Nov 20

DWELLING IN UNITY

 

DWELLING IN UNITY — Worship Team Encouragement

Psalm 133
“Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity! It is like the precious oil on the head, running down on the beard, on the beard of Aaron, running down on the collar of his robes! It is like the dew of Hermon, which falls on the mountains of Zion! For there the Lord has commanded the blessing, life forevermore.”

We all know the uncomfortable feeling when there’s an elephant in the room—when tension goes unspoken and unresolved. It quietly drains energy, steals focus, and shuts down joy. It slows us down and hurts the mission.

But we’ve also experienced the opposite—the freedom of a team that welcomes healthy discussion and honest dialogue. When every person feels safe and heard, the mission wins. Even if the final plan wasn’t your original idea, the victory tastes sweet because we won together.

Why is unity so important for us? Here are three reasons:

1. Unity takes us farther, faster

When we dwell in unity, progress accelerates.
Humility kills the “ME” mindset and makes room for “WE.”

When selfishness steps aside and the mission takes center stage,
we don’t just make decisions—we make better decisions.

2. Unity makes us feel deeply loved

A critical spirit drains the room and produces insecurity.
But encouragement builds confidence, belonging, and safety.

Critique has its proper place—but the spirit behind it matters.
When someone brings their full heart to the team, you can feel it.
And when someone feels loved, they’re eager to give love back.

3. Unity leads to greater praise

When a worship team is unified, freedom fills the room.
We sing louder. We play harder. We go all in for God.
There’s no hesitation and no holding back.

That freedom is worship. That passion glorifies Jesus.

So today, let’s guard unity like treasure.
Let’s give our hearts to one another.
Let’s fight for the mission instead of for personal preference.

May God be glorified as we worship today—together, in unity.

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Jun 05

Serving Is Worship

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My first ministry job out of high school was to lead music at a small church in our community. I remember going in there and knowing nothing but how to play guitar and sing. While the church needed a worship leader they got a song leader. There is a difference. 

A song leader is someone who is musically capable of leading songs and does just that. Nothing wrong with that, a lot of churches have song leaders. A worship leader takes things a bit deeper. A worship leader is a worshipper first. Their main priority to to lead others to worship God. When they sing they have a unique ability to create an atmosphere where people feel comfortable and safe to focus on the Lord and His glory. 

Both the song leader and the worship leader can look and sound the same but there are subtle differences. 

  1. Song leaders focus on the music first. Worship leaders focus on spiritual things first. 
  2. Song leaders allow the focus to be their performance. Worship leaders focus on God and his purposes. 
  3. Song leaders evaluation is on perfection. Worship leaders evaluation is on transformation. 

As I look back I realized that in my life there was a transformation from song leader to worship leader. At that first church they had to suffer through my performance and pride. I was young and didn’t know any better until I started cleaning toilets. 

My job was part time and I needed more hours so when a janitor position at the church opened up I said I would do it. So I was song leader on Sunday and janitor on Monday and Thursday. There were many times I said to my self “this stinks” and it did literally, I was cleaning toilets! And thats how I looked at it until a church member said. Alright Brandon you are really a Levite! That what the temple priests did. They led the congregation in worship and cleaned the temple. Serving is worship. 

This thought came to my mind...

“If cleaning toilets is beneath you then leading on stage is above you.”

 

After finding some scripture to back up his claim, my tune changed. I began to see my serving as worship. Making sure that there were no distraction on campus to people being able to enjoy church and worship. 

They gathered their brothers and consecrated themselves and went in as the king had commanded, by the words of the Lord, to cleanse the house of the Lord. 16The priests went into the inner part of the house of the Lord to cleanse it, and they brought out all the uncleanness that they found in the temple of the Lord into the court of the house of the Lord. 2 Chronicles 29: 15-16

26 Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, Matthew 20:26

It is easy for pride to take front seat and think there are certain things that are below us.  When this happens we can find ourselves getting frustrated that we are no farther along. But here is the thing, if it helps people come closer to Jesus it is not beneath you. 

God in his great wisdom has this great plan to make us into usable vessels, its called sanctification. We are reminded… 

“And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” Philippians 1:6

He is not done with us. He will continue to transform us into who he wants us to be until that final day we see Him face to face. I am so thankful he is still working.

So where of you find yourself today? 

  1. Serving is worship.
  2. Do things even though you think they are beneath you. Your dedication to the Lord should be greater than your pride.

May 08

Ponder this

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It is good to ponder… 

We often feel overwhelmed and busy with our everyday lives that it can be hard to find the time to sit and think. We just go from one task to the next. If your a parent you go from one event to the next being the family taxi is a full time job! 

While that does not leave much time for meditation, that is exactly what we need. We need to think of our place in all of this cosmic chaos. To understand that we are not in control can give us some relief from the pressure we place on ourselves to have it all together. 

Ponder on this today…

Psalm  8: 1-4 

O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens. Out of the mouth of babies and infants, you have established strength because of your foes, to still the enemy and the avenger. When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?

We have the privilege to look to the Lord and see HIS greatness. To put things into perspective helps us see God for who HE is. When we look at the sky we can easily see his creative and HIS vastness. Yet he still chooses to care for us.