Christ-Centered Worship

The countdown hits zero. The drummer clicks it off. Guitars are playing, the lights are flashing, the congregation is clapping. You approach the mic.

What are the first words you sing?

I’ve always thought that the way we begin worship is important. It sets the stage. It conveys the tone and projects the direction for our encounter with God. And believe it or not, the way we begin worship says a lot about us. It shows us what we think about God, what we think about ourselves and how we bridge the two with our approach to God.

So how should we begin? As ministers in worship, as people who lead others into God’s presence through music and singing, as people who remain led by the Holy Spirit and are faithful to scripture, how then should we kick things off? The answer is simple.

With Christ.

Let me explain. Look at Hebrews 10:19-23:

“Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.” (Hebrews 10:19-23 ESV)

The big takeaways:

We have confidence to enter the holy place (that is, God’s presence).

This is only because of the Blood of Jesus

Most of all, we are clean and pure before him.

 Have you ever stopped and reflected on the truth that the only reason you can even approach God in intimate worship is because Jesus paid the price for you? Hebrews says that Jesus acts as our great high priest. That means he is the mediator between us and God. Every blessing, every benefit, our entire change in position from death to life is all because of Jesus and only because of Jesus.

So, the question is; does our worship service reflect this? Think about your set list for the past 4 weeks. What was the first song you did each week? Did that song mention Jesus? Did it talk about the cross? Did its proclaim the gospel of Jesus in some way?

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not trying to pull for a strict liturgy or rigid flow. In case you’re inclined to interpret me that way, let me pose the same question differently; How would our worship experiences be different if we proclaimed the gospel right up front? Would the congregation worship differently? Would they experience God in a deeper way?

This has become core to the culture of our Bible College. Our first song is about the cross, or Jesus in some way. We love opening with songs like This is Amazing Grace by Bethel, Jesus Paid it All by Kristian Stanfill or He is Faithful by Brian and Katie Torwalt. Our Christology has become so crucial to our hearts that it dictates our set list, not a catchy hook or synth line.

I understand that the number of factors that worship leaders need to take into account when planning their songs are seemingly endless. Is the song Congregationally friendly? Can the band pull it off? Is it too traditional/contemporary for your congregation? Does it fit into criteria provided by your pastor? Whether there is framework handed to you by your church or framework from your own vision, there can be a lot of hoops for your songs and set lists to jump through. But I would encourage you worship leaders to examine the role of Christology in your songs and examine honestly whether your worship experiences are faithful to the gospel. I whole-heartedly believe that honoring Christ in this way yields amazing results; it puts our hearts in the right place, declares to all in the congregation the gospel of salvation, and it centers us around Christ’s righteousness and not our own. And that, perhaps, is the most powerful result of all.