TWLL #19: The Identity Of Jesus And How It Changes Your Worship Leading

read time:    5 minutes

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If you as a worship leader are wanting to go deeper with Jesus offstage, and are looking for some kind of starting point- a great place to begin is with His identity.

Staring at His identity will actually challenge what you think you know about Jesus, and ultimately transform the way you see Him and the way you sing to Him.

His Identity As God

Take passages like John 1, Philippians 2, Colossians 1, and Hebrews 1 - passages that articulate His identity as the Maker of Heaven and earth - and begin to slowly go phrase by phrase, and pray them back to Him.

It’s one thing to hear it preached that Jesus is God, but it’s another thing to look into the passages yourself and then begin to dialogue with Jesus about them.

In my own journey, it blew my mind as I began to understand that the Savior of the world is also the Creator of the world.

His Identity As Messiah

Over and over throughout the Old Testament, it is mentioned that there would be a Man descended from David Who would reign both as the King of Israel and of all nations, and who would be King forever.

As the centuries went by, Israel was waiting for their Hope, their Anointed One or Messaiah.

Meditating on passages like Psalm 2, Psalm 16, Psalm 22, Psalm 45, Isaiah 9, Isaiah 11, Isaiah 53, Isaiah 61, Isaiah 63, and Daniel 7 (to list just a few), will take you deeper into understanding Jesus’ identity as Messiah.

His Identity As The Man From Nazareth

The Gospels tell us that Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit, and that He was born to a poor Jewish woman from Nazareth engaged to a man named Joseph.

From there, the story takes us from Jesus’ infancy to Jesus the 30-year old man, when His ministry begins.

Though not much is recorded about this season of Jesus’ life, what is there speaks volumes about His humility, His hiddenness, and His commitment to His Father’s will.

His Identity As The Lamb Of God

John the Baptist recognizes Jesus as the Lamb of God, Who takes away the sins of the world.

By the time you begin to meditate on His identity as the Savior of humanity, it really becomes overwhelming (in a good way).

The eternal Maker of Heaven and Earth, Who is also the long-awaited Messiah, Who comes as a poor Jewish Man from Nazareth, is now hanging from a cross, taking the weight of the sins of the world, and bleeding out a heart that never stops saying “I love you”.

Conclusion

We haven’t gotten to His identity as the Resurrection and the Coming King- but I think you’ve gotten the point.

If you will take the time to meditate on the passages in Scripture that highlight the multiple facets of Jesus’ identity, you’ll find yourself going deep with Jesus.

And this changes the way you see Him, the way you relate to Him, and specifically as a worship leader, the way that you sing to Him.

Don’t settle for only hearing sermons and podcasts about Jesus.  Read it for yourself in the Word- talk to Him about it, and let it transform your relationship with Him, which will overflow when you step onstage to lead worship.

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Whenever you're ready, there are 2 ways I can help you: 

1. The Connection-Based Spontaneous Worship Course.  If spontaneous worship has been a struggle, you might want to check out Connection-Based Spontaneous Worship.  It's a self-guided, self-paced course that empowers you to lead spontaneous worship with confidence, enables your musicians to flow with you, and helps your room engage.  

2- Join A Zoom Group.  Every 3 months I host small zoom groups- one focused on worship leading and one on songwriting.  Each group meets once a week for an hour on Zoom over a 12-week period, as we walk through the process of learning to leading worship/write songs out of connection with Jesus.  For more details about the next upcoming zoom group, including schedule & cost, email me at [email protected]