Creative Worship Ideas

A.  “Names of God”/”Names of Jesus” Emphasis:

If you have banners, use the names of God or Jesus on these banners to have a different worship focus each week.

If your Pastor is willing to preach on each of the names of God (Almighty God, Lamb of God, Redeemer, Savior, Lord of Lords, King of Kings, Bread of Life, Living Word, Jesus), that will make the worship service even more effective.  However, even if your Pastor chooses not to preach on the names of God and what they mean to us as believers, you can still have a different banner carried in or displayed each week as you choose songs and scriptures that focus on that name.   You can allow each banner to stay after that name of God or Jesus has been the focus and have them lined up in your choir loft or at the sides of your platform.  Have the one banner that is the focus each Sunday be the most prominently placed that week, of course.   You can choose to save the “King of Kings”, “Lord of Lords”, and “Jesus” banners for the last 3 weeks or have them all together on the last week of your worship emphasis series.

Make the last service very special.  There are some props that you can use to make this a very meaningful presentation of the majesty of our King of Kings. 

(1) a presentation crown
(very large, very regal …see photos & captions below)

(2) an over-sized presentation scepter
(ours was a length of PVC pipe with a large styrofoam ball, spray painted gold, bejeweled.  Cover the styrofoam with velvet or something so that the texture of styrofoam does not show up…add gold tassels, beading, etc)

(3) an over-sized presentation robe
(very long train, purple, with gold and white trims)

Use these regal and majestic props to represent the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, to be carried in along with your “King of Kings”, “Lord of Lords”, and “JESUS” banners.

Someone could even make a very large high-backed throne (ours was of wood, decorated with panels of sparkly fabric on all side of the base which were trimmed in metallics and jewels.  The throne we constructed was larger than a chair meant for a typical human being,  Since the purpose is to emphasize the Lordship of Christ and His supremacy over all things, the oversized dimensions help to communicate the message that this is more than a chair for an earthly king.  The entire throne was painted gold, with the exception of the ornately bejeweled 10 inch wooden craft store cross, which was painted silver, decorated, and attached near the top of the high throne back.   Brackets were used underneath the arms of the throne, and long wooden rods (like sturdy wooden closet rods, painted gold, with fancy finials and cording with tassels hanging from each end) were placed through the brackets so that the throne could be carried in by four white-robed men.

THE CONSTRUCTION OF A PRESENTATION CROWN

Constructed w/a large, plastic flowerpot as the structural base (bottom of crown is the diameter of lg. round platter), this Presentation Crown for the King of Kings has batting wrapped & secured around the flowerpot base, covered w/ fabric, everything glued in place.  The plastic flowerpot is turned upside down prior to covering it with the batting and fabric.  The bottom of the flowerpot is the top of the crown.  The round gold thing on the bottom of the crown is a white, smooth styrofoam wreath covered in fabric. The 4 ‘wings’ of the crown are metal strapping, bent to shape & secured w/ screws or bolts going through the flowerpot (drill holes where needed). The metal strapping is sandwiched between 2 strips of craft foam, painted gold & embellished w/ ribbon & metallic trims. Beading is glued onto the edges of the sandwiched craft foam all the way down on both sides to camoflage construction and stiffen the ‘wings’. The cross on top is a celtic cross printed off the internet & enlarged to correct size. It was then cut out of cardboard, w/ wood popsicle sticks placed between 2 identical cardboard cross cut-outs. Use a full stick for the vertical & 2 broken pieces for the cross bars on either side. Paint cross gold & embellish w/ metallic trims around cardboard edges, jewels, etc. The cross is attached to a round disc cut out of cardboard, batted & fabric covered, attached to the center of the top of the crown with a bolt through the flowerpost drain hole. The edges of the disc are also highly embellished. At the base of the cross, we had cut some extra length of cardboard. The extra carboard was splayed out at the bottom in the front & back of the cross in order to attach the cross to the disc w/ hot glue . The front cardboard that extends downward past the end of the popsicle stick is bent forward. The back cardboard is bent backwards, The popsicle stick and the glue holds the cross upright. Then, you cover & camoflage all of this w/ trims plus jewels upon jewels in a concentric circle so that they overlap & don’t reveal the attachment. The entire crown is embellished w/ beading, jewels, fancy buttons, costume jewelry, fancy brocade ribbon (with jewls glued down the center of the ribbon in pattern), & metallic trims & rope in various widths & patterns. Gold cross appliques are glued on all 4 sides of the cross between the wings & surrounded by jewels. It took close to 30 hours to make this. The entire crown, including the cross on top, is approximately 21 inches tall and much too large for a human head (which is the whole point…it’s for Jesus) and is designed to be carried in a regal procession. One of the most time-consuming things was glueing on the beading to the wings. No hot glue can show, so all strings and excess were carefully removed with toothpicks. Only a few beads can be glued at a time because they must hug the shape and start to come loose if too much length is glued without waiting for glue to harden.

