Spiritual Direction: Glory to Glory

In this series, we give examples of how you can set up or talk about specific songs inside of a worship set. We call these small periods of time ‘Spiritual Direction’. Typically it’s a 30 second to 1 minute block of time where a worship leader or pastor can lead the congregation into more passionate and engaged worship.

In this video, we’re setting up the song Glory to Glory by Bethel Music (see our song resources for this song here). For this song, Let’s use an example of a passage of scripture (from which the song is derived), and a short note that ties what we’re about to sing to that scripture. Here is how you could set this one up:

Scripture – 2 Corinthians 3:17-18

For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image.

Connect the dots

Once you’ve read the scripture aloud, tie it back to what you’re about to do – we call this ‘connecting the dots’.

The song we are about to sing comes from this passage of scripture. It speaks to the fact that God is transforming us into his image. I can say in my own life – and I’m guessing you can say in yours – that there are things about ourselves that we wish we were different. I wish I looked different. I wish I was a morning person (I could sleep until noon every single day). I wish I hadn’t done some of the things I’ve done in the past – that I hadn’t screwed up as much as I have before. But the reality that the Bible tells us – and that we are about to sing about together – is that God sees us much differently than we see ourselves. God has a plan for us. He sent his Son, Jesus to a cross to forgive us of the sin that we so regret in our lives. He is literally transforming us into His glorious image. As we sing this next song together, understand that God loves you deeply, and He desires to use you, and to use me, to further His Kingdom and manifest His glory here on the Earth. Let’s sing together.

A couple notes

1. Be extremely intentional. Plan this time out in your worship services – if you use a tool like Planning Center, add it as an item. And then write out what you’re going to say.
2. Be mindful of what else will be happening during this time – what will your band be doing? What will you be displaying on your screens? What will your lighting look like? It all matters – probably more than you think.
3. Use Pads or Bumper Music as a sound bed. It makes a big difference. In the video above, the background music is our own Bumper Music, Volume 2.
4. I like to use an actual Bible on stage. It can be a bit of a challenge if you don’t really have anywhere to put it (remember, music stands should be avoided at all costs :), but it’s easy enough to just set one down by your mic stand.
5. If you’re reading scripture, put the words of the scripture on the screens so your congregation can read along. I like to have people read it aloud with me at times – worship is a participatory event – it’s not a spectator event.
6. Make it personal. In the example above, I personalized it with ‘I wish I was a morning person’ (I really do). The more you can let people into your personality, the more effectively you can lead them.
7. Tie it into your church/congregation. If you’re in the middle of a message series (or you have communicated with your teaching pastor about what they’re going to talk about that day), tie it in.

Please feel free to use this verbatim in your worship services if you’d like to. Or let it inspire you to write your own spiritual direction. Be intentional, and lead with excellence.

The background music in the video above is Bumper Music, Volume 2, which you can purchase and use in your services as well.