worship leader

How does the sermon relate to the singing elements of the service? Here are a few thoughts:

Singing is not the warm-up. In some circles the singing elements of the service seem to function essentially as a warm-up before the main event, which is the preaching. While I don’t deny the centrality of the Word in the protestant faith, I don’t think the musical element of church life needs to be disparaged either. The Christian faith is a revelation based faith, and it is a singing faith. Churches do well to give their best musically, as well as in preaching, and in reality this requires different parts of the body to be functioning in their respective areas of gifting and passion.

Singing doesn’t have to just come first. In some settings it is traditional to have a period of singing, interspersed with prayer and sometimes notices (how to not overdo notices or kill the atmosphere is worthy of a blog in its own right!). This is then typically followed by the sermon at the end, perhaps with a song to finish. Some messages seem to set up the opportunity to respond in song, so sometimes it may be good to bring the message earlier and have musical response.

Singing isn’t always a good idea at the end. Sometimes the sermon ends, there’s a prayer, a sense of quiet, and then the leader flicks the switch and introduces a song. The closing song can be so powerful, or so counterproductive. If the song switches people out of Bible and faith mode into normal world again, then perhaps it would be better to omit it. The message of God’s Word, the stirring of faith, the gaze on Christ, etc., should all continue on into the week ahead, not stop abruptly with the singing of a closing song.

Tomorrow I’ll offer a few more thoughts on sermon and song . . .

Perhaps an MC will read this post. Perhaps a worship leader. Perhaps one Sunday you will not preach, but will “chair” the service (as they say in England), for a visiting speaker. I have a plea. Please, please, please be careful what you say after the sermon. Most of the time, it might be best to say nothing. There’s nothing worse than a good sermon well preached, then the moment trashed by a jovial comment or mood-breaking notice. Actually, there is something worse.

It’s worse when someone stands up after a sermon and tries to add a helpful comment. Perhaps a summary of what the speaker has said. Perhaps even an attempted exhortation in light of what the speaker has said. As someone involved in missions work I am afraid only one example is spinning in my head, but it is the example par excellence for missions speakers down through the years. Let me quote from an email I received last week:

One of my early attempts to share my passion for unreached nations took place in a small country church some years ago. I gave them my best . . . The pastor then felt it necessary to mitigate my remarks and blunt my passion for the unreached by assuring his flock, “We’re all missionaries to our neighborhoods and workplaces!” I was thoroughly deflated.

I have experienced it and I have seen it. A preacher makes a strong case for missions to the unreached from God’s Word, then all that work is undermined by a well-intentioned, but horribly misplaced comment in closing.

I’ve learned that, whenever possible, if I see a way my message could be undermined, I make plans to avoid it. If possible I will ask if I can close the service. Sometimes I’d rather not be the one to pray and wrap things up. I’m certainly not the best at it. But at least I won’t undermine the whole thing.

This happens regularly to missions messages. What other kind of message have you seen undermined by careless closure?