Mind the Gaps: Making the Most of Transitions

Just, oh, this is just a great conversation to you all, and it is a joy to be together.

! It is a joy to be together.

As I have attended various conferences and gatherings at different churches,

! I have noticed that sometimes a church can be saying the right things, doing the right things, studying the right things.

But it's all the stuff in between those things that's not so thought through.

The transitions, the pieces that tie things together.

So I remember one time having a conference where this powerful message was preached on God's holiness,

and someone came up right after work and said, okay, lunch is going to be over there, and we're going to sit down there.

You could have heard a pain drop at the end of that message.

And there just seemed to be no awareness of what we had just done.

Sometimes on a Sunday morning, you know, it's all at the end of ten seconds of just awkward silence,

as no one's part of what's going on, and everybody's just kind of like,

maybe it's the charplay, they just kind of get their cake rolling.

Or it could be a reflective prayer, so follow me.

We do all the steps to the end of the name of Jesus.

One, two, three, five, six, five!

You could probably follow up on that just a little more carefully.

Or sometimes, you know, it's the leader just trying to feel that awkwardness and just kind of gushing a prayer filled with a lot of fish and cliches and not really thinking about it.

Just kind of saying things that don't really serve anybody except to fill that space.

And there's sometimes transitions take so long and you're thinking this isn't a transition, this is a sermon.

Maybe we move the sermon up to, you know, we didn't.

No, it is a transition.

It's just a 10-minute transition.

So they're hard.

Transitions are hard.

And, you know, I know we serve in different roles in the churches.

So if you're a pastor or aspiring pastor, this would definitely be something you should be thinking about.

If you are a musician or a member of the congregation, this will be a topic that will award you the fact that things should be making sense.

When we gather, things should be making sense.

And the way they make sense is by giving attention to transitions.

Or what I've entitled this message is Minding the Gap.

Which is from the UK.

You know, that's what we're hearing.

We're supposed to talk about the two.

That's not here anymore.

Minding the Gap.

Minding the Gap.

And of course I'm hearing that.

Gap, okay.

This is the gap between the two of the platform.

Just like, be careful.

Watch.

Watch out what you're doing right there.

So this is Minding the Gap.

Making the most of transitions.

So we're going to get to very practical things.

But I hope at the end it will serve you as you think about how our meetings are put together.

If you Google transitions in worship services, by far the primary focus is on musical transitions.

In fact, I gave a message to this talk about 18 years ago.

And did Google exist?

I think it did.

I think it did.

But there wasn't anything in terms of spoken transitions.

It was all musical.

How to keep the emotional momentum of the being gone.

How to keep from doing anything in charge of worship atmosphere.

Which I always think is funny.

Worship atmosphere.

What are we looking for?

How to create a cohesive musical experience in our church.

Last night, if you weren't here, we looked at an overview of things that God values in our gatherings.

And in this session, we want to develop our thoughts on how to connect those different desires.

How to connect those different parts of our being.

Here's the question we're going to take the answer.

How can we connect the elements of our gatherings in ways that serve God's people and edify the church?

How can we connect the elements of our gatherings in ways that serve God's people, purpose, sorry, and edify the church?

How can we connect the church?

How can we connect the transitions important?

We'll give you three reasons.

First, God prioritizes understanding and edification in our gatherings.

Understanding and edification.

So in 1 Corinthians 14, Paul says,

So with yourselves, since you are eating for manifestations of the spirit, strive to excel in building up the church.

And he says that, remember, after he uses the illustration of a trumpet making a sound that's not clear.

And no one getting ready for battle because they don't understand it.

So we want people to understand what's taking place in our meetings.

We're not responsible simply to see that things happen.

That's one part of it.

You want to pay attention to that part.

But we're also responsible to make sure that those things build up the church.

And for that to take place, they need to be understood.

And sometimes we assume people know more than we do.

We assume they're taking in more than they know they say they're getting why we do what we do.

And this especially applies to unbelief to guests, but they can apply to members of your church.

They just come week after week and they just do it.

Why?

Well, because you're leading it that way.

You just do it.

But they're not really understanding why you're doing it.

And worse than that, sometimes you don't understand why you're doing it.

