Emily Eslick's Worship Blog

In chapters 25 and 26 of Worship Matters, Bob Kauflin talks about being skilled/authentic and ministering believers/unbelievers. He talks about how the quality of music doesn’t always make worship better. If you don’t come from a place of authenticity than you can hope to please God. You also don’t want to sacrifice skill for genuine worship. If you don’t practice or rehearse, you won’t be able to bring the excellence that God had given you. He also talks about serving both non believers and active christians. If you only play or minister to a believing crowd you aren’t doing what God has asked. Actively seeking out people who aren’t christian is a great way to evangelize and share the gospel. I agree with all of this. Authenticity and skill go hand in hand. Making sure to practice and rehearse is important, but if it doesn’t come from a genuine place than it isn’t worship. You could be the best piano player in the entire world but if you aren’t giving it to God that it wouldn’t matt...

In chapters 23 and 24 of Worship Matters, Bob Kauflin talks about planned/spontaneous and rooted/relevant. He tells a story about a church he played with in Philadelphia where they wouldn’t practice. It was very free form and they would play pretty much whatever the congregation started singing. Being flexible and being able to go without the flow of a congregation is very important. Knowing that things might not go as planned is important for a good set. He also talks about being rooted and relevant. He tells of a time when he used only scripture when trying to share the word of God. While rooting everything you do in the bible is important, being able to relate the stories from thousands of years ago to today is key. You can use stories from your life, other peoples experiences, or even other quotes/books written by respectable people to aid in a sermon or conversation. You alpo have to keep your sermon rooted in the bible. Starting to far away form the original text can confuse and ...

In Chapters 21 and 22, Bob Kauflin talks about the differences between internal and external and vertical and horizontal. Even if you show expressiveness and emotion outwardly, if it doesn’t matchup with your inward feelings it is useless. You cannot pretend to pour out on someone if you are empty. If you don’t have a good and stable relationship with God, you can’t lead people inthe act of finding him. This also goes hand in hand with Chapter 22. Having a vertical relationship with God will let you have a horizontal relationship with other people. Bringing people to God means that you have to know where to go. I agree with all of this. Trying to fool your congregation into believing that you are Christian through outward expression will not get you anywhere with God. Many people rely on worship to bring them closer to God. You can’t facilitate that if you don’t know God. Stepping up to the role of worship leading means that you will most likely have people that want to talk with y...

In Chapter 15 of Worship Matters, Bob Kauflin talks about proclaiming the gospel. He explains that to proclaim the word of God, it takes a public, proud declaration that shows that you really believe what you say. Keeping faith through hardship is also important. Saying you are a Christian but doubting in times of trail show that you might not believe as much as you thought. I definitely agree with Bob. Without and outward declaration of what you believe in, how can we expect that others will know what we believe in. I think that doubting through hardship is natural, but having tools that will better prepare you to keep sight of God through difficult times should also be a priority. Having solid building blocks can help you not completely crumble. Having supporting friends and mentors is a big part of that’s. They can help shape your testimony and get you more comfortable with sharing her face.

In Chapter 14 of Worship Matters, Bob Kauflin talks about encouraging an atmosphere or worship. Using the right language is important. Discouraging or yelling at your congregation will not get you anywhere. Being leaders by example encourages the presence of God into a space, making it easier for the congregation to find a worshiping attitude on their own. I definitely agree with letting Godmdo the work. Putting all the responsibility on yourself will most likely end up in ruining a worshiping atmosphere. In leading, it is important to remember that leading by example is the easiest way to usher in the presence of God. By worshiping in front of others, it  may make them more comfortable to worship themselves. Yelling or putting them down is only going to push them farther away for God.

In Chapter 11 of Worship Matters, Bob Kauflin writes about the importance of combining word and music in worship. He says that many people are under the impression that the sermon is not worship. He stresses that you can worship in many ways, including speaking or reading the word. It’s important to remember that the word of God should inspire the music that we use to praise him. The different structures of worship are mearly to appeal to different types of people. I think that worship can be anything. Whether your called to do dance, music, spoken word, or just generally being a good person. All of these things can’t be worship, Praising God isn’t about singing, it’s about showing the Lord through your actions. By living a good christian life, people can witness God’s goodness and grace. I also think that the music you play to praise God doesn’t have to be a specific kind. You can praise with any genre of music, whether it be gospel, country, hip hop, rap, or even heavy meta...