LOOP COMMUNITY
GETTING PRIORITIES STRAIGHT & CHRISTMAS W / PHIL WICKHAM | Matt McCoy
Phil Wickham joined Matt McCoy to talk about worship leading during Christmas , getting your priorities straight and his new album Hallelujah ! It ’ s Christmas !
WORSHIP LEADING DURING CHRISTMAS
[ Matt ] Christmas time can be a hectic time for worship leaders . How would you encourage them to approach this season ?
[ Phil ] I grew up watching my Dad on staff at church , and there ’ s lots of pressure on him and lots of people looking to him to lead big teams , choose the songs , etc . Seeing his faithfulness and willingness to serve , I just want to say thank you to everyone out there who is in my Dad ’ s shoes .
It ’ s crazy that we can have something so beautiful and sacred to sing and talk about , but if I ’ m not intentional about keeping the sacred in my life , then it so quickly becomes a checklist and source of dread . It ’ s such a cliché , but when I take time by myself in prayer and in the word , thinking on the stuff I ’ m going to be singing about , it ’ s really that ‘ secret place ’ stuff that keeps the stuff on stage as something that I ’ m so excited to do … and can pastor to people ’ s hearts .
I know it ’ s a hectic time for worship leaders , but I would encourage you to have your 15 minutes . Even today . Read the account of the Christmas story and ask God to make it alive to you in a fresh way . If I don ’ t take a moment to really sink in , I miss it completely . And I can ’ t lead people there if I ’ ve missed it .
GETTING YOUR PRIORITIES STRAIGHT
[ Matt ] You are staying so busy ! You did a summer tour with Brandon Lake , new music , a documentary , you have a family , how are you keeping it all together ?
[ Phil ] I ’ ve always felt like I ’ ve been good at keeping things well balanced . But I would say at the end of this last summer it all kind of caught up . It was such an amazing summer ; the ministry is beautiful . But at the end of the tour I felt so empty . I realized I was not striking a balance at home , that was the first thing .
My first ministry is me and Jesus , second ministry me and my wife , third ministry me and my children , fourth ministry is me and the church , and fifth ministry is me and the world . If decisions are made with those in mind , it ’ s a lot healthier situation .
I think the biggest thing on my heart was that I can get so caught up in the “ doing ” of ministry and it ’ s a false sense of security , spiritually speaking , where I can say “ look at the fruit ”. You make a list of all the things you did . But I realized I was spinning so much and not being with the Lord . I wasn ’ t totally neglecting my relationship with Him , but I wasn ’ t running to Him . I ’ m so thankful for getting to that place , but I don ’ t want to get there again . That was new for me . I know that ’ s going to relate to a lot of worship leaders . When we ’ re just checking ministry boxes , we start running to the wrong things . Seek first the Kingdom of Heaven and all these other things will take care … that became my theme the last couple of months .
Click here to watch the full interview !
Get the multitracks on LoopCommunity . com to lead Phil ’ s latest album Hallelujah ! It ’ s Christmas ! at your church .
Matt McCoy Matt is a worship leader , songwriter and Ableton Certified Trainer from Chicago , IL . He has been using Ableton and tracks in worship since 2002 . He ’ s passionate about creating new products and teaching worship leaders and artists how to use technology in live performance . www . LoopCommunity . com 36 December 2024 Subscribe for Free ...