DARLENE ZSCHECH // WEEK 4

Hey lovely people…I have been in the studio for the past couple of weeks.. recording songs of worship and trying to hone my writing skills.. and I have really had such a wonderful time. I’ve been surrounded by great friends and musicians, all who passionately follow Christ and have a commitment to bringing their best in worship…whatever that looks or sounds like in each of us.

During the process, I have been downloading HEAPS of worship recordings, listening and being challenged and inspired, listening to tracks that use strings beautifully in their band mixes….aahhhh, my heart has been so fuelled. But in the midst of it all, I put on Michael W Smiths’ You be Lifted High’.. piano, vocal.. simple, strong, with a melody that soars and lyrics that could have been sung and written by King David. And there I found myself in a tangle of emotion, my spirit crying out for more of Jesus, my soul finding strength, and my body feeling empowered somehow to cry Holy is the Lord Almighty with my life once again.

And such is the power again of bringing an authentic song of the heart to our wonderful Jesus...stripped back, without all the musical reinforcement (even though we all love it and it SO has its place..).. After days and days of intense ‘listening’ to worship, here I was being ministered to THROUGH the song of a worshipping heart, presented as an offering by a man whom Mark and I love dearly and who has been around long enough for his music to bypass trends and soundscapes, and for his unseen life of worship to be tested again and again, and for Michael and Debbie his wife to continue to stand all because of the righteousness of Christ. A beautiful example to us all….

So, as we all go into your rehearsals and services this week, as we spend time fine tuning our musical expressions of what God has done in our lives … make it the PRIORITY to take some time to strip back the sounds, and simply come before Jesus and worship. Lead your teams in moments of holy adoration, play, sing, dance, create….but let the worship rise higher than the art, the craft, the colours that we bring to the table.

Jer 29:13 says, You will seek Me and find Me, when you seek Me with ALL your heart….

Lets seek Him, truly seek Him… to search for, lean into, with all we have to truly SEE Him, I do wonder what awaits us across the earth, as we truly seek, exalt, glory and honour our King… I pray that He would find us trustworthy to carry His plans for this hour…

Love you all and so totally believe in you… Darls

Darlene Zschech is a singer, songwriter (Shout to the Lord), worship leader and speaker, most notably for her involvement in the music from Hillsong Church. In 2004 Darlene and her husband Mark initiated Hope: Rwanda, a global endeavor designed to bring hope to a nation seemingly forgotten since the horrific genocide of 1994. Darlene and Mark live in Sydney with their three daughters, Chloe and Zoe, Amy and son-in-law Andrew. For more info visit darlenezschech.com

Taken from: http://www.worshipcentral.org/blog/guest/darlene-zschech/darlene-zschech-week-4

DARLENE ZSCHECH // WEEK 3

Growing up singing and playing, I found as a young Christian that the performer in me had to die, so that the disciple of Christ could grow and learn...yes, it has been a journey.

But the Word of God reminds us in Hosea 4:6 ‘that my people die for lack of knowledge’. Prov 4 says ‘Get skillful and Godly wisdom, get understanding…’

There is great fruit as a result of understanding. Trust and Stability among other things but for me, the greatest fruit is that of WILLINGNESS. Being willing is all about a heart motivation, and if you are willing, you will have so much more staying power than simply having enthusiasm.

2 Cor 8:11 says ‘Finish the work, so that your eager willingness to do it may match your completion of it, according to your means.’ Verse 12 says, ‘For if the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, NOT according to what one does NOT have.

1 Peter 5:2 says ‘Be shepherds of Gods flock, not because you must but because you are willing.. NOT for money, but eager to serve.’

Give me a team of willing people any day…and anything is possible. How willing are you when it comes to your team, your church, your passion to lead people to the greatness of our God? If you are getting a little bit complicated in your approach, maybe due to disappointment or maybe you’ve become a little complacent or too familiar with the Holiness of what it is we are doing, THEN I lovingly suggest you just ask God (who is SO SO kind) to come again, to speak to your soul. GET HUNGRY for the reality of His presence. Just by reading the Word, the ALIVE, transforming word of God… and stir up that fire again for service…that your willing heart would be refreshed and ready for all that is in front of you in this season.

These are incredible days… as His song, His sound, His Kingdom culture is declared across the earth in power and might. We must all simply take our place, and pour ourselves out wherever and however we can, to bring this message of Jesus to our perishing world.

By the Way… getting real practical here… Pastor Jack Hayfords teaching on worship is stunning and easy to digest, so is Pastor Bill Johnsons… and the list goes. Understanding is not gained by wishing, but by feeding on all those Words that can help shape us.

Love you guys…have the best week ever!!!

Darlene Zschech is a singer, songwriter (Shout to the Lord), worship leader and speaker, most notably for her involvement in the music from Hillsong Church. In 2004 Darlene and her husband Mark initiated Hope: Rwanda, a global endeavor designed to bring hope to a nation seemingly forgotten since the horrific genocide of 1994. Darlene and Mark live in Sydney with their three daughters, Chloe and Zoe, Amy and son-in-law Andrew. For more info visit darlenezschech.com

Taken from: http://www.worshipcentral.org/blog/guest/darlene-zschech/darlene-zschech-week-3

Darlene Zschech // Week 2

I don’t know your story but when I said yes to following Christ at the age of fifteen, I said a devout YES to following Jesus, whatever that meant. I was desperate for a sense of HOME in my heart.

I was already living out of home at this stage and had become lonely and quite complicated in my young and fragile self. I was looking for acceptance with no strings, and I was SO looking for some peace. I had NO idea about the benefits of accepting Jesus, the joy, the strength, and I certainly did not know about the Holy Spirit who comes as help and comforter. SALVATION to me was, and is enough; everything Christ did and is doing in me continues to take me by surprise. So you can see, I am EVER grateful for that Friday night when JOHN 3:16 – 22 was preached, and the light of Christ drew me home. A worshipper was released from prison that day...a prison of self, of disappointment, and of shame. And this worshipper lives in response to His great love, my life poured out as a thank you.

The reason I tell you this story is by way of testimony, of stirring up the grateful heart within which was built to give praise and honour. Psalm 78 says to us to tell our story, to speak of His faithfulness and wonders across the fabric of our everyday lives. As complicated as life may become…there is ALWAYS a way to bring forth that TRUTH of His kindness toward us, And this is one of the reasons I love the power of worship, as we sing the song of God that declares His goodness and faithfulness, His immense magnificence coming to meet us where we are at. And it may make some of you uncomfortable, BUT, when you are leading or singing, writing or creating from this place.. WOW, that sense of being abandoned to His will is highly contagious when it is authentic.

To all of you who are involved in leading, writing, playing, pastoring, or organizing any part of our congregational times of worship.. I encourage you today to do whatever you are doing from a constant platform of gratefulness. Maybe you too have to take some time to write down and remember how far you’ve come since Christ made His home in your heart. The miracles, the words He’s whispered deep into your soul, the breakthroughs…Lets always REMEMBER, lets TELL the story of His goodness, and lets worship the ONE who saved us! There is nothing worse than being led or instructed in worship by people who are going through the motions….c’mon…It’s a new day, there is an urgency in the air , the world is desperate to hear about this amazing ONE TRUE GOD. ! Lets lift up His name, bring our finest, and spend our 24/7 lives saying a deliberate and genuine THANKYOU.

WOW...I start blogging, and I feel like we are all just hanging out at my kitchen bench, having a good long natter about King Jesus… what a privilege. Love you…

Darlene Zschech is a singer, songwriter (Shout to the Lord), worship leader and speaker, most notably for her involvement in the music from Hillsong Church. In 2004 Darlene and her husband Mark initiated Hope: Rwanda, a global endeavor designed to bring hope to a nation seemingly forgotten since the horrific genocide of 1994. Darlene and Mark live in Sydney with their three daughters, Chloe and Zoe, Amy and son-in-law Andrew. For more info visit darlenezschech.com

Taken from: http://www.worshipcentral.org/blog/guest/darlene-zschech/darlene-zschech-week-2

Darlene Zschech // Week 1

Mark and I and the family have just returned from what would have to be one of the best holidays we can remember. We spent it at the beach where we grew up, surrounded by friends from way back, many who are in ministry and have been for a long time...

...and the conversation was so rich and inspiring, we left feeling refreshed and so hungry for what God has in store for this season.
When the conversation turned to worship, the upside of the comments were that overall, many pastors were feeling so well supported musically, their teams were growing, it seemed from what I was hearing is that the standard of what was coming from platforms all over the country has vastly improved over the last couple of years. But then there was a moment when one dear man said ‘ Oh, but just to sense the presence of Jesus, that is what I am longing for. I would rather have something less sophisticated if it means finding worshippers to lead us into the Holy Place, not just great players.’

Wow… I have pondered that thought since coming home.. and I guess as a pastor and a leader of worship, I sense the responsibility, like many others leaders around the globe, to keep speaking it out.. that JESUS must be our goal, our focus, and the One we are living to please and serve as we worship. Not complicated, but simply committed our focus clean and clear. A statement that I read in Bill Johnsons book ‘ Face to Face with God’ said of Moses.. ‘Moses preferred the wilderness with God, than to enter the promised land without God’. As he said in Ex 33:15 ‘ If Your presence does not go with us, do not lead us up from here..’.

So there you have it… what and who are you desiring as you worship? Whether what we do actually IS worship is up to us.. for it is about the heart, its agenda and passions. I pray that every single day, our devotion to His song, this glorious anthem that stretches into the eternal would be refined in us as we learn to live in His power, covered by His grace, forever and ever… AMEN.

Darlene Zschech is a singer, songwriter (Shout to the Lord), worship leader and speaker, most notably for her involvement in the music from Hillsong Church. In 2004 Darlene and her husband Mark initiated Hope: Rwanda, a global endeavor designed to bring hope to a nation seemingly forgotten since the horrific genocide of 1994. Darlene and Mark live in Sydney with their three daughters, Chloe and Zoe, Amy and son-in-law Andrew. For more info visit darlenezschech.com

Taken from: http://www.worshipcentral.org/blog/guest/darlene-zschech/darlene-zschech-week-1