Spice Up Your Worship
Some Great Ideas
To Get Close to God

Worship is more than music. It's about experiencing the presence of God.

While anointed music is probably the most common vehicle for entering God's presence in large groups, the cell group allows other possibilities, equally powerful. Get creative with God. Seek His presence and ask Him, "Lord how do you want my group to come into your presence this week."

Don't neglect the gifts of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12). Prophecy, words of knowledge, healings and miracles are powerful signs of God's presence!

Always remember that worship starts with the heart to worship. You can lead your group to the worship time, but you cannot force them to enter in... but you can enter in yourself. Be an example and a model of worship.

Below are some suggestions from the U.K. Cell- church worship page

Not all of these ideas will appeal to everybody... we have a different understanding of worship to some liturgical and evangelical churches. But they might help to move your group into a deeper understanding of how we can communicate with God, hear from God and touch God.

If you try something in your group that is really blessed by God, please remember to let us know!

Here are the suggestions!
 

                                          Go through the alphabet from A to Z and ask the group to come up with an
                                          attribute of God to fit each letter! (Humour and worship together!)

                                          Or try the same with things for which we can thank God.

                                          Spend five minutes in silence listening to God, then share the results. Perhaps
                                          give a few verses from a psalm as a seed thought before the silence begins.

                                          Go into the garden and spend ten minutes individually contemplating a weed or
                                          a flower or a leaf that you find there. People could bring back the object they
                                          selected and talk about it.

                                          Or lie on the ground gazing up at the sky, chatting to God in silence.

                                          Use worship CD's and sing along. The louder they're played, the more confident
                                          people will be to join in.

                                          Read a short passage of scripture about Jesus and ask each person to write
                                          their own short psalm inspired by that passage. Then let each one read their
                                          psalm and allow people to pray in response to each reading...

                                          Read Revelation 4:11 "You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and
                                          honour and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were
                                          created and have their being." Spend time individually writing out a declaration
                                          of Jesus' worthiness. Then read them out with others praying short prayers
                                          inspired by what has been written.

                                          Clear as much space as possible from the room. Get everyone to stand against
                                          one wall with clear ground in front. Read Revelation 4:1-11 through once and
                                          ask people to visualise the scene, with eyes closed. Get them to picture the
                                          door of heaven and then to "knock" on it; wait until it is opened and then move
                                          forward and in through the door. Allow time and silence (and space!) to picture
                                          the throne room of heaven and then to approach the one who sits on the
                                          throne. Many will want to kneel and will find this a powerful encounter with
                                          Jesus.

                                          There's a wealth of liturgy available: some from your denomination, alternative
                                          pieces from other denominations or published resource books.

                                          Write a psalm, hymn or spiritual song together. You'd probably want to go for
                                          words only and then you could find a musical genius to write a tune and teach
                                          it at the next cell!

                                          Pray together about one aspect of God's character (His faithfulness, love,
                                          mercy, grace, &c.).

                                          Read a psalm together.

                                          Prepare a meditation (e.g. Get the group to close eyes and to imagine they are
                                          a character in the Bible. Talk the members through the particular Bible story
                                          and how they might feel. Allow time and periods of quiet for this. See the
                                          Revelation 4:1-11 example above.)

                                          Everyone pray only Thank You prayers. This is good to do because most people
                                          will find it hard to pray without eventually turning it into an asking prayer and
                                          it's quite a challenge to keep the prayer thankful only.

                                          Use an object to focus on one aspect of God. Examples might be a lump of clay
                                          alongside a pottery vase, reading Jeremiah 18:4f. or Isaiah 64:8. Or you could
                                          use garden flowers and a passage about Creator God.

                                          Modernise an old hymn (or re-write some old liturgy).

                                          Read the Gospel of Mark, or another short Bible book, one chapter each around
                                          the group.

                                          Prepare by taking a magazine(s) and cut out very many small squares of
                                          different shades of colour from the photographs. Place the "confetti" in a
                                          basket and at the meeting have each person select a colour that appeals to
                                          them. Then get the group to arrange themselves in a line with the colours in
                                          the order of the spectrum. Join the ends of the line so that the group forms a
                                          circle and then get the different colour groups to use their imagination and
                                          make the noise of their colour!! Mention that, together, all of the colours of the
                                          rainbow make pure white light. Read Genesis 1 and have the group make their
                                          sound and wave their colour swatch whenever the word "light" is mentioned.

                                          Be creative with clay, paints or crayons. e.g. Give each person a small piece of
                                          modelling clay. Ask them to pray silently and to meditate as the leader reads a
                                          passage of Scripture. Encourage them to play with the clay in silence and see
                                          what is formed as the meditation progresses.