 A couple of weeks ago, Matt Wagner did a fantastic job of instructing us on the kinds of songs we should choose for our churches to sing. Now that we know what to look for in songs, we are going to take it a step further and give you a look into how we actually structure our worship setlists. While there are many great methods for crafting a worship setlist, this has proven to be the most effective in our context. The Foundation It all starts with the Word of God. "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God." (Colossians 3:16 ESV) From this scripture we see that singing is more than just entertainment or even preparing the heart to receive a sermon. Rather, singing itself serves to teach and admonish the body of Christ. More than that though, singing is actually how the Word of Christ takes root and dwells richly in the life of the believer. In light of this, when planning our worship setlists, we begin with the Word of God. "Singing is how the Word of Christ takes root and dwells richly in the life of the believer." What Text Is Being Preached? Before thinking about what songs we would like to sing on a given Sunday, we first study the text of scripture our pastor will be preaching from. As we begin this endeavor, I have always found it beneficial to pray and ask the Lord to send His Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Christ (Eph. 1:17) and then subsequently read the text over and over again. Another best practice we've found to accompany this effort is to be reading through the same commentaries that our pastors have been studying from; this ensures we are all headed in the same direction from the earliest stages of planning. "Dude, that sounds like a lot of work... why is it important?" Well, since singing is how we "let the word of Christ dwell in [us] richly," we endeavor to have our songs undergird the sermon by teaching the same truths! Think about it... while you may listen to your favorite sermon three of four times in your lifetime, you will sing your favorite song hundreds, if not thousands, of times! Therefore, we aim to reinforce the big idea of the message with songs that are saturated in scripture, rich in sound doctrine, and similar in content "so that the servant of God may be equipped for every good work (2 Timothy 3:16-17)." Music is a powerful tool. Dr. Tony Merida said it well, "Music is portable theology; it's theology we carry around with us." While people won't necessarily remember every point of the sermon, they will have the songs you sing on Sunday in their head and on their lips throughout the week. There is power in reiterating the sermon's content through song! "There is power in reiterating the sermon's content through song!" The Need for Intentionality in Song Placement Now that we have studied the text that is being preached and have some songs in mind that will reinforce the big idea that is being communicated that weekend, the next thing we look to do is intentionally order the songs, or structure the setlist, to produce the most effective results. Let's be honest, the average church attender does not show up on Sunday morning ready to lift their hands in the air and declare from their heart “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come! ...Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created (Rev. 4:8, 11).” Rather, we must remember that our people need to be shepherded into the presence of God. Like each one of us, throughout a given week our congregation struggles with sin, sickness, loss, depression, and many other things we are often unaware of. For some, it took everything they had just to get through the doors of our building that morning. It's negligence on our part to not have an intentional process for shepherding God's people through the worship gathering. "It's negligent to not have an intentional process for shepherding God's people through the worship gathering." The Five Thematic Phases To ensure we are shepherding the hearts of our people well, at ONElife we focus on Five Thematic Phases when planning our setlists:
Songs of Gathering Songs of Gathering serve as our "call to worship," if you will; they are where our ascension to the throne of God begins. These songs ask God to focus our eyes upon him and away from ourselves. These songs are asking God to come down by His Spirit and meet with us in power. These songs really seek to give us a singleness of mind, looking to Jesus, because our worship begins not when the band begins playing, when the deacon prays, or when the pastor preaches, but instead when we remember who God is and all He has done... and our hearts rejoice. Song Examples:
Songs of Testimony Songs of Testimony serve to remind us of God's faithfulness from the dawn of creation until now. These songs tell of what God has done in my life/your life/our lives/the life of the Church, etc. As I stated above, our worship begins when we remember who God is and all that He has done, so it only seems fitting that on our way to His throne, we put his work in our lives before our eyes to remind our hearts of his goodness. Song Examples:
Songs of Ascription Songs of Ascription speak solely of who God is, with little to no mention of 'me,' 'I,' 'us,' or 'we.' This is our throne room worship. This where we transition from worshiping God because of what he has done for 'me' and 'us' to worshiping God simply for who He is in essence. These songs speak of the character of God. Song Examples:
This third phase always proves to be the most difficult to find songs for! We are not always able to escape the 'me' and 'I,' so a good test of whether or not a song will serve this phase well is the question, "What does the chorus say?" If the chorus omits me-centeredness, it's usually a good fit, even if it finds its way into other places. Song of Response A Song of Response is the song that is sung right after our sermon. It is exactly what it sounds like; the pastor has just finished preaching and now the question is, "What will we do with what we have heard from God?" This song is our response to what the Word of God has taught us this day. While the goal is for all of our songs to be working together to communicate the same message that is being preached from the pulpit, this song needs to have the clearest connection and call to action to the main point of the sermon. (These songs are often more reflective and thus slower in tempo.) Example: Recently our lead pastor preached through Jonah 4. In chapter four, Jonah takes delight in something God created over God himself; Jonah was "exceedingly glad" that this plant had sprung up, giving him shade from the harsh weather as he waited to see what would become of Ninevah. Jonah was so upset when God appointed a worm to destroy the plant that he essentially asks God to kill him. The implication was that we do the same thing today. Rather than our delight being in the Creator God, we often take the good things God has created and turn them into functional gods ; when good things become god things they turn into bad things. As believers, we need to repent of such idols in our lives and cling to the one true God. So, our song of response after that sermon was 'Jesus Is Better' by Austin Stone Worship, which boldy declares "Glory Glory! We have no other king but Jesus Lord of All." The bridge then pleads with God to make our hearts believe that He is better than any sorrow, than any victory, than any comfort, and any of amount of riches. As you can see, this song clearly hit on the major thrust of the sermon and thus provided a great opportunity for us to respond to God; while our intellect knows "there is no other so sure and steady" our hearts often deceive us, to which we were able to plead as a church, "make my heart believe" what my intellect knows to be true! Song of Summary While our Song of Response is typically slower and more introspective, our Song of Summary is where we ramp things back up to send our people off feeling energized and equipped to live their lives on mission to the glory of God in the coming week. Whereas our Song of Response is our call to action, our Song of Summary endeavors to summarize the overarching theme that was taught throughout the day. Example: This coming Sunday we will be working through 1 Timothy 4. In chapter four, Paul shares with Timothy, his young disciple, that as a pastor he is going to witness people departing from the faith because of false teachings from outsiders. Paul then explains that in being a good shepherd of his congregation, Timothy needs to first be a good servant of Jesus Christ. Paul then breaks down being a "good servant of Jesus Christ" into three qualities: knowing sound doctrine, Timothy displaying sound doctrine in the way he lives his day-to-day life, and teaching sound doctrine, because "by doing so [he] will save both [himself] and [his] hearers (v. 16)." The big idea of 1 Timothy 4? Doctrine: know it, show it, and teach it. Without sound doctrine being modeled in those three areas of the minister's life, the flock is sure to fall away. Given the text, the song I have selected to be our Song of Summary this Sunday is 'The Lord Our God' by Passion. The first verse speaks of God bringing what he has begun in the Church to completion; this is a great reminder that while we do, from time to time, witness people stepping out of Orthodox Christianity and into the realm of heresy, Jesus is faithful to build His Church and our teaching of sound doctrine is part of His plan to accomplish that work! The song then proceeds into the chorus which speaks of God's immutable characteristics and how because He is ever-faithful and never-changing, we can trust Him to lead us through the darker seasons of life. Next is the second verse, which talks about God's goodness in all, because all of His plans are for his glory. Lastly, and most emphatically, the bridge declares, "We won't move without You / You're the light of all and all that we need." We will thus leave our Sunday gathering with the resolve that we will not move from God's Word, but will rather strive know it, show it, and teach it in all aspects of our life, because He alone is our provision and He is good! Conclusion While we strive to do everything with excellence, our setlists won't always come together as well as we had hoped and we won't always tackle the Five Thematic Phases with the precision we aspire... but that's okay! Our goal as worship leaders is not to craft and perfectly execute a setlist, but rather to lead the Church in beholding the glory of Christ; this methodology is just a blueprint to help serve that end. "Our goal is not to craft and perfectly execute a setlist, but to lead the Church in beholding the glory of Christ." If you have any questions about this topic, please don't hesitate to ask in the comments below! We would be more than happy to provide you with further explanation, additional song examples for each phase, and even recent setlists accompanied with the text that was preached.