Presentation Crown top view

If you decide to go all out and make the oversized throne, it can be carried in by 4 people in white robes – on rods similar to the way the Ark of the Covenant was carried in the Old Testament.  Metal half-round brackets to hold the rods are fastened securely to the underside of the arms of the throne.  The rods are painted wooden closet rods and are slipped out and carried off after the throne is in place.  All of the other articles follow the Throne.  The robe is draped carefully and regally across the throne.  The crown is placed on top of the robe on the seat of the throne, and the scepter can be leaned against the throne or can be placed on a stand beside the throne (a thick dowel on the stand extends into the pvc pipe of the scepter when it is on the stand).  This procession is then followed by your last 3 banners…’King of Kings’, ‘Lord of Lords’, and ‘Jesus’.  Majestic music should be played during the entire procession, and remember to have slight pauses between articles being brought in so that everyone can see each new display of His Royal Majesty and Glory before their view is blocked by the next thing being carried in.  Follow up with a hymn or chorus about the majesty and glory of our Savior.  Some possible choices would be the hymn “Crown Him”, the chorus “Majesty”  (…worship His majesty, unto Jesus be all glory honor and praise…), or the choruses “Crown Him King of Kings”  (“crown Him Lord of Lords,… wonderful, counselor, the mighty God…”), and “Sing to the King.”  If would be quite effective to plan this worship emphasis so that the banner theme emphasis leads up to Easter.   The ‘Savior’ banner could be the Sunday before Palm Sunday, Palm Sunday could be the ‘Lamb of God’ banner, and then Easter could be the final Sunday, with the ‘King of Kings’, ‘Lord of Lords’ , and/or ‘Jesus’ banner (and, if desired, the kind of regal procession that has been previously described.

B.  Scripture Focus:

For another meaningful and unique approach, try choosing a specific scripture as your theme for a worship service.  For example, if your chosen scripture was John 3:16, you could have that scripture read or spoken at different points in the service in several languages.  If you have church members who represent a particular country as their country of origin, a country to which they’ve travelled, or a country which has been their home for a period of time, have these people share the scripture in that language.  Since this scripture speaks of God’s love for the world, use media on your screens such as photos taken of the earth from space and photos of places and people from various countries.  It is best to have photos of both children and adults in such a presentation.  Sing songs that focus upon the love of God, salvation in Christ, and upon sharing the message of salvation with people all over the world.  Later in the service, show ministry photos of missionaries or indigenous churches in various countries which are involved in worship, evangelism, a baptism, fellowship, sharing food or clothing, and ministries to the sick, the poor, to homeless people, or to orphans.   Have your Pastor lead the congregation in a John 3:16 prayer, praying that your church will be active and purposeful in sharing the message of God’s love and salvation through Jesus Christ.  Offer a time of commitment to John 3:16 ministry, a time of getting back to basics in terms of focusing on reaching the lost with the gospel message.

There are many other scriptures and passages that could be used in this way for a memorable and meaningful worship experience.  Some additional examples are:

1.  Use Psalm 100, the five verse praise Psalm.  Sing a song about making a joyful noise (verse 1 of the psalm), the hymn “Serve the Lord with Gladness (Ps. 100:2), have someone sing as a solo Stephen Curtis Chapman’s “Only God is God”  (and I am not) (Ps. 100:3), Sing a song about giving thanks, or praise, or blessing His name (Ps. 100:4),
Sing a song about God’s goodness, His mercy, or His truth (Ps. 100:5).  Early in the service, read all 5 verses, or read one before each corresponding song.  Near the end of the service, have everyone read together the entire Psalm, and encourage your congregation to memorize this entire short Psalm and to say it with their families before they eat a meal together.

2.  Use II Chronicles 7:14  “If My people, who are called by My name, will humble themselves and pray…”
Make prayer the focus of the entire service.   If would be best to do this when your Pastor will be preaching about prayer and perhaps there is a special prayer emphasis going on in your church.  Suggested songs would be:  choruses about prayer or that are a prayer (Such as “Open the Eyes of My Heart, Lord”),  the hymn “Sweet Hour of Prayer,”  and perhaps “Somebody’s Praying” sung as a solo.  Have some times of prayer during this service.  There need to be quiet times when people can open their hearts to the Lord.  It’s not all about the music.   End the service with Travis Cottrell’s expanded version of  “Just As I Am”  that includes the section he wrote…”I come broken to be mended, I come wounded to be healed…”
The intent for this page is to share ideas that can be used in a meaningful way to draw the hearts of God’s people to Him in worship.  More ideas will continue to be added, so check back with this page periodically.  If you have some ideas or inspiration that you would like ot share, please add them as a comment.

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

Looking for answers for yourself or for a friend?

Thank you for spending your valuable time reading the contents of this page.  We hope that it has been helpful to you.   If you or someone that you know is looking for answers about life, we hope that you will visit our page called “Do You Know Jesus?”.   The links provided on this page will help to answer life’s deepest questions.   Here is the link to “Do You Know Jesus?”:  http://www.worshipsounds.wordpress.com/do-you-know-jesus/

Please feel free to share this URL with anyone who is looking for answers about life and eternity.