You aren’t a worship leader… you’re just singing.

This is Preaching, Already , Worship is everything to God, in doing His will. But God LOOKS at the HEART❤❤

Stop singing for a moment and see if you've got the whole assembly singing in praise, that's how you know! The best Sundays for me are when there is no drummer and you can hear the whole congregation singing.

I just recently "retired" from church worship. I played electric guitar for about 15 years in worship and played for 30 years in bar bands prior to that. I like most of what you said here and would just like to embellish that with my wisdom learned over the years. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 1) First and foremost, why do we worship God? Because He is worthy of praise and worship and there is great power in vocally praising and worshiping Him. 2) You didn't "just replace the battery". Put a new battery in your acoustic guitar before you go live. 3) I like what you said about picking keys and centering around C. Here's another helpful tool: Look at the men during worship. Are they singing? If not, drop that song a half or full step the next time you play it. 4) Speaking of singing: Your congregation can't sing in 6 octaves, so why are you? And just stop it with the "oohs", "aahs" and "millennial whoops". Just stop. 5) Picking songs. I've played for some worship leaders that were outstanding at this, but I've played for some that just didn't get it. For example, one worship leader picked songs from the current K-Love hit list with the help of her daughter. Consequently, the worship set was very feminine. Remember, half the congregation is male. Another liked a music style that I can only describe as "Russian Synth Pop". He claimed that he was aiming for the youngsters in the congregation (don't they always say that?) when the congregation had an average age of ~40 and was rural (wore cowboy boots and hats). 6) For the instrumentalists: At a rehearsal, one of the vocalists turned around, pointed her finger at me and declared: "He's not playing the song like the mp3!!" The worship leader, not missing a beat, said "...the mp3 is merely a suggestion." Learn to improvise. Yes, there are those parts of the song that need to be played note-4-note, but learn when and when not to improv. These are the places that Holy Spirit shines through. 7) For the guitarists: You don't need to sound like the guitarist on the mp3 that you're trying to emulate. You don't need a myriad of patches on your pedal board that keeps you tap dancing through worship. Rather, build YOUR sound. If you're using a multi-effects unit (which most of us are) start with an amplifier/cabinet set that YOU like. Spend a minute dialing in the tone. Add reverb, again dial it in to YOUR taste. That's your basic template. Then add an overdrive that YOU like, then some delay. That should be all you need for 95% of your worship gigs. Also, you don't need to play fast; you need to play tastefully. Let the Spirit lead you on that (just ask Him and He'll help). Just tell yourself this: Lincoln Brewster should be copying ME, not the other way around! 8) Tracks: When I first started in worship it was roaring amps and wedge monitors on the stage and an unshackled drum set. Lots of stage wash. Then the "silent stage" crept in and we went to in-ear monitors, multi-effects, and put the drums inside sneeze screens. There were immediate benefits like the click and cue tracks and it made it easier for the soundman to control the sound. Then backing tracks started to pop up. It started with maybe a keyboard pad to help Pam on Piano, or a touch of the London Symphony Orchestra to give the song that extra something, but recently tracks are being used to replace musicians such that the musician is merely a prop on stage. This needs to stop, period. The idea that the Holy Spirit is working through the stage musician is being killed with this practice. If you look on some Youtube musician pages you'll see that this is happening out in the secular music world, too. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I think that's enough out of me for now. Take what you can use and leave the rest, God bless!

I agree. A worshipful heart must come first. In Luke 4:8 Jesus placed worshipping God before serving Him. Sme with Psalms 150.

I always allow the Holy Spirit room for improv moments. Each week He'll put a simple old song on my heart while I'm leading that everyone knows - like "I Love You Lord," "Nothing But The Blood," "I Exalt Thee" etc. No slides, no lyrics to stare at on screen; everyone can just close their eyes, or do whatever, and focus solely on singing to Him together. Those are some powerful moments. Keep speaking the truth in your videos Spencer. As Paul said to Timothy...Preach The Word!

I am guilty of the gear thing. But I believe its important to the modern ear to have that too. But you are spot on.

One thing I've learn as Music Director as that a Worship Leader is a pastor without the title "Pastor" If you can't lead you team to worship, what make you think that you can lead a Congregation? I learn that at a worship convention.

I totally agree. I have stepped aside from leading and am just an electric guitar player at my church (because the leadership wanted that). I still see my talents being used for God, but the emphasis isn't on title or position or credit. I'd much prefer a curtain be put in front of me, but I can still lead worship in my own way.

Great topic. Great title. Well done.

Really good information! Thank you for your insightful thoughts!

Excellent information!!!😊 Thank you!

Wow! This was exactly what I needed to hear today. It’s so close to a conversation I had today after church. Not only does it hit a little hard in the ego but you helped me to see what I’m doing right too which helps so much with self confidence. Thank you. I know what I need to work on this week!

Good insight. As a member of my church’s worship team I understand the challenges of trying to get the whole congregation to enter in “together as one body” into Gods presence. When you are a true worship leader you will have a burden for the corporate expression of unified praise toward God our Father. I believe that many churches have bought into the idea that Praise teams need to be the spiritual form of “ American Idol” needing to showcase their musical prowess competing with other worship teams or even trying to copy each other without seeking how God wants them to be within their local church body. Christians have started to idolize the singers and praise the worship artist rather than the One who is supposed to be praised… Jesus Christ. Thank you for posting this message and trying to keep worship leaders grounded in humility and reverence towards God and not be pleasers of men.

This is so good!

what a nice teaching .

I love this

Good stuff!!

Well, thank YouTube for putting this up front for me this morning. As a former guitar player for the “alternative adult ministry” (more modern service) of a prominent megachurch, I can certainly relate and know the tension between wanting to be a rock star and wanting to worship Jesus and his church. But here’s the catch 22 on this whole thing… the ONE reason why no one is a “worship leader” just might be that there is no god to worship. I judge this is the actual underlying tension people don’t deal with, they just suppress it (ironically).

Good word. It's always fitting to examine our own hearts, especially when we're commissioned to lead God's people. Thanks for the iron sharpening in this message. P.S. I love the C to C concept. It's so helpful when it comes to choosing a key.

I agree with portions of this. You definitely want your heart to be in the right place... but you're adding a lot of qualifications to define that which I don't necessarily think are biblical. Worship leaders can be very effective, for instance, without ever saying a word to the congregation. Being a good communicator is an entirely different skill and it's great if they have that and can incorporate it, but by no means is it indicative of whether they're "just singing songs."