Contributor / Dan Dameron Dan Dameron is the Pastor of Gathering at ONElife Church in Flint, MI and Founder of ONElife Worship.
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 'Chosen In Christ' is the latest song released from ONElife Worship's forthcoming debut EP. This is the Theology Behind the Song. The Christian life is one marked with various victories and trials, as we struggle in the tension of the already/not yet. We see this reality throughout the New Testament: In 1 John 3:2, we read, “Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.” The "already" I've spoken of, then, is the reality that we are right now actually children of God because of Christ's work on the cross in securing our redemption! The "not yet" refers to the fact that while we are children of the King, we don't exactly know what that entails, as our physical bodies are still here on earth. We see this actualized further in Romans 8:30, which says we are “glorified” and then in Ephesians 2:6, where we read that we are seated with Christ “in the heavenly realms,” as if these things have already come to pass. If we're honest, most of the time we don't feel very "glorified," and it's certain that our earthly surroundings don't look much like "heavenly realms." The reason for this is that our present spiritual reality does not yet match up with our future, physical reality. One day, the two will be in sync, but right now they do not. So, out of sync we, as followers of Jesus, trudge through this fallen world. A regular part of our life here on earth are struggles with temptation, sickness, physical ailments, and loss. Through the trials we face in this lifetime, it's easy to let our vertical gaze (on Christ and what He has already accomplished for us) slip away. As a result, we can easily become infatuated with the horizontal (what we see immediately around us), the not yet. Brokenness, weariness, and feelings of defeat are all a regular part of this life, especially when we've forgotten what has already been accomplished for us. It is in these moments that the believer has two options: seek rest in God and hold onto the promises of the already in the not yet, or seek fulfillment and rest in the created order (people, possessions, substances, etc.), which is to sin (Rom. 14:23b) -- to choose temporary happiness and relief over lasting joy. Being filled by the Spirit of God, when we choose the latter, feelings of guilt, shame, and self-condemnation are the inevitable end. "Broken, weary, and defeated As Christians, our blessed hope and rest on our worst day, even when we have succumb to those horizontal comforts and are riddled ourselves with guilt, shame, and self-condemnation, is to remind ourselves of the already found in Ephesians 1. The Apostle Paul tells us that before God even laid the world's foundation He chose us in His Son (v.4), and how "in love He predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ (v.5)." So, when Adam fell into sin in the Garden of Eden, infecting all mankind with sin, God the Father had to make a plan for redemption. This plan was set into motion not primarily because we sinned, but rather because of His great love for us. The Father's plan for our redemption meant sending His own Son, Jesus, to live the perfect, sinless life we could not live and die the sinners death we deserved, because "the wages of sin is death" (Rom. 6:23). It was the blood that Jesus shed on the cross that bought our redemption, the forgiveness of our sins and trespasses. Previously wretchedly depraved, vile, and undeserving, the riches of God's glorious grace in Jesus overcame all of our sin -- past, present, and future (v.7)! "But You predestined from the start The chorus of the song then reiterates the realities associated with the Father having chose us before the world's foundation and the blood of the Son having purchased our redemption; by believing in our hearts what Jesus accomplished on the cross and having confessed with our mouths that He is Lord, we now stand holy and blameless before the Father because the imputed righteousness of the Son (v.4)! As I previously alluded to, through Jesus' sacrifice, every sin -- past, present, and future has been totally forgiven and even expunged. We already stand before the Father holy and blameless, despite not yet fully understanding that reality. "Before the world's foundation Having been predestined and subsequently adopted into the family of God, we were sealed for all eternity with the Holy Spirit, "who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it (v.14)." Jesus sent His Spirit to testify of this inheritance in the not yet! Our blessed inheritance is that we will spend all eternity in Heaven with God, where we have been seated. "Adopted in and sealed forevermore Why? Why would God do all of this for people who would never "get it right," for people who would never be "good enough," for people who still toil in sin despite having been totally forgiven? The answer is that He did it for the praise of His glory and according to the purpose of His will (vv.5-6)! That's