Worship Matters: With Music Pt. 2

In this chapter, Kauflin recognizes how hard it may seem to choose the "right" songs to play and sing during worship. He points out that God is willing to help lead our hearts to the right songs to play, and we are not alone in that we can work with others to choose the program. He sorts songs into four categories dependent on their impacts on the church and advises us to do the same. He also tells us to plan thematically and plan contextually, meaning the songs we perform have to be targeted towards the type of audience/congregation, and should relate to the theme or message that will be delivered.

One thing that really stood out to me was that the songs we should play should be planned thematically. My church is very traditional, and we end up having to play hymns every week. However, I sometimes feel that the songs are chosen randomly rather than thematically. I will try to choose songs that are more relatable to the message, rather than just the same few hymns over and over again.

Worship Matters: With Music Pt. 1

According to Kauflin, worship is supposed to be both used as a source of unconfined emotion as well as a glorification of God. However, often people will seek worship music only for the passionate emotions that come with it. Passionate emotions caused by worship is good, but people forget that those emotions have a purpose as well: to glorify God and lead others to Him. Because that is the main purpose of worship music, we must make sure that the worship music we play draws attention to the lyrics, and carefully add in other arrangements and instrumental solos. In the end, worship should draw attention to God, not our own skills.

I personally agree with Kauflin's statements in this chapter. I find that a lot of people get overtly emotional over worship music, which is good, but I often find them missing the whole point of it. Worship music isn't solely used to stir up emotions; the emotions are meant to lead us to God. In worship, I agree that I need to focus more on projecting the importance of the lyrics and the message of the song rather than the music I play.