Last night, I was at dinner with some other couples from our church. I was sitting across from a couple that has been in our church for about 5 years, and prior to coming, were both unsaved. The only church background at all that they had was in the Catholic church, so coming to our pentecostal church with contemporary, charismatic worship was a completely new experience to say the least! They began asking me some questions regarding worship that lead to their sharing a powerful story that really ministered to us, but also reminded us of a powerful truth about the role we play as worship leaders.

I was born and raised in central Indiana, and while I've spent some of my adult years in other states, I ended up back in Indiana again. "Back Home Again In Indiana" is very applicable to me. If you are remotely connected to the news this winter, you know that Indiana and this area of the country has been in the middle of a pretty rough winter... with record low temperatures and heavy snowfall. This afternoon, while shoveling the snow-covered driveway... again... I had this thought.

As the worship leader in a local church, you have to be prepared week after week to lead your congregation into God's presence through the incredible avenue we have in praise and worship! In most cases though, you are not only responsible for getting yourself prepared, but you have a team to get ready... a team of volunteers... with a wide array of experience, knowledge and ability. This can often be an area of serious challenge, and since we are all always looking for suggestions on making this an effective weekly event, I've put together a 10 Commandments for you to abide by in your worship rehearsals that I believe will be very helpful to you.

Yes, it is that time of year again... Christmas! As a worship leader, this is either a time of the year that you look forward to or dread. There is no middle ground. For some, this means an overload of time and rehearsals for a big Christmas production... for others it is just throwing a couple of Christmas carols into the set list on Sundays.

Our goal as we worship at my church is that the time of worship would be effective. "Effective" means producing a definite or desired result, efficient. What is your desired result when you come into a worship service?

The Bible is full of references to praise... times when people offered praise through song, through sacrifice, etc. The Bible also teaches us HOW to praise... when to praise... what praise is and more. We want to give God our best praise, so we need to dig in and learn more about it so we can do it effectively!

I was recently "punked" by both God and a friend regarding my musical gifts and use of them. See, I lead worship every week, singing and playing the keyboard. What some people don't know though is that I'm not really a keyboardist or a singer... I am a saxophonist!

"Here in Your presence, all things are new;  Here in Your presence, everything bows before You..."

These words come from the chorus of a great worship song from New Life Worship (Hosanna! Integrity) called "Here In Your Presence".  Recently, we were singing this in my church and the lyrics hit me a little different than usual.  Yes, bowing is a form of worship and we understand that, but EVERYTHING bows before Him.  Yes, the Bible talks about how even the rocks will cry out if we don't praise Him.  Even beyond His creation bowing before Him... EVERYTHING bows before Him.

There are many things that we as worship leaders consider when building our set list from week to week. Of course, we should be praying about it first and foremost! After that, there are many things to consider as we strive to put together something that will be effective in the worship service. As the worship portion of the service should connect as much as possible with the other aspects of the service... and as we should be setting the stage for what the pastor will be sharing to follow... the consideration of the sermon topic or overall theme of the service should be part of your planning process.