On Holy Ground - Handout

Here's the talk outline of the music min workshop in the last Metro Manila Conference '09 in Baguio given by Jason de Guzman:

ON HOLY GROUND:

EXPERIENCING HEAVEN ON EARTH THROUGH WORSHIP

“Do not come any closer," God said. "Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground." Then he said, "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob." At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God” – Ex 3:5-6

Objectives:

1) To prepare music ministers for leading worship that is consistent, powerful and effective in bringing people closer to Heaven through music

2) To be able to identify the rightful place of the music ministry in the life of the community

3) To identify elements which are essential to preparing for worship, as well as those which tend to distract rather than facilitate worship

4) To incorporate worship as an integral part of the life of music ministers, not just during practice or when preparing for an event

5) To provide a tool to objectively gauge the state of their music ministries

A) How do you define worship?

• part of gatherings where we sing slow songs (praise and worship)
• reverence offered a divine being or supernatural power ; also : an act of expressing such reverence

B) Essentials of worship leading:

• Heart – we worship out of our relationship with God
• Experiences – we sing truths based on our experiences
• Openness – we are clay in God’s hands, open to His will;
• Humility – we claim no credit, all glory to God
• Attitude of service – we are there to serve, not to show off

C) What makes a music ministry effective?

Music ministry is:

• not a chance to gain popularity or to get noticed
• not a place to show off our talents
• not a performance
• not a school where we go to learn music for music’s sake

• a chance to use your talents for God’s glory
• a testimony to who God is and what He has done
• a responsibility to your brothers and sisters

Define what your goals are. Some goals would be:

• to provide a vehicle for the congregation to declare their love, adoration, prayers, fears through music
• to unite the congregation through song in expressing truths about who God is to us
• to give the congregation a venue where they can enjoy God’s presence, manifesting the truth that God is a happy God!

D) Some things that hinder us from worshipping in Spirit and Truth:

• being distracted by physical concerns
• Logistics (band set-up, projector, sound system)
• Musical arrangement (blending, changes)
• Image (how we look/sound)
• feelings of unworthiness
• being affected by “who” is leading us

E) Guide in song selection:

Songs can be grouped loosely according to the following themes:

• Songs of wonder – songs that bring us to worship God simply for who He is
• Songs of victory – songs that celebrate past and present victories or future victories that we claim in faith
• Songs of anguish – songs that bring our feelings of despair to God, and that express our hope in what He has in store for us
• Songs of gratitude – songs that thank God for all the graces we have received from Him
• Prophetic songs – songs based on God’s promises, prophesying about things that are yet to be fulfilled
• Songs of remembrance – songs that commemorate God’s goodness in our lives
• Songs of trust – songs that express a great confidence in God despite what may be happening around us
• Songs of commitment – songs that express both commitment and recommitment to doing what pleases God and to becoming more like Christ

The sound of Heaven is worship, for all eternity,

and we yearn to bring the sound of Heaven to earth.

Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven!

Teaching of Songs

As a first technical topic, I want to discuss this basic function of the music ministry, the Teaching of songs. Almost all our assemblies require at least a song or two to be taught before the opening worship.

So to start with, here are some tips when teaching a new song:

1. Give a short background of the song.

It is very important to relay to our brothers and sisters what the meaning of the song is. Having a good knowledge of what the song conveys will definitely set the hearts of our community once we sing it in our worship.

It's also much better if we have personal experiences or sharings that you can relate to the song. That way, people will be able to feel the power of the song and eventually lead them in seeking the word of God through its lyrics.

2. Play and sing the new song.

Let our brothers and sisters hear the song with the complete sequence as how we should sing it in worship. Since we're offering our service to God, make sure that we practice the song well so we can play/sing it with excellence. (performance level ika nga :P)

3. Teach line by line or by logical parts

Do you know the strategy Divide and Conquer? To put it simply, you teach the song where people can recall the melody easily. You try to sing in logical parts and let the people repeat it. For example in this song, Fix My Eyes, the stanza goes like this:

Amazing Lord of all,

the one and true divine

Who came and died for me

So I can be as free

When teaching you can break it into:

Amazing Lord of all, the one and true divine

AND

Who came and died for me so I can be as free

If based from these lines, people easily get the tune OR we don't have enough time, then you can adjust by teaching both lines immediately.

4. Repeat difficult parts of the song

If there are parts of the song that you know will be difficult to recall, it is a good practice to make the people repeat that particular sequence. One example could be the stanza of Forever:

I'll Worship at Your Throne
Whisper my own love song
With all my heart I'll sing
For You my Dad and King
I'll live for all my days
To Put a smile on Your face
And when we finally meet
It'll be for eternity

Notice that this song has a lot of words and variety in melody that ordinary people cannot get immediately. So a good way to teach this is go to step #3 (break into at least two parts) and then repeat repeat and repeat until people get used to the tune.

5. Sing the whole song at least twice if time permits.

Sing the song for the last time so as to recall it before going into worship.

Essentially, our main goal is to make it easier for our brothers and sisters to worship once we use the song in prayer since the more we're familiar with the song, the more we can relate it in our lives and use it to speak to God.

Setting Our Hearts...

For the past few days, before I started with this blog, I'm wondering what could be a good article to start with. What could be that one blog that a music ministry member should know before moving on to his/her mission?

Tonight, I just came from the SFC band rehearsal preparing for the upcoming MMC at Baguio. Despite working from 8 am to 7pm, attending the practice is far from being tiring. Why? Simply beause it's not just a simple band rehearsal... It is a worship experience.

Worship experience???

Worship does not stop when your sticks stop drumming, or your fingers cease plucking the strings nor your voicebox stop vibrating. It is a continuous experience of God on the things we are doing.

With the rehearsal, I found myself transported to that place where all of us channelled our love for God into the beautiful sound that each of our instrument produces...

making us feel his presence in a tangible way...

replenishing our worn out bodies from the tiring day...

translating what our heart feels to what God wants to say...

So what's the point?

In order for us to be effective in our ministry, it's our love for God that should be our primary reason in serving, because if our heart is in tune with Him, we'll be able to lead His people effortlessly.

Topics you want...

As I'm on my journey in providing tips for all of us, I just wanted to get your thoughts on certain tips you want to read. Be it technical, spiritual or even relational.

Please leave your comments on I'll make sure that I can incorporate some of the suggestions you have in my succeeding articles.

Welcome!!!

Hello!!!

This site is dedicated to all music ministers in the world working very hard in leading the people of God in worship. Making sure that for every beat of the drum, pluck of the guitar strings or vibration of the vocal chords be excellent in God's ears.

Though I named the site for SFC Singles for Christ, a catholic charismatic community started in the Philippines, every one who wishes to comment and view these pages to learn and contribute to the Christian music industry is very welcome. Hope your experience in going to this site will provide more suggestions to your own music ministry in order to be better.

God bless everyone!!!