Anyone who is involved in the music ministry in a church knows that there are three things you must always do before you sing.
- You must be prepared. Learn your song. Be well rehearsed. If you’re leading worship for the King of kings you don’t want to give it a half-hearted effort.
- You must get a good sound check. Get there early enough to rehearse with the sound guy so he’s prepared.
- Pray. Get your heart prepared. Be still before the Lord and allow Him to help you focus on Him. Don’t do it in your own strength.
Once you’ve done these things, you’ve done what you can do. It’s in the Lords hands.
This past Sunday the music team that I work with met early, before the church service, for a rehearsal and sound check. One of the girls on the team was going to sing 2 solos during the service, one to start the service and another during the offering. She had rehearsed these songs for weeks and knew them well. She came early and had a great sound check with our sound team. The songs were beautiful. Before the service we all gathered together and spent time in prayer and worship, focusing our thoughts and attention on the Lord. All was going according to our plans. Then we started the church service. We sang a couple of praise songs as people were coming in and the soloist sang her first song. Beautiful and worshipful! Then we sang a few more songs. As we were singing the last congregational song before the offering, one of the guys on our sound team snuck up on the back of the stage and crawled over to the piano where I was. He whispered in my ear that the Cd player wouldn’t read the soloists second song. It was showing a blank disc. He said, “You’re going to have to do something else for the offering.” Then he crawled off.
Here I was, at the piano, playing and singing, and at the same time praying, “Lord what do we do?” I quickly flipped through my music notebook and found a song that we could do. We finished singing and there was a prayer for the offering. I let the music team know what was going on and when the prayer ended we went right into the next song.
As we were singing, I was overwhelmed by the words we were singing that I had quickly decided to add in – “for You reign in this place and You live in our praises.” Yes, the Lord was there and He was orchestrating what would take place in the service. During the message, the sound guys continued to play around with this stubborn disc that wouldn’t play. They finally switched cd players and were able to get it to read. So at the end of the Pastor’s message the soloist was able to sing her second song.
It was perfect and followed his message beautifully. Everyone was in tears and the Lord’s presence was felt. The message of the song was so powerful and clear. We were all amazed. We had a plan for the service and we came prepared. But God had another plan for that service, one that worked so much better. What seemed like problems to us were just changes in our plans to accomplish what He had planned. So plan and be prepared, but remember- God’s plans are best.
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
All things work together for good to them that love God, to them that are the called according to his purpose. (Rom. 8:28)
Isn’t God good! Been there, done that! Know what you mean.
Pray for us! In a new ministry. Need help with Praise & Worship portion of service.
Isn’t it great how the Lord still commands or lives and our plans. He is truly and Awesome God. I am a worship leader at a Christian campground in
a little town in Northern Illinois. We have a Sunday service starting on
Memorial Day and going thru Labor day. I was ask last year to help with the services and I told them I would pray about it. I was scared to step
into the position because it had been about 25 years since I had sang in
front of a group of people. I just ask the Lord to lead the service and I wouild be his instrument and the blessings and joy I received in serving
God is unbelievable. Keep using your check list and believing in the
Lord and he will continue to bless.
In his Love
Billy
Thank you for your comments. Rev. Hogan, I will pray for you and the new ministry you’re a part of. I’ve been at the beginning of forming a Praise team together and getting a praise and worship time incorporated in the service. It’s exciting and difficult at the same time. God will bless your efforts as long as the focus stays on Him. Keep up the good work.
Mr Rodgers, you’ve got a wonderful opportunity from the Lord. Continue to lay your gifts and abilities at His feet for His service and He will continue to use them. We are vessels for His purposes. I’ll be praying for you as you continue your ministry at the campgroud.
God is awesome and He takes the glory for everything! i thank the Lord for His mercies, I recently had a terrible struggle with my choir leader as the songs choices are always altered and in subsequence times, i have faced the point of confusions when after preparations and it is all altered.. well, i had to be calm abit to understand what it was all about and for some times now, i have not had that boldness to take solos or lead praise maybe because of fears of not satisfying the congregation,, please, your prayers and advice
Thank you for comments. Continue to make the most of each opportunity the Lord puts before you,even if things don’t go the way they were planned. We can’t control circumstances but we can determine what type of attitude we will respond with. Ask God to continue to provide opportunites for you to serve Him with your gifts and abilites and whether it’s singing in the choir or doing a solo, do it all for His glory.