WC = 1.13.08 = Lord Sabbaoth
this morning we sang Luther’s most famous hymn, A Mighty Fortress is Our God. before we started, i took a moment to explain the lyric “Lord Sabbaoth” (Hebrew meaning Lord of Hosts -or- Lord of Armies). Luther wrote this hymn (based on Psalm 46) in response to his personal battle with temptation. i said it was a “very manly hymn”…
as i explained “Lord Sabbaoth” i also told the congregation that, when we stand before God and sing to Him and to each other, we should know what we are singing. we should think about it. the words should be truth for us. should be real to us. should be true TO us… God tells us to worship in Spirit and in Truth, and that our worship should be TRUE. we shouldn’t just sing the words because that’s what’s on the page or the screen. we should sing them because we understand and mean them.
and, to my relief, i got a few nods from our elders. Praise God! 
Order of Worship:
A Mighty Fortress is Our God (hymnal) – Martin Luther
Welcome and Announcements
Missionary Moment (where we give a report on the missionaries our church supports)
Sing to the King – Billy Foote & Charles Sylvester Horne
Made Me Glad – Miriam Webster
May the Words of My Mouth – Terry Butler
Offering and Doxology
Scripture Reading
Sermon
Open my Eyes that I may See (hymnal) – Clara H. Fiske Scott
Benediction
… it is always the spirit behind the words that counts. what a wonderful way to relate to man through songs …
You sound like a great worship leader, Mandy. You’d be surprised how many of us have led “A Mighty Fortress” without ever being curious regarding what “Lord Sabbaoth” means, much less looking up that information and sharing it with our congregrants.
I love how you lead with true integrity…. thanks for sharing that. And great set by the way. That Sing to the King/Made Me Glad/May the Words of My Mouth sequence… those are three great songs that I’ve always loved. They’re powerful tools.
I hate that moment of standing before a church, laying your soul bare and letting go of something that could be mildly controversial, and every eye in the building swivels toward you, and absolutely nobody seems to agree with what you just said. It’s quite possibly the loneliest moment a “worship leader” (or any other stage speaker) can feel. (This in response to your thankfulness for some elders nodding…)
It’s amazingly difficult to not “worship the opinion of others” in such a situation. We so dreadfully need approval, whether we admit that or not.
Bernard:
thank you for stopping by BlendingWorship – i greatly appreciate your comment. that moment of elder approval in our service was definitely a “Praise God” moment for me – something that was much needed for my ministry at this church. the tone of worship that i serve in is such that i have learned to expect disapproval every sunday. we have a VERY old and VERY young congregation, with VERY different opinions of worship.
its impossible for me to please everyone with every song.
as for our elders — i value the “approval” of our elders because they are in direct authority over me and are responsible for the spiritual well-being of our church. i strive to lay aside my personal preferences and serve the vision for worship that our elders have communicated to me.
i (probably more than anyone else in our church) am keenly aware of my position as a late-20s female worship leader that is (unfortunately) not a member of this church. i walk a fine line because of my age, my gender, and my lack of membership. the church congregation is also in the midst of “worship wars” teetering between 80 yr olds and 18 yr olds. the music selection and tone of worship MUST be a delicate balance of the two.
most of the worship conversations (and there have been very few) that i’ve had with our elders have centered on what i should do differently, and haven’t affirmed much of what i am doing well. i can only assume that their “silence” means they have no objections. because of those factors, it is of utmost importance to me that the elders can trust my heart and put their approval on my role in this church.
that little nod of approval is about the most affirmation i’ve gotten from them… it was a breath of fresh air. even more, it was an answer to prayer.
thanks so much for your comment… i hope i was able to give a bigger glimpse into why i truly wanted to Praise God for that moment during our worship service.
blessings,
mandy
Mandy – I don’t envy you the position you are in. I’ve been there as a church pianist, although I’ve never been an official worship leader. If I were given another opportunity to “transition” a church musically, I would laugh at the nominating committee and run like the devil for the hills. My current church is probably suffering from the same problem, but we’re not intentionally trying to transition or even to blend. My wife – the “music director” – and I – “the pianist” who happens to be on the “Board” and also runs the “video program” – are intentionally introducing some new stuff without ever making a big deal of it at all. We’re much more “inside” than you seem to be, in that we are some of the “oldest” members of the church (in terms of length of membership, not age), and I’m more concerned about backlash to the pastor than to myself. I know that the spot you are in is very discouraging. Having been a part of some great worship events myself, I’m always saddened when people just look at me blankly in the middle of “How Great Is Our God” and then get really excited during “I Thank You For the Valley.” They are missing a critical part of the Christian joy, but I don’t want to promote emotionalism, so I basically just let it ride and work to follow the Holy Spirit in my song choices.
Anyway, hang in there.
I was curious as to your remarks about membership. It sounds almost like you cannot join the church?? I’m surprised that they will put you in a leadership spot but not let you join the church! If you would prefer to not discuss that further, I understand. It is a worldwide web, and a surprising number of “elders” read the web…
God bless.
Bernard