 Hi everyone welcome back thanks for joining in. Let's resume from page 49 we'll skip 48 the preparation to lead we'll come back to that later but let's look at page 49 3.5 reviews and feedback so there's after every worship service after every service there we evaluate as a team and some of the questions that we ask about how the service went mentioned in the notes it says did we encounter God's presence as we played together did we learn anything new about how the spirit of God led or leads us during worship did the congregation recognize and encounter God's presence did we play well together as a worship team where did we not do well and what corrective measures need to be taken to improve these are the questions that we ask every Sunday the team will ask each other and they will have a response that's immediately after the service if you attend APC you would have seen that the worship team after the service will be in a huddle and that's where you know these questions will be asked and they will be sharing their thoughts what what did we learn did we encounter his presence did the congregation encounter God's presence what did we not do well what can we do better next time all of that so I think that's a very important session to have a part of your team is the reviews and feedback it's very important to look back on what happened and what can be done better etc. right moving on to 3.6 which is the worship ministry developmental plan so what is the plan what can we be what can we implement to develop our worship ministry overall so the vision of the worship ministry at APC is to please God's heart in unrestrained worship to encounter his manifest presence and to establish a community of believers who will do the same okay so the progression of that is very simple first thing is that we learn to minister unto him minister unto God before we learn before we minister unto the people which which is part of it but we learn that and recognize that we are ministers first unto God and to encounter his manifest presence and to establish a community of believers who will do the same and some of the areas where you can look at training your the worship team could be through worship team retreats training sessions workshops worship conferences seminars etc. but those are all the things that you can do okay it's like having a vision you know and what we are going to do how to get there is the mission right and so okay we mentioned by saying that worship APC worship ministry is to please God's heart and unrestrained worship and to encounter his manifest presence but first when you go to the next page we need to put down our mission first okay so what are we going to do to get there to have that experience weekend and week out and through the week right one is a pursuit to become a passionate worshipers passionate worshipers will always pursue the presence of God passionate worshipers will always pursue his presence you know we learned very little bit about David Stabernacle earlier on we saw that you know when from Samuel chapter 4 when the Ark of the Covenant was taken by the Philistines and and the Ark of the Covenant was not in Israel was not with Israel for almost 70 odd years and for 70 odd years not a single person felt the need to pursue the presence of God to bring it back to Jerusalem it took David and 70 years for one person to pursue his presence and bring it back to the place where it belonged and so passionate worshipers are always pursuers of the presence of God and and so as a worship ministry our goal is to encounter God's presence what we do is not about performance or just excellent music but about encountering the presence of God okay so you see a table in your notes there are different levels and there are seven levels that is mentioned at the very bottom you have in different levels for example lead congregation in a set of songs that's the beginning point lead congregation in a set of songs what is the expanded version of it you play a set of songs could have an excellent band highly skilled focus is on doing the set well and getting people to sing along okay so you see the focus skilled musicians the focus is on doing the worship set really well and getting people to sing along but the second step is lead congregation to sing to the Lord okay so worshiping worshiping is growing in maturity they play a set of songs they encourage congregation to sing to the Lord focus is still on good performance although the heart is to sing to the Lord okay you know good performance although the heart is to sing to the Lord third step level is lead congregation to worship the Lord I hear the goal is to do a set of songs well with excellence so that people can offer it as worship unto God focus is on offering something to God and some of us might just stop there thinking hey that's a good place to be there isn't it is there anything else better than that we'll see okay occasional experiences of God's presence the fourth one every once in a while we have God's manifest presence we sense his spirit leading in spontaneous prophetic worship we then are able to soak in his presence you know so we've come to a place where as a team as a collective we encounter his presence every once in a while and God decides to show up and there's healing that's happening in this non-stop worship through the service that happens etc and that occasional experiences of God's presence becomes regular experience of God's presence we regularly experience God's manifest presence it's not just a once in a blue moon kind of a thing we that's what we thrive to go for that's what we pursue right we want the regular experience encounters with his presence right we flow in prophetic worship constantly consistently we soak in his presence unexpected and unusual things happen healings encounters deliverance etc and so you know when when healing or an encounter or deliverance happen it's not oh wow that person got delivered it's such a rare sight no but we still praise God for the healing and for the deliverance but we like you know this is what God is all about this is what we're pursuing this is what we want for us as a team and and and for the church okay and and then keeps getting better lead congregation into the throne room we are able to step into the throne room we are overwhelmed by his presence in glory we are lost in awe and wonder amazing things happen and finally become a habitation of God his dwelling place the throne room is where he dwells and it's a place where we are called to dwell as well or more correctly God is dwelling amongst us right whenever wherever we worship we are overwhelmed by the God's manifest presence and so are you see from stage one from just about singing songs well into