You know, you've inherited this church and you've moved a church.

And again, we've just always done it that way.

That's just a horrible way to do things.

But that's the only reason.

We've just done it.

We've been doing that work for like, God, two years now.

Two years.

Like, the church is like 2,000 years old.

And so it's okay.

Like, we've been doing it.

We've been doing it.

Sometimes we put things together.

But we just don't give a lot of thought to it.

And God wants people to understand it.

We have fun.

Another reason transitions are important is intentional transitions increase people's participation and engagement.

You could just say they increase people's engagement.

We don't gather the church to watch a show or to watch a concert.

We're God's people gathering in God's presence to receive God's word, to revel in the gospel of Christ, and to respond in the power of the Spirit.

That's something we're all doing together.

Everyone's involved.

At least everyone's supposed to be involved.

And Paul is often making references to that.

You know, he writes to the leaders as well as the churches.

He's aware that everybody has a part to play.

So when he's talking about the church in Ephesians 4, verse 15, he says,

Ephesians 4:15

And then three, our services aren't actually random events, but a retelling of the story of God and what he's done for us in Christ Jesus.

There is a story that we gather to hear.

And for centuries, liturgies have helped God's people understand the story of God's glory, the fall, the redemption in Christ that we've received,

how to live in response to that, and our future hope.

Now, whatever liturgy you choose to do, how to be formal or informal, strict, loose, historically good in the modern,

we're responsible to help people understand how the different parts fit together.

It's kind of the difference between focusing on the containers in our meeting and the content of those containers.

So our pantry has new plastic containers sitting next to each other on the shelves.

And we arrange them not so much by order of what they contain as size and do they fit together.

And, you know, that's, that's, so we can move them around and make things fit.

But if I am making something and following a recipe, it would be really important what's in those containers.

And it would be really important what order I use them in.

Well, in a similar way, when we gather as God's people, you don't just stick a bunch of containers next to each other.

Here's a prayer.

Here's a song.

Now, sometimes we use templates for reading them.

Here's a prayer.

Here's a call to worship.

Who's due in the call to worship?

And we use that prayer to help.

Who's due in that call to worship?

Do you know what a call to worship is?

Like, do we, do we help people occasionally understand?

Like, this isn't just, well, this is what we've been doing.

This is what this church does to start a program.

It's, it's the eternal God calling these people gathered in these presence to glory in Christ,

to be here from them, to be experienced the gifts of the Spirit in all the beauty and diversity,

to be strengthened, edified, built into each other, built into Christ.

That's what we're calling people to.

You don't just do the call to worship.

You call people to gather worship.

That's what you're doing.

That's a different way of looking at it.

Well, that's throwing attention to the content and not just putting a continuum out there.

So our liturgies aren't so much a performance for God and each other as a witness to God's Word

and the grace they've shown us in Christ.

And when we think about what we do and say between parts of the meeting,

it can help people grasp the meaning of the story.

It can help them understand.

This stuff really fits together.

It's not just a prayer.

What's a prayer?

We did the prayer.

Who did the prayer?

Who did the singing?

Well, that helps a little bit, but it really doesn't communicate what we're actually doing.

And these transitions, wisely met, they're an opportunity to shepherd people theologically

through the elements of our government.

Even if it was.

It's the difference between saying, let's sing this next song together.

Or let's sing hymn number 123.

Okay, that's a transition.

Not a great transition.

But it is a transition.

Versus something like this.

You know, as we prepare to sing this song, let's rejoice in reality.

At the end of the day, no political party, no amount of money, no educational degree,

no technological marvel can sustain our hope like Jesus Christ can.

Because only he has died for our sins, risen from the dead,

and is one day returning for those redeemed to live with them.

What is our hope in life and death?

I should have asked, do you know what song I'm introducing?

Christ alone.

Like, when, and not for every song, but when I introduce a song,

when we introduce a song, we want to get people ready to sing that song.

We want to give them a springboard from which they can launch in that song

and not expect the song to do all the work.

I mean, we can, and that's fine, and the most great thing is that.

But are we missing out on something?

Is there something we could do better?

I think there is.

And I see the effect of this as I visit churches,

as we've grown in this in our own church.

