or those that did not get to know me last Wednesday, my name is Art Sauer and I am your new Choir Director. I can give you details about who I am in person, but let me take a few sentences to charge my heart with you. My heart is for each of you to worship God and lead others in worship. In order to lead others in worship, you must be first worshipping the One true God first. Let me share with you what I believe God says about worship.
Worship is not necessarily music. Music is a clear tool to worship, but not all music is worship and not all worship involves music. There are a good many people that are serving in the preschool area that are worshipping just as much as the person on stage. One of my favorite passages in Scripture is:
Psalm 46:10 - “Be still and know that I am God.”
Is it possible to be still and worship? Being still is not part of many people’s regular routine. I may need to explain being still. When I first read this verse I imagined a Buddhist monk, with his legs crossed, eyes closed, and chanting. That is a version of being still. Being still in this verse means to “drop down, sink, relax.” Ironically, the Bible tells us to “chill out” and know that He is God. So first we have to literally push “pause” on our lives to know God.
We are a busy people. Cell phones, laptops, clock watching, alarm clock people. We enjoy microwaved bacon, fast food, immediate emails, texts, Twitter, and online chatting. We want it fast and we wanted it yesterday! God tells us to relax. It is only through quiet, silent, slowing down of life that we can ever really know God.
Think of Elijah.
[11] Then He said, "Go out, and stand on the mountain before the LORD." And behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the LORD, [but] the LORD [was] not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, [but] the LORD [was] not in the earthquake; [12] and after the earthquake a fire, [but] the LORD [was] not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice. - (1 Kings 19:11-12 NKJV)
God speaks often times so quietly in our busy lives that we cannot hear Him. The verse doesn’t say to hear Him, but to know Him. What does it mean to know God?
To “know” God in this verse is a personal relationship with Him. This isn’t a casual acquaintance. This is an intimate knowledge that only comes through spending time with God.
So what does “being still” and “knowing God” have to do with worship? If your not spending time to know who God is, or taking time to listen, you are worshipping something else. What is it that takes more time in your life, or more influence in your life, than God? It could be your job. It could be your family. It could even be the work of the church.
As lead worshippers, we are expected to take time and prepare ourselves to lead other people to the throne of God. If we are not there ourselves, how can we lead people to somewhere we’re not regularly going? I pray, through the weeks and months ahead, that we give, not just time, but our lives to God so that we are able to take others with us each week as we stand leading in praise each week.
God Bless,
Art
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