being a dwelling place right and to dwell in the very presence of God it's a huge leap it's a huge leap but we grow step by step you recognize where your team is right you recognize where your team is I would say that our team is at four and we are constantly when I'm wanting to pursue and you know have those experiences regularly the throne room experiences regularly so you recognize where your team is and see what you can do to get them to the next step you know okay we're a bunch of good skilled musicians we sing songs well what's the next step I'll be singing to the Lord are we encouraging the congregation to sing to the Lord right and then if that happens okay and I'll be encountering his manifest presence is that occasional or is that regular if it's occasional what can we do to make it regular that means we pursue his presence more we seek his face more wait we spend time in in prayer and in worship as a team and as a church building a culture until encountering his presence becomes a regular phenomenon right so this is a pursuit as our as is our pursuit as a team is to come to a place where where God is pleased with our worship and that he makes us his dwelling place right so Psalm 22 verse 3 it says he dwells the Holy One of Israel was well in the middle of the camp of Israel right he built of it builds a throne of praises he is enthroned on the praises of his people right so that's what this is a pursuit and the other thing what you might remember this table from the last year's course on the local church is that another pursuit of that is that we want to serve to establish God's blueprint of the local church through worship ministry and so as a worship ministry we are aligned and working towards establishing God's blueprint in our lives do you remember we looked at the differences between a band and worship team or a local church worship team right we mentioned that a band will have banned visions and the local church worship team will have the vision of the senior pastor or the vision of the church and the overall arching image of that is that we implement the God's blueprint okay so this is a pursuit as a team here at ABC and another thing that we look for other other requirements of a worship team member at ABC is coming down to page 52 is commitment okay so if I were to ask you the importance of commitment what would you have to say how would you define commitment in your own words define commitment for me please how would you define commitment feel free to unmute and speak or share okay being dedicated to to the work in spite of circumstances all right thank you there's a totally Anita Rosalind what do you think of commitment London Paul commitment is honoring their availability or honoring their the commitment that they've already made with respect to time with respect to the talent and so that they they don't have to be a dependable resource they turn out to be a dependable resource yeah that's that's one way to put it thanks London thank you for sharing that right there's a wonderful publication by ABC which past ashes written called the power of commitment it's that book is about 25 pages long it's not a it's not a big book it's a booklet I should say the title again is the power of commitment and the PDF is available on a website it's a wonderful read for yourself and it's also a wonderful read to share it with your team members to have like a group discussion on the topic of commitment okay but that is a huge aspect here or requirements we look at it from a worship team member here at ABC is commitment to the local church right first one we look at is a commitment to the local church means that APC is our church family we are committed to growing in this church maybe not church hopping every Sunday here there everywhere no this is my church family this is where I'm choosing to grow spiritually I'm committed to grow spiritually I'm gonna receive nurture and be cared for in this church I should make that commitment one it begins there even before you pay me you're part of the team your commitment to the church begins you know earlier on commitment to the local church means that APC is our church body we are committed members of this body we find our place and fulfill our role and function in this body so if you're part of a body like just like any other body like your hand or a feet you know so there is a specific role and a function for each part of the body isn't it and so you committed to APC or any of your church as a church body and you find your place and you find your role and function in that particular body and you fulfill that then you're committed to that role and function and commitment to local church means that we are committed to the leadership God has placed at APC and we are 100% aligned to APC statement of faith vision values and culture at APC and commitment to the local church means that we receive what God is releasing to us as a local church and we flow with join in and actively participate so you see when we talk about a worship team member being committed to the church it's not just to the team they are showing their commitment to the entire church and in and it's expressed very differently they are saying yes to our statement of faith when they are saying committed they are saying yes I will you know APC is a church family they are saying yes I'm choosing to grow here spiritually and I'm going to be actively involved and participate in what God is doing in and through APC right so you see commitment begins way before they are even part of the team you see that's the prerequisite and then once they are part of the team and how they can express their commitment to our church is that they don't show up to church only on Sundays that they are rostered I'm rostered only on the 8th of October so I'm going to come to APC only on the 8th of October I'm gonna come lead worship play some music and for the rest of the month I will go to this church you know I will go to that church I will travel wherever everywhere and you know that is not being committed isn't it because you're not saying that they are your family that they are your body you might be using them as a platform to get your own agenda done establish your own ministry you see so your commitment to the local church is expressed by being able by being part of what God is doing in and through APC or your church and attending all services all Sundays you know not just the Sundays yet you are rostered connecting with the rest of the church family before service and after service are you connecting with them being involved in the ministries at APC where we can serve as part of the worship ministry and or in other ways is there any other team that you think you can help in you know