Leading Worship: Where Is Your Focus?

Leading public worship at a good level is challenging. There is leading the band and singers and getting the best out of a group of volunteers of various abilities. There is picking the right songs for your congregation. There is working on good arrangements of the songs. There is running good rehearsals. Then there is all the technical aspects of a modern worship setting: lyrics, media, sound, equipment, staging, lighting and tuning. There are lots of details.

Sometimes in the busyness of all those details we forget where our main focus is supposed to be. Sometimes on Sunday mornings we are so focused on remembering the lyrics and chord progressions and working with the team that we are distracted from the main thing.

A while back, I helped out at a small church that didn’t have a band. I didn’t need to worry about the band and singers. It was quite freeing. I memorized the music and just worshipped God as I lead.

I didn’t have to worry about the band being in tune or playing at a good level. I didn’t have to worry about running a good rehearsal. I didn’t have to wonder if the band was going to play the right notes and do the arrangement correctly. It was just me, my instrument and God. Sure, I was still leading a small congregation, but somehow that stripped down set-up helped me focus more on the main thing…. Loving and worshipping God!

I once  attended a worship service with an internationally known worship leader. One of the strengths of that leader was their ability to stay focused on worshiping God throughout the whole worship time. They weren’t distracted by all that was happening around them. They were focused on worshiping God. What a gift. It seems so simple: Put God first, stay focused on the Creator!

I love this quote that I read recently. ‘What do great worship teams do? They worship God!’

So the challenge, for me, is to know the music so well that I don’t have to think about it. The challenge is to get past all the details and focus on the main thing. And the main thing is loving and worshipping God and leading our congregations to do the same.

So where is your focus? Have you and your worship band paid the price in your rehearsals so you can focus on the main thing? I don’t want to be satisfied with just doing good music. I want to encounter the living God in my worship time. I want my congregation to sense the Presence of the living Saviour as we honor Him together. I want to worship and love the Lord with all my heart, soul, mind and strength. Frankly, I don’t want to be satisfied with anything less!

Check out my new book.. “Leading Worship ~ Notes from a Grand Adventure’ available in Kindle or Soft Cover Editions.  This is a great gift for the musician or worshipper in your life.