By Eva Phillips

“On that day Gad went to David and said to him, “Go up and build an altar to the LORD on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.” So David went up, as the LORD had commanded through Gad. When Araunah looked and saw the king and his officials coming toward him, he went out and bowed down before the king with his face to the ground. 

Araunah said, “Why has my lord the king come to his servant?” 

“To buy your threshing floor,” David answered, “so I can build an altar to the LORD, that the plague on the people may be stopped.” 

Araunah said to David, “Let my lord the king take whatever he wishes and offer it up. Here are oxen for the burnt offering, and here are threshing sledges and ox yokes for the wood. Your Majesty, Araunah gives all this to the king.” Araunah also said to him, “May the LORD your God accept you.” But the king replied to Araunah, “No, I insist on paying you for it. I will not sacrifice to the LORD my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing,” ( 2 Samuel 24:18-24, emphasis added).

I love David’s response to Araunah when he offers David all those things for FREE. Some of us, including myself, would’ve looked at that as the Lord providing so that we wouldn’t have to pay or “give” anything. And a lot times He does do that, but in this case David knew he needed to sacrifice to the Lord in order to build this altar. And his response is incredible. “No, I insist on paying you for it. I will not sacrifice to the Lord my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing.” 

I’ve been reminded of this several times before I go up and lead worship. Especially, when I am challenging our church to bring a “sacrifice of praise,” or to push aside distractions and pain and heartache and worship God. I find myself questioning if I have done this. Have I given a costly sacrifice to God? Have I just given Him what comes natural and easy? Remember the woman who broke the jar of perfume that cost a whole years wages on Jesus feet (John 12)… wow… is that something I’d be willing to do? A whole years wages!!! 

I wish I could tell you that I don’t struggle with this or I have mastered the art of sacrifice. But I am still a work in progress.  

Recently I found some questions from a worship leader blog that really challenged me as a worship leader.  I know these questions don’t apply to all of us, but I hope you find some truth and challenge and are able to apply them to your own life.

• Am I giving of my time to practice and learn new songs and prepare musically? 
• Am I praying constantly for Life Church, as a congregation? 
• Am I pushing others forward, even at the threat of my own promotion? 
• Am I sacrificing time to read the scriptures? 
• Am I diligent with thinking and praying about the set lists each weekend? 

What the world sees as wasteful – a waste of time or money, or effort, God sees as beautiful. The good news is the rewards always, always, always outweigh the cost of all that we pour out to God. The life that God has called us to is expensive. 

I challenge all of us to not sacrifice to God that which costs us nothing.

By Eva Phillips

Many times we wonder what it would take to go to a deeper level, whether it is at work, relationships, or with God. One of the ways we have been challenged as a staff, through Pastor Aaron’s leadership, is to read constantly. Read books. Read blogs. Read and grow.

I read a quote today and it says this, “Part of what makes a leader a great one is relentless learning. A great leader is never satisfied, never stagnant, but always pressing onto new things.” With that in mind, I thought I’d share with you three blogs that are good for people who love worship, who lead worship, or who just want grow in their worship experience.  

1) Elevation Worship  - They give you the stories behind their songs as well as link you to other resources. Make sure you check out their new worship album, if you haven’t already, “Kingdom Come.

2) Worship Matters - I read the book “Worship Matters” a few years ago and it is phenomenal. Definitely a great read. For those who just love worship and have a heart for worship, I recommend this book. This blog site is an extension of the book and is by the same author, Bob Kauflin. 

3) WorshipCentral.org/blogs – this is the collective blog of some incredible worship leaders. I love to find out how these leaders write songs and to hear how God inspires them.

Growth is essential for everyone.  If we don’t grow, we will become stagnant. I hope you are inspired today and challenged by these incredible worship leaders.