Affirmations

Whether it is during baptisms, parent commissioning (child dedication), or affirming new elders, our church has been using consistent, repeated affirmations for these times of events in the life of our church. Why?

Although, we have classes, courses, and training for each of these aspects for baptismal candidates, families wanting to dedicate their children in church, and the role of elder - it is not something that every member, attendee, or visitor to our church understands. Affirmations are a way of helping instruct not just the people participating, but the whole Body in the meaning, purpose, and expectation for each of these celebrations in the life of our church. Some of these affirmations we have pulled from the historic church, some we piecemeal together, always there is an aspect of question and response from the candidate, and closing with question and response to the body of Christ.

BAPTISM AFFIRMATIONS

Do you believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God sent to redeem the world, do you love and trust him as the one who saves you from your sin, and do you with repentance and joy embrace him as the Lord of your life?

I do.

Do you believe that the Bible is the Word of God, revealing Christ and his redemption?

I do.

Do you promise to do all you can, with the help of the Holy Spirit, to strengthen your love and commitment to Christ by sharing faithfully in the life of the church, honoring and submitting to its authority; and do you join with the people of God in doing the work of the Lord everywhere?

I do.

Brothers and sisters, we now receive (NAME) into Christ’s church. Do you welcome (HER/HIM) in love, and do you promise to pray for, encourage, and help (HER/HIM) in the faith?

We do, God helping us.

ELDER AFFIRMATION VOWS

Do you reaffirm your faith in Jesus Christ as your own personal Lord and Savior?

Do you believe the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be the Word of God; totally trustworthy, fully inspirited by the Holy Spirit, the supreme, final, and the only infallible rule of faith and practice?

Do you acknowledge a call, so far as you know your own heart, to accept the office of elder, with a sincere desire to promote the Gospel?

Do you promise to be zealous and faithful in your promoting the truths of the Gospel and in protecting the unity and peace of the Church, whatever persecution or opposition may arise to you on that account?

Will you seek to be faithful and diligent in the exercise of all your duties as an elder, whether personal or relative, private or public; and to endeavor by the grace of God to adorn the profession of the Gospel in your manner of life, and to walk with exemplary piety before this congregation?

Are you now willing to take responsibility in the life of this congregation as an elder, and will you seek to discharge your duties, relying upon the grace of God in a way that the entire Church of Jesus Christ will be blessed?

Elder Candidate: By God’s grace, I do.

To the congregation:

Do you affirm your confidence in the qualifications and calling of this man?

Do you resolve to love, encourage, and support his family, respecting them always as his first ministry priority?

Do you commit to fervent and regular prayer on behalf of all our elders, our staff, and the ministry of Life Church?

Congregation: By God’s grace, we do.

PARENT COMMISSIONING

Do you recognize that your child is a gift from God, and that you are responsible to train and instruct this child in the things of God?

We do.

Do you this day pledge as parents that you will teach God’s Word to your child and live out His Word in your home?

We do.

Do you commit to loving your child and teaching your child to obey God’s commands and the truths of Jesus Christ in your daily lives so that your child may know Him as Lord?

We do.

Do you commit to the local body of believers to seek accountability and teach your child to seek accountability within the church community?

We do.

Life Church, will you be faithful as brothers and sisters in Christ to encourage and support this family in their Christian walk as parents? Will you be faithful in praying for their children, that they will grow to love Christ and trust in Him?

We will.

Leading In Different Cultures

I think and write about culture regularly. I am fascinated by the way our families, cities, countries, and the age in which we live shape our lives, values, priorities, and the things that we celebrate and demonize. As worship leaders we carry our own cultural background into every environment where we serve - this is true even if you were born, raised, and lead in your hometown. We bring our own unique culture into the collective culture of a team, and a church, as we attempt to shepherd all of these cultures - including our own - to more faithfully embody the person and work of Christ.

My family lived in England for four-plus years, and I have had the chance to lead worship internationally and cross-culturally a number of times. While these opportunities have been gifts of kindness toward me, they have also shaped how I lead worship week in and week out at my home church in North Carolina. Maybe some of these thoughts will help you in your leading as well:

I bring my own culture. Every person has been uniquely wired by God, uniquely shaped by their family of origin, their country of origin, and the people and times in which they come up. If I want to effectively serve in any space, I must first realize that I have a specific way of seeing and being in the world. And that way is different from other people.

