We do not have a choir at our church nor do we have a huge team of worship leaders.  Apart from the musicians, I think there are only about 7 who actually sing and with their weekly rotations and a couple of them double up as musicians as well, we usually see just 4 – 5 of them leading the worship every Sunday.  A pretty small team I must say.

With only a handful of them, I personally think they do a pretty good job week in week out leading a congregation of 300+ for a time of praise and worship during our Sunday service.  Are they world-class singers?  No (not yet!).  Can they sing?  Definitely!  Do they serve well?  Absolutely!

I serve in our church as a bilingual interpreter for the sermon which is done simultaneously on a transmitter as the preacher delivers the sermon at the pulpit.  Am I an excellent interpreter?  I wish!  Can I do the interpretation, and do it well, or at least try to?  Yes, and I do try every single time with divine help and also “self-help”, i.e. reading and learning more of the two languages, namely Chinese and English.  It is very easy for people to just sit there, fold their arms and pass comments and judgement on our less than perfect performances, even for Christians.  Do we have expectation on ourselves?  Sure!  But I know despite of my can-be-improved or sometimes all-over-the-place and do-not-do-the-preacher’s-well-prepared-sermons-any-justice interpretations, God is well pleased with me when I answered His call to use the gift He has bestowed upon me to serve in this particular ministry.  I have no doubt it is the same for our worship team that they try their very best every Sunday.

I lost patience long ago and no longer want to entertain those folks who have no reservation on passing negative comments or judgments on the poor worship team every Sunday tirelessly.  It saddens me to see that they focus so much on picking on other people that are committed to serve the higher power that they themselves have failed to do what is expected of them for that half an hour every Sunday, i.e. praise and worship God. Their worship was dependent on what songs are sang, how good or who the worship leaders are. They have completely and utterly missed the point!  What a pity!

On certain Sundays, the songs chosen by the worship team simply could not get me to activate my vocal cord at 7:30am while other times they sing some songs that I am not familiar with so it can be a little challenging for me to sing along.  Does that deter me from quietening my heart down and worshiping God in my heart?  I sway with the music and feel the presence of God falls upon the church.  There are times such as these that I get to really worship God, more so than the times when I sing my heart out, out of tune of not, gasp for air or not!  Besides, how are we to know that while the song might be unfamiliar to us or not upbeat enough for us, someone sitting at the far corner of the church is not being touched?

I pray for our worship team that they will grow from strength to strength, be persistent in their service by holding on to their calling, and be reminded to fix their eyes only on God when they sing and glorify Him!

I pray that there will be budding singers who have the heart to serve or those who have been far too shy or not courageous enough all this while in our congregation to stand up, and take the bold step to join our worship ministry. It is time!

I pray for our congregation to be compassionate and have the wisdom to see our heart in serving, and their own heart in praising and worshiping.

Now, do you FEEL the music?

Ephesians 5:19
….. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord