During prayer dance bites last night we entered into a great conversation about whether we truly recognised that God lavishes his love on us. I just want to take a few moments today to share 3 insights that came out of our discussions. We looked particularly at the scripture reference 1 John 3.1:
See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.
There is so much depth in this verse and so much that we can learn, apply and trust God with. In the whirlwind of life, how deep God loves us often gets lost. Take a moment and think about what the word Lavish could mean, and what it means to you.
God’s love is like an invasion.
How do you like to feel love? Or how do you show love to others? We have a generous God that continually pours out his love to sustain us. But God knows the way to love us that speaks to us the most. If you’ve not heard about the love languages, they are certainly worth looking up (see link at the end). The Love Languages identify the way that you receive love best, this can help you in your various relationships. God loves us in such a way that He doesn’t have to think about how to give us love, He knows. Often we have the decision about whether we choose to receive that love.
See what great love the Father has lavished on us.
Consider the image of an invasion happening, when a winning side arrive on the scene to complete the invasion, they consume the area they are aiming for. They take it over completely. That’s the love God has for us. A love that overwhelms, releases the floodgates and crashes into us. God loves us with such a depth it’s overpowering.
There is no argument, God loves us.
This sense of overpowerment causes us to pause and recognise that we are called children of God. Children have an innocence and need to know they are loved, to feel compassion. As God calls us his children, he makes a clear statement that brings no argument.
…that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!
Think of it like this – God loves us, lavishes on us, because we are children of God. As children of God we need to receive that with an open heart that enables us to stand firm with all God has for us.
We need to brace for impact.
Is your heart really open to all that God has for you? Are you ready to receive it? Chris Tomlins song Impact has a line in it that says:
Brace for the impact
The first time I heard it I did a double take. Why do we need to brace? What are bracing for? As we talked during prayer dance bites it dawned on us all. That how much God loves us is an overwhelming, tidal wave surging, storm crashing impact. By that I mean if we truly receive the words of this verse. Recognising that God loves us lavishly as we are his children, love will invade us with such force that we need to brace for the impact because it will be all consuming.
How can we respond to this?
If you’re a mover and dancer you can explore how God loves us by dancing to the song Impact by Chris Tomlin. Think about these 3 words –
Invade
Firm
Impact
What can these look like in movement? How do these words make you feel when you think about the depth that God loves us?
This video highlights what was shared during our Prayer Dance Bite session as well as some further thoughts and movement from me.
Further information
You can find out about the Five Love Languages here.
Not sure what Prayer Dance Bites is but would like to know more? Head here. Would you like to be part of the UC Grace journey? Then head here to sign up and be kept in the loop with what we are doing.
Creativity surrounds us, wherever we look, people, landscapes, businesses, things that go, plants, food, music and so much more each have an element of uniqueness about them. If, creativity is around us all the time, that must mean that it has some influence on how we live our day-to-day life. If God inhabits our day, one must assume that creativity is part of our day too. This week I want us to consider how creativity in worship is naturally part of what you do. How can creativity, worship and our conversation with God blend into our everyday?
What’s the deal with Creativity?
You just need to look around you and see with amazement the things that God has created. He takes great care with what he makes, being specific and knowing every detail, creativity in worship shines through everywhere.
And God said, “Let there be lights in the vault of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark sacred times, and days and years, Genesis 1.14
This act of creation shared with us, means we see stunning clouds and sky by day and amazing stars at night. Each one deliberately put there. Part of Gods plan when He ‘created’.
The English word create stems from the Latin word creare which means to make, bring forth or produce. Everyday each of us will do those things – make, bring forth or produce.
Take a moment now and write down everything you have done with your day so far.
Creativity allows the possibility to explore something different. It challenges your perception about what you see and do, and how it could be done differently. It isn’t one size fits all. It’s the willingness to explore and acknowledge even the little things.
How precious to me are your thoughts,[a] God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand— when I awake, I am still with you. Psalm 139.17-18.
The little things such as the grains of sand and ALL our thoughts were important when God created us. He took the time to lean into those small details. Think about the small details that occur day to day for you, do you recognise them and thank God for them?
Let’s look deeper at worship.
How do you worship? What is important to you when you worship? What does it involve? Spend a few moments noting down the answers to those questions.
I have always seen worship as part of my everyday routine, as I begin conversations with God, I am entering into a time of worship. An acknowledgment that what I am doing is for him. Often worship is only considered as singing, or time together on a Sunday morning. But it is much bigger than that. This verse in John sums it up well.
God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.” John 4.24 (emphasis mine)
In a nutshell according to this verse, entering into a conversation with God in any form is connecting with his spirit. Connecting with his spirit is part of creativity, resulting in creativity in worship. It’s like a perpetual cycle, one thing cannot happen without the other.
But how does creativity in worship go hand in hand?
As we draw to the end, I want to take some time to share and help you recognise that what you are doing already in your journey is using creativity in worship. You might also find some other things that you want to try.
Put a pause in.
Let’s look right back at Genesis again and remember that even through all that God was creating. He recognised the good bits, stood back to look at them and paused. This was a specific action that he put in at the end of every day. He chose to pause.
‘God saw all that He has made, and it was very good.’ Genesis 1.31
Perhaps for you, the biggest challenge in your creativity in worship might be putting in a pause, a full stop. To see what God has done or is doing. As you read on in Genesis God talks about how he chose to rest and bless that day.
By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work.Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done. Genesis 2.2-3
For me this verse isn’t talking about ensuring there is a full day of rest in your week, although lets face it that would be lovely! It’s talking about how God made the active choice that to connect with his spirit and what he had done he needed to pause. And choose to bless what has been done.
Day to day putting in a pause (however big or small) and choosing to acknowledge God will enable you to draw closer to him. As you build confidence, your conversations, movements and actions during that moment of pause will become more intentional.
Write it down, draw it, move it out.
God made us all unique, that means how we choose to record our journey will be different.
You could write it down in prose, poem, song, story. Draw it in intricate detail, or any way you like. Or, move and dance what ever is stirring on your heart. That could be as simple as standing still, kneeling down or raising hands. It could also go deeper and involve a complete movement dance.
Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness. Psalm 29.2
In our worship give God glory. What that looks like for you will be different to your friend. For example, although I love to move, part of my worship is also creating this blog post. It’s cutting out material patterns, it’s eating food! They are all things that can remind me of God’s greatness and how He is part of my conversation daily.
Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Romans 12.1
As I remember those things I acknowledge what God is doing, I praise Him and thank Him and chat with him. This grows my creativity in worship.
Create delight in the mundane.
This is a favourite of mine. It’s about the intentional choice to involve God in those things that you have to get done day to day.
Yep, you’ve guessed it! The cooking, cleaning, packing, folding, washing, drying and more that can encapsulate the majority of life. The stuff that has to get done and often we don’t want to spend time doing. So why not bring God into the occasion?
Listen to a sermon or song as you iron, wash dishes, fold clothes etc.
Pray for someone every time you make yourself a drink – you have a list up on the wall.
Give God praise as the kettle is boiling. Remember that God wants his passion to bubble up inside us.
As you clean focus on the sin Jesus washed away, what do you need to say sorry for?
I could make a big list of things. This is all creative, it’s all worship. Action and intention creates a reaction.
As a starting point for you, why don’t you list, things that you know you have to do day to day down one side of the paper. Then on the other side of the paper write one way that you can interact with God through it.
This is your personal way to grow your creativity in worship! Let me know what you create!!
You are creative!!
A final note to finish with, is a reminder that you are creative. What ever it is that you do there will ALWAYS be creativity in it. God is all around us, so he’s all around your creativity and what you create. Cheering you on, giving you your best.
Whether that’s –
Writing blog posts, reports and documents.
Folding clothes
Creating dance and movement
Sewing
Washing up
Playing with children
Teaching children!
Building, drilling, or cutting something
Planting, growing and sowing things.
There is creativity within you. You can make the choice to include it in your conversations with God.
