Music in the house church
Worship Leading
The most important challenge is to learn to sing as the body of Christ without a worship leader. This requirement is not negotiable. To learn this skill, no musical instruments should be used for the first year. Everyone in the group should learn and experience divine praise and worship as God originally intended. It was never intended for one person to lead a group of people in worship.
A person who plays an instrument will invariably start to take the lead, and the group will never taste true worship. This is how it is. This is why “acapella” should be sung for a year. After a year, everyone will know what Holy Spirit-led worship is and will have experienced such wonderful times with God that they will never allow a worship leader near them again. On the contrary, the word “worship leader” will be a curse word to them. No man can replace the Holy Spirit’s leading.
When everyone feels that they have buried all the traditions of music and worship, they can start using musical instruments. However, it is crucial that the instruments do not lead but that the Holy Spirit leads. This means that the Holy Spirit will lay a song on someone’s heart, and such a person will start singing the song, and the musicians follow. This approach puts a little more pressure on the musicians because everything now works the other way around. The musicians and instruments no longer lead as they did in the past.
Many groups never use instruments again and stick to “acapella” which is perfectly fine. This approach remains the best method of worship and is the Bible-based method. Singing “acapella” for a year also gives the musicians in the group a year to play all the songs the group learns and sings by ear. Obviously, the musicians must be able to play by ear, or else they will not be able to follow the Spirit.
Singing and music are absolutely part of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, as the Bible clearly reflects:
1 Corinthians 14:26
What is the matter then, brothers? When you come together, each of you has a psalm, or a teaching, or a tongue, or a revelation, or an interpretation—let everything be for edification.
Notice the word “everyone,” which indicates that everyone was actively involved. The Holy Spirit was in control and led everyone, even through singing and music, and in worship.
Colossians 3:16:
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with gratitude in your hearts to the Lord.
Notice the words “dwell richly in you,” “Teach and admonish one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs.” There is no mention of a lead singer or lead singers here. The Holy Spirit leads each one as He wills. The congregation regains control over music and singing by reverting to the New Testament method of worship.
This opens the way for Spirit-led music ministry. I acknowledge that there is anointed music in the institutional church; I am just saying that there is so much more, but because we do not know about it, we have become content with what we know. I myself am a musician and a former worship leader. I know what a sacrifice it was to lay down my talent for the sake of Holy Spirit-led singing. Believe me, it was worth it!
Of course, some musicians will always be unwilling to sacrifice their musical talents. It was never intended to be the special “ministry” that the institutional church has made it; singing and music in the congregational setting were intended to be an anointed Spiritual gift for the glorification of God and for the edification of the congregation.
It remains a very important spiritual medium, and we see it functioning in two ways in the congregation:
Firstly, with worship as already explained.
Secondly, a special musical gift involves a Holy Spirit-inspired congregation member singing a specific song for the benefit of the others.
I have to admit that singing acapella is a little strange at first, but later it gets easier.
Here are some ideas to make it easier:
Sing easy songs. Leave the more difficult songs for much later. The older, simpler songs work very well. There are many of these songs that are gorgeous and have an anointing on them. However, stay away from the old tearjerkers and unscriptural songs that were not written in our enlightened age of God’s revelation. Some of the words and melodies of these songs do not really suit us as conquering kings and priests.
We are triumphant, blood-washed children of God. We must sing triumphant victory songs and love songs to our God and Bridegroom. We are overcomers and not beggars. We have overcome and live in victory. Nor do we strive for things we already have. For these reasons, it is always a good thing to sing the word of God like the Psalms. Memorize the songs because it makes the Holy Spirit’s guidance easier.
Be sensitive to the Holy Spirit’s guidance. Sing and do only what He leads us to sing and do. Old traditions really need to die out. As a former worship leader, for example, I was taught that “praise” songs should be sung first and then switched to “worship songs”. I absolutely believed this, and it worked wonderfully “in practice”. Probably because lead singing is a human-inspired method of stimulation, which can detract from the genuine worship experience that is guided by the Holy Spirit.