It’s just different. One culture or way of seeing the world is not right and the other wrong - they are just different. And in all things, there are pieces of our culture that need to be received, redeemed, or rejected. Truthfully, I believe this is one of the hardest parts of leading cross-culturally. You do not realize how many things you have turned into ‘gospel issues’ that are mere preferences, or cultural norms. Often I am first aware of a growing frustration - ugh, why are they doing that? Why did they say that? Clearly, they don’t care about… One of the things I am learning is that frustration can be an indicator light that I could be bumping up against cultural differences. And if I can invite the Holy Spirit to help me see specifics rather than a cloud of annoyance and frustration, in the Spirit’s power I am better equipped to laugh about, give grace toward, speak to, or just forget about my own frustration with differences.

Whose image? A fellow American living in England said to me: “Our goal in being here is not to make these British people more American, it’s to help them be more like Christ.” If we do not have an awareness of our own culture, and the differences in other people, we will naturally make people in our own image. We will hold up, value, and celebrate the things that are most like the best versions of ourselves - rather than constantly, and continually asking God to conform each of us to the image of Christ. A culture being conformed to the image of Christ will uniquely image the beauty, and diversity of God to the world.

Don’t swing the pendulum. Lead lovingly as the Spirit shapes you, and the culture. Unless there are things that need to be outright rejected, you can let go of the desire to correct the culture, as you prayerfully and scripturally lead toward a better way. Less directing, and more invitation.

A culture that values efficiency may need to be invited to linger.

A culture that values theology may need to be invited toward doxology.

A culture that values head knowledge may need to be invited to engage their hearts.

A culture that values individuality may need to be invited to think corporately.

A culture that values a small, family feel, may need to be invited to consider the outsider.

A culture that values beauty may need to be invited toward intentionality.

A culture that values excellence may need to be invited toward humility.

And the reverse is also true. All these things and more. May we be leaders who see, know, receive, redeem, and reject the culture which has shaped us and the ones we lead.

11 June: Liturgy + Set List

• REJOICE

  Call to Worship: Exodus 34:6-8

  This is the posture of a worship - God reveals Himself, and we bow our lives. Many churches, denominations and Christians love to emphasize God’s transcendence - that He is holy, set apart, glorious and other than us. And still other churches, denominations, and Christian’s emphasize God’s immanence - that God is near, knowable, and close. But the reality is God is both of these things, fully, and completely at the exact same time. He is transcendent and immanent at once. One of the things that has struck me during our time in the 10 Commandments is how God has always desires to be near His people. We see this throughout Scripture, from the Garden of Eden, to the 10 Commandments, to the temple, tabernacle, and sacrificial system, and ultimately we see that through the person and work of Jesus. And this morning we are going to teach you a song that I hope will help us to hold both of these ideas together: God’s transcendence and God’s immanence:

• HOLY FOREVER

• A THOUSAND HALLELUJAHS

  Sermon: Exodus 20:7

  An opportunity to live on mission and restrain evil in the world: World Relief donation drive.

• ALL CREATURES OF OUR GOD AND KING

  Benediction

Budgeting Before Need

Maybe this seems obvious, but budgeting is important - both in your life and also in your ministry. If you are leading worship as a volunteer, in a bi-vocational capacity, in a small church, or a church plant, you are likely reading this and thinking, ‘And what if I have no budget?’ I get it! I’ve been in those spaces too. Those are times when you have to be creative, and careful, and learn to appreciate what you do to keep your heart from being bitter or coveting the gear, budget, or ability to make regular repairs and upgrades like your neighbor.

If this is you - I have found the best way to budget is by maintaining what you have. Take care of your gear, put things away, wrap cables properly, and spend time maintaining and learning the ins and outs of what you have so that you can make repairs on your own as needed. Keep a running list of new pieces you’d like to add, and the order in which you think gear may need to be replaced. Keep an eye out for deals on used gear, but also places that may be offering special discounts or pricing.

The reality is whether a church has no available budget, or a modest budget for Worship Arts - the equipment needed for our area of ministry is so costly, even a modest budget can quickly be drained when a speaker goes out, or you need to replace a soundboard. I currently serve at a church that provides a modest annual budget and I have slowly been able to make updates and changes in the last few years I have served on staff. Selling old and unused gear gave me the ability to add ‘non-essentials,’ as a part of the equipment for our team.

In the same way that homeowners are encouraged to set aside money monthly to replace a roof or an air conditioning unit every ten years, if you are able to set aside money to go toward making updates to your equipment without draining other areas of ministry your team, and your church will be served well.

