Narrow Path Worship Community

Easter Saturday and Sunday, 2011, we had the privilege of taking Narrow Path Worship Community to Withcott Church of Christ, near Toowoomba in Queensland, Australia.

It was an awesome weekend, starting off with a worship seminar on the Saturday and finishing with leading the Easter Sunday service. In the worship seminar, I spoke about worship being an overflow of our heart, and that although we can worship God through music, worship is much more than a song that we sing. I encouraged the team to think about ways to reach their community, apart from asking them to church. I also spoke about the power of praise, and how what compels us to praise God is a grateful heart.

Next, Ben got up and gave some really practical musical tips to the worship team, and we then got the whole team up onto the platform and workshopped the songs that we were going to do the next day. It was really fun working with the team, who were roughly between the ages of 12 and 18, and it was so encouraging to see them becoming tighter, musically, and to see them expressing themselves, and their love for God, through their talents.

While Ben and I were with the worship team, Geoff was out with a few of the leaders of the church, talking to them about the different roles of a leader. He also had the chance to find out their specific needs and was able to give some sound advice.

One really great thing about the weekend was that the worship team from Withcott had the opportunity to put what they had learnt on the Saturday into practice on the Sunday. Ben and I lead worship, but Withcott’s worship team were right there beside us, and this is part of what we’re about – equipping people. We never want to just rock up to a church and ‘do our thing’.  Our heart is to find out where the church is at, what their needs are, and to help them move forward.

The Easter Sunday service turned out to be an amazing morning, full of God’s Spirit, as people were open and receptive to Him.  We started off with five songs of praise and worship, which the congregation joined in on. We then went into the sharing of Communion, and lastly, I sang some of the songs I’ve written and shared the message in between.  I gave people the opportunity to commit their life to Christ or to come back to Him if they’ve been distant, and Ben got to chat with someone after the service who had really been challenged by the message…. Really, that’s what makes it all worthwhile.

On Sunday afternoon, Geoff, Ben and I met for a coffee with the leaders of the church and had a debrief about the weekend. It was really great because there was the opportunity for us to find out what we could do better, but also for us to suggest where for them to go from here.

All in all, it was a great church, and we’re really pumped about what God is doing there, and feel very privileged to be able to be doing what we’re doing!