Choosing Worship Songs: Determine the Message

Previously during this little “mini-series” of posts, I’ve talked about the direction of the song and whether it’s horizontal or veritical.  We’ve also looked at the whole issue of musical styles in worship.  Another HUGELY important aspect of selecting worship songs, is considering the direction of the message your pastor is assembling.

What’s the Message?

Each Sunday I try and make sure to listen to the message, if I can’t focus on it each week due to other duties during the service, I try and download the audio file from our church website.  Take time to talk with your pastor about the state of the flock and listen closely to what the needs are for him and for your church.  The things you hear will help determine what message the church needs to sing about each week. As you serve as worship leader, you begin to learn that the role of a worship leader is to serve the church  by supporting the vision God has given the Sr. Pastor.

When I assemble the “worship set” on Sunday, I usually set the list of music before me, pray, then begin searching for the appropriate songs for the message that week.  Some Sunday’s require more songs about God’s grace, while other weeks may be a time to praise God for his faithfulness.  Is this Sunday a week needed for music that directly addresses the Lord?  Or is it a week to dwell and meditate on the truth of God and His nature?

So this is just another step in choosing worship songs.  Praying about the needs of your church and pastor are key in determining what songs need to be sung to support the message.  My next step is determine the flow of the service.  Gets a little more technical.  Hopefully this is not too boring.  I know it’s not thrilling, but hey, it’s just a snapshot of the whole worship assembly process.  If you have any ideas or thoughts, I’d love to hear them!

Originally posted on August 4, 2005 on Ben’s blog at BabuLife.blogs.com

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