Let’s start with a few universal truths:
1. God is worthy of all worship.
This is a given. He is our God, creator, protector, provider, and king. And He is to be worshipped above all things.
2. Worship is a way of life.
This is also a fact. Worship isn’t just something that we do to fulfil a quota, or to meet a standard. It isn’t just because it’s a requirement of the church service. It isn’t even something we do because we are so-called Christians. It’s something that we breathe in and breathe out. It’s something that comes out of us as naturally as the beating of our hearts. It is the right response of a people created by God, and beloved by Jesus. We worship because God is who He is. See number one.
3. Ministry is a part of our life
When we made a commitment to join our ministry — to set aside a part of our time, our talents, and our treasures so that the church can run smoothly — we made it a part of our lives. We allowed ourselves to be a functional part of the body that God formed. We agreed to follow the ordered world that God wants His Church to be. And our commitment, in turn, makes the way for more people to know Him and obey His main commandments: to love Him, and to love others.
No matter what ministry we are in, we should be doing it with an attitude of worship. It should be in our preparations — both in our heart-prep and in our work-prep. It should be in our planning — making sure that everything that we are going to do is in keeping with God’s great purpose for His people. And it should be in our final production — in the Sunday service, or special program, or big meeting, or whatever it is that we are called to support.
And worship has to be expressed, activated, or proclaimed. This is not so much for God’s benefit, as for the worshipper himself. It has to involve our bodies, our minds, our voices and actions, or any combination thereof.
This is easy to say for the visibly worshipful ministries: like singing, dancing, service leading, playing instruments. Those that call upon you to be visually or physically artistic.
But what about for the more technical ministries? How do we ensure that even in our rules-based, system-dictated, time-bound set of finite instructions, we are still worshipful throughout?
There is nothing wrong with being rules-based, system-dictated, or time-bound. God is a God of order, and this is what He desires as well. But we have to find that balance, strike that temperate chord within us, and within our ministry to make sure that we honour what we stated in point number one, and accomplish point number two earlier as well.
Leading Questions for the Panel:
1. Even as we accomplish the goal of distraction free worship for everyone else, we have to make sure that our hearts are in a receiving state for the Holy Spirit to move. How do you prepare your hearts for that? How do you prepare your people for this in turn?
2. Even as we pour out — physically, mentally, financially — we have to be expectant and excited for the Holy Spirit to pour it back in, and even exceed our expectations. Can you state some examples of when you experienced this?
3. Relate a challenging time when you felt it was very difficult for you to be worshipful in your technical ministry, and how you were able to cope.
4. It’s different for everyone, but please share how you find time to nourish your inner worshipper. What are the things that you do in your quiet time with God.
5. What are the ways in which you could tell your people to be more worshipful in your specific technical ministry?
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