As we continue our conversation on designing worship as a conversation between God and his people, let’s see what this might look like practically as applied during a worship service.

A sample worship service

Imagine you’re sitting in a church before the service gets started. The band walks out onto the stage. The worship leader approaches his microphone and then reads a scripture out loud. He says,

Revelation: “ ‘It is good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praises to your name, O Most High; to declare your steadfast love in the morning, and your faithfulness by night.’ The God who has been faithful and present with you this week, has brought us here together. Let’s sing to the God who was, who is, and who will always be loving and faithful to us.

Response: Then the band kicks in on the song “House of the Lord” by Phil Wickham. (If the songs mentioned are dated by the time you read this, keep reading because the concepts are still relevant.)

Response: After singing the first song, the band transitions into a different key and launches into the next song, "In Christ Alone”. Once you’ve finished singing, the worship leader indicates that it’s okay to be seated at this time.

Revelation: The worship leader proceeds by drawing attention to the lyrics you’ve just sung about putting your hope “in Christ alone.” What is spoken sounds something like, “We’ve just spent time praising God for what he has done for us through Jesus, and we’ve sung the phrase “in Christ alone” a number of times. If we’re honest, this past week we’ve all turned to something or someone other than Jesus for hope and comfort. Maybe it was a substance, or our bank account, or even a politician after watching the news. We’re going to take a moment together and confess our sin in looking for substitutes, but we’re going to give you a moment to spend in prayer asking Jesus to reveal where you tried to do life on your own this week. The band will keep playing, but we invite you during this time to talk to Jesus about where you haven’t trusted him.”

Response: The band continues to play softly for a short time. You begin to replay in your mind a few instances this week where you felt like you didn’t trust Jesus. Then another person on the worship team says, “If you feel comfortable, we’re going to tell God together that we’re sorry. Let’s say this together.” Then the words to this prayer appear on the screen.

“Most merciful God, we confess that we have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done, and by what we have left undone. We have not loved you with our whole heart; we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We are truly sorry and we humbly repent. For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ, have mercy on us and forgive us; that we may delight in your will, and walk in your ways, to the glory of your Name. Amen.”

Revelation: The worship leader then reads Psalm 32:1-6. He says, “God tells us, ‘Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit. For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,’ and you forgave the iniquity of my sin.’ God, thank you for loving us and forgiving us.”

Response: The worship leader then says, “Let’s sing that last verse of “In Christ Alone” together. ‘No guilt in life, no fear in death. This is the power of Christ in me. From life's first cry to final breath, Jesus commands my destiny. No power of hell, no scheme of man, can ever pluck me from His hand. Till He returns or calls me home, here in the power of Christ I'll stand.’ “

This time the lyrics hit your soul a little differently. You “feel” a sense of God’s love and forgiveness. The worship leader closes this time by saying, “Will you pray with me?” They then pray a prayer that sounds much like a scripture you know. (It’s Revelation 5:12-13, but you don’t know the exact reference at the time of the worship service.)

“ ‘Jesus, you are the Lamb who was slain for us, and you are worthy of our praise. We want to join with every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and praise you by saying, ‘To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb, be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!’ Thank you Jesus for all you have done for us.”

Revelation: At this point in the service, the preacher stands up and gives a fantastic sermon on Ephesians 2 about being saved by faith in Jesus. He speaks about the amazing love of Jesus, his perfect sacrifice, and how we try to be “good enough” to earn his forgiveness. At the end of his sermon, he offers to meet with anyone who wants to know more about following Jesus. He then prays to end his portion of the service.

Response: After the preacher says “Amen”, one of the worship team members says, “In Psalm 23 David speaks of God’s love as ‘following us all the days of our life’. That word follow literally means “chases us down”, like a hunter after prey. We invite you to respond to God’s love and grace for you by singing with us.” Then the band leads the congregation in singing “Goodness of God” with emphasis on the lyrics, “Your goodness is running after, it’s running after me.”

Revelation: The band continues to play softly and the pastor comes back up on stage. He says, “We're going to give you a few moments to listen for the voice of Jesus. We've put God's word from Romans 8:1-2 on the screen for you to meditate on. Take this time to ask Jesus to speak to you through these scriptures about how he sees and feels about you.” As he exits the platform, the scripture comes up onto the screen, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

You sit quietly for a moment, and then a strong impression moves inside your heart. “I am loved!”