During this month we are looking at the story of Esther, how her character and story can play a key role in our day to day life, particularly during this season. When you look into the character of Esther there is so much to learn, as dancer, it seemed simple to put that into a dance. In this post I want to share with you how I created Christian dance choreography for her character. The sticky points I came across and how exploring Esther has given me a greater understanding of what her story is all about.
Understanding the background.
Over the past couple of weeks, I have spent a long time in Esther exploring the story, and how it impacts on my journey of faith. Throughout this deep dive I came up with the following descriptions that were part of her story.
Creating a mind map of what stands out to you about a character or story allows you to begin exploring movement, pairing phrases and look at the emotion that the phrases create. This acts as a starting to point create your Christian dance choreography.
As you can see above, after the mind map, I then created a list of 6 key words that I felt spoke to me the most about Esther’s journey.
Creating a refrain to ground your Christian dance choreography.
Often in a piece of choreography there is a refrain or motif. This is something that creates a general thread throughout the dance. It keeps reappearing sometimes the same, sometimes different. But it offers a chance for expansion in emotions and dynamics.
For Esther I felt it important that the refrain was based on preparation and the word nervous. Two things that gradually grew over the time of her story. Often when we are preparing, we need to be deliberate, lift our head and eyes to see what is coming… even if we don’t want to! Part of Esther’s preparation was various beauty products for her body, only then could she go in front of the King. That must have been a very nerve racking first visit.
When you watch the video see if you can spot the refrain and the movements Esther carried through her journey. Creating your refrain is a great starting point for developing your Christian dance choreography.
Developing the character descriptions.
Once the refrain was created, I knew that the rest of the movements needed to be padded around it. It’s one of the things I love about creating Christian dance choreography. There is no set way of doing it. But this process that I’m explaining, is probably my favourite way.
Demonstrating the other things that Esther’s story took her through – boldness, walking with it all, stepping out, trust. Requires thinking about the emotions, anything visual that stands out, shapes, dynamics etc. Take each one at a time and see which way your body wants to move.
The one I struggled with the most was ‘walking with it all’. Esther chose, despite her background and how Haman was acting to still keep moving forward, to keep walking. As a singular dancer I found this quite hard to explore. In my mind to develop the Christian dance choreography I want to move in and around groups of people that might choose to step in my way.
Instead, I explored it by trying to create continuous flowing movements that moved me around the space, with pauses and changes of direction as needed.
Piece together and find the emotions to complete your Christian dance choreography.
I chose to explore pairs of words when I filled out the choreography I had around the phrase. Pairing boldness and walking through it all as one. Then step out and trust as another.
All of these phrases intertwine, but they tell a story of emotion, challenge, pause and growth. Primarily I moved without music. I found that this didn’t inhibit the movement I created. You have the choice to create movement with inspiration from the music or to focus in on the theme.
The music placed behind the Christian dance choreography for the character of Esther is there for background purposes.
I had so much fun (not only because it was snowing) settling in and dancing this. I hope you enjoy it!
Following on from my blog post How can I start to Prayer Dance, I wanted to take the time to be more specific about ways that you can begin moving and encountering God through prayer and movement. What’s important to remember is that all movement day to day can be a part of your prayers. It’s the intention that’s behind the movement when you do it.
I want to break it down into 3 easy movements for you to explore at your own pace – stand, sit or kneel and lie down. Each of these are postures that can be made before God, during your worship and prayer time. The reason these movements work well is because it encourages a 3-dimensional view of your prayer. Looking forward, behind, around you and up above, it changes your perspective to what you are praying for.
Let me break it down a bit –
Standing
Standing itself is an action, think about all the different ways you can stand and whether they are always static. For example, we very rarely stand completely still. Often, we are swaying slightly, shifting from foot to foot or walking/ moving forward.
The intention behind a standing prayer is the decision to look forward to what is to come. Accepting what’s happened behind and choosing to seek God with the future or ways to move forward. It’s noticing what happened before to get you to where you are now and striving forward to see what will come.
