North Side Worship

Ooh Child, Things Are Gonna Get Easier

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One of my highlights last year was North Side Worship’s Overcome project.  More than a simple album recording, our worship team really worked over and beyond to encourage those who were going through.  As we put together a 16-song album (15 originals) full of hopeful themes, we prayed that it would be encouraging to many people.

Just recently, I got a note from a church member who has had a difficult year.  That’s an understatement, it’s been downright awful.  She sent me a letter and told me that she had listened to that CD every day of the last year and how it had reminded her over and over that she would overcome.

Mission accomplished!  That’s what our prayer was for the project.  In fact, the album artwork was more than a simple design.  We had spent a Sunday morning filling out prayer cards by completing this sentence, “God, if you would only…”  As we lined the stage with those cards, our staff prayed over them that entire week.  The hurt in our congregation was staggering.  As we prayed, I decided to use our prayer cards for another purpose.  Check out the video below to see what we did with them (if you can’t see the video, go here):

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Worship Academy This Summer

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I first mentioned hosting a Worship Academy back at our Lift Worship Workshop, but today I am happy to give you the details of this summer leadership group.

During the summer, I am inviting any worship leader, musician, vocalist, etc. to be a part of a small group with the intention to develop one’s biblical, musical, and logistical understanding of leading worship.  We will cover theological concepts of worship, songwriting tips, arrangement procedures, band dynamics, vocal techniques, music theory, and so much more!

Here are the details:

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Derailed by Lawsuits

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I love loud worshipers, and North Side got after it this morning!

Wow, what an incredible time together.  4th week in our Derailed series through 1 Corinthians, and today we landed on lawsuits within the church.  You gotta love the Word of God that makes it so clear for us to follow!

In addition to a great message, we also got to hear wonderful testimonies and promo for our Priscilla Shirer simulcast next week, commissioned some more college missionaries, and sang our faces off!  For the entire flowsheet, go here.

Today, we worshiped to:

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LIFT is This Saturday!

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I was so encouraged yesterday hearing about the building excitement for Lift this Saturday!  We are only days away.  Our team is putting last minute touches on the event, and we could not be more excited!

On March 26th we will have a free worship workshop held at North Side Baptist in Greenwood, SC.  Bring your whole team and get equipped on how you can lift your worship, your team expectations, and your team’s abilities.  Tracks in musicians, vocalists, technicians, host teams, etc.  Good for choirs, bands, and anything in between!

The day has a funnel type schedule focusing on music, tech, and host teams that work in worship settings.  We start large, go to medium size, smaller groups, and then back all together.

This workshop is for seasoned worship team members and also for those who are just curious if they have the skills needed to join.  It’s free lessons, so nothing to lose!  Not only will we have a lot of information, we are going to have a lot of fun!

Here is our promise: we are teaching principles, not models.  We don’t want you to copy what we are doing, we are going to teach principles that we have been learning that can be applied into any context.  If you want to reserve your spot, you can do so here.

See below for the information on all the classes:

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Hymnology: Brethren We Have Met to Worship

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Some hymns have many stories attached to them.  I am coming up with very few leads on one of my favorites as of late, “Brethren, We Have Met to Worship.”

This is what I do have:

It was penned by George Atkins in 1819 who was a Methodist pastor.

And…that’s it.  So if you do have more, I would love you to share any info you find in a comment below.

We arranged it with a touch of bluegrass.  Since most of the chordal arrangement focuses on a 1-5 progression, I wanted to exchange some chords to open it up a bit.  At the second half of the verse, we go in a different direction with the chords, and I think it breathes some new life into the song as it opens up and builds.

I also wrote a chorus to go along with it.  The song is great in itself, but I thought it needed some type of break in the middle and an additional part to it.  The chorus is simple and carries the message of the song: “We have come together in the name we adore, we have come to worship Jesus Christ our Lord.”

Yesterday, I explained what “manna” meant to the congregation so that no one would be singing what they didn’t understand (“manna” is the food that God provided while the Israelites wandered in the desert – he provides, he is enough).

The only problem I had with the song was the theological implications of the end of verse 4.  Here are the lyrics:

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Why We Have Been Leading So Many Hymns Lately

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If you are a part of North Side or follow my Sunday’s set list on my blog, you might have noticed I have reintroduced some hymns lately.  While we have always sung hymns over the years, we mainly have used arrangements that others have used, but lately we have been adding some original twists on some classics.

Why might you ask?

Because I believe that Chris Tomlin and Charles Wesley are both my brothers in Christ and both have been blessed to write songs for the Church.  Too many people get stuck in a particular style of worship music that they can’t appreciate how God has gifted the entire Body of Christ over its entire life.

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Lift Schedule

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Details are coming together for Lift, and our team is getting more and more excited by the day!  People from Greenwood to Summerville or planning on making the trek for this Saturday worship training session, and we could not be more humbled to partner with others to lead churches in worship.

I wanted to provide you with the schedule so you can make your plans.  It’s a funnel type schedule focusing on music, tech, and host teams that work in worship settings.  We start large, go to medium size, smaller groups, and then back all together.

This workshop is for seasoned worship team members and also for those who are just curious if they have the skills needed to join.  It’s free lessons, so nothing to lose!  Not only will we have a lot of information, we are going to have a lot of fun!

Here is our promise: we are teaching principles, not models.  We don’t want you to copy what we are doing, we are going to teach principles that we have been learning that can be applied into any context.  Please list any questions you might have.  You can register here.

See below for details:

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A Different Look

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Week 2 of leading worship on crutches.  If that poor stool can make it through today, it can make it through anything!  This cast has made me realize I’m a bit more of a dancer than I realize I actually was 😉

Today, we continued on through Ephesians as we studied:

A Different Look (Eph. 4:17-32) – As a Christian, we are called to lay aside the old self and have a completely different look.  We are no longer to live in our former ignorance, but we are to shine differently than before.

Today’s message was great.  Amazing how God’s Word, written years ago, still has so much power for us today!  The point Jeff ended on was so powerful.  He taught how Paul taught in Ephesians that we are to get together before we try to get holy.  You would think you should get holy before coming to church, but this progression teaches us to get around each other in order to make us holy.

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Does Your Worship Team Need a LIFT?

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You know the feeling.  It’s worship practice, and there is something in the room.  Call it stagnation, complacency, hitting a wall, getting settled, or maybe something else, but you know when you work with your worship team and it just seems like you aren’t getting anywhere.  You’ve hit the bottom.

That’s why you need a lift.

On March 26th (UPDATED DATE: we had some scheduling conflicts, and pushing it back makes more sense) we will have a free worship workshop held at North Side Baptist in Greenwood, SC.  At Lift, you can bring your whole team and get equipped on how you can lift your worship, your team expectations, and your team’s abilities.

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“That Was ‘Good’ Worship”

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I’ve been so humbled by so many comments from Sunday’s worship services.  People have gone out of their way to say how impacting the time was, how we should have just kept singing for a few more hours, how tears of joy were flooding their eyes as we sang to our King.  Most of people commented, “that was ‘good’ worship.”

I’m not gonna lie.  I thought we were about to sing the roof off that place all 3 times Sunday morning.  I personally almost sang myself back into tonsillectomy rehab cause I just couldn’t hold it back.  But was it really “good” worship?

Sure, I loved the song selections.  The band was smoking and played the dynamics just right.  The singers nailed their parts.  The choir sounded like an angelic force to be reckoned with.  The congregation was outsinging all the microphones on stage.  It was loud.  It was engaging.  It was powerful.

But was it really “good” worship?

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