It’s been a while since you heard from God. You’re immensely grateful that the church has given you space and time to hear his voice in such a simple and clear way. It’s out of this time of “communing” with God that you are led into the act of communion.

Response: One of the elders walks up front, and begins to lead the church into taking the communion sacraments together. He starts by reading Matthew 26:26-29 out loud. Then he says, “Jesus tells us that communion is a part of a new covenant. Jesus is promising us forgiveness and grace, and we are promising to honor him with our lives. Jesus never fails to hold up his side of the covenant. Today, as we take communion, it is a way for us to recommit to our side of the covenant. God, please help us to live in a way that honors you and makes you known in the world.”

“Will you please join me in saying the Apostles’ Creed? ' ‘I believe in God, the Father almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried; he descended to the dead; on the third day he rose again; he ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty; from there he will come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting. Amen.’ “

“If you have made the commitment to follow Jesus and you believe the truths that we just said together, we invite you to take communion at this time.” The band plays for just a short time more.

Response: Then you notice two people entering into the baptistry! You just love it when you see someone give their life to Jesus. Another one of the elders of the church introduces the person that they’re baptizing and says, “(person’s name") is giving us a beautiful picture of God’s grace. They have recognized that they couldn’t save themselves and are committing their life to loving the God who has loved them first.” They have them repeat a confession based on the Apostle Peter's words. “I believe, that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God. He is my Lord and my Savior.” As they baptize them, they say out loud, “I now baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.” This follows the command of Jesus in Matthew 28.

Revelation and Response: As the people clap and cheer for their new brother or sister in Christ, the worship pastor says, “Let’s pray together for God’s continued work in their life and in our own. God, we ask you to give our new family member the strength to withstand temptation. Now that they’ve chosen to follow you, they will experience resistance from Satan and his demons. We ask that you give them wisdom. Help them continue to grow in their knowledge and relationship with Jesus. Help them remember that you are our great treasure. Help all of us in all these ways as well.”

As the worship leader prays, you remember your own baptism. You realize that you also need all the things that the worship leader just prayed for. In fact, you look around the room at the people around you. You see others and think about what they’re going through. It causes you to say a quick prayer for a few of the people around you.

The worship leader then says, “Let’s sing this prayer together” and the band begins to play “Be Thou My Vision”. The lyrics are the prayer that give you the words you wanted to say to God in response to his love for you.

Revelation: As the song ends, a scripture comes up on the screen. (Jude 1:24-25) “Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.” The worship leader ends by saying, “Your God has saved you, and now sends you. Go and share His great love.”

Here is a summary of the service:

A SIMPLER OUTLINE: You may have noticed on the far right hand of the table the categories of: GATHERING, DECLARING, INSTRUCTING, COMMUNING, and SENDING. This is a very simple way to think through the conversation God is having with his people. God always starts worship. He gathers us, we respond by declaring the character and works of our God. He instructs us; we respond. He communes with us; we respond. He sends us; we respond.

3 Tips for conversational worship planning

Alternate between revelation and response: You’ll notice in the example that there is a pattern of revelation first, then response. Revelation, then response. From time to time, it’s not always a clean break. This is because God can reveal himself anytime he wants while we’re responding. Like during the baptism, God is at work reminding each person in the congregation of their own story with God, and prompts him to pray for others who need wisdom and strength.
Scripture is a major element of revelation: We cannot force God to show up in the way we want him to, and we don’t always know exactly what he’s wanting to say to people. But we know that God has already revealed himself in scripture, so we can trust that when his word is read and used in worship, he will use it to reveal himself and to speak to us.
Be careful not to rush people: Giving people time within the service to process and pray individually is extremely powerful. We live in a busy world that is constantly rushing on to the next thing. We need to take time in our services for each person to express their own individual hearts to God and for them to listen for what the Spirit wants to say to them. One word directly from God can have a bigger impact than anything we can plan for.

If you would like to have additional training or coaching on how to design effective worship services, please contact me and we can dig in together.

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