Sitting (or kneeling)
Sitting often requires an acceptance of the situation or moment that you are in. It might also involve an exhale of breath and the release of tension.
The intention is pausing in the current whirlwind to see where you are. Allowing yourself to be in the present, notice things around you. People, conversations, God. To choose to take big breaths for that moment.
Lying down
Lying down forces, you to look upwards, to lift your face to what’s coming down, receive, accept and look at all the areas you couldn’t see from the other perspectives!
The intention is surrender, turning your face to God to receive his spirit, to listen to his voice and give to him the things that you have been holding onto.
But how will these movement help me with encountering God through prayer?
Let’s put it into practice…
Before we add an intention to your movements, get familiar with the movements and the space you’re in. Work your way through the different postures making note of what you see and how you feel. Often there is one that feels more comfy.
Now decide what you want to pray for…
Sometimes, if you’re a pen and paper person it can be useful to write down the things that you might want to pray for in each of the different postures. Or you can wing it!
Then move it…
You can work your way through the different postures speaking out your prayers in each place, pausing to listen to God.
Or if you are a mover and dancer then you can step out the things you have written into some simple movements or hand gestures.
Remember
The intention that you bring a movement can make it a prayer. So even if you’re washing up and scrubbing something clean, you can choose that movement for example to be a prayer…
About removing bad words said against you or someone else.
For new things to come when old stuff has gone.
To see the goodness amongst the craziness of life.
Intention in the action creates the prayer.
– –
If you’re interested in learning more about prayer, dance and movement then there’s a free PDF download you grab here.
There is also weekly prayer dance bite session, where we look at scripture and how that reflects in our life at the moment and adding movement to do. More information about this can be found on the Prayer Dance Bites page on the website here.
Many of you will be part of churches that will be tackling current world situations differently as a church body. You might find what they are doing encouraging, or you could be frustrated. One thing that has struck me more and more, is the state of worship for Christians. In the UK during 2020, there was a period of time when singing wasn’t allowed in churches. I’ve spent time asking God what it means for worship going forward. For those that are dancers and movers you may naturally have fallen into a different ways of worship. For others you may have found that season harder. I want to share 4 ways you can look at worship differently that bring an intimacy with God.
Worship is such an important part of our life as a Christian. Often we can get caught up in the regularity of how worship is delivered in church. The perceived notion of only one or two ways that we can connect with God through worship. However, the Bible shares that it’s much more than that. More than going to church and singing. Worship should encompass our whole life as a Christian.
Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.
John 4.23
But do remember, God made each of us individual, therefore these 5 ways might not work for you, but I hope they inspire you to discover amazing ways you can interact and worship our amazing God.
1. Serving
God delights in nothing more than when we offer our time to be with him. This can be in a variety of different contexts, church, home, community and more. I want to focus on serving at home. In this scenario, serving in our home provides opportunities to reveal your heart as you go about your day to day.
We know how tiresome the mundane bits of life can get – washing, cleaning, cooking, being a parent (yes, come on, let’s be real with each other here). But our attitude and communication within these displays our true heart to God. If we approach something that needs doing with an intention for God, we are choosing to worship God as we do. During those moments of washing the dishes, hoovering the floor or splitting up a sibling argument. Choose to have God in the centre, create conversation and intent as you serve around your house and see how this can be part of your ways to worship.
2. Creation
We live in an amazing world, with wonders around every corner, if you choose to seek them. Acknowledging what we see around us should be part of our conversation with God. Our way of revealing the things that inspire us and give us all sorts of emotions. Prompting prayers, praise and thanksgiving.
Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.
Romans 12.11
When you are outside, start to notice and pay attention to the things that you see. This time of year we will walk around and see bare trees, coloured leaves on the floor, and muddy puddles. There will be wind, rain, frost, autumn sun and lots more. These are all things that God created, and as you look at the detail you can see life and wholeness. The chance to see God and worship him through the things that he has made.
3. Words
Words as ways of worship may seen abstract. But inside each of us is the ability to formulate sentences. Putting thoughts onto paper in songs, poems, stories and speeches.
Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness.
Psalm 29.2
The Psalms is a book that is full of worship for God, full of words, images from words, poems, songs and more. Why not see how you can write something as part of your ways of worship to God.
4. Art
A picture paints a 1000 words… Art is broad term, the meaning behind the word here, is creativity is the visual sense. Putting what you feel God is saying onto something that can be seen. Think of some of the qualities that you love most about Jesus. If you painted them as you thought about them, exploring their meanings, feelings and expectations. You’re drawing Jesus into your journey and worshipping him whilst you do it.
This lovely piece of art work was built upon throughout the course of a weekend. It was Emma’s response to what was discovered during the dance sessions. What she felt God was saying and what she wanted to bless others with as they moved and danced around it.
5. How intimacy fits into ways of worship.
I’ve saved the best till last. This is the most important thing when we worship God. It isn’t about everything else that we think we need in order to enter into God’s presence and worship him. It is about choosing to be intimate with him.
‘First be intimate with me and then more will come.’
By intimacy I am referring to the decision to seek God no matter what is going on. To have an on-going dialogue with him or make the effort to. It’s about being real and genuine about how you are feeling and the impact that life around you is having on you.
In the ever-changing landscape of Christian worship at the moment, sung worship isn’t accessible like it was. We must make the effort – and have the realisation – that just singing is not worship. Worship is much bigger than that. It begins with being intimate with Jesus and making the choice to seek his presence and see different ways of worship.
Think about your relationship with God currently. Then think about the previous 4 points I have made about interacting with worship. In what ways can you have a more intimate relationship with God?
As we finish, let me take you right back to what I said at the beginning. God made us all individually, we are unique! Therefore, how you choose to be intimate with God, how you choose to worship will be unique to you. You don’t have to fit into a mould, you just have to rest in the Father’s embrace and know that He is there for you.
Our heart within UC Grace has always been to encourage, grow and release those it connected with. How it has done that over the past 10 years has evolved alongside the people that have joined our journey. But a feature in many of our weekends and events is prayer dance.
Put simply, prayer dance is just dancing your prayers without the need for words, letting movement tell the story instead. Sometimes this can be influenced with music, other times music isn’t necessary to capture and share what God is speaking through the movement.
This can take you completely out of your comfort zone. But in this post I will walk you through a few ways that you can get into a rhythm of trying this. These suggestions can used for any type of prayer you need to make – personal, corporate, family, friend etc
Write it, learn it, dance it
Think about one thing that you would like to pray for currently. Write it down into a simple written prayer. It’s important to use key words that describe what the issue is, any emotions involved, and any encouraging words. Don’t make it complicated.
Next take the time to learn that prayer off by heart, to begin ingraining it so you anticipate what is coming next. When you speak, you naturally emphasise certain words, start to recognise the words that you are emphasising. These are your movement starting points.
Begin to put specific movements to the words that stand out to you in your prayer and practice them one after the other.
You now have a prayer dance! You have the choice to speak the words out loud and move the prayer at the same time or simply move it. Often our prayers are repeated, you now have a prayer dance that you can repeat. Then expand and alter as time moves on.
Let a song be your prayer dance
Words in songs can be very powerful, often you might find yourself either picking up on one or two key phrases or become enveloped in the song completely. Worship songs bring a different layer to our prayers. Many are written as heartfelt prayers, words directly from scriptures or specific words from God. This can be a natural way dance your prayer.
Autumn has set in around me, which meant that this morning was one of those lovely sunny autumn mornings. Brilliant sunshine, bright blue skies with some clouds, and a cooler temperature. A day that prompted recognising the things that we can be thankful for.
Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.
Psalm 95.1
As I sat and listened the song ‘This is the day’ by Pat Barrett, I couldn’t help but want to express the words as a prayer. For me, the song speaks so much movement, that speaking it or singing it, wasn’t changing the atmosphere as much as when I chose to move to it.
