Worship Rhythm on Mission Teams
The Biblical image for worship is bowing down, bending the knee, putting your face to the ground. It is a response to who God is and what He has done. In that sense, worship should always, at least in some small way, redirect us to Jesus Christ because he is the fullness/completeness of all God is and has done.
Jesus is God Incarnate—fully God, fully Man. Weighty stuff to ponder. But what we can see is that Jesus lived the life we could not and died the death we deserve so that in in his resurrection we know that they payment for our transgressions against God have been forever cleared and our relationship with Him is repaired for eternity.
It is this truth, this reality that drives us to worship. Worship is fundamentally a redirection of all of life towards our proper relationship with God. It should keep us always in humility because we are not God and we recognize our repeated rebellion against Him. It should also make us feel more loved that we could possibly imagine because God Himself died on our behalf out of His great love for us. It should also make us braver than we could ever dare on our own because it is the power of God through His Spirit living in and through us that accomplishes His end in the world.
Alright, good and well, but what does that look like on Mission Teams? Last Core we talked about two simple questions you can ask to help redirect your teammates lives toward God (Worship in Teams), but here are three more ways you can create moments of worship on your Worship Teams:
Working Together to Communicate the Gospel. In the New Testament, one of the names/descriptors for Christians (used much more than ‘Christians’ incidentally) was ‘witnesses’. When we talk about worship being a response, one of our primary roles has to be as witnesses to what God has done in our lives through Jesus Christ. What do witnesses do? They report faithfully and truthfully what they experienced. This works in two ways: (1) As a buoy for the Mission Team, a building up of others who already believe (2) As a powerful testimony for those we interact with who are far from God. We can’t leave the preaching—sharing of the Good News of Jesus—only to the preacher. The message is too important. We have to become a church full of missionaries that know how to communicate the Gospel.
Using the Team Huddle resource to begin having faith conversations.I get it; it’s not easy or natural for everyone to share the Gospel in every facet of life. We’re all works in progress on this. That is why we provide the Team Huddle resource for all Mission Teams, which provides 3-4 questions and a couple application points from the Sunday message that is delivered by a trained and experienced preacher. Armed with the Message itself and tools for discussion, it should allow you to begin to practice communicating the Gospel and having faith discussions in a safe environment—with your teammates. A very important bonus of the Team Huddle is that it’s always relevant to what is happening at One Life and therefore creates easy connection for unconnected people.
Accountability for Daily Reflection on Scripture. I feel very strongly that when we do gather in Christian community, it should be a product of a life lived in God’s Word. It is a time to be practitioners of the Bible. That’s not to say you never study in community—that’s ostensibly what the Team Huddle time is for. However, it cannot be the sum total of why we gather. The end goal is living daily lives of worship, and how that plays out on a unique Mission Team will look different for each team. Maybe it is a text reminder or a reporting time when you gather or a Facebook group or one-on-one accountability partners—whatever it is, you have to find what works for your Team and the individuals on it. What we know from the Reveal data is that this is the #1 most effective way to move towards a deepening relationship with God and we get the awesome opportunity to help each other grow in this.