I am sitting in our youth center as people go through the prayer path. Its kinds like the labyrinth with stations that offer a way for you to interact. On one you hold a rock over a bucket of water and imagine all your worries are on the rock. When you let to it symbolizes letting go of your troubles and watching them get washed away. One station has Amal of the world and post it notes. Participants are asked to write down a prayer concern fit someone it a situatiin in the world and place their post it on that spot, hopefully covering the world in prayer.
In the background I have played a song by Wayne Kerr called so good.
“These words are not enough, these songs are not enough to tell you just how try good you are.”
The reason I can write them down is because I have heard the song over and over. You might think I would be tired of It or bored but the opposite is true. I look forward to it. I find comfort in the words I already know and I look forward to learning the rest if the song. As I become familiar I can then worship through the song. I think I have to learn it first and know what the words are before I can get the real meaning of the whole song.
As a worship leader it makes me think about the song lists I use for worship. Am I doing a new song lists each week of the latest songs? If I do different songs am I giving the congregation time to learn them, to internalize them and to worship through them? Would it be better to reuse some songs each week? Would it help people to worship more if they did not feel like they had to learn something new all the time? How would this affect our praise team?
Its definitely something to think about. What do you think?
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The eternal (well, as long as were here) question for worship song leaders….sing one they know or sing a new one that’s great…? I’ll paraphrase my mom in saying that I love singing new songs that are great worship songs – in the last five years I’ve discovered new classics like Holy is the Lord, How Great is Our God, Blessed be The Name, You Said, and Oh the Glory of it All….but I also find great comfort in singing old hymns that have been sung by millions of Christians before me…even if it is worn out…but I can’t think of any hymns that I’m tired of…….it’s the same with worship songs that are getting old…even though i may be tired of certain songs (you can probably name some…cause you’ve know) but i find comfort in knowing that it was sung (and often written by) someone that paved the way Christian music today…like a Rich Mullins, Rebecca St. James, Amy Grant, or Michael W. Smith…….i may cringe when some of the older songs that I sang WAY too much at church camps are requested, but then I remember that it’s not about me…it’s about offering praise to a God that would do anything for us…yes, even sing a worn out song.
ps- for some reason, facebook wouldn’t let me comment on this note…which is where i read it.