Think about some of the songs that you love, what parts of them are your prayer right now. Take some time to respond to those words, and, just like I mentioned above, learn it. Then in those moments when you need to remember that prayer you can simply move it – without the need for music.
Here is how I responded to the song This is the day, as my prayer dance.
Would you like to find out more?
If you’d love to explore more ways of exploring prayer dance, also read this on the blog. Plus, here are a few things that can help you.
God’s word is an amazing book to dive in to, each chapter and each verse will bring up different things for different people. I love the fact that what will jump out to me will be different for you. As I sat to write this, I realised how hard it is to just select 5 scriptures! The biggest passion of UC Grace is bringing God’s word alive using dance and movement, so the whole Bible inspires movement for me, inspires me to worship dance. However, just like you have favourite words or sayings, there will always be scriptures that stand out more than others. The 5 that I share here, don’t even skim the surface, but they do encourage me to dance, move and pray.
Joshua 1.9
Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.
In Joshua we learn about how God knows every place we set our feet (verse three). He knows when we need courage and when we need to know that He will be with us where ever we are. This can bring strength and depth to our worship dance movement.
Psalm 139.1-6
You have searched me, Lord and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you, Lord, know it completely. You hem me in behind and before, and you lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.
This whole Psalm is packed with the promises of how God made us, how individual we are and the care that God has for us as we do our journey. It serves as reminder when we might be struggling with self-image, acceptance and knowing our individuality.
Isaiah 40.29-31
He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary and young me stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.
How often in life are we exhausted and feel like there is no strength left to keep moving? Exploring that feeling of weariness and loss, followed by strength with our bodies, allows us to physically recognise the impact of emotions and knowledge that will support us through it all. Worship dance brings out so many emotions it is important to pause.
Jeremiah 29.12-13
Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me with all your heart.
God hears all the prayers we say, whether we whisper them or shout them. Choosing to reveal our heart to him will instil hope, create calm and cause us to pause.
Matthew 6.9-13
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us. And lead us not into temptation but delivery us from the evil one.
The Lords Prayer. Simple and effective. A prayer that encourages us to be drawn into Gods word, to pray for others and lead by example. One of my favourite and effective ways to introduce people to moving to Gods word.
If you would like to learn more about moving and dancing to scripture, why not join us on one of our prayer dance bite sessions, that will give you a taster. More information available here Prayer Dance Bites.
If you’ve not joined the UC Grace journey yet, we would love to have you join. There is lots happening even through this time of change we have experienced. Get in touch for more info, or look on the website.
Worship flags resound with people in different ways, everyone will have different preferences, whether you are a seasoned worship dancer with flags, or someone new exploring and curious to see what it’s all about.
During this blog I want to share just 3 steps that can help guide you when using worship flags. If you want to find out more detail about why flags, dance and worship go together and what the Bible says about it, check out Flags and Banners – What does the Bible say, for more info.
Make and Model
There are many different styles of worship flags and you can get very technical with it. But let’s look at it simply.
MAKE
The shape and weight of fabric will create a different ebb and flow when you dance with it. The type of stick that you use also affects this.
For example, I teach with rod dowelling sticks, and rectangular size metallic lame of varying sizes. I use this style as it’s the easiest to teach beginners with and offers a ‘safe’ start which every participant can connect with. It also enables further skills to develop and be practiced as your knowledge of dance and movement in worship grows.
However, wing (or rounded edge flags) which tend to semi circular in size and often fitted with some form of flexi rod poles, are lighter in weight, but need more co-ordination and skill to master movement in continuous flow due to their size and shape.
The type of fabrics used for flags varies, but is often one of the following – metallic lame, silk or organza. Each fabric has a different weight and therefore the effect created with movement alters.
MODEL
Model refers to the “look”. Different colours can create different meanings. When you choose to step up and dance with worship flags you will be drawn to a colour, colour combination or picture.
There are generalised meanings attached to colours (see below). But remember, God speaks to us all individually and therefore the reason you are drawn to a specific colour might be different to someone else.
Worship flags are spectacular is size, shape and colour. What would be your ‘ideal’ size and shape?