right, God chose to love you (v.4), predestine you, adopt you (v.5), redeem you (v.7), give you an inheritance (v.11), and seal you with His Holy Spirit to testify to all of this (v.13), because He desired to do so, and it was based on no "good" in you or I! He did it to the praise of His glory and according to the purpose of His will when we were far off, dead in transgressions and sin. "To the praise of Your glory If you are trusting in Jesus for salvation, this is your reality: despite any brokenness, any weariness, any defeat, any failure, any sin, any guilt, any shame, and any self-condemnation, you already stand holy and blameless before God the Father because of His loving you, His choosing you, His predestining you, His adopting you, His redeeming you, and His sealing you for all eternity. You are already His! Rest in this in the face of any trial that may come your way and live free from the curse of sin and darkness. Contributor / Dan Dameron Dan Dameron is the Pastor of Gathering at ONElife Church in Flint, MI and Founder of ONElife Worship.  “Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.” (Colossians 3:16) Worship pastors have a unique role. We have the chance each week to put songs on the lips of our people. We are in essence choosing what people say as they worship the Lord. This is a privilege that should never be taken for granted or abused for our own personal gain. For this reason, we should approach song selection with extra care and caution to always make sure we are seeking the Lord’s guidance as we lead our people. When it comes to song selection, we have a six things that we always try to keep in mind with our approach. For us to decide to lead a song, we always make sure it is: 1. Vertically Focused. Take a good look at a worship song before introducing it. How many pronouns like “me,” “I,” or “my” are in the song? If these pronouns are a common occurrence and tend to outnumber the amount of times that the song refers to God, then the song is not vertically focused. It is likely man focused and may not even be worth putting on the hearts of your people. As the body of Christ, the purpose of the large gathering is not to remind each other of ourselves, but to remind each other of the truths of God. “...singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.” As the body of Christ, the purpose of the large gathering is not to remind each other of ourselves, but to remind each other of the truths of God. 2. Theologically Rich. Colossians 3:16 reminds us that the message of Christ must "dwell richly" in us and that the reason we sing songs in the gathering is to “teach and admonish one another with all wisdom.” The reality is that songs are a teaching tool just as much as a sermons. Songs, however, have the added danger of being much more catchy and memorable, and thus tend to stick in people’s minds throughout the week. For this reason, we must be careful to make sure that the songs we sing are first and foremost, theologically accurate. They must be full of truth and not one ounce of them can be biblically questionable or unclear. To choose a song that is even remotely questionable in comparison with scripture is to effectively lead the flock astray by teaching a false doctrine. "To choose a song that is even remotely questionable in comparison with scripture is to effectively lead the flock astray by teaching a false doctrine." Not only must they be accurate, but it is important for them to be rich in biblical truths. Sure, we could “sing of His love forever…and ever… and ever,” but is this a full picture of truth? Yes, the Lord is loving! But why? And how? What has He done to show His love? To communicate a simple truth is great, but if not expounded upon, we run the risk of leading people into idolatrous worship (worshiping God in our own imagined image instead of worshiping Him for the fullness of who He is). God is not only loving, but righteous, holy, just..etc. We must lead our people to worship the Lord for the fullness of His character. To communicate a simple truth is great, but if not expounded upon, we run the risk of leading people into idolatrous worship 3. Attributed Specifically. I listen to Christian radio every once in a blue moon and to be honest, I am quite often appalled by what I hear. More often than not, many “Christian” songs are too ambiguous with their pronouns. We hear these songs that talk about “your love,” “his beauty,” or “his touch.” To someone skipping through and trying to find the next country station, how would a person know who is being sung about? Way too many Christian songs could easily be passable as musically bland love songs. When selecting songs for the Church, we need to be specific as to who we are singing to! I stay away from songs that don’t have any specific titles for the Father, Jesus, or the Holy Spirit. There are many titles for God that we see in scripture, let’s express them! Songs that are ambiguous about who God is run the risk of subliminally condoning inclusivism within Christ’s Church. 