Our Call to Worship

Recently, my wife and I attended an event for worship leaders.  I was hesitant to attend, as the role of 'worship leader' barely makes my top 10 list of job responsibilities.  Despite my hesitation, I was glad I attended this event and would like to share a few thoughts in response on the topic of worship.
First, worship is not just for the musicians among us.  We are all called to be worshippers.  The great model of a worshipper in the Bible is David.  He was a courageous warrior, strong leader and a worshipper of God.  God called David, "a man after my own heart," even though he had his failings.  In every church there are some who enjoy singing more than others.  May I encourage those among us, less gifted musically, to make every effort to grow as a worshipper of God.  David was a more courageous  warrior because he knew the God of the universe through his time worshipping on a daily basis.  May David be our example.
At the worship event, one of the leaders mentioned that worship leaders needed to be trilingual.  They needed to know the language of music, the language of the Scriptures and the language of culture.  Churches benefit when its worship leaders pursue excellence in musical skills, excellence in knowing what the Bible teaches, and excellence in speaking to our cultural experience. 
To this point, I am grateful for those who are a part of our worship ministry at Fort Lee Gospel Church.  The group meets to practice every Saturday and work on the musical technicali

ties.  There is good fellowship and a growing maturity within the group.  There is still room to grow and I encourage the church to pray for God's blessing on the worship ministry as well as God's protection of those who lead us.  The enemy desires to destroy what brings people closer to God.
I would also paraphrase a statement I heard at the worship event.  "Satan will gladly let us sing the music we like if he can have our children and grandchildren."  Too many of us judge the music we hear in church by whether or not we like it.  The point was made that we should not be so selfish when we evaluate worship music. 
We have plenty of work to do in this area as a church.  Our youth and children should be learning to be worshippers among us.  Our church has the added challenge of cultural diversity where it is impossible to please everyone with any one style of music.  Our church incorporates a number of styles of music into each service.  Pray that we can continue to grow in this area.
In closing, worship is closely tied to our experience of joy in the Christian life.  The worship event I attended included plenty of singing.  It was almost impossible to leave feeling down after time focused heavenward.  In the words of the Psalmist, "Sing to the Lord a new song,; sing to the Lord all the earth. . . For great is the Lord and most worthy of praise." (Ps 96:1,4)

-Pastor Rick