Your body is your vessel, you know its limitations and the movements it loves to do the most. When a worship flag is picked up generally one of two things happen.
The first being you stand still on the spot and wave, creating patterns in front of you and above you with your arms and the flags, perhaps with a little ‘bop’.
The second being, you ‘move’ across the space as you would normally without the flag.
Neither option is wrong, thats the beauty of how we come before God. Individually made, created for a purpose, letting God lead our hearts.
For you created my in most being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. Psalm 139.13
But my encouragement to you would be to move with your WHOLE body. Look at your worship flag as an extension of your arm. This is a hard concept to grasp initially as it can seem very awkward to do.
When I first teach newbies to flag the main thing that I want them to recognise is that their body already knows movement, the flag is an extra layer to share more about God and go deeper into worship. As your body already knows movement, let it lead you. Let it find the rhythm, hear the lyrics and see what others do.
Pause with your worship flag
Pause, to breathe, to acknowledge the reason why you are stepping out with a worship flag, to ask God to lead you with your movements. Pausing is good, whether, before or during movement.
It allows you to ask the Holy Spirit to lead you in your conversation with God, to pray a blessing on others through the movement that you share and to enter into the time of worship with your whole heart and not just a portion of it.
Drone footage from UC Grace Summer Tour 2020: St Neots
If you’ve not joined the UC Grace journey yet, we would love to have you join. There is lots happening even through this time of change we have experienced. Get in touch for more info, or look on the website.
Well what an awesome start to the first ever UC Grace summer tour! Taking time to go and visit where you are, has been lots of fun. Plus a brilliant experience for my worship dance ministry. Here’s what we are doing during our tour sessions, some feedback from what we have done so far and how you can be involved if you can’t make any of the sessions left. There are still 5 sessions to go and we’d love for you to join us in Ipswich, Farnham, Nottingham, Leicester or Guildford.
Joining with others in your worship dance ministry.
It’s been a funny season, gathering online, speaking to each other on video and dancing on screens. Many of us are craving the opportunity to gather with others in person and ‘just be’ together. That was one of the primary reasons of how the crazy idea of the tour came about. There is only so much dancing we can do behind a screen, and with it still not being clear when we could gather in an indoor space. Outdoors was the next best option.
The tour has given me a chance to visit different areas, meet lots of new faces and catch up with those that have been on the UC Grace journey a while. Additionally, it has been a source of encouragement not only to those that attend, that they are not alone. But, also for me teaching, having the privilege to catch up, chat, teach and share stories in person.
We all felt we wanted to meet up again and dance outside for the joy of it, the witness of it, the community of it, and connection to God in it.
Tour participant 2020
If you’ve been part of the UC Grace lockdown journey since the beginning you will know about the dancing army (you can read more here). The army that has grown in movement and dance exponentially since lockdown. The people that are choosing to claim their faith through dance and movement and stand firm in the conversation it creates with them, God, and with others. The tour is providing an opportunity for those people to gather in person and witness to those around them.
Exploring God’s word
Witnessing through the declaration of God’s word, out loud, outside. Two things that can be very daunting together. God’s word is an essential part of any workshop with UC Grace and any worship dance ministry After all, the Bible is our go to, our manual for life. So common sense would say that it needs to be our foundation about why we move, and what we can grow from. It also provides an excellent opportunity to take hold of the truths God has said.
Each session of the tour has an over-arching theme – Grace for the Moment – based on 2 Corinthians 12.9. We then explore 3 different sub topics throughout the course of the tour – Sufficient Grace, Letting Gods power lead and Sharing our weaknesses. Each sub topic takes us back to the word each time. Ensuring that as we move and step out in dance and movement, we are doing it with God’s word as a stepping stone.
Break down fears using Worship Dance Ministry.
Dancing outside brings a different perspective to how you deliver a session and also how dancers interact with exercises and the space around them. I acknowledge that for many, dancing outside is uncommon. More often not done at all, due to the perception that you will be judged about what you are doing.
