Q & A Worship - Matt Redman

Q. & A. on WORSHIP by Matt Redman I am a worship leader at my church and I know that God has given me the gift to write songs, but I can't seem to finish one. How do you start? With the melody or the words? I guess I also need to set aside some time to concentrate as well. I'm kind of frustrated! Help! - Priscilla Teagle Redman: Getting started and getting finished probably are the 2 hardest parts of writing a song! Getting started for me always has some kind of 'seed' idea that pops into my head. Maybe it's just one verse from scripture, which seems to have alot you could wrap around that idea in a song. Or maybe it's a theme you heard your pastor speaks on. Those kinds of things can be the seeds of songs - and you have to learn how to craft melodies, lyrics and section from that point on. I let someone else (my wife, or friends etc) decide on whether the song is finished or not! We have quite a bit of advice for songwriters in The Heart of Worship Files and Inside Out Worship (both published by Regal). Or you could check out Paul Baloche's new co-written book which is all about writing worship songs and is packed with very practical advice. I hope that helps. How do you go about writing a song? I know you recieve revelation and something that has stirred in your heart. But how do you form that into a song that expresses that? - Scott Warren Redman: One novel writer once said, "Write with the door closed. Re-write with the door open". I think that's great advice we can apply to writing worship songs too. Get in a room with the word of God at hand, and sing out what you see. Let the beginning of a song be an overflow of your hearts towards God. But then open up the door and think of where the song is going to, and who will in theory be singing it. Check that the lyrics make sense, and that it's really something people would want to sing before God in worship. Make sure the tune works too - and that people find it to be a good vehicle to carry the lyrics. Also, invite people through the door - perhaps your pastor, or another lead worshipper, and ask them to comment on the strengths of the song and the places it could be improved. All these processes will help get the song ready for the congregation. I understand that a song leader is necessary, but my question is as part of the worship team, how can one get the leader to understand that they are not the only person that should have involvement in the leading process and that it is a team effort. We can't be heard in the singing and often the playing because the leader is, I guess in my opinion, far too dominant. It leaves one with the feeling that perhaps some other opportunity to be of service elsewhere would be the proper thing to do. Please help. What resources are available for training purposes? - Diana Evege Redman: Wow - this is a hot potato! Many people have opinions and preferences on all this stuff and really you have to take it right back to the foundations - i.e. the vision and values of the church, in regard to gathered worship. This is one to discuss with your pastor - a discussion about how loud things are and whether that volume suits the values of the church - especially in relation to the value of every believer joining in, and the value concerning teamwork in the music team. Having not been in the service, I probably can't comment any further. How do you encourage people to worship without being 'forceful'? I always say that a good lead worshipper leads strongly enough so that people follow, but not so strongly that they themselves become the focus. Possibly the best way to encourage people to worship is simply to model it. In other words, set an example for the believers to follow. However there will also be times when we need to encourage people further - some sort of nonforceful exhortation to throw themselves into worshipping God wholeheartedly. Never a rebuke, just gentle pastoring. And not too often as it becomes self-defeating. Another good way to inspire people into worship is to really convey what is going on - ie read out parts of Revelation 4 and 5 for example and explain that we don't just come to a church building today and earthly things - but before the very throne the God of heaven.

I have heard you and other lead worshippers talk about using a liturgy during your times of worship. Can you please elaborate on what that liturgy consists of and the benefits of using it in worship? Thanks. Liturgy is a great way of having some kind of planned journey in congregational worship. In some ways all church streams have a 'liturgy' - ie a model they follow week by week. I guess the main difference is some people have an accidental one (ie a routine they slipped into!) and other people follow a more planned approach. For example, the Anglican church has a church year which it follows, plus a number of set prayers and faith declarations etc to mark the various stages of our gathered worship journey. There are a number of strengths in having some kind of planned liturgy. For example: i) Liturgy helps us mark the seasons. The Anglican 'church year' model tries to ensure that there is a breadth and a depth in our worship - and that we don't miss out celebrating vitals parts of what we should be - for example, Adevent, Christmas, Easter, the Ascension of Christ, Pentecost, etc etc. ii) Pieces of spoken liturgy also make sure that we don't miss out vital parts of theology. It's inevitable we will have theological gaps of some kind in a worship service - as we could never include every single thing that is true about God in one meeting! But liturgy seeks to ensure as healthy a 'worship diet' as possible. Having said this, these set liturgical pieces do not necessarily have to be something followed rigidly, every single week, to the letter. If you like to do that, fantastic. My favorite environments personally have been where we've had these pieces ready in the background, like foundations - and we've brought them to the forefront at appropriate times - but they have not dominated our times together or made us become too rigid and inflexible. So we've had a kinds of 'theologically-informed freedom', which I love. I usually perform my own songs or sing with our worship team which uses CCLI. How do I go about using songs written by others when I sing either at my home church or other churches (which do not have CCLI)? Is there someone I can contact about what's to be done, fees, etc.? Wow... I'm a bit our out of my depth on anything to do with publishing and permissions etc.! So many songs are covered by the CCLI license, which makes a lot of things easier. But if you're coming across songs not included in that scheme, I think the best thing to do is to contact the publisher or writer direct and ask their permission. Better than anything, write some songs of your own! New songs are such a great way of unlocking freshness in our gathered worship - but how much more special when those songs are growing from within that local church family. Go for it! Is it possible for a worship leader to worship too passionately in corporate worship, assuming their worship is biblical? If so, where is that line drawn? At hand raising? Dancing? Falling to one's knees? The key to all worship-leading is 'heart'. Firstly, a heart for God of course - but also a heart to serve the people and honour the church leadership. So yes, be passionate - it's good to set an example for the believers to follow by worshipping God wholeheartedly as you lead worship. But think about the people - is the way you are being passionate going to draw unnecessary attention to yourself (which is bad worship leading!) or be unhelpful to your unchurched visitors? Think too about the fact you are under the leadership's authority - are they comfortable with this particular display of passionate worship? If the people and the leadership are happy and find it helpful and biblical, then go for it! And if not, then save it for home. How is worship a journey, and where can we expect to go? Psalm 84 says 'Blessed are those who hearts are set on pilgrimage' - and in a sense our gathered worship always has a sense of pilgrimage and 'journey' about it. We travel from where we are to a deeper place in God. We draw near to Him and He draws near to us. It may be that we travel into a particular theme - and every song heightens the sense of what we are singing about. But whether it's one theme or many, every lead worshippers does well to thin about journey - ushering the people of God from where they currently are to new depths in God.

Please explain how worship begins on the inside and overflows to those around you. Jesus said that 'out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks'. He was making it clear that our hearts will overflow will whatever they are full of. If we are full of passion and devotion for him then that is what will flow out - songs, words and deeds that bring express whole lives of worship to Him. What can we learn from worship in the New Testament? The New Testament is full of teaching on worship - the gospels right through to revelation gives us challenges and encouragements as to what kind of worship God is looking for from us. Ephesians 5:10 says 'find out what pleases the Lord' - and there is something on every page to direct us in that quest. There are perhaps two verses though which clarify more than any any other passage what God is requiring and desiring from us. Firstly, John 4:23: "Yet a time is coming and will now come when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshippers the Father seeks." And, secondly, when Jesus quotes the first and second greatest commandments: "Love the Lord Your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind...." and "Love your neighbour as yourself." (Matthew 22:37-39) How can we excercise humility in worship? Humility comes from seeing God as He is. Pride comes from seeing ourselves as we're not. So the best way towards having a humble heart is to look at Jesus.