Wow.

When there's a helpful transition,

it really makes what we're about to do so much more meaningful,

so much more helpful.

Now, transitions won't make or break your meetings for going in

and won't keep the Holy Spirit from moving.

I mean, the Holy Spirit's been working in your church already,

hopefully, for years.

God doesn't need our explanations.

He doesn't need our musical transitions

to get his work done.

But they can provide another means

by which the Holy Spirit can open our hearts

to the story and the meaning of the gospel.

In other words, minding the gaps

can lead to a greater awareness

of who God is and how he's at work

and the lives of those people.

So that's where it is important.

So who's responsible?

Well, anyone who stands in front of a church

and says something, they're responsible.

They're doing a transition.

They could do a transition.

The pastor, the individual leading the music,

someone who stands up to say something,

some churches have an emissary or a host

who runs like a thing,

some churches are little,

but we have eight elder pastors,

and different ones of us will handle those traditions.

I'll plan the liturgy with some other guys,

and we will try to use, you know,

at least three or four of those pastors in every meeting.

And we've talked about being aware

of what comes before us and what comes after us.

So here's the thing.

Here's one of the drawbacks of not getting attention to this.

When you're not aware that you're a transition

and not like the main thing,

you'd be tempted to think,

well, I've got to say anything.

I'm going to include the hot, you know,

the entire story of creation for all the things you can do.

And, you know, I've got to apply,

I've got to do applications,

do applications for it.

And if there's an announcement that I might need to make in that,

I need to do that too.

It just becomes out of proportion to what it should be.

So it's just giving thought to, you know,

what is it just to be doing?

And what are we about to do?

So we're going to talk about this in two sections.

The first is spoken transitions.

And then for, how many musicians do we have?

Okay, good.

Then we're going to talk about musical transitions.

When people talk about the flow of the meeting,

again, not disrupting the flow, the seamless flow.

In most cases, people are talking about the meeting.

They're saying, you know,

we've just got to make sure that everything's okay.

We've got to be used and clean.

We've got to pass.

We've got to sing.

You know, whatever it is.

It's time to get it.

We'll get to some of that.

Right now, I want to make the case

that the flow of our words,

is more important than the flow of our music.

It is more important.

The flow of our words is more important

than the flow of our music.

Rather than creating a sense of the flow,

words actually bring clarity.

They actually bring definition and cohesiveness

to what we're doing and hearing.

They connect the containers

in a way that we're to see the country.

So I want to give just a few guidelines

that have been helpful to me over the years

that I've learned from others,

seeing others,

and just experienced through my own failures.

So the first is that God spoke first,

and his words outlast us.

So if we're going to do a transition,

just remember,

God spoke first,

his words outlast us.

Hebrews 4.12,

for the word of God is living in the back

of the shelf,

as it is through a sword,

piercing to the division of soul

and of spirit,

of joints and of marrow,

and discerning the thoughts

and intentions of the heart.

God's word gets its word done.

So start your planning with God's word

rather than just elements.

Whether that be the message

that's going to be preached,

or as we do,

we start with the call to worship

built on the message from previous one.

That's how we begin our meeting.

Just think,

what was spoken last week

that we want to respond to

in some way

with this call to worship?

I, for years,

planned the meeting

just by planning five songs.

Just pick the songs.

I think I shared this last night.

Just five songs.

It wasn't until 13 years ago

when we started having

the call to worship

where I thought,

you know what,

we're going to get the word of God first,

then we're going to get the song.

Because we don't even know

what we want to sing

until we hear that call to worship.

God's calling us to worship

for a specific reason.

Well, let's sing about that reason.

And I'm conscious now

of including the word of God

as we sing.

That it's not just,

you know,

something to find,

well,

we can sing these songs.

Can we find a scripture

to go in there somewhere?

These things,

they mean something.

They're meant to feed off each other.

It's scripture

that anchors our affections,

that provides doctrinal fuel

for our emotional fire.

It's not just singing

a bunch of songs in a row.

It's asking,

why are we singing this again?

Oh yeah,

because God has said this.

One of the things

that I've sought to,

one of the ways

to start to communicate

the authority of God's word

and the importance

of God's word

is just whenever

I'm leading,

I want to have a Bible

on my piano.

