What kind of worship service pleases God the most? It's the one with these characteristics. read more

Here's why media consultant Phil Cooke thinks it's a mistake to allow the congregation to watch and listen to the worship team rehearse. read more

Do you often struggle with the morning after, no matter what happened on Sunday morning? Here are some suggestions. read more

It's not like cigarette smokers are demonic, evil people. But should they been allowed on the worship team? read more

If you begin to think like this, you can open the door to an unhealthy flow in your worship service. read more

Even when the chipper "worship leader" in contemporary churches bounds on stage and predictably beckons everyone to "stand and worship," the people compliantly obey the stand command, but then they turn into mute mannequins. read more

How do you handle it when an 'off-pitch housewife' demands to sing with your praise team? read more

Here is a plan to help your worship team flourish as worshipers, musicians and mentors. Find out how it can change the culture of your worship ministry. read more

So what are the fundamentals of singability? What makes a song more likely to be singable? read more

Church services are noticeably different than they were even 10 years ago. Find out what, on the whole, has changed dramatically. read more

Some churches can get into a stale rut when it comes to their worship time. Here are the problems identified—and what can be done to avoid them. read more

Millennials speak less and less about the subject, so the answer to that question may surprise many. read more

God always wants more of you. Are you hungering and thirsting for more of Him? read more

Are the songs you sing during praise and worship singable for your church members? Here's why you should re-evaluate some of your music. read more

When you leave church, shouldn't songs about Jesus be running through your head instead of the church band's rendition of, for instance, Styx's "Come Sail Away"? read more

Have you noticed a rapid decline in the number of church choirs? What happened to them? read more

Do you approach worship with a humble spirit, desiring to honor God? Is your worship biblical, meaningful and powerful? read more

Churches and pastors want their worship leaders to lead by example as worshippers. But how much are they investing in their worship teams and leaders to train and mentor them? read more

For decades, church members have been fighting, splitting and lamenting the state of music in our worship services. Find out why that trend may be a thing of the past. read more

Worship leaders are some of the first people to get to church and some of the last to leave. We plan all week for a practice, only to find the singer we’d hoped to feature on a song has called at the last minute and says she’ll be out of town. We work hard to lead a team toward excellence, yet we all know the feeling of finding out five minutes before rehearsal on Sunday morning that our drummer is sick and won’t be there.

God, did you really intend for me to go through this? I used to ask this often. Our church secretary can attest to the number of times I’ve said, “I just wanted to play my trumpet and my piano, and that’s it; God got me into the rest of this thing!”

As I was thinking about these all-too-common worship leader experiences and pondering a point from my pastor’s recent preaching, something clicked for me. God knows what tree I’ve climbed! Let me explain.

In Luke 19:2-8, we find Zacchaeus strategizing so he can encounter Jesus. The short man ran ahead of the crowd traveling with Jesus and found a sycamore tree to climb to boost his chances. I imagine him saying to himself, “Thisis the tree I’ll climb to see Jesus. He has to come through this road!”

The truth is, it wasn’t Zacchaeus who knew where Jesus would walk; it was Jesus who knew where Zacchaeus would be.

Today, God knows every single struggle and joy you go through as a worship leader. He knows the number of hours you put into arranging a song, learning the chords and figuring out different ways to play it so it will sound fresh and new. He knows when the arrangements you work so hard on at rehearsal come out exactly as planned—as well as when they flop! (And we all have some flops once in a while.)

He knows the happiness you feel when everything goes well on Sunday and the disillusionment you experience when it doesn’t. He even knows when you struggle to reveal to others those inner feelings, for fear they’ll either think you’re self-consumed or that your sole concern is how the music sounded rather than what God did in the service or whether He was truly worshipped.

God knew where Zacchaeus was. He knew his status in society, his fears, his problems, even his thieving. He knew the emotion Zacchaeus would experience when Jesus called out his name in front of so many people, most of whom he knew despised him.

Let me remind you today that just as Jesus knew about Zacchaeus, He knows and cares about your emotions, triumphs and failures. You’re not just "Worship Leader No. 1087"!

Jesus also knows your name, and in the same way He called Zacchaeus by name down from that tree, He calls your name today. He knows what tree you’ve climbed into, and He wants to hear all about what’s going on with you. He cares for you!

Your tree may be the ministry or church that you’re helping to lead. It may even be the team you’re on. God knows why you’re on that tree and not on another, and He knew this is where He was going to find you and change your life.

I encourage you, as the Word says in Galatians 6:9, “Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary” (NASB). Have a heart open to what God wants to teach you while you’re on this tree. Often He’ll even show you why you’re there and give you a deeper purpose.

Worship leader, you are not alone. Jesus knows what tree you’re on!

Denis Campos serves as the director of Christ for the Nations’ Advanced School of Worship and Technical Arts. read more