{"id":6196,"date":"2011-06-28T08:20:28","date_gmt":"2011-06-28T08:20:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.musicademy.com\/?p=6196"},"modified":"2019-07-31T13:01:59","modified_gmt":"2019-07-31T13:01:59","slug":"building-worship-ministry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.musicademy.com\/blog\/building-worship-ministry\/","title":{"rendered":"Building for God’s glory – constructing worship ministry that will last"},"content":{"rendered":"

The story is told of a traveller in the Middle Ages, who visited a city where many stonecutters were working.\u00a0 Approaching some of the men, he asked them all the same question: “What are you doing?”

The first stonecutter he met replied, “I’m cutting stone. I have to do it, my master told me so.”

A second stonecutter responded, “I’m the best stone cutter in the land. Look at the smoothness of this stone, the exactness of the measurements, how perfect the edges are.”

A third pointed to a foundation several yards away, and excitement and passion shone from his eyes, as he proclaimed, “I’m helping to build a cathedral for the glory of God!”

I wonder which of these best illustrates our attitude towards worship?<\/strong> The first stonecutter completed his task out of duty.\u00a0 I wonder if sometimes you and I feel like that about worship \u2013 well, I just\u00a0have<\/em> to worship God.\u00a0 Its what we do in church.\u00a0 Its what is expected.\u00a0 It is what God commands.\u00a0

Or maybe you relate to the second stonecutter.\u00a0 He focused on the\u00a0forms<\/em> he was creating, the\u00a0way <\/em>it was done.\u00a0 Some of us may love the sounds and beauty of a certain style of worship, and of itself that is not a bad thing.\u00a0 We may want to bring our best with our singing, our playing of instruments, the words of our prayers, our creativity, and again that may not be wrong.\u00a0 But if we are not careful, we can focus on the presentation of our offering, the outward ways and means by which we worship, and miss its wider purpose.

The third stonecutter saw the big picture.\u00a0 He wasn\u2019t cutting stone primarily because he had<\/em> to, and the majority of his focus wasn\u2019t on the\u00a0way<\/em> he cut the stone.\u00a0 He knew that the part he played was included in a much bigger and more important project \u2013\u00a0he was building a cathedral for the glory of God!
<\/em>
The Apostle Paul talks about Kingdom ministry on earth using the metaphor of building (1 Cor 3:10-17). \u00a0He warns that we ought to be building with the right materials and motives, because will be a time when the work is tested, and that which is not ‘of value’ will not stand.\u00a0 How can we know that what we are ‘building’ as we develop worship in our churches is built of the right stuff, with the right attitudes and applications?<\/p>\n

There is another \u2018master builder\u2019 described in the Old Testament<\/strong> – a guy called Bezalel, who was chosen by God to head up the team constructing the tabernacle; that beautiful, symbolic and holy place were God was going to dwell with his people and allow them to come and worship him.\u00a0 To me, this passage is brimming with insights about how we might come and build our own \u2018cathedral of praise\u2019 – not physical temples or buildings, but as we plan and lead worship in our churches and our lives:

30 Then Moses said to the Israelites, \u201cSee, the LORD has chosen Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, 31 and he has filled him with the Spirit of God, with wisdom, with understanding, with knowledge and with all kinds of skills\u2014 32 to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze, 33 to cut and set stones, to work in wood and to engage in all kinds of artistic crafts. 34 And he has given both him and Oholiab son of Ahisamak, of the tribe of Dan, the ability to teach others. 35 He has filled them with skill to do all kinds of work as engravers, designers, embroiderers in blue, purple and scarlet yarn and fine linen, and weavers\u2014all of them skilled workers and designers.<\/em> (Ex 35:30-35)

Bezalel was filled with the Spirit<\/strong> – To some people Bezalel\u2019s tasks might be seen as quite \u2018practical\u2019.\u00a0 Often in church the worship team will pray whilst the techies get on with their tasks.\u00a0 We\u2019ll often ask for anointing on the preacher and the worship leader, but why not the person doing the visuals?\u00a0 Whatever our role in worship, we need to make time for the Spirit to refresh us and inspire our ministries.

Bezalel was filled with wisdom, understanding and knowledge<\/strong> – This guy didn\u2019t leave his brain at the church door!\u00a0 Planning services, choosing songs, writing prayers, working with technology, creating art… all of these require both Spirit inspiration and engaging our intellects.\u00a0 We\u2019re seeking to equip people for worship with theological depth, practical wisdom and pastoral skill.

Bezalel had all kinds of skills<\/strong> – when you consider the small range of artistic gifts that most churches honour, compared with the range of skills used by Bezalel and his team (count them in the passage), it should inspire us to be using a wider selection of gifts in worship.\u00a0 Who do you have in your community, with creative gifts just waiting to be tapped into?\u00a0 What other artforms could be released for God\u2019s praise?

Bezalel was had the ability to teach others<\/strong> – There is no room in Kingdom creativity for lone rangers; worship team leaders, techies or artists who think that only they can \u2018get it right\u2019 and so never train and release others.\u00a0 We seek to train people who can then go and multiply themselves by instructing and mentoring yet more people.

As you seek to build your church worship team, plant a new fresh expression of corporate worship, or push the boundaries of Kingdom creativity; our prayer is that you do so with the heart of the third stone cutter, the balanced approach of Bezalel, and the wisdom of Paul who:\u00a0

\u2018laid the foundation like an expert builder… for no one can lay any other foundation than the one we already have – Jesus Christ.\u2019<\/em> (1 Cor 3:10-11)

And we hope that our ministry, resources and training might help you to do that.\u00a0 Get building!<\/p>\n

Sam Hargreaves teaches part time in the Music & Worship Department at\u00a0London School of Theology<\/a>. He and his wife Sara co-lead\u00a0engageworship.org<\/a> – resources & training for innovative, creative & world-changing worship. \u00a0He also co-leads\u00a0RESOUNDworship.org<\/a>, a new worship songs website.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The story is told of a traveller in the Middle Ages, who visited a city where many stonecutters were working.\u00a0 Approaching some of the men, he asked them all the same question: “What are you doing?”The first stonecutter he met replied, “I’m cutting stone. I have to do it, my master told me so.”A second […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4108,"featured_media":22298,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6,98],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nBuilding for God's glory - constructing worship ministry that will last | Musicademy<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, nofollow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.musicademy.com\/blog\/building-worship-ministry\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Building for God's glory - constructing worship ministry that will last | Musicademy\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The story is told of a traveller in the Middle Ages, who visited a city where many stonecutters were working.\u00a0 Approaching some of the men, he asked them all the same question: “What are you doing?”The first stonecutter he met replied, “I’m cutting stone. 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