However, I have since learned that this is not really the case. The Holy Spirit does as He wishes. There is also no “pressure” that worship leaders have been exposed to through the years. If the worship is not “anointed”, the worship leader or worship team experiences disappointment in their own abilities. In house churches, there is a peaceful atmosphere of surrender, and nothing human-inspired, allowing for genuine spiritual experiences and connections among the participants.
The Holy Spirit “flows” freely and peacefully and leads the children of God from glory to glory. Remember, He is in control, and it cannot be anything apart from a glorious divine experience.
New Testament church music
The New Testament church lived, praised, and worshipped in ways that would surprise many people.
Here are a few facts about it:
The Holy Spirit led the children of God in their daily walks and during church gatherings to serve one another.
The focus was that as brothers and sisters in the family of God, they built, encouraged, lifted, and elevated one another. They drew one another closer to each other, as well as closer to God.
They became one in Him and also became one in spirit. Chapters 11-14 of 1 Corinthians are chapters that teach us how to serve, encourage, and build one another in love, in truth, and in wisdom.
Singing and music make up a crucial and large part of this.
The Holy Spirit used anointed music to strengthen the congregation. Who has ever experienced the anointing on music? It is heavenly, and we cannot deny that anointed music can master things in people’s lives that no sermon, words, or any other action can. Music possesses a unique quality, whether it be a sense of surrender or a special anointing, that resonates with the heart and spirit of individuals.
Something I do not doubt about is that God digs deep into people’s hearts, shares, and works through music. The best, of course, is through anointed music channeled by all his children and not just by a single person or group of people. The entire family of God must function together, not just a select few individuals.
The New Testament church worshipped God and ministered to one another with acapella music, which favored participation.
The Holy Spirit can very easily manifest Spirit-anointed music in the congregation through someone, such as a member of the congregation who is inspired to sing a specific song that uplifts and encourages others in their faith. New Testament Christians all have the Spirit, and they can be led by the Holy Spirit. In such a case, it was done by singing acapella style.
The word “acapella” is an Italian word that means “according to (the style of the) chapel,” or “in the church style.” The word originally referred to the sacred choral music that was sung in the assembly of the church or in the chapel. In other words, when reference to music in the assembly of the church was made years ago, it was vocal singing. This was the music of the church. Only in modern times have churches adopted both vocal and instrumental music in the assemblies of the church. But this was not the case from the first century until about four hundred years ago in the religious world outside the Roman Catholic Church. All music of the churches was vocal, or acapella, and thus, “the music of the church” was singing without instruments.
– Dr. Roger E. Dickson
In the Old Testament, it was a very different story. The Holy Spirit, then known as the Spirit of God, was not “on” people other than the priests or prophets. The Israelites were servants of the Lord and not children of God as we are today. They were also not part of the church, which is a New Testament phenomenon. The Holy Spirit was not in anyone.
Therefore, the people and even the kings had to consult the prophets or priests to find out what God’s will was in specific situations. The Holy Spirit was not upon ordinary people at all. Because Old Testament people were not born of the Holy Spirit, they could not accommodate the Holy Spirit, and they could not be led by the Holy Spirit.
Subsequently, Spirit-led worship was only possible in the New Testament; therefore, we cannot compare the use of musical instruments with the Old Testament in this regard. In the Old Testament, it was necessary for singers and musicians. During the gatherings of the people of Israel, the Levites carried out the musical ministry, and they led the nation in worship. The church does not need worship leaders because everybody is led by God. All Christians have the Spirit of God inside of them.
Church historians who lived during the early church confirmed in their writings that the use of instruments played no role in the church. In 139 AD, Justin Martyr wrote the following:
The use of singing with instrumental music was not received in the Christian churches, as it was among the Jews in their infant state, but only the use of plain song was.
– Justin Martyr
McClintock and Strong made the following statement regarding the development and use of instrumental music in Christianity:
The Greek word “psallo” is applied among the Greeks of modern times exclusively to sacred music, which in the Eastern Church has never been anything other than vocal, instrumental music being unknown in that church, as was in the primitive church.
