Having Purpose vs Having Commitment

If your heart is filled with God breathed purpose, do you need to talk about commitment? 

Pastor Darko from Australia, the founding pastor of Hillsong Kiev, Ukraine visited with our worship team for about 2 hours.   I asked Pastor Darko to take us “behind the scenes” and help us understand the Australian worship team culture of Hillsong.  I asked him to talk to our worship team about, “What makes Hillsong… Hillsong?”

Pastor Darko is orginally from Hills Christian Life Centre in Sydney, Australia.  The church has had aan immense influence on worship music in America.  Many churches sing their songs weekly.

Here are some of the key points Pastor Darko left our team with…

(1)  THE WORSHIP IS DRIVEN BY WANTING TO DO SONGS FULL OF “LIFE”:  Songs that are full of the life of God… songs that encourage and inspire. 

(2)  IF YOU ARE LATE FOR WORSHIP REHEARSAL ON SUNDAY MORNING, YOU TAKE THE DAY OFF:  “No drama.  No law.  We just have standards and if you are late in arriving for worship rehearsal, you just take the morning off.  We have standards and one standard is that you arrive on time”. 

Imagine if the pastor did not show up on time!

(3)  WORSHIP TEAM LEADERS NEVER STOP LEARNING:   I have observed that most worship teams reach a point where they stop growing musically.  Pastor Darko talked about how all the lead musicians and worship leaders at Hillsong continue to take music and vocal lessons … at their own expense.  And most all of them are volunteers.

Taking music lessons also allowed the worship team members the opportunity to invite other musicians to Hillsong church. 

(4)  WORSHIP TEAM MEMBERS ARE WELL PREPARED:  The worship team members have to learn new worship songs weekly.  They may only do a song once or twice and then drop it and never do it again.  The worship team considers it an honor to be a part of the team.   Every member is devoted to preparing in private to come to practice fully prepared.   

“They make difficult songs look easy because they are so well prepared”. 

(5)  WE DO NOT TALK ABOUT COMMITMENT, WE TALK ABOUT PURPOSE:  When people are filled with purpose, when they have purpose, you don’t ever have to talk about commitment.  Commitment follows purpose.  

If you ever have to talk to people about being committed, its because they lack a God breathed purpose in their hearts. 

Jesus is our message!   He can actually trasform people at a heart level from the inside – out, in a way that goes on into eternity!

BRING A FRIEND TO CHURCH TOMORROW!  I am going to put Pastor Darko on the “hot seat” and interview him at both services.