Part 2

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> So that … As we paint this compelling picture of God, as a result, we aim to achieve the following. It’s the worship rhythm of revelation and response. Our worship is in response to what we see and know of God.

> i. the gathered church may be motivated to … As worship leaders, we cannot inspire a worshipful response; only the Holy Spirit can do that. We shouldn’t use guilt or manipulative techniques to try to force a worshipful response. Rather, we use words, songs, prayers and other elements to point to God. We allow our own natural passions for God to shine through as they emerge from a relationship with him that we regularly invest in.

> …to engage whole-heartedly with God … our purpose as we join together is to proclaim truths about God through our songs, to shore ourselves up with that great ballast of objective truth. We declare to ourselves, to each other, to a watching world and to God these great truths of our faith. But, our aim is not just to be aware of these truths, but to be amazed by them; we aren’t just checking in with God, we are cherishing our relationship with him. We seek to have a deep theological understanding of God that naturally overflows in expressions of heart-felt, joy-filled passion for God.

> …to seek to edify one another … As corporate worship is clearly a corporate activity, we stand united with the family of Christ as we sing. That’s one reason why singing can be so useful. It allows us to express ourselves in one voice, reinforcing that unity that is ours in Christ. As we sing songs of truth and hope, we express our love for one another as we help to strengthen the faith of those who are faltering. We can encourage the timid; we can spur on the fearful. As leaders, we will want to be as pastorally sensitive as possible, choosing songs carefully, considering the words and phrases we use, so that we might be of help and blessing to those gathered.

> …that spills out into worship service in all aspects of our lives … worship doesn’t start when we gather as the church, nor does it end as we sing our last song. Worship that is acceptable to God is worship that invades all aspects of our lives. Out goal as worship leaders is to facilitate this challenge; to put into people’s mouths the words that will allow them to express the devotion of all their lives and the words that remind them of the great strength of our God who empowers the very obedience he demands.

> ii. Unbelievers may hear the hope and challenge of the gospel … The second goal of painting this compelling picture God through our songs is that we might communicate to unbelievers present God’s great worth by expressing his diverse attributes, but most notably his atoning work on the cross. As we sing and celebrate these objective truths, expressed in an intelligible way that doesn’t default into our secret language of Christian clichés and terminology, we can communicate to those watching something of the magnificence of God and the Holy Spirit can be working in their lives to stir hearts in response to these truths.

> Celebrated and lived out in the worshipping community around them … but, again, we are seeking to do more that stating truth. Through our heart-felt, passion-filled response, the believers gathered together have an opportunity to show the value of the truths we are declaring, to demonstrate to worth we place on the God we worship. If this grows out of obedient lives of worship, then our corporate worship can be a wonderful witness to the supreme excellence we place on God above all of his gifts that we enjoy.

More details can be found about all of this in the third part of the Encounter course for worship leaders.
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