– McClintock and Strong
Sir John Hawkins, in his work on the History of Music, makes Pope Vitalian, in 660 AD, the first person to use organs in Catholic church services. However, many ecclesiastical archaeologists disagreed with him. Ecclesiastical archaeologists were convinced that churches did not use instrumental music until much later.
For example, Thomas Aquinas made the following statements in 1250 AD:
Our church does not use musical instruments, such as harps and psalteries, to praise God withal, so that she may not seem to Judaize.
-Thomas Aquinas
Marinus Sanutus most likely started instrumental music in the Catholic Church in 1290 AD. It was the traditional wind organ that later became very popular in churches.
The early church, however, refrained from this. This approach was in contrast to pagan customs in pagan temples, where instrumental music was used in worship. They were well aware that the apostles and congregations of the early church worshipped without musical instruments. They preferred to stick to the teaching of the apostles.
Even the church reformers of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries attempted to restore Holy Spirit-inspired worship in the congregations of the reformed churches, believing that it would enhance the worship experience and align with the practices of the early church.
Most churches of the Christendom today use instrumental music in their assemblies. Though most have little knowledge of the historical controversy that has surrounded this subject, they have often been unaware of the benefits of acapella music and why the great leaders of the Reformation Movement stood against the introduction of instrumental music into the assemblies of the Reformation churches. Instrumental music has become so common in the assemblies of churches today that adherents to these churches often do not realize the marvelous bonding effect that acapella music has in bringing the hearts of the people together in an assembly context.
– Dr. Roger E. Dickson
What is it that makes acapella music or worship so effective? It starts with the definition of true worship. True worship comes from the heart. It comes from the spirit of man. It does not arise as a result of external factors or stimulation. It does not need a favorable environment with favorable circumstances or beautiful sounds. On the contrary, these external factors have no substance that can stimulate or create true worship, which is an intrinsic experience that arises from within an individual rather than from external influences.
True worship needs no help. If an individual requires external influences to bow before God in worship, those influences are artificial and ceremonial. By this argument, I am not saying that it is impossible to worship with accompanying music. It is certainly possible, but we need to learn to be led by the Spirit of God, and therefore, the musicians can not lead; they need to follow.
Worship leading through the working of the Spirit binds children of God together in unity in their expression of their love and praise that comes from their hearts. This music flows from within us because it originates from the Spirit of God and connects with the spirit of man. Streams of living water flow from within us.
Spirit-led worship promotes unity through participatory singing. Everyone has the opportunity to express what bubbles up from them in worship, whether it be through song, prayer, or sharing personal testimonies that reflect their spiritual journey.
In the house churches, this expression of true worship through acapella music manifests not only in the gathering but also in the shared community life.
Paul makes the following statements about it in Ephesians 5:18-21:
But do not get drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit. Speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and submitting to one another in the fear of God.
Colossians 3:16
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with gratitude in your hearts to the Lord.
With both of these verses, we see the following words: Speak to one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. Teach and admonish one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. Who should do this? Everyone.
Clearly, in the above Scriptures, it is very clear that it is actually the words of the song that are important and not the musical notes (Speak, teach, and admonish have to do with words and nothing with instrumental music).
Singing is a natural outgrowth of praise and worship from the joyful heart. It comes from within. Instrumental music comes from without. There is a difference between beautiful music that emotionally influences or stimulates you from without to worship God and true Spirit-inspired praise that comes from within you. Remember, instrumental music only comes from the person playing the instrument. For all listeners, it is a stimulant from without. It cannot compete with the Spirit of God that comes from within. The Holy Spirit plays a crucial role in the congregation, enabling this Spirit-led worship to flow from everyone present.
The child of God must surrender himself in worship to the eternal God through the melody in his heart. God is the creator of music. He knew that Holy Spirit-inspired music comes from the heart and human-inspired music comes from the outside, reflecting different expressions of worship and emotional connection to God.
Vocal music would thus accomplish the purpose for which He commanded it among the saints. This helps us understand why God instructed Holy Spirit inspired music among Christians. They must focus on their hearts, not their abilities, lest they become so enthralled with their abilities to play an instrument that they forget the One they are to worship.