so all of that is just a few ways that you can express your commitment you know to a local church in your own local church and being committed is a very powerful thing if it was easy anybody would do it or everybody would do it commitment takes effort it I remember when I was on Facebook you know it's a you know there's a question about your relationship status and a couple of choices there you are either single or commitment committed or there was something else I forget turbine was a very funny option confused and if you if you've changed your relationship status to committed oh you know it's a big deal about it I'm talking about a decade ago and so commitment is is not an easy thing I let your yes be yes and you know we know kind of a thing isn't it that's what commitment is if it was easy everybody would do it but there is power in commitment when you when you show up on time you know week in and week out what you are communicating something to the people around you you know what like what Linden just said a reliable resource as a as a leader I would want to if I want to assign a responsibility to an individual I will first need to know that okay is this person reliable will this person carry it out if I know that this person is not reliable because you know it's very he's very unpredictable you know he may show up he may not show up you know I need some for example I need someone to project the lyrics every Sunday to be part of the media team and imagine a person doesn't show up on a Sunday morning to you know to do the lyrics during all the presentation the person said they will come and but they didn't show up there's no communication as well from their end and you immediately think okay you know next time I'm not going to give this responsibility to this person because he is not really he or she is not reliable not committed they're not committed to communicate even right okay you know there could be a several reasons why the person can't make it but did they come did they communicate all of the small things is very you know important and crucial because that is in line with personal accountability everything that we spoke about commitment it was general so far I know but it also all boils down to your personal accountability and we speak about in page 53 is a bunch of things so as a individual are you personally accountable for your life do you hold yourself accountable okay and some of the practical ways in which personal accountability can be expressed one is a worship team member ensures that they spend personal time with God that they walk with God in word in prayer and personal worship is strong but your worship pastor cannot police you around once you go back home you know nobody's going to know what you know how your life is but do you hold yourself accountable enough to be strong within God that you hold yourself highly accountable to walk in holiness and not in sin and also you know as individuals life is going to be rough there's going to be a lot of ups and downs when you go through a season of a season of a rough patch you know a season of wilderness and that you feel like you're not able you're not in a better position spiritually to give or to lead worship or you know do you or you addicted to a sin or etc do you hold yourself accountable enough to come and meet your pastor and say I'm struggling with this I'm going through a season of wilderness I'm going through a season I'm addicted to a certain things do you hold yourself accountable and say can you not roster me I want to step down for a while and work on myself that is also holding yourself accountable we're reaching out to any of the pastors of our spiritual help to be strengthened that is also holding yourself accountable right and and personal accountability can be you know attributed to so many other aspects of life like if do you practice are you working on your skill are you not working on your skill if you're not working on your skill that's again you're not holding yourself personally accountable or highly accountable of yourself right if you're not able to practice if you're not able to rehearse if you're not able to prepare or organize yourself or be committed again you know and all of those are red flags and you should be in a position to express it to your leaders and say I am not in a better place right now I need to take a break and I can speak with you when I'm ready you can roster me again and most of the people when they're going through a rough patch are very hesitant to speak to their leaders and and say you know I am I am going through a rough time and so that also says that a leadership should create that culture or the environment where people feel safe to express what they're going through and you know it's not a it's it's not a toxic culture or a toxic environment where an individual feels that oh no if I go and share this weakness what I'm fighting I will be judged I will be ridiculed I will be thrown out I will be made look as a as the worst sinner if that is the environment that the individual feels that they are in they will not express they will continue doing serving in the team you know putting on a mask saying oh everything is well everything is nice I'm happy all is well but they will be going through a really tough phase so it's very important that as leaders as a ministry that we create an atmosphere or an environment where people feel safe to be a vulnerable okay that they have this confidence saying I am confident that I can go and share my weakness and I will not be judged all right that's again holding yourself personally accountable so all of the above and you can go through the notes you know it's there so all of the above are expressions of personal accountability all right all of the above are expressions of personal accountability okay so actually I just want to stop here for chapter 4 on talking about worship ministry and organizational aspect because the next class we want to start talking about the spiritual aspects of the worship ministry so do you as anybody have questions that you want to ask or share about this in your others do you want to share experiences from your own church regarding worship ministry or any challenges that you faced encountered feel free to express we can have like a discussion if you want how many of you here are called for worship ministry all right I think this is the last class for this course then I don't think we need to continue with this course okay well if there are no other questions for questions we can stop here and I'm intentionally stopping it only because next class we'll start talking about the spiritual aspects of worship ministry all right well thank you for joining I'll bless you I'll see you next week