Quotes [Part 3]

More than bite-size inspiration, I hope these quotes will be words that you can turn over, and over in your heart and mind as you move into this weekend:

KOSUKE KOYAMA

God carries us. Appreciation for this is the secret of our priestly energy and active life.

MICHAEL REEVES

The more gifted you are, the more power and talent you have, the more good you may find you can do in the world - but also, the more harm you can do. And the path that you will follow depends upon whose mind you have. Will you follow your own mind? Or do you have the mind of Christ Jesus, who did not grasp his rightful equality with God, but emptied himself? Great good or great harm depends on this. Especially if you recognize yourself as naturally ambitious, put pride to death before disaster happens, whether that be slow or subtle or swift and catastrophic.

HENRI NOUWEN

And ministers frequently find themselves in fierce competition with people and institutions who offer something more exciting to do that they do. But our task is the opposite of distraction. Our task is to help people concentrate on the real but often hidden event of God’s active presence in their lives. Hence, the question that must guide all organizing activist in a parish is not how to keep people busy, but how to keep them from being so busy that they can no longer hear the voice of God who speaks in silence.

ANN VOSKAMP

Our rhythms become our everyday liturgy, the sacred cadence of the hours that reorient our tired souls.

Quotes [Part 1] | Quotes [Part 2]

28 May: Liturgy + Set List

• HOUSE OF THE LORD

  Good morning Life Church, and welcome to worship with us on this Memorial Day Weekend, and this Family Worship Weekend. One of the reasons that we can gather in freedom to worship in this country is that for generations men and women have laid down their lives to secure and sustain the freedoms we enjoy. That is what our culture is celebrating this weekend, and that is right and good. But what we know as followers of Christ is that the freedoms we enjoy in this country are only a shadow of the freedom that ours in and through Christ. Because He has set us free from the law of sin and death. Let’s celebrate the freedom that we have in this country, but if you are here this morning as a follower of Christ, let’s celebrate the freedom that is ours through Christ. Let’s hear God call us to worship from His word:

  Call to Worship: Psalm 1:1-2

  Let’s look to Christ, the One who fulfills the law.

• ALL I HAVE IS CHRIST

• BE THOU MY VISION

  Sermon: Exodus 20:1-3

  Everyone, everywhere, always, is a worshiper. But right worship begins not with us, but when God reveals Himself as the only one worthy of our worship - ‘I AM the Lord your God, worship me alone.’ Right worship is a result of the Holy Spirit leading you in all truth to behold the person and work of Christ. And this morning is Pentecost Sunday, the day when the global church remembers and celebrates the sending of the Holy Spirit to indwell and empower the life of every believer. To empower right worship. And so as we remember this day and the sending of the spirit we are going to pray these words together. I will read this through one time so you can hear these words, and then together we will pray these words.

Almighty God, on this day, through the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, you revealed the way of eternal life to every race and nation: Pour out this gift anew, that by the preaching of the Gospel your salvation may reach to the ends of the earth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen. 

Book of Common Prayer

• THE GREATNESS OF OUR GOD

• ONLY A HOLY GOD

  Benediction

Lead Like Yourself

We all learn by imitation. And as we become comfortable and familiar with whatever we are doing, we slowly settle into our own rhythms. I think the same is true when it comes to leading worship.

There are some aspects of how I lead worship that I do from conviction - like saying ‘Let’s hear God call us to worship from His Word…’ rather than ‘Let me call us to worship…’ There are some things that I do when I lead worship that are about my personal preference - like changing the keys to easily flow from one song to the next without stopping. And as we train worship leaders, I think it is important to help them see the distinction - what is conviction (the how and why of what we do here), and what is personal preference (will look different depending on the leader and the team).

After helping to lay out the difference between conviction and personal preference, I often say to worship leaders - I want you to lead like yourself, not like me. I lead the way I do after many, many years of leading in various environments. I am not interested in making little versions of Aaron, but in helping develop worship leaders who can lead like themselves with clarity, and conviction - even if what they say, and how they lead looks different than the way I would lead.

Every one of us is seeking to imitate Christ. So the question shouldn’t be - how would Aaron lead in this environment - but how would Jesus lead in this environment. Lead like the Spirit of God inhabits you as a follower of Christ - because He does.

Making Space for New Leaders [Part 2]

My hope last week was to give a vision for why we should make space for new leaders. This week I hope to give a few practical steps about how we might make space for new leaders.

There is a training rhythm that I have seen repeated often across social media, it goes something like this:

1. I do, you watch, we talk

2. I do, you join, we talk

3. We do, we talk

4. You do, I join, we talk

5. You do, I watch, we talk

I think this is a healthy rhythm for developing worship leaders as well. Because leading worship can be complex - in its preparation as well as its execution - you want to make sure that these categories are true in your preparation and planning, in your leading from the platform, and in the normal rhythms of serving.

Preparation and Planning.

How do you build a set list? How do you schedule a team? What is the philosophy of worship? The smallest amount of my job is the most visible portion of my job. When you're training and developing new worship leaders, they need to know the thought process behind your song choice, the conversations you’re having with the pastor, and the way you prepare personally, spiritually, and practically for a rehearsal and for the weekend. Sound doesn’t just get set up, lyrics don’t automatically appear on the screens, and the team leading can’t just show up without knowing what music is on for the service. Do not just show the what, but the how and why behind what leads you into the weekend. For many of us, this will likely mean we need to do some work to articulate our auto-pilot decisions.

On the platform.

Leading worship requires trust. Trust is only developed over time. I find it helpful to have new leaders face be familiar with the congregation from the platform before they are responsible for leading a song or a service. Have the new leader accompany you over a few weeks playing and singing. Then after several weeks of leading in that way, ask them to lead a song - or a Scripture reading, prayer, or verbal transition. As they settle into that new rhythm, and the congregation becomes familiar with their leadership, have them lead everything with you accompanying their leadership. And finally, allow them to lead on their own with you leading from the congregation.

Leadership happens on and off the platform. If we truly desire to disciple, equip, and train others to lead, we must give them access to our lives, and every aspect of our leadership - not just the obvious places. Invite questions, ask questions. Listen, be interested. Create a safe place for mistakes. Be gracious. Give away authority. Invite collaboration. Die to yourself.

Making Space for New Leaders [Part 1]

The job of every leader is not to produce more followers, but more leaders.

I have written before about my youth pastor telling how I should always be looking to work myself out of a job. And truthfully within the Church, there would probably not be many leaders who disagree with that statement - Jesus did call us to make disciples after all! But how do we move this from good intention to action?

Within the church that I serve, we have a leadership development framework - a process by which we identify, develop, and train those who we believe could one day help to work us out of a job. Maybe your context does not need to require something that formal. Here are some questions to consider in raising up other leaders:

• Who is servant-hearted?

• Who is teachable?

• Who is already carrying the culture we are trying to build?

• Who is already leading without a title?

• Who can I encourage to do intentionally what they are already doing naturally?

• Who does the team trust and respect?

• Who does the team listen to?

• Who do our people trust?

I often think of leadership the same way I think of parenting - part of my job is calling forth the gifts and talents of the person under my care, even though they may not be aware those things exist within them. As leaders (and parents), this requires prayer, time, intentionality, and relationship. It also requires a fair amount of humility - being willing to die to myself, my own sense of self-importance, considering others more highly than myself, and giving away authority. And this is what it is to make disciples - what a beautiful gift that Christ calls us to give and receive.

Next week we will look at practically how that might look as you invite others to lead and serve alongside you on and off the platform.

If you desire to make space for new leaders, here are a few other posts you may find helpful:

Identifying and developing new leaders.

A team of worship leaders.

The benefits of co-leading.

Making Space for new leaders Part 2 (Coming Next Week).

Asking Someone To Step Off The Team

Relationships are hard work.

Relationships with volunteers you are leading can also be hard work.

There can be an unstated expectation that in the life of a church, if someone wants to serve they should be allowed, regardless of their level of skill, or their personal integrity. After all, are we not called to extend grace and forgiveness? Are we not told that every member of the Body brings something useful and beautiful to the Body?

As followers of Jesus, our first responsibility is to lead and shepherd our own hearts, and the hearts of our families. Then as people who carry a role of responsibility within the local church, we are called to shepherd and lead the team we serve, and then the wider congregation. One of the ways we shepherd our team, and the people of God is by guarding in humility who is on the platform.

