Worship Matters: To Proclaim the Gospel

In chapter 15 of this book, Kauflin explains what proclamation is as well as its importance. By definition, proclamation is the announcement of something officially or publicly. When we worship, we should be proclaiming God's love and greatness. We often forget how good He is, and need to be reminded through proclamation. But not only do we have to proclaim about God to the church while we lead worship, but we also have to proclaim to ourselves. Kauflin argues that the most fruitful and effective way of serving our churches is through preaching the gospel to ourselves. The gospel is central to our worship and why we believe. 

I agree with most of what Kauflin says in this chapter. Although I know the gospel, I will always need others to proclaim it to me and to proclaim it to myself. This is so I have a sturdy foundation for my knowledge of God and so I can remember how great He is, the reason why I lead worship in the first place. 

Worship Matters: Thereby Motivating the Gathered Church

Kauflin discusses the influence of the worship team in this chapter. He tells us that we should not take it too personally when the church is not involved or "feeling" the music; although extremely passionate worship teams do succeed in doing so, they can not force it. Kauflin lists out possible faults worship leaders may make in trying to invoke passion in the church. For example, they should not pick and choose the more emotional songs simply for the known results. Instead of trying to manipulate the church into feeling passionate, we should let God do the work in them and open up their hearts to the worship.

This chapter sort of opened my eyes to the fact that sometimes I would attempt to manipulate the church into feeling emotional by picking the more passionate songs. Instead of doing that, I should just work on exhibiting the joy inside myself as I lead worship and let God do the rest for the worshippers.