Nelson Searcy - Engage: A Guide to Creating Life-Transforming Worship Services

2011 by Nelson Searcy

Published by Baker Books

a division of Baker Publishing Group

P.O. Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287

www.bakerbooks.com

Ebook edition created 2011

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meansfor example, electronic, photocopy, recordingwithout the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.

ISBN 978-1-4412-3431-5

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC.

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture is taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Scripture marked Message is taken from The Message by Eugene H. Peterson, copyright 1993, 1994, 1995, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group. All rights reserved.

Scripture marked NASB is taken from the New American Standard Bible, Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. www.lockman.org

Scripture marked NIV is taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version. NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2010 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com

To all the men and women we share the stage with each week at The Journey Church

contents

preface

S unday, 1:07 p.m. Pastor Tim walks into his office, unbuttoning the top button of his shirt. He sets his Bible and notes on his desk, sinks into his chair, and says a quick thank-you to God for two great Sunday services. Tim hears a knock on his door and looks up to see Scott, the worship pastor, poking his head into the office.

Just wanted to touch base before heading out, Scott says.

Hey, Scott. Absolutely. Come on in. As Scott crosses to the other chair, Tim continues, I think the worship went really well today.

Yeah, thanks. It came together, says Scott, settling into the chair with a sigh. The message was powerful too.

Well, thank you too, Tim says lightly. God was definitely moving.

Definitely. What does your afternoon look like? Scott asks.

Lunch with the family and some friends who are in from out of town. Then Im heading home for a long Sunday afternoon nap. You?

Im going to get some rest too, but I need to start pulling a few things together for next week, Scott says.

Yep, next Sunday will be here before we know it, Tim says.

Sure will. And well do it all again, Scott answers. After a few silent moments, Scott says, Well, I will see you in the office tomorrow morning.

Sounds good, Scott. Enjoy your afternoon. See you tomorrow.

Theres a fine line between Sunday afternoon and Monday morning. If youve been a teaching or worship pastor long, you know exactly what I mean. You spend all week planning, preparing, and praying for your Sunday services, and then, when theyre over, you barely have a minute to breathe before its time to start planning, preparing, and praying for the next weeks services.

Sunday comes along with amazing regularity. Each time it gets here, you are expected to have biblical yet original material prepared for your attenderssomething that will resonate with them and send them back into the world better than when they walked through your doors. You cant preach the same message you preached the week before; you cant sing the same songs; you cant show the same video clip or have the same guy give his testimony. The people sitting in front of you will be hungry for something fresh and new.

With this pressure on your shoulders, its easy to fall into the trap of a Sunday-to-Sunday mentalitythat is, to feel like you are just trying to get through the next Sunday, then the next Sunday after that, then the next Sunday after that... constantly behind the eight ball and making it up as you go every week. Can you relate?

Heres some good news: you dont have to live and die by the weekly grind. You can break the week-to-week mentality that sabotages so many well-intentioned teaching and worship pastors. By putting a strong, biblically sound worship planning system in place, you will be able to maximize not only this Sunday but every single next Sunday to come. The key to getting out of the tailspin and cooperating with God to do church at a higher level can be summed up in one word: planning.

My prayer is that the principles and ideas contained within these pages will help you shake free from the stress of under-the-gun worship planning and discover the peace (not to mention the fruit!) that comes when you put a solid worship planning system to work in your church.

Lets get startedif youre not too tired!

introduction

engage |in-gj|: to attract and hold by influence or power : to interlock with : to cause to mesh.

Merriam-Webster

And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.

Hebrews 10:25

T he first church I pastored was a small Baptist church in Charlotte, North Carolina. I was a twenty-one-year-old kid. The night they voted to call me as pastor, a whopping fifteen people were in attendance. Later I learned the plan that night had been either to vote me in or to vote to merge with the church down the street. They went with me, but Im still not sure they made the right decision. Fortunately, God began to bless that little church and it started to grow. After a few long, hard seasons, we were averaging almost one hundred people per week. Since attendance was so high every Sunday, I went to the deacon board with a proposal: we needed to hire a part-time minister of music. They reluctantly agreed.

After a few interesting interviews, I found a woman who fit the bill perfectly. Her name was Laura. Laura was an incredible singer, and her husband played the piano to bootI got a two-for-one deal! Now, with the three of us on the platform, God began blessing our church even more. But things were far from perfect. The system Im going to detail for you in the pages ahead had not yet formed in my mind, as was obvious by the ups and downs Laura and I struggled through. Heres what I mean:

Sunday morning would roll around, and Laura and I would both show up at church. Some Sundays the music would be focused on Gods love, but my message would be an examination of Gods wrath. Laura and I would meet at the altar after the service and shake our heads in frustration. Some Sundays wed get to church and the music would be all about Gods wrath (yes, there are a few in the Baptist hymnal), but my sermon would be on the sweetness of Gods love. Once again, my new minister of music and I would meet at the altar, shake our heads, and sigh in frustration. But there were some Sundaysgreat, glorious, powerful Sundayswhen the music would be about Gods love and my sermon would be about Gods love. Harmony! Bliss! Laura and I would meet at the altar and dance a little jig of celebration over how the Spirit had moved. (Good thing this didnt happen too often since we were in a Baptist church.)

After a few magnificent, coincidental Sundays when the music and the message matched, we came up with an idea. What if I would call Laura on Wednesday and tell her what I was planning to preach the following Sunday? Revolutionary, right? (Remember, I was only twenty-one. More advanced planning strategies had not yet penetrated my youthful cerebral cortex.) So Laura and I established a weekly phone call, during which I would explain my sermon topic so that she could select music and choir anthems accordingly. More and more often, we saw the Spirit move in our services. Amazing.