The Weight of Worship

Barak is leaving tomorrow for the Bahamas. This means, for those of you who don't know, that I will be leading worship by myself for the next three weeks. I know I co-lead with him every Sunday morning and lead by myself every Sunday evening, but his being gone means the entire weight is on my shoulders. This means sound and vocals, the entire band (including tempo, turn-arounds, and solos, and leading the band in the direction I want to go.), the choir (this includes vocal checks and harmony parts), and picking out all the songs for both services (and making sure Christian knows them since he is my main guitarist). Most importantly this means the sole weight of leading nearly 300 people into the presence of God. Barak called today to give me some last minute suggestions and encouragement.

Christian: I need to pick out songs with Christian. Musically the weight is on him. He needs to be confident and I need to be confident that he can carry the weight of the song (musically). If he wants to work with Jamie on the songs so Jamie can play the bass that's fine. However, I either need a bass player that can do it well, or not have a bass at all. I will miss not having a bass. I can really tell when it's missing, but because we have a full band it should cover it up. I just hope it doesn't throw me off too much! And Christian has promised to be there every week! Do I dare believe it?

Jeff: I must remember that Jeff is in charge of all the little details and band stuff. That will free me up to do what I do: Lead worship. I'm not a musician. I can lead the band only to a certain point. This actually really frusterates me. It is probably the most frusterating part of leading for me. I feel completely helpless at times. Hey, that's what Jeff's for. Remember?

Sound Checks: I need to work with my sound guy and have him nod to me when he is hearing what he needs to hear and is happy with what he's got.

A.M. : I'll do one song for pre-worship, let everyone say hi and do the same song, then do another three. Someone should do a special for the offering.

P.M. : It will be totally different from the A.M. . Just an acoustic set with Christian, percussion, and trombones.

The Anointing: Honestly, I am nothing without God's anointing. All that I have is nothing unless God anoints it. I need His anointing. I pray that he will give me a fresh anointing and cause me to lead His people into His prescence. When it is all said and done that is the only thing that matters.