On tour my heart is for you to explore moving outside in a safe and supportive way. I provide a series of exercises that will guide you through stepping out in an outside space. Offering you the chance to explore both on your own and in groups. If you belong to your own worship dance ministry you could try doing too.
Freedom to be outside, looking at dance from different points of view
Tour participant 2020
Just like in my normal indoor session, participants do as much or as little as they are comfortable with. But those that have attended have shared how liberating it is to move outside, in God’s creation and worship.
Learning skills to Pray
Prayer is part of our communication with God, as dancers and movers often when words fail us movement takes over and allows us a chance to continue a conversation with God. I’m very passionate about equipping dancers with the skills and experience to prayer dance. To dance and move their prayers rather than speak them.
It gave me a process for dancing out a prayer for someone.
Tour Participant 2020
Each session will give one of those opportunities. The chance to pray for participants themselves and someone else using movement.
I was amazed how God spoke to me and how others responded to what I had to say.
Tour Participant 2020
This usually flabbergasted participants, how people who don’t know their story and what’s happening in their journey, dance a prayer for them. The result of what they shared was pin point relevant. Often seeing the physical result of a prayer can be emotional, so participants only share what they are comfortable with and talk about what they felt if they want to.
Happy Endorphins through moving outside.
Who doesn’t love happy endorphins? The ones that get released when there is just pure joy deep down inside! At each location we finish with a time of open worship, a time where you can just move, soak, reflect and do whatever you are led to do. It is during these times that often members of the public stop to see what is going on and simply observe. But because we are focused on God and nothing else, the presence of the public doesn’t hinder. It releases more and allows the Holy Spirit to do its thing!
I really enjoyed watching the other dancer’s worship
Tour participant 2020
One thing I teach regularly during my workshops is the understanding that dance is interpreted in different ways by different people. God made each of us unique, the reason that we may step out to dance, might be perceived differently to those watching. I encourage everyone to recognise, that as they are blessed by movement, others who see their movement are blessed too. That’s how movement moves mountains, it’s how the dancing army covers ground, as blessing, upon blessing is shared.
There are still spaces at all of the tour locations left –
Ipswich – Wednesday 5th August – 7.30pm
Farnham – Saturday 15th August – 9.30am
Nottingham – Saturday 22nd August – 11am
Leicester – Sunday 23rd August – 11am
Guildford – Wednesday 26th August – 7.30pm
Booking is essential, so please visit our Tour page for more information and to book. Can’t make any of the locations. Why not join us online for Prayer Dance Bites.
If you’ve not joined the UC Grace journey yet, we would love to have you join our worship dance ministry. There is lots happening even through this time of change we have experienced. Get in touch for more info, or look on the website.
It particularly seems so relevant now as so many of us are dancing and moving more than ever have before. 1000 Reasons to dance for our King, is a project about acknowledging all those reasons that we choose to dance for our King, what pulls at our heart, the emotions we bring and experiences we have, the answers to prayer.
I know not all of you dance, but I expect at some point you have been impacted by dance in some way, that is also a good reason to dance for our King. In a time when when everyone needs to be encouraged, when people want to witness the effect that God has on people, when people are asking questions. Let’s be deliberate in understanding why we are moving, what initiates us and takes us on the journey. From there, we have the opportunity to be equipped to share and explain the gospel in a more comprehensive way.
So, my question to you, will you join me on this journey? I know that why you dance today, will be different to why you dance tomorrow. Or how dance impacts you today, will be different to how it impacts you tomorrow. Over the next few months and the month previous, the journey each of us will go on will test our faith, movement and resilience to stand firm with our faith, lean into God and dance for our King. Check out the video below to hear more before the project.
Comment below or drop me an email and let me know if you’re up for it.
Then as you dance and move over the next days, weeks, months, pop me a message and share your reason why you dance for the King. You can do this via email (click here) or phone.
Please do share this with anyone you think would love to join this movement. The #dancingarmy is growing at an immense rate, it is awesome to see God move and witness people choosing to #dancealittlelouder.