– Dr. Roger E. Dickson
The music of the church belongs to the church. God never intended for a few people to control it and, in the process, make the rest of the congregation spectators. Worship leaders, instrumental music, orchestras, and musical performances by musicians within the congregational setting have taken a dominant place. Not just prominently. Whether we want to hear it or not, many of these musicians actually take advantage of the opportunity to perform in front of large audiences and are actually engaged in a performance-type of ministry, even if they don’t even know it themselves. “Performance”, “human-inspired stimulation,” and “musical professionalism” dominate worship in most institutional congregations. This is not how it was in the early church.
The human-inspired, powerful music of today (sound systems, loudspeakers, electric guitars, etc.) does not have a calming influence on the human mind and spirit. In many congregations, this sound is perceived as nothing more than noise.
It has already been proven that sound exhausts people emotionally and physically. It is inevitable. This phenomenon is exactly what happens in certain congregations that worship in this way
A congregation that worships through acapella music clearly feels the difference. These people are spiritually and physically uplifted and refreshed.
In the institutional church, when it comes to praise and worship, it has now become standard practice to accommodate the youth, particularly teenagers, during congregational gatherings. Why is the youth given preference? Because the youth are the future churchgoers. Look after them, and you are investing in the future of the congregation. This is one consideration. However, it is not a divine consideration. Preference should not be given to one group of people. This is not the attitude that the true church should manifest.
Then there is still the question: Is this noisy youth music really the right music for church?
Benefits of acapella music
There is an atmosphere of unity and love in the gathering when God the Holy Spirit and the congregation members worship God in spirit and truth. The unity is rooted in the equality of participation and surrender, which fosters a sense of belonging and encourages each individual to contribute their unique gifts to the worship experience. Everyone has the privilege to obey the Holy Spirit’s leading and to continue in worship in faith.
When you experience the melody of praise or joy within you, you possess the authority, privilege, and opportunity to present it to your God. Others will follow because it bubbles up from the spirit. Similarly, when the praise and worship of another brother or sister are expressed by the Spirit of God, it is because that worship is anointed by the Spirit.
When inspired by the Holy Spirit, acapella singing is therefore the outpouring of the joy, gratitude, and worship of the heart.
Because house church congregations are small and very informal, everyone usually has the freedom to worship God in spirit and in truth. There is none of the stiffness or formal atmosphere of the institutional church. Everyone is familiar with one another and feels comfortable worshipping God.
Spirit-led worship naturally develops as the congregation memorizes the songs. The more songs and choruses memorized, the better. The congregation should make a point of striving for this goal.
Thus, the Spirit-filled atmosphere builds up until God is crowned in glory in the midst of all in His majesty and glory every time we gather. He sits on His throne there before all in majesty and glory because He is made visible through everyone’s participation. I say “every time” because when this type of worship is inspired by the Holy Spirit, God will be glorified. Everyone participates as the Holy Spirit leads. It cannot but be an anointed and divine occasion every time.
In authentic house churches, the music of the church is back with the people, the children of God! Everyone is included. It is everyone’s privilege, and everyone can be taught, exhorted, and encouraged through it. This is the body of Christ in action! We as people must always take it for granted that God’s ways and God’s methods are always the best.
Making music CDs and forming orchestras for a music ministry (if initiated by the Holy Spirit, of course) is perfectly acceptable. There is a place for that in the church of God, but it is not intended for the gathering of the congregation. The primary focus during these gatherings should be on worship and communal prayer rather than performances.
Through singing, we teach each other. Through singing, we stimulate the organic community life of the body of Christ, we serve each other with it, with words of music, and we build each other up. It is a ministry that is carried out from the heart outward to another heart. It aims to strengthen and encourage your fellow Christian in his faith, as Colossians 3:16 and Ephesians 5:18-21 clearly describe. Everyone must be involved in this, not only during the meetings but daily in the congregation’s business and walk. This ministry is a command from God.
The Practical House Church Manual was written by ASR Martins