So whether I actually

use it or not,

I just want people

to know,

this is not like,

we're not making this up.

We're sitting under

the authority

of God's word.

And if you have opportunity

to read a scripture,

read it from a Bible.

I'm looking for you

to read it from a Bible,

not from a phone.

Not a sin.

It's not immoral.

It's just,

I didn't know,

a pastor one time

in the church

where the senior pastor

had fallen,

he descended,

he became a pastor

and he said,

he started reading

the Bible

from a real Bible

because he thought

it provided a sense

of security

and confidence

and trust in people.

Because for years,

the pastor and he

had read the Bible

from the phone.

And I said to him,

why, like,

why do you have to wait

for a crisis

to do that?

Like, don't we want

always to build

people's confidence

in the word of God?

In the truth of God?

In, you know,

this, this does

a lot of things.

This does one thing.

You know,

it's,

God speaks to us.

All kinds of things

speak to us here.

So it's just

a little thing,

but over time

it can have

a big impact.

Don't read

a scripture

casually

or quickly.

It's okay.

We have time.

We can read

slowly,

purposefully.

If you're going

to make a point

in what you're saying,

make God's word

the point

and not what you're saying.

Sometimes people

read a scripture

and they'll say something

that's like totally

underlayed

and do what they just read.

Or they won't refer

to what they just read.

Repeat some of

what you just read

because I guarantee you,

first time you read

the scripture,

half the people

weren't ready.

So just remind them.

We just read this.

We're just so dull.

Do you realize

how dull we are?

When I'm sitting

on that side,

I realize how dull I am.

Like a scripture

we read

and then it's over.

Oh my gosh.

It's done.

So I really appreciate

what someone said.

As we just read.

Yes, okay.

Yes, what was it again?

That's right.

Amen.

I'm with you.

Just trying to help people.

Okay.

Remember Aristotle's

rules.

Point number two.

Remember Aristotle's

rules of record.

You probably didn't

expect to hear that.

Years ago,

I learned that

when Aristotle

was communicating,

how can we be

an effective speaker?

Many of you

would know that.

Three things are needed.

Logos, ethos,

and pathos.

That's what we're talking about.

Logos, ethos,

what happened.

Logos is the truth

of what you're saying.

You're saying,

what I'm saying is true.

That's the first part.

Make sure

what you're saying

is true.

It's based

in God's word.

It's not your opinion.

It's not your feelings.

It's not your perspective

and your longings

or irritations,

your concerns.

It's God's

eternal,

inerrant,

sufficient word.

It's the truth.

John 8,

31 and 32,

Jesus said,

if you abide

in my word,

you are truly

my death.

And you will

know the truth

and the truth

will set you free.

We're called

to be stewards

of God's word.

We're not innovators,

we're not comedians,

we're not philosophers,

we're not influencers,

we're stewards.

As Paul says

in the first

Corinthians 4,

this is how

one should be regarded

not as amazing

influencers,

as servants of Christ

and stewards

of the mysteries

of God,

which is the gospel.

So that's log off.

What I'm saying

is true.

Second,

ethos,

the character

of the speaker,

and this is saying

you should believe me.

What I'm saying

is true.

You should believe me.

Look at what Paul says

in 1 Thessalonians 2,

starting to verse 5,

he says,

we never came

with words of flattery,

as you know,

or with a pretext

to greed.

God is wicked,

nor did we seek

glory from people.

Oh, man,

does that speak

to our age?

We didn't seek

glory from people,

whether from you

or from others,

though we could have

made demands

as apostles of Christ,

but we were

gentle in the morning,

like a nursing mother

taking care of our

women's children.

What a beautiful picture.

He just calls it in.

You should believe this.

We're trustworthy.

The qualities that

can communicate

that believability

are naturalness,

sincerity,

a history,

a relationship

with who you're

speaking with,

transparency,

and see,

just looking out

at people,

all that communicates

that is,

yeah,

you should believe me.

Looking at people

versus your notes.

So if I'm giving you

this message like this,

for we never came

with words of flattery,

qualities that can

affect ethos

are sincerity,

naturalness,

history of relationship,

transparency,

engagement,

looking at people

versus your notes,

varying at people

versus fine to me,

relaxed versus stiff.

