being led in worship

I have had a great opportunity the past week. I spent 5 days last week being led in worship by Casey Darnell and many amazing gifted musicians from North Point Community Church. The music was incredible. They covered many popular songs such as ‘Party in the USA’ by Miley Cirus and ‘Fireflies’ by Owl City during transition times and sounded as good, if not better, in these songs than the original recording artist. To say the least they were phenomenal. I got the chance to hang out with a few musicians one night after the service to talk gear and other things musical.  Heath Balltzglier (bass), Matt Adkins (lead guitar), and Brandon Coker (drums).  All these guys played in the Fee Band with worship leader Steve Fee. They were fun guys to be around and were all willing to give me insight to what they were doing and what gear they were using. Aside from being great musicians with great hearts, they led worship with a passion for God that was incredible. The two moments in worship that I felt most like I was being led by someone in worship did not come from any of the front line worship leaders. Number one was in the John Mark McMillan song ‘How He loves’ when I looked down to see one of the camera girls singing with arms outstretched to the top of her lungs. She had on the production headset and I know someone was probably hearing her sing through the mic on her headset but she was not holding back. At the time, they were not running live video on the screens and honestly I don’t think she would have cared if they were. She didn’t let her serving role hold her back from being intimate with God. She was worshiping. This led me in worship to such an awesome height, as I know I often feel restrained from my role as a worship leader on stage. That is crazy to write but it’s true. Sometimes I get too caught up in playing the right chord and thinking I have to sing into the mic right now even if in that moment I want to be on my knees or face or at one of our responsive stations. I know there is a certain calling when you are a worship leader or are serving in a church during the worship experience. You have to maintain some level of understanding that you sacrifice your own personal time of worship to serve for others so they can worship freely. I know that as someone who doesn’t get to sit in the audience of a worship experience it is crucial that I get to spend my personal moments in worship throughout the week. I rambled a bit, so back to the topic. The second great moment where I truly felt led in worship at the BigStuf youth camp was when I saw Heath the Bass player on his knees during one of the songs. He was still playing his bass but was on his knees worshiping. I love to worship on my knees.

Psalm 95:6 says, “Come let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the LORD our maker.”

This is something that I want to teach our community at [lcf] better this year. The Bible has a lot to say about worship. As worship leaders, that is part of the calling; not only to lead music, but to teach people about worship. These were some of the powerful moments for me and I hope these words encouraged you. I am excited about all that God has taught me this summer about being a worship leader and I am excited for the worship team and for our worship experiences this fall at [lcf].

- Jonah Bostian