Creativity in Worship

It was interesting to see several classes at the CMS conference about "Creativity in Worship."  At Edgewood, we've been praying about ways to make our services more effective and more attractive to a broader audience.  We want to find creative ways to help people connect.  SO...my attention was definitely caught when I saw these classes.  Overall, the classes were all about creativity...but all about keeping the focus on the Lord first and the creativity second.  They were very encouraging.  Here are a collection of thoughts that I gathered.

1. In the church, creativity is not something we do; it's the way we do something.
2. Creativity is not the goal, God is.  We want to glorify Him.
3. God intended music to show our unity, not to divide us.
4. What you win people with, that's what you win them to...If they're excited about the change and not the Lord, we've missed the point.
5. Make sure creativity helps us remember God, not confuse us.
6. The power is in the gospel..not our creativity.
7. Know and treasure God's Word more than creativity.
8. Trust the power of the Gospel.
9. Expose yourself to creative communities...see what others are doing.
10. Never stop asking questions of your church body...what's working and what's not.
11. You want to leave a service saying, "What a great God" not "What great creativity".
12. The church used to lead the way creatively (think about Michaelangelo and Bach), but now it seems like we're just copying everyone else's slogans/logos/songs/etc.
13. We MUST think outside the box.
14. God has blessed us with a strong mind and a strong heart...we need to USE them and follow His direction.
15. We must figure out what passions God has placed in our hearts...and then follow them!  Be bold!
16. God made us with a specific plan in mind.  It's revolutionary when we find ourselves.
17. We can't worry about what people will like and not like...we must worry about what God will like and not like.
18. We must spend time alone with Him.

There you go!  Plenty of thoughts!  It's a lot to swallow, but I hope some of these jump out to you.  The ones that stick out to me the strongest are the ones about finding out who God has made me to be.  I need to be bold to follow those passions.  When I do that, I'm using God's creativity in me to bring glory to Him.