A Challenge to Worship Creatively
Worship is vital for a healthy life. We are made by God to worship him. Worship fixes our eyes back on Jesus.
We have an opportunity to explore and develop new and exciting ways that we, as St John’s, can worship using our creative talents and resources available to us in the home! I challenge us to creatively use the worship music that is released on a Sunday. Listen, sing and soak in the themes of the songs, let God speak to you through it, get inspired, create and share! Send us photos or videos of what you’ve been doing so that as a church we can encourage and inspire one another. Wouldn’t it be amazing to see at the end of this season how the way that we worship has expanded?!
In this blog, I’m going to explore a selection of ideas that are on my heart on how we can worship in creative ways and best use our passions.
Music
Listen to worship songs. Find new albums on music platforms like Spotify or Amazon Music. Listen to golden oldies that you love. On Sunday St John’s is releasing a Spotify playlist of worship songs that would be sung during a service – have a listen to them.
‘Sing to the Lord a new song;
sing to the Lord, all the earth.’ (Psalm 96:1)
We are directed to SING! Singing is actively participating in worship. Commit to participating in some way! I know it may feel silly to begin with to worship God when you’re watching a video or when it’s not live music, but God loves people to try. Worship is not about perfectionism, it’s about exalting God! Music is a helpful tool to bring us to that place of worship with God. So, find a way that means you can participate in carefree, authentic worship.
Also, this verse says sing to the Lord a new song – use your creativity! If writing new music is something that makes you closer to God, do it! Write new music! Write new songs! Sing to God about what is on your heart.
Music is not just ‘popular’ worship songs. All music is ‘worship’ music if it’s from your heart and you’ve committed it to God. Whether that’s a violin concerto or an electric guitar solo. Use whatever gift God has given you!
Art
Whatever your medium is, have a go. Paint, draw, sculpt, sew! Express your worship. Colouring is something that can be easily accessed by all-ages. Colouring pages based around Bible verses can be found online; such as these free pages found on Joditt.com which you can print out.
Dance
Movement is a way you can express yourself without having to put it into words. It can be so freeing! If you enjoy dance, use it to worship! If you enjoy choreography routines, do it! If you enjoy actions for songs, do it! You could even choreograph routines or make up new actions with your family or friends together.
Reading and writing
You could read aloud passages from the Bible, which is full of pre-written expressions of worship! Psalms in particular speak so many truths of God’s character and speak into every situation (both good and bad). And just generally, reading the Bible is wonderful and gets us closer to God.
If you like to write poems or literature, worship God through it!
Nature
Go into your garden, witness God’s marvellous creation! See his creation rejoicing. Hear the birds singing. Psalm 96:12 says:
‘Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad;
let the sea resound, and all that is in it.
Let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them;
let all the trees of the forest sing for joy.
Let all creation rejoice before the Lord, for he comes,
he comes to judge the earth.
He will judge the world in righteousness
and the peoples in his faithfulness.’
God’s character is all around us in creation. Find the joy!
Find joy and be thankful
In times of hardship it is so easy to spiral into all the bad things that the news is throwing at us. I say combat that with joy and thankfulness. Create a thankful space in your home – a pin board, a wall, or notebook – and daily write down something that you can praise God for.
Serving and witnessing
There are so many ways you can worship. In fact, our whole lives can be an act of worship. In Romans 12:1 it says:
‘Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.’
We can worship God through our everyday actions, serving others and witnessing to those around us.
Find ways to worship in community
Set aside time to worship with the people you’re living with! Use live streams, Skype (or any video equivalent), phone calls or even deciding to worship at in your separate homes but collectively at the same time. Having people that you’re accountable to is really helpful and community (in whatever that community connects) is vital. Have a look for worship live streams and videos – St John’s are working on releasing some regular videos, elsewhere some churches are live streaming their services, Rend Collective are even live streaming worship on their Instagram account! There are things out there if you have a look.
In John 4:23-24 it says:
‘Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshippers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshippers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshippers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.’
We are called to worship in spirit and in truth. This is key. But how we worship in spirit and truth is up to each of us individually. Diversity is wonderful and God delights in us using our talents in true worship. So I would love to encourage you to seek new ways to worship our God. Try out some of these suggestions and explore more – these are not all the ways possible, just a few to get you thinking. Keep praying, keep worshipping and try some new things!
Sarah Holbrook
Worship and Youth Intern