It's just not

unbelievable.

You know,

it's all the same words,

but I want you

to believe me.

So that's ethos.

And then,

that's just a

thing about my ethos.

Sometimes we get

a lot of thinking

to reading us

because we want

to say it's true.

Right?

So you write out

in advance,

I'm sure this is true.

But then you read it

in a way that

it's hard to believe

that it's true.

Because you just

don't sound

very sincere about it.

So,

what I'm saying

is true,

you should believe me,

and then that's

pathos,

the effect

on the listener.

What I'm saying

matters.

That's pathos.

Acts 17,

Acts 17:2

verses 2 and 3.

Paul didn't

decide the truth.

He didn't just

say it

the way

it was believable.

He sought

to impress

the relevance

on his listeners.

Acts 17,

2.

And Paul went in,

it was his custom,

and on three

Saturdays.

He reasoned

with them

from the scripture,

explaining and

proving that it

was necessary

for the Christ

to suffer and

rise from the

dead.

And saying,

this Jesus,

whom I proclaim

to you,

is the Christ.

He's not just

reading from

the document.

He wanted

them to believe

it.

When you

stand up

in front of

people,

in the gathering

of the church,

you want them

to believe it,

and believe

that it matters.

D.A. Carson

said,

it's not

arrogant

to represent

as forcefully

as we can

God's gospel.

It is simply

faithful stewardship.

To present

as forcefully

as we can.

Now,

obviously,

some of these

are going to

require more

attention to this

than others.

If you're just

making the announcement

about the chili

cook-off next Sunday,

it may not be

the time to kick in.

It doesn't matter!

You must be

at the chili

cook-off!

Okay,

hold it back

a while.

If it's

something more

important,

you want to

say it in a

way,

the Greek

is to be

better.

This really

does matter

for your

life.

It really

does.

All right,

number three.

Behold the

beauty of

brevity.

Number four.

Number four.

Number four.

Paul,

that was

David

Powell

in his book

called

Good and

Anger.

I didn't

read that.

Good and

Anger.

Oh,

it's so

great.

Chapter

two.

Do you

have a

serious

problem

with

anger?

Yes.

Chapter

three.

It's

one page

and it

comes

in front

of the

back.

I thought

that

it's

brevity.

I'm not

good at that.

Behold the

beauty of

brevity.

It's a good

name.

I couldn't

recommend that

book highly

long.

It's

everything

is weird.

All right,

say what you

need to say.

And here's what's

helped me over

the years and

seen it in

others.

One thought,

one contrast,

one scripture,

one application.

One thought,

one contrast,

one scripture,

one application.

this is the

way the writer of

Hebrews makes

his case.

Hebrews 4,

14 through

16.

It's just,

it's so

instructive.

Since then,

we have a

great high

priest who

has passed

from the

heavens.

Now he's

saying since

then,

because at

the end of

chapter two,

he was talking

about Jesus

being a high

priest.

And then in

chapter three,

and the beginning

of chapter four,

he goes with a

little bit of

an explanation

of that.

Can we get

it over there?

Yep.

Excellent.

So he talks

about the

oath that God

has made,

the final

salvation,

Jesus being

greater than

Moses,

how God's

people have

a rest,

have a rest

in Christ,

and then he's

continuing the

thought.

Since then,

we have a

great high

priest who's

passed through

the heavens,

Jesus the

son of God,

so that's the

thought.

That's the

thought.

We know,

we have a

great high

priest.

We just

talked about

it.

He's just

saying that's

the fault.

He's sealing

the line

to what he

has said.

Now then he

says,

let us hold

fast our

confession,

which he's

making an

application right

here,

but we're

going to

skip over

that for

now.

What he

does next

is the

highlight,

the contrast,

for we do

great high

priest who

is unable

to sympathize

with our

God.

Now

isn't that

helpful?

So if

he just

left it

at,

we have a

great high

priest who

has passed

through the

heavens,

so let us

draw near to

the throne

of grace.

He could have

said that,

but he

did it.

He inserted

what we

might be

tempted to

think about

our great

high priest.

