I used to say:

“If you get up to lead worship, and you don’t feel nervous, then you should be worried.”

I’m not sure I entirely agree anymore.

I know what I was trying to say. I was inferring that you shouldn’t be confident in your performance to bring about the spiritual atmosphere of true worship. The problem I’ve found is that my statement didn’t go far enough. I do believe that you should avoid placing your confidence in your own talents or abilities. However, I don’t believe you should feel nervous about God’s power and desire to move among His people.

God loves you, and He loves the people you lead. You may miss a chord, or a lyric, or fluff a transition, but God’s amazing love will always be stronger. I believe that our faith in God should give us a supernatural confidence in our Savior that overpowers any nerves we feel about our role.

Listen to what Paul said to the Ephesians:

Ephesians 3:11-12 This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him. (ESV)

Jesus has given us the right to be called Sons and Daughters of God. We no longer trust in our own righteousness, but in His. We find ourselves living “in Christ”, giving us confidence and boldness to come into the presence of our Father.

Worship leaders – You may be aware of all of your weaknesses and shortcomings, but Jesus takes all of our imperfections and presents a perfect offering to the Father. As you lead your people, place your trust in this – God has made a way for the church to come into His presence through the Son, by the Spirit, to the Father.

Here is the charge – be confident!

Ephesians 3:20-21 Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen. (ESV)

I read this question on Twitter yesterday:

Do you prefer live or studio worship recordings?

It’s something I’ve thought about a lot. My personal preference is “live”. Here are some reasons why:

1. You can hear the congregation.
   This one is really important to me. I like to hear God’s people gathered to worship Him. For me, worship recordings are not just about songs, but where those songs take people. The songs are vehicles that take you to a destination. Hearing the voices of the church gives a greater sense of the presence of the Lord.
2. Simpler Instrumentation
   Studio recordings tend to be more intricate, which is cool, but live recordings feel more attainable for regular churches. There’s less technical wizardry, which leaves the door open for a bunch of regular musicians to play the songs. Yeah, yeah, I know about post-recording overdubs on live records, but even the overdubs tend to fit into the “live” feel of the original recording.
3. Spontaneity
   You don’t always get this on live recordings, but you almost never get it in studio recordings – the feeling that the worship leader went off track for a moment as the Spirit ushered them. Why is this so great? Because you hear a worship leader leading people, not just a band. You hear the Spirit of God moving upon His people.
4. Less-Produced
   Is it just me, or has there been a tendency the last few years for worship music to feel over-produced? It may just be my personal preferences, but when I listen to music, I like to think about the band playing, not some dude at a board tinkering. I’m all for decent production values, but live recordings always sound more ‘raw’, which is great. I’d rather an album sounded ‘real’ than ‘smooth’.
5. Everyone’s Together
   The tendency in studio recordings is for each musician to record their parts separately. The song doesn’t become the song until the end when it’s all mixed together. In a live recording, everyone is in the room at the same time – band, congregation, engineers, etc. That sense of community, and doing things “on the night” can be electric.

There are lots of great studio worship albums, and I’m not against them at all. There’s just something a wee bit special about live recordings.

All that being said, here are some of my favorite live worship albums:

Matt Redman – Facedown
Redman’s first live album was his fifth! That seems incredible considering his reputation as a local church worship leader, but the wait was worth it. The songs sound organic, Redman is full of fire and passion, and the congregation is literally falling facedown as the songs unfold. There are moments of spontaneity as the Spirit leads the whole room in song. There’s not one song on the CD that a local church band couldn’t play.

Vineyard – Hungry
This album is unique for a number of reasons. It was recorded during Brian Doerksen’s stint in the UK, where he trained several young worship leaders who appeared on this album. Among them were Brenton Brown, Kathryn Scott, Vicky Beeching, and Nigel Briggs. Best of all, it sounds like a church service. It is under-produced in the best sense: it sounds like someone placed a couple of microphones in the room and captured what was going on. It is the sound of passionate worshippers, humble worship leaders, and the intimate presence of God.

Paul Baloche – God Of Wonders
Baloche had already written “Open The Eyes Of My Heart”, but this album had a very down-to-earth, folk-y feel. Choosing Byrd and Hindalong’s “God Of Wonders” as the title track sets the tone for the album as sweet song after sweet song unfold. Acoustic guitars, strings, breathy flutes, beautiful harmonies, great drumming. It never feels forced, and never pushes you to worship. Instead you are tenderly and gently invited into God’s presence. This is the sound of a congregation being pastored in adoring Jesus.

Hillsong United – United We Stand
Hillsong had been a mainstay in the worship music scene for years when they began to let the young whipper snappers start recording albums. This was actually United’s fifth record, and you can hear them maturing without losing any of the incredible energy with which they worship God. This is the sound of a generation turning their hearts to Jesus. Every song is amazing, and you can feel yourself in the room, along with thousands of worshippers lifting high the name of Jesus!

What are some of your favorite “live” worship albums?