Possess and Pass On

We've been talking about this a lot lately as a Worship team, the idea of 'possessing' and then 'passing on' the Presence of God. And the implications it has with our duties as the leaders of our Sunday Worship moments.

1 Chronicles 28:8 says;
"...be careful to follow the commands of the Lord Your God, that you may Possess this good land and Pass it on as an inheritance to your descendants forever..."

The context is simple, Israel are the recent inheritors to the fine land God had promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. God is now issuing them an instruction to follow His commands so that they can continue to pass on the land not only promised, but now inhabited to the generations to come.
God is in the habit of calling one generation to work their butts off, to possess and conquer a land so that the following generations can enjoy and continue to inhabit it.
He's not in the business of giving an inheritance to one Generation and then kicking the next out.

The Israelites also had a firm connection between being in the land and being in the Presence of God. This is later confirmed when they are no longer living in the land but in Exile after disobeying and turning away from God. They knew that they were now outside proper relationship with God and His presence.

So what does this all have to do with a worship team?
My thoughts are this...

As a team it is our duty to prepare, to work for, to build, to put in the effort, to pray up, read up, and seek the heart of God for what He would do in our services. We do this so that when we step up to the platform we are in a position of having already 'possessed' an element of His presence, which we can confidently lead our congregation into, to then 'pass it on' to them.

It's as if, knowing the route to a location on a map, we stand at the head of the bush track ushering the Church along the way offering guidance and support, 'here you go... this way..' 
It is our knowledge of already having 'possessed' the location that gives us confidence as we lead. Likewise our confidence will increase as we lead the direction of our worship moments if we are already prepared.

I remember moments, those fatal moments, when I lead our team and Church through a set list that I was unfamiliar with and had not yet sought God for His direction. I'd love to say it only happened once, but you know that's not true.

Yes God is faithful, and at the end of the day He will speak to His people no matter what mess your in, but how much more exciting when you've sought and fought for a revelation that God wanted to show His Church during a time of worship and through your preparation that message was passed onto the Church.

I've learned my lesson, from now on I'll be seeking to 'possess and pass on' when it comes to leading worship.

Lk

In the Image of...

I haven't blogged for quite some time other than posting set lists for our Sunday services, so it's been sitting on my list of things to do for awhile and finally I find myself by the computer with something to say.

Speaking on the topic of idol worship Psalms says this:

Ps 135:16-18

'They have mouths, but cannot speak,

eyes, but cannot see.

They have ears, but cannot hear,

nor is there breath in their mouths.

Those who make them will be like them,

and so will all who trust in them."

Scripture points to the stupidity of worshiping a man-made idol over the Sovereign God.
I mean seriously, after viewing all the wonders of God at the Red Sea, manna being provided daily, fire by night and clouds by day, not to mentions other countless miracles God performed for the Israelites you can forgive the author for sounding slightly short in this verse, because surely they knew the supreme power of Yahweh over some created and fashioned statue.

You become like the thing you worship.

This has never been any less or more true for this current age. We become like the things we worship. Granted there are not a thousand other 'statue gods' vying for our attention, but there are countless other distractions which have subtly taken the place of formal gods and are just as dangerous and lifeless. 

If you worship Vanity you'll become Hollow

If you worship Platform you'll become a Statue

If you worship Technology you'll become Obsolete

If you worship Status you'll become Irrelevant

If you worship Materialism you'll Decay

If you worship Titles you'll become Stuck

If you worship Pleasure you'll become Dissatisfied

If you worship Approval you'll be Rejected

If you worship Recognition you'll become Anonymous

If you worship Power you'll become Flat

If you worship Ministry you'll be Overextended

If you worship Opportunities you'll Burn-out

If you worship Knowledge you'll become Unapproachable

If you worship GOD you'll become Alive.

 

God is to be worshiped, and worshiped only.

Every other man made thing will decay, expire and lead to death. God, the source of Life, offers the key to Life as we conform our image to His.  

You are being made into an image, who's?

 

Lk

First things...

So I've decided to join the Blogging Community seeing it seems to be all the craze.
I kinda figure that I always have a lot to say about anything, so why not write it all down.
My Blog will involve lots on things like music, singing, devotions, Jesus, my thoughts and anything else I can cram into my blogs.
Maybe I should start by saying that I'm a singer and love music. I'm Christian so gospel, praise and worship music and anything else in the christian classification is a definite favourite to listen to.
At this very moment whilst writing this Blog I'm listening to a song 'Here I am' from CCC White Horse in Melbourne. My friend Alyssa is singing and her boyfriend (now fiance) Joel, Alyssa and I wrote it. I don't mind it at all to be honest, in future blogs I'll show you youtube video's and other stuff to do with it.
More about me will be unveiled in future blogs, haha.
So I'm going to wrap up here. This has been a great experience writing my first ever blog.
Lk