How could

this great

high priest,

one who's

unstate,

innocent,

undefined,

how could

he know

that?

This is

under

reminding me.

We do

not have a

high priest

who's unable

to sympathize

with our

weaknesses,

but one

who in

every respect

has been

tempted as

we are,

yet without

sin.

That's the

scripture part,

and it is

scripture,

so he

can't refer

to scripture,

he's writing

scripture,

so that's

where scripture

comes in.

Then the

application.

Let us

then,

with confidence,

draw near to

the throne of

grace,

and we will

receive mercy

and find grace

to help in

time of need.

Oh,

we can't

come.

So we have

this truth,

you repeat

it,

you hide

it in

contrast with

it,

then you

tell the

scripture,

it confirms

what's really

true,

and then

you say,

this is what

we should

do in

response.

So,

in our

context,

it could be

after singing

a song like,

all

who's

our God

and

King,

let all

things that

create

are blessed,

and worship

him in

humbleness.

We're

finishing the

song,

and you

want to make

transition to

the next

song,

which is,

he who

is mighty,

oh,

the mercy

of God

is strong,

or could

be his

mercy is

more,

his mercy

is more,

let's do that.

So you go,

we just say,

love the things

that create a

blessed,

and worship

in a

humbleness.

You know,

so often,

we worship

that not in

humbleness,

but in

time,

thinking we're

somehow earning

points for our

devotion,

or our

passion,

or even

our

attendance,

hey,

we showed

up.

You know,

but because

we sinned

against the

holy God

and need

mercy,

the only way

that we

really approach

God is

humbling.

That's the

only way we

can come to

heaven.

Listen to

how Paul

reminds Titus

and us

of that fact

in Titus 3,

Titus 3:4

verse 4.

When the

goodness and

loving kindness

of God our

Savior appeared,

he saved us,

not because of

works done by

us in

righteousness,

but according

to his

own

mercy.

Isn't that

amazing?

Isn't that

really easy?

Doesn't that

lift the

burden of

all of us?

Let's rejoice

in the abundance

of mercy that

God has provided

for us in

Christ as we

sing it

in that song.

Praise the

Lord,

his mercy

is more.

So I'm just

tying those

things together

so it's not

just like,

here's a song,

hey,

here's something

I'm talking

about,

hey,

here's another

song.

I just

want to

bring those

together,

but I want

to do it

briefly.

So behold

the beauty

of liberty.

If I don't

think about

that in

advance,

I'm going to

take five

sentences for

the first

part,

ten sentences

for the last

part,

look for the

scripture somewhere,

and then ten

sentences for the

advocate.

It's just going

to get really

wrong,

but that just

helps me

just say,

ah,

here's what

went.

Get it.

number four,

don't

underestimate

the value

of

preparation.

Yeah,

kind of

just what

else we're

thinking.

It can

take,

for two

minutes of

speaking,

it can

take an

hour of

preparations.

I forget

what the

question it

was,

but they

said,

how long

do you need

to prepare

to speak

on this

topic?

And he

said,

well,

if you

want me

to give

a ten

minute song

read,

it'll tell

you about

a week.

If you

want me

to,

I think

it was

two

minutes,

ten minutes

somewhere

you got

in a

couple

day.

If you

want to

give me

an hour,

I can

start

talking

right now.

And that's

how he

can do it.

Just let

me go.

I'll just

say everything

I know

about this

topic.

It's

hard to

say something

that is

true,

that is

believable,

and that

matters in

a brief

amount of

time without

thinking

having to

say it.

You should

appreciate the

fact that I've

reviewed these

notes.

And we're not

just talking

off the

cup.

I do go

off the

cup at

times,

but I prepare

the message in

such a way

that it's

not like a

whole message

plus the

extra stuff

that I put

in there.

It can be

helpful right

now when you

play this

thing.

say, for

years, I've

worked with

C.J.

Mahaney, and

he's taught

me more than

anyone about

what I do,

about how to

do what I

do, and

that is a

way that

pleases the

Lord and

encourages God's

people.

But he said

to me years

ago, and

then he said

to me just a

few years ago,

I can tell the

difference between

when you plan to

say something

and when you

don't.

