Preparing A Great Worship Set with I Am They
Featuring I Am They, Essential Music Publishing Posted on January 15, 2015
Preparing A Great Worship Set: WEBINAR NOTES
1. Where do we want to start?
We start with thanks. That is a place to build from
Psalm 100
• Come before Him with joyful shouts and singing
• Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise. Give thanks and bless His name
Our purpose is to:
• Lift up the name of Jesus
• Recognize who He is
2. Focus on the Greatness (exalting who He is in His splendor) & Grace of God (how and where His greatness meets and collides with us)
• Our hearts focus and our minds eye is to focus on the greatness of who He is
• He is God I am not - important place to land before we go anywhere else
• We should approach God with reverence in all we are doing. We don’t want to give him our table scraps. We should be going before Him with sureness and that He is Abba Father, our Redeemer and friend
• Adoration is built in and the awe and wonder of hat He has done in our life
• Getting your heart to a place where you are correct in the circumstance. Knowing that He is the God of the universe
• Understanding that God cares about 2 or 3 or whoever shows up, we go into with he same heart and passion for it no matter what
3. What is the context of the service?
• Is there a passage of scripture to tune our hearts into thematically through the songs?
• What message do we need to journey to or through collectively?
• Understanding where the pastor is going, a passage of scripture a place where we can tune our hearts in thematically.
4. Be real
Let worship happen
• Let the worship be real
• There is an extent that we can go to plan a worship set, but if it goes past that point it becomes in-organic and genuine
Cultivate intimacy and a connection with God (heart, mind, soul, strength).
• It is crucial that the worship leader can find that connection with God and makes that first
Prepare song transitions. If songs are dots - connect the dots.
• Don’t get caught up in the transitions
• Don’t be so concerned about everyone else that might be out there
• It is easy to get into the rut of being robotic
• Prepare to be authentic and be in the moment. Responsive, not pre-calculated
5. Choose songs that people:
1. Can sing
2. Want to sing
3. Need to sing
4. Don’t continuously introduce new music
Maybe 1 or 2 new songs, 1 or 2 old favs, 1 or 2 hymns and/or tags
Tips for helping things be excellent but organic at the same time. Finding the balance between the organic and production.
- The best songs are the ones that you can sit down with a guitar or piano and voice and lead your people into the presence of God with. If the song requires a “production” then it misses the mark. You can add those things to it and still keep the heart of the song, but it needs to be an addition, not the main point.
• Don’t stop using the lights and the production, but check yourself to be sure that you can still do the songs with the production
• The design should never be taking away our focus from the Lord
• It should not be distracting
• Ask yourself; does it take away from the worship?
• It should drive a point home
• It should be visually pleasing, but it should be subtle
• The least amount of distraction but still drive the point home
• Even playing drums or an instrument - it is subtle, what contributes to the set
and the song. The decor should be the same thing; it should not be the highlight or a solo, it should be subtle
Additional Notes:
• Worship is not about you - it is about God!
"As soon as worship becomes about you, we will let you know” Judah Smith
• Worship is about the glory of God and the edification and then unification of His church.
• A heart of worship is a heart of service and faithfulness.
• A worship leader’s job is to unify your team to a heart of worship whether it be in the singers, musicians, tech teams etc.
Download the powerpoint here
Category: Webinars
Tags: Worship, Set Lists, Worship Service