church :: Enriched Worship Experiences

Establishing a liturgical calendar not only ensures that you cover a diverse amount of material, it will also help establish sermon series' and worship themes far in advance. That will give whatever team or individual is charged with planning your worship services a big head start and a chance for true success.

Believers and seekers alike are seeking a narrative within the worship experience. If the worship leader is making a point about God's sovereignty throughout the songs, there is a video about God's love and the sermon is about forgiving others, then your congregation walks away with perhaps a nice experience, but no narrative that helped them grow and grasp the ONE main point that was essential that day. When the elements have no deep correlation, they will not lead the congregation along a worship journey throughout the service and into a deeper understanding of God's character. It remains shallow and discombobulated.

Conversely, if a worship experience is built like a narrative, the congregation goes on a spiritual, emotional and logical journey throughout the service. One element builds on the previous. There are highs and lows that help tell the story and ultimately bring restoration, hope and redemption. That is the nature of our own condition and God's plan for us - so, naturally it works.

Let me share a real, relevant example of this. My church (New Hope Adventist Church) uses the Faithweaver curriculum by the distributer Group. This weekend's worship theme is our calling to worship God in His holiness. The story that will be used for the sermon is the Prophet Isaiah's calling and his response to God's holiness. With this knowledge, my worship planning committee helped me craft this weekend's service to prepare people's hearts for this calling that would be presented in the message with songs like "Not to Us" by Chris Tomlin, "Surrender" by Lincoln Brewster and "You Are Holy" by Elevation Worship. We picked a video of a young woman's testimony of how she surrendered her personal dreams and agenda to be an influence in the lives of her young students that live in poverty - what she calls her "humble response to God's holiness." The congregational prayer will immediately follow that and give people a chance to submit to God's plan.

All of these things are intentionally built to drive home that central point, which will culminate in the message. We go through highs and lows and drive home the point using various avenues, but it all leads people to the same place - to respond to God's holiness - our main point.

All of this intentionality begins with a liturgical calendar. It will help you develop important seasonal themes and even work in the felt needs of your congregation as you cover a diverse series of topics and narratives from the Bible.

There are more resources for planning worship around themes and the liturgical year than you could ever make use of. It gives you a depth of creativity to cull from even as you implement and develop the creativity of your own team.

Reviving Liturgy in the Relevant Church :: An Introduction

In many ways, the contemporary worship movement has been a reaction to "old church" function and form. For good reason, pioneers have sought to make worship personal and relevant, but it hasn't come without any cost. One thing that I believe we've lost out on is comprehensive liturgy. Many traditional churches follow the three year cycle of Common Texts that assist in creating seasons for the church as well as covering stories and theology from varied sections of the Bible, to keep the material covered in worship diverse and varied. Very few contemporary churches that I know of stick to the three year cycle.

As "application" has taken a more prominent role in modern preaching, we instead build sermon series' around felt-needs of the congregation and community. This does have many benefits, but it can allow a church to stick to some of its favorite themes in the Bible rather than push the church leaders to continue learning and searching for deeper truths and a more dynamic understanding of who God is.

Churches that have a defined liturgical calendar have a great opportunity to grow the spirituality and biblical knowledge of their congregation. Beyond the benefits of a varied biblical learning experience, it creates an environment of integrated learning for every age of attendee, lays a strong foundation for other worship elements and gives parishioners material for personal devotions.

Learning about liturgy, the Consultation on Common Texts and the Book of Common Prayer has been an exciting experience for me - I have a lot to learn yet on the topic though. I invite you to engage the ideas I present and contribute some thoughts from your own experience in your church by commenting below. I'll attach links and commentary to help you if (like me) you did not have the privilege of experiencing this type of liturgy first-hand in the church.

Cornerstone Song - "Healing is in Your Hands"

It is good to serve a good God. Our God has a deep affection for us. It is so much deeper than the superficial love that this world has taught us - it’s so much greater and overwhelming than that love.

It’s easy to forget that. It’s easy to get caught up in the situations in this life that make us think for a moment that God isn’t in control or good to us. But He’s proven his love through the ultimate act of forgiveness and sacrifice by giving us His Son. Just listen to what the apostle Paul says to the church in Ephesus...

“... so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” (Ephesians 3:17-19)

Our eternal healing and salvation lies in the hands that have been peirced for our forgiveness. Stand and worship Him for His grace and mercy and love!