Sunday Morning Worship
http://www.called2music.com/articles/950/1/Sunday-Morning-Worship/Page1.html
Junjie Huang
What do you get when you put together the mind of a philosophy major, the heart of a Bible teacher, the hands of a musician and more than 14 years in the worship ministry?You get the kind of person who teaches what others don’t.
Junjie Huang is a graduate from National University of Singapore, (B.A.), a multi-instrument musician and, in his own words, a “die-hard nonconformist”. He has served and ministered in a wide range of settings, from small groups to prayer meetings to church services both in small churches and mega-churches. He also enjoys imparting his understanding and skills in worship to those who have the desire to serve God in the worship ministry.
He has both a love for the Scriptures and a penchant for asking uncomfortable questions and can frequently be found pondering Bible questions that other people don’t really think much about.
In his free time (“free time? What’s that? Sounds like an interesting concept…”) Junjie enjoys learning new things, training in ancient methods of Japanese conflict resolution and imparting his wisdom and insights to his two sons, Jessiah and Jacques.
To learn more about the craft of leading worship and other aspects of worship ministry, go to http://www.
By Junjie Huang
Published on 09/2/2008
Why is it so important to structure worship songs correctly? To understand why this is so important you need to understand the Sunday Morning Scenario, the typical family going to church on a Sunday morning.
Sunday Morning Scenario:
First, they all wake up late.
Mum frantically rushes through the house, trying to get everyone up because they really overslept this time. Everyone washes up hurriedly, gulps down breakfast and then spends the next half-an-hour waiting for Mum to finish putting on her make-up. Dad is impatiently tapping his fingers, pacing up and down, before he blurts out a sarcastic comment on how much time she’s taking for make-up and how no one is going to be looking at her anyway. Once Mum snaps back about how Dad is leaving her alone to manage everything while he reads the newspaper, the full-fledged quarrel erupts.
And the kids stand there, watching Dad and Mum argue about getting to church on time to worship God.
Because they no longer have time to take the bus or train, they have to take a taxi down to church. Because that is faster but more expensive, Dad and Mum are feeling the pinch right now. It’s only a matter of time before one of them says something like “If you would get ready only just a few minutes earlier, we can take the bus down and we wouldn’t have to spend all this money.” And once the rejoinder comes, usually “Well, if you took the job I wanted you to take instead of the other one, we’d have more than enough money now for all these expenses!” the next full-fledged quarrel erupts.
And now the kids AND the cab driver are just sitting there in the cab, watching Dad and Mum argue about getting to church to worship God.
By the time they all pile out of the cab and walk into the church, they are all usually oppressed, condemned and feeling lousy. They enter the church and discover that the worship leader and musicians have been fasting and praying forty days and forty nights and are on a spiritual high, all ready to storm the heavenlies. The worship team blasts off to Planet Worship, leaving Mum, Dad and the rest of the congregation (who had a similar kind of Sunday morning) back on Planet Earth wondering what happened…
And if you think this is bad, how about a weekday prayer meeting, midweek service or a small group meeting? Some of the people who turn up have either been yelled at by their bosses or clients, or even worse, been the boss or client that did all the yelling in a very un-Christ-like fashion. Imagine being the boss that told the secretary to lie to a client on the phone about not being in the office. And after that telling that same secretary that he’s heading off for bible study meeting…
Of course most worship leaders are not blockheads. They can tell if the congregation isn’t responding to the worship leading. But their usual reaction is either to pray more, play louder or exhort the congregation more. (And if all that doesn’t work it’s back to all the fasting and praying again). How about just starting on the singing but giving the people enough time on each song for the song lyrics to go from the head down into their hearts?
Yes, often times that is all it takes for the people to connect with God in worship, a worship leader who gives them enough time to stay on a song. And how will you know if that has happened? You can see it. In Psalm 96, it says “honor and majesty go before you, strength and beauty are in your sanctuary.” Because we are the temple of God, in which he dwells in by his Spirit, when we connect with God in worship his strength and beauty start to radiate from within us.
If you have been leading worship long enough and had those occasions when you lead the worship well, you will have seen it yourself and know what I mean. The people’s faces seem to have this glow emanating from within, and it’s as if your eyes are suddenly opened to an added dimension when you can see this. It’s an awesome sight to behold.
Mum frantically rushes through the house, trying to get everyone up because they really overslept this time. Everyone washes up hurriedly, gulps down breakfast and then spends the next half-an-hour waiting for Mum to finish putting on her make-up. Dad is impatiently tapping his fingers, pacing up and down, before he blurts out a sarcastic comment on how much time she’s taking for make-up and how no one is going to be looking at her anyway. Once Mum snaps back about how Dad is leaving her alone to manage everything while he reads the newspaper, the full-fledged quarrel erupts.
And the kids stand there, watching Dad and Mum argue about getting to church on time to worship God.
Because they no longer have time to take the bus or train, they have to take a taxi down to church. Because that is faster but more expensive, Dad and Mum are feeling the pinch right now. It’s only a matter of time before one of them says something like “If you would get ready only just a few minutes earlier, we can take the bus down and we wouldn’t have to spend all this money.” And once the rejoinder comes, usually “Well, if you took the job I wanted you to take instead of the other one, we’d have more than enough money now for all these expenses!” the next full-fledged quarrel erupts.
And now the kids AND the cab driver are just sitting there in the cab, watching Dad and Mum argue about getting to church to worship God.
By the time they all pile out of the cab and walk into the church, they are all usually oppressed, condemned and feeling lousy. They enter the church and discover that the worship leader and musicians have been fasting and praying forty days and forty nights and are on a spiritual high, all ready to storm the heavenlies. The worship team blasts off to Planet Worship, leaving Mum, Dad and the rest of the congregation (who had a similar kind of Sunday morning) back on Planet Earth wondering what happened…
And if you think this is bad, how about a weekday prayer meeting, midweek service or a small group meeting? Some of the people who turn up have either been yelled at by their bosses or clients, or even worse, been the boss or client that did all the yelling in a very un-Christ-like fashion. Imagine being the boss that told the secretary to lie to a client on the phone about not being in the office. And after that telling that same secretary that he’s heading off for bible study meeting…
Of course most worship leaders are not blockheads. They can tell if the congregation isn’t responding to the worship leading. But their usual reaction is either to pray more, play louder or exhort the congregation more. (And if all that doesn’t work it’s back to all the fasting and praying again). How about just starting on the singing but giving the people enough time on each song for the song lyrics to go from the head down into their hearts?
Yes, often times that is all it takes for the people to connect with God in worship, a worship leader who gives them enough time to stay on a song. And how will you know if that has happened? You can see it. In Psalm 96, it says “honor and majesty go before you, strength and beauty are in your sanctuary.” Because we are the temple of God, in which he dwells in by his Spirit, when we connect with God in worship his strength and beauty start to radiate from within us.
If you have been leading worship long enough and had those occasions when you lead the worship well, you will have seen it yourself and know what I mean. The people’s faces seem to have this glow emanating from within, and it’s as if your eyes are suddenly opened to an added dimension when you can see this. It’s an awesome sight to behold.