Soteria Music

Ok now I’m starting to get nervous.

Back years ago in my early years of training in leading worship, like many
rookies before me I’ve made some really bad mistakes. Now however, nearly
ten years later, with basic training and apprenticeship completed, I’m
given the privilege of leading the worship next Sunday morning at Redruth Baptist.

Curiously, in all that time having lead in small groups of no more than half a dozen,
right up to really big events I’ve got really nervous, yet God has always
given me the courage and instruction for me to do what He wants. Yet now
coming up to a Sunday Morning Service, somehow I feel more nervous about
this than any of the big events.

So tonight, after much praying, great patience on God’s side and much panic
on mine, we have hammered out a plan of the service. I just hope my own
sense of ego hasn’t got in the way.

This is one of the biggest dangers for young worship leaders, it is too easy
to quite genuinely mistake what you think is a good idea for what God
actually wants. For the rest of the week I need to keep praying with Him and
making sure I haven’t missed something He’s telling me, or included
something that He does not want there.

One way of seeking God’s will in this is to share the plan with others in
the team, particularly ones with more experience than yourself. To that end
I’ve had a good phone around to the Worship Deacon, The Elder who’s going to
be preaching, the keyboard player and so on, so far everyone’s sort of just
nodded along; so I think we’re on the right track at least.

An old song says “He [Jesus] longs to do so much for us than our faith yet
allows; to thrill us and surprise us with His sovereign power!”, this means
that at this point of preparation it gets really exciting. Basically because
no-one is jumping up and down about the lists of songs and readings alone,
but they are agreeing that the lists and plans are “ok”, so does that mean
that God can take an ordinary song list, and turn it into a huge powerful
worship time filled with His presence? I hope so. In this way God gets all
the glory for presenting Himself to us, not me for presenting a bagful of
lighting tricks and sound effects to presume the presence of God.

An old “Psalty Songbook” phrase comes in here “Do your best, and let God do
the rest”. All I can do really is stand there reading God’s Bible, saying
anything that God tells me to and playing guitar. The business of touching
the hearts of the people and drawing them close to God is a job that can
only be done by God Himself.

So I always feel very privileged to be working with God in the business of
helping encourage others closer to Him. But you know something…for all the
training, all the touring, all the practice since 1996 when God started me
out in this; I still feel like God is a master chef, and I’m a five year old
kid helping God to make cookies…by getting flour all over the kitchen!

Jon Richards
Soteria – WMD
www.soteriamusic.co.uk

Happy New Year.<br />
<br />
What will 2008 be the year of? Hopefully the release of the new album.<br />
<br />
Unfortunately our Christmas here saw some excitement! While we we’re all<br />
visiting my sister in Nottingham, our house had an attempted break-in, on<br />
Christmas Eve! Fortunately God’s provision is demonstrated here; one of our<br />
neighbours the son of a local Methodist organ player was walking by,<br />
intervened, and saved my little house from burglary. My personal thanks and<br />
may God bless you Kevin.<br />
<br />
New Years Eve 2006 we had a big party round at Rob’s. After watching the<br />
fireworks on TV and the start of 2007, I made a joke &quot;2007:the year of Jon&quot;<br />
like the Chinese &quot;year of the pig&quot;! At the time I’d just come out of a rough<br />
relationship break-up, had very little money, and generally down in the<br />
dumps. All year God has been working on me, little by little getting things<br />
sorted and in place. My family and friends have been really solid in support<br />
of me, Team:Soteria being the usual excellent fellowship that it is. WMD<br />
launched. My church recruit me to be one of the worship leaders, and I’ve<br />
even been reconciled back with an old friend ending four years of<br />
misunderstandings.<br />
<br />
Last night (2007 New Years Eve) we had a party and communion service from<br />
about six o’clock till midnight. We all had great fun eating and playing a<br />
very loud version of &quot;Pictionary&quot;, by 10:30 things got serious and we had a<br />
really deep time of thanking and praising God in the Church sanctuary. The<br />
elders of the church had asked me a couple of weeks earlier to lead this<br />
worship time, but I don’t think I was really expecting that many people to<br />
turn up or the huge crying out to God time we had; some were thanking God,<br />
others asking forgiveness, others interceding for Redruth town. It was huge<br />
for what should be a small group worship time. My thanks to the elders, Dave<br />
on bongos &amp; Sarah on projector.<br />
<br />
So in the space of one year God has completely turned me around, from<br />
self-centred self-pity, to leading the New Year’s worship time, it was God<br />
who made it the year that I hit back, it was Him who gave me the strength<br />
and vision to just keep going all year.<br />
<br />
So 2007, by God’s power and will, was &quot;the year of Jon&quot; after all.<br />
<br />
The motto of this story? Be careful what you say in jest, sometimes it may<br />
well turn out like that.<br />
<br />
God bless you all.<br />
<br />
Jon Richards