The Meaning and Beauty of Worship with Charis Napier
Charis Napier, Worship Lead Pastor at Hope Church, joins Tommy to talk about what worship is and why it's so much more than the singing before the sermon. They cover how to worship when you can't carry a tune or don't feel like it, what it means to sing words you're still growing into, and the many ways people worship beyond Sunday morning. Charis also shares how worship carried her through loss, and how it can be a place of healing in the hardest seasons of life.
What You'll Hear in This Episode
- Charis's two-part view of worship: being honest before God, then acknowledging who he is.
- The John Piper definition she says she doesn't need to improve on.
- Why genuine worship is the most beautiful thing she sees from the stage, no matter how it sounds.
- The 5am morning she told God she wasn't feeling it, and the psalm that turned it around.
- How singing words you don't feel yet can be faith, not dishonesty.
- Ways to worship