What we must acknowledge is that every member of our team is a worship leader whether they ever hold a microphone or exercise any authority. There is a level of trust our pastors, elders, and congregations are placing in us to shepherd the congregation well by first shepherding who is on the platform. For me, this means several things, first, I want to have a relationship with the people who are serving on my team outside of our shared common task. I want to know them, and for them to know me. I want to be aware of the shape of their life, and how I can pray for, love, and shepherd them as we serve together. It means I never want to rush someone into a place of leadership or authority. Discipleship is the long game, and I am okay to go slow in onboarding new people to the team. This also means that I want clear communication and expectations about what it means to serve as a member of this team. Not just in the expectations on the platform, or the sound booth, but in the way we are to lead lives of worship, submit to the leadership of our local church, commit to the community of faith, faithfully give, and serve as we invest in our own personal walk with the Lord.

These boundary lines obviously do not prevent being placed in a position to ask someone to step off the team or to take a break from serving for a season, but I have found that clarity, in the beginning, relationships that extend past a shared common task, provide the loving context for these kinds of conversations to take place.

The truth is sin easily entangles. We should not be surprised by this in the lives of people with whom we serve, because we should be aware of this reality in our own lives. We must be humble and prayerful whenever we approach a brother or sister caught in sin - and keep watch over ourselves (Galatians 6:1).

As worship leaders, we are not solely responsible for the care and shepherding of those we lead, but we can often be the first line of defense. We may be more aware of the nuances of the lives of the people with whom we serve than any other leader or person within our churches.

Life moves in seasons. Perhaps you need to ask someone to step off the team not because of ongoing and unrepentant sin, but because that individual is in a season of life where they need to be encouraged to place their energy and efforts elsewhere. Maybe that is in their family, their studies, or in a different area of ministry within the church. When we help shepherd our team through seasons it confronts in us the tendency to hoard, or possess the people that God has entrusted to us, and frees those we lead to serve with joy rather than obligation or compulsion.

Experience or Formation

Can I make a confession? I have an allergic reaction to the word ‘experience’ when tied to the corporate worship gathering. I certainly want our gatherings to be experiential - challenging and informing our minds, stirring our affections, and emboldening us to be sent out on mission. But the word experience unnerves me because that is the same way we describe entertainment - it was an experience. We had an experience. We use this word when speaking about goods and services, and products that we consume.

But my conviction is that the purpose of the corporate gathering of the people of God is the spiritual formation of the people of God. Formation does not happen in an instant. And therefore can often not be quantified, or codified as an experience. That is because formation is slow, steady, consistent process which occurs over time.

In the same way, the elements and the centuries have combined forces to shape the Grand Canyon or the Giants Causeway, so too our lives must be shaped by the Word of God, the people of God, and the Spirit of God faithfully over many years.

Experiences can be substitutes for formation because we can measure experience faster than we are able to measure formation.

Our culture is quite content with emotional Summer camp highs and quite uninterested in anything that does not spring up immediately. As followers of Jesus - and as worship leaders leading our team and congregation through the corporate gathering - we would do well to remember Jesus’ parable of the sower:

“That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. And great crowds gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat down. And the whole crowd stood on the beach. And he told them many things in parables, saying: “A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, but when the sun rose they were scorched. And since they had no root, they withered away. Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. He who has ears, let him hear.”” Matthew 13:1-9

May the Lord find in you and me, in our teams and in our congregations, good soil that produces the deeply-rooted character of Christ.

Lead Toward Need

There is a difference between a song leader, and a worship leader. Being a worship leader is primarily pastoral before it is musical. And the idea of pastoring is really about shepherding. Knowing, loving, caring, and providing for sheep.

Now, I’m not what you would call an ‘animal person.’ We don’t have a dog, and we were just barely persuaded to let our children use birthday money to buy fish. So I have no authority to speak to animal care. But I have learned as a parent caring for little humans that my children will be malformed if I give them whatever they want. I have to set and enforce loving boundaries for their good and ultimate joy.

If as a worship leader you see yourself as a shepherd of people, you will have to be comfortable with not giving the congregation everything they want, but leading them toward what they need. This is no small or simple task. It requires knowing your people, understanding your culture, and a willingness to learn, grow, and be attentive to the voice of the Holy Spirit as you lead. It means sometimes people will be unhappy with your leadership, and unhappy with your decisions. It means sometimes they will leave your team, or leave your church. But worship leaders are not jukeboxes or cruise directors. Nor are we dictators or tyrants. Our leadership should always lead to the flourishing of those under our care.

“But Jesus called them to him and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” - Matthew 20:25-28

We lead among, not over. We lead as sheep before we are shepherds. We lead as those whose convictions are firm, philosophy intentional, and heart-tender to the Lord and His people.