4. Gospel-Centric. What is the reason that we have the freedom to worship the Lord? Christ. The cross. His resurrection. “Let the message of CHRIST dwell richly…” We never let a Sunday go by where we don't sing at least one song that clearly outlines the fullness of the gospel. Not every single song is a clear presentation of the gospel of Christ, but it is essential for the sake of the believer, as well as the unbeliever, to hear and sing the truths of the gospel. For the believer, this serves as a humble reminder that the Lord has saved us. For the unbeliever, this serves as an opportunity for evangelism through song. "Never let a Sunday go by where we don't sing at least one song that clearly outlines the fullness of the gospel." 5. New and Old. There is a reason that many songs have stood the test of time... it’s because they are good! They are true! The Lord uses such songs to be an anthem of truth across many generations that His name might be praised. To abandon old songs for the sake of relevancy is to devalue many great historical figures of faith. The songs of David make up the largest book in the Bible and they are thousands of years old! If a song has a rich truth to proclaim, let’s sing it regardless of age. "To abandon old songs for the sake of relevancy is to devalue many great historical figures of faith." Conversely, we should never neglect to find and write new songs for our people to sing. Psalm 33:3 reminds us to “Sing to the Lord a new song...” We should never dismiss something simply because it is new, rather we should always examine it and determine it’s worth according to scripture. If it is truth, we should sing it!
6. Singable. I have been to a few churches that have such a large focus on the arts, that their song selection is way too abstract or complex for the average person to be able to sing along to, or even enjoy. Songs that are a mouthful are a sure way to lose people. Consider this: the average person has no rhythm or musical gifting. Simplicity of lyric and melody is the key to ensuring that a congregation will actually sing to the Lord. People will not sing if they feel like it’s too hard for them. Melodically, rhythmically, and even the key of the songs should be what’s best suited for the most amount of people to be able to join in! We are not called as worship leaders to showcase our talent or express our artistic creativity, but rather to lead people to worship the Lord in the splendor of His holiness. We should always aim for rich truths, yet simple music. “Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good; sing to his name, for it is pleasant!” (Psalm 135:3) Contributor / Matt Wagner Matt Wagner is the Worship Pastor at Woodside Bible Church in Royal Oak, MI and serves as a Worship Leader with ONElife Worship.  From the beginning of scripture we see that God is eternal and constant. He was before creation and will be for eternity (Genesis 1:1). Not only His presence is eternal, but also His love for His people and His righteousness. His righteousness does not change. Righteousness is not a word that defines God, rather God is the person who defines righteousness. He has chosen to reveal His righteousness to His people through His Word (Deuteronomy 4:8). "Oh constant God throughout the ages This word, revealed as The Law of God in the Old Testament, and revealed further in Christ, which is now written on our hearts, will never falter. Furthermore, by the Spirit of God, it is living and active in the life of a believer (Hebrews 4:12). In His Word we can trust. "Your Word it speaks and never falters In the chorus of this song the immutability of God comes together as a reminder and picture of the gospel. He is unchanging, worthy of all glory, and reigning supreme on His throne. All the while we are unworthy, wretched sinners who have no right to stand before the King of Kings. BUT in Christ, the Word, the Lord has chosen to redeem us. By the blood the Son of God shed, the Father now looks not upon our unrighteousness, but upon the righteousness of Christ which unlike us, does not falter or change. In the righteousness of Christ we are secured. James 1:17-18 says: "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures." This gift of righteousness is from the unchanging Father, who brought us forth by the word of truth, His own righteousness, that we might be called sons and daughters of the King, first fruits of His creation, and lovely in His sight. "Unchanging God, all glory to Thee Lastly, verse three reminds us that the Lord’s strength is perfect in our weakness. We can rely upon Him, even when we might not understand (2 Corinthians 12:9). Though in our fallen state we cannot fully comprehend certain aspects of God's nature, we continue to trust, knowing that His strength is perfect, His character and righteousness are unchanging, and His word will not falter. "Though I am weak you are perfection Contributor / Matt Wagner Matt Wagner is the Worship Pastor at Woodside Bible Church in Royal Oak, MI and serves as a Worship Leader with ONElife Worship. |
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