I didn't

ask him for

clarification.

I knew it.

Because I knew

it.

I knew it.

When I thought,

oh, I'm going

to make that

transition here.

Don't do this

anymore.

I'm going to

make that

transition.

I knew it.

And you get

there, and you

just start

talking.

And either

it's confusing,

or it's wrong,

or it's boring,

or it doesn't

make sense, or

you say the

same thing

four times.

There's all

kinds of ways

you could go

wrong.

So what I

found helpful is

to do this on

a page, you

know, 24-point

aerial, how to

fit on that

page.

Now I use

word count,

because I use

everything.

And it's

generally about

100 words a

minute.

That's what I

do.

But I know

that it's

up.

So testimony,

100-word

testimony, it's

going to take

five minutes.

So we, yeah,

we're trying to

end up according

to that.

So yeah, just

know how long

it takes your

six-step, and

what you're

trying to go

for.

Because we

can so often

give ourselves

slack on this,

and then the

meetings just

expand to this

unwieldy amount

of time, because

we just haven't

given the

thought to a

good dance.

But don't

read it.

If you write

it, don't

read it.

I found it

helpful just

to use

sentences,

separate it,

rather than

paragraphs.

If you use a

paragraph to

read something,

a paragraph,

you're trying to

find where you

are going to be

better.

Sentences you

can just go

from one to

the other.

It makes

your nose

longer, but

it's, I'm

not, I'm

not a lot

of that.

It doesn't, I'm

not killing

any trees.

It helps me

look up and

look down,

because I'm

not going to

find myself,

find my

perfect page.

don't assume

the value of

preparation.

Number five,

don't assume

every space

must be

built.

While there's

no rule that

says you can't

say something

between everything,

it's really not

a good idea.

You only need

a road sign

on your turn.

You only need

signs saying

it's not like

Bucky's sign.

Do you have

Bucky's up here?

Is Bucky's

really up here?

No.

Some sort.

When you get

south,

they put signs

every few miles.

Hey, Bucky's

90 miles away,

80 miles away,

7 miles away.

It's just

unbelievable

the money

they put into

that.

It's just

a glorified

gas station

stop.

But it is,

it's huge.

It is an

experience in

itself.

That's one of

those awful

walls.

I should have

included.

You only need

a road sign

when you

turn.

Don't assume

everything needs

an introduction

or transition,

especially if

someone else

has spoken.

So, for instance,

after a message,

generally what

I'll say is,

let's stand

together.

And then we'll

see this one.

Occasionally

they'll have a

reason to say

something,

but if

he's just

talking for

four or five

minutes,

we should

have an idea

of why we're

going to sing

a song.

So, if it's

the right song,

we're just

singing the

song.

Plans, you

don't have to

sing too

much.

You can

think about

the ending

and beginning

of songs

and prayers

and scriptures.

It's not

always definitively

helpful.

So, if

you're saying,

how long

time is my

savior's love

for me,

here is love

that dies

the head.

The end of

one song

just goes

beautifully

in the beginning

of the next

song.

Okay,

number six,

don't assume

you have to

play your

instrument while

you're speaking.

you have to

read the

one instrument

don't assume

you just

have to

noodle

aimlessly

behind,

you know,

as you're

talking to

people

and just

kind of

keep playing

stuff

because

I don't

know,

actually,

because it's

just,

you have to

play stuff

under your

speaking.

but it's

just kind

of annoying

actually.

When you're

just kind

of

noodle

and it's

just,

I see

people do it

again and

again and

again,

so that's

why I'm

saying that.

Don't feel

like you

have to

play the

minute.

Number seven,

consider the

beginning and

end to

believe in

these

transitions.

From daily

life,

from encounter

God together,

that's the

call of

worship.

You do

this life

out there,

and now

you're

worshiping

God,

scatter,

now we're

worshiping

God together.

So let's

take that

into account

at the

beginning,

and then

as a

benediction

at the

end,

we're

going

from

the

gathering

worship

of the

church

to the

scattered

worship

of the

church.

Let's

talk about

what we're

sending

people out.

So I

just want

to take a

few minutes

here to,

let's

go for

transitions,

music

transitions,

talk about

what should

we say,

what should

we play,

you don't

want to spend

a lot of

time on

this.

Let me

just say

that they

can be

helpful,

they're not

crucial.

Here's some

of the

benefits.

They can

minimize

distractions

between

elements,

they can

set the

emotional tone

of what

you've just

done,

what was

just said,

at the end

of our

meeting,

I'll

definitely

play

whatever

song

we

just

finish

with,

just

kind

of

like

it's

a

buffer

before

you

put

music

over

the

speakers.

It just

keeps people

remembering

what we

just did.

It can

kind of

reflect

like a

sail-off.

It can

complement

the emotional

tone of

what's

being

spoken.

so if

we're,

you know,

if we're,

if it's

something

reverent,

you're

praying,

you play

something

that's

reverent,

not

listening.

It can

amplify

or complement

the tone

of what's

being

done.

It can

be

changing

speakers

without

being

left

awkward.

So when

someone's

walking up

to the

platform,

I,

no,

I just

want to

finish the

song.

I,

rather than

just

echo

space,

someone's

coming up

to pray.

I'm not

creating a

song,

I'm not

making a

melody,

I mean,

I'm not

creating

ongoing

things,

it's just,

we're just

here,

we're just

waiting,

going to

do it.

So that's

how musical

transitions

can be

helpful.

They can

be done

with a

synth pad,

most commonly

done.

You can

play the

intro,

the

outro,

a song

you've just

done.

You can

play just

a harmonic

progression

that's

unrelated

to what

you've

done,

so

just

a

one

or

four,

just a

D,

and a

D sub,

just a

D,

and a

D sub,

and you're

not,

you're not

going on

a,

It could be dross.

That will sometimes start.

Sometimes will start a song with dross.

Yeah, key or temporal saying, you don't need transition.

Back in the 70s, we do all these songs.

What am I to God we serve?

What am I to God we serve?

Our Lord God, God was made by heaven.

And He provided by great power.

No hope and joy of God.

I am higher.

Grace is a picture for me.

I am.

I am.

It's really.

I'm not heard of that.

It's a very good.

It's really good.

It wasn't like we were really getting ready to sing songs.

It was just, hey, we can do all these songs together.

So we'll just say, that could be really overrated.

Hey, it's the same tempestate, you're keen.

Sometimes we'll say, well, are the songs the same key?

It could be great if they're in the same key, but they don't have to be the same key.

You know what?

You can just finish a song and then start another song.

Just start the song and then finish.

It's really hard.

Draw back a musical tribute.

So, yeah, just don't give so much time to do rehearsal where you're practicing these transitions and thinking, oh, we've got to make this, you know, beautiful transition.

That people are more conscious of the transition.

And everybody in the congregation, you know, they're in this cool transition.

No, I'm saying not Jesus.

No, I'm saying not what we're saying about.

It's just this transition.

It's so cool.

You know, just stop the song, you know, and then the drawbacks of music transitions.

They convince people to think that music is the same thing as the Holy Spirit.

We're involved with years ago, folks.

Why?

A synthesizer isn't the Holy Spirit.

It was the most read ballpost I ever heard.

Not because everyone's just jumping on the bandwagon and encouraging.

Yeah.

Because there's a lot of pushback on that.

That was true from my point.

It can lead people to think that God needs music to act or to speak or to show up.

I know this quote from the whole best, music to the other day.

Christian musicians must be particularly cautious.

They can create impressions of God as more precious than you can be made and when it is not.

It works as more possible with the music for the God.

Let God not possibly depend on the standards.

We need to be cautious about that.

It can create distractions.

You know, when someone's playing a song behind the speaker, you think about the song when you're listening to the speaker.

Okay, sometimes it's too loud or too busy.

Those good things.

So guidelines.

If you're in charge of a musical transition, be willing to evaluate what you do.

Encourage your musicians to pay attention to what's being said.

We, every Sunday morning, we'll take our musicians after we've gathered and we'll talk through the whole meeting.

We do that here.

Talk through the whole meeting.

This is what we're saying.

This is this scripture we're saying we're going through.

This is why we're doing what we're doing.

That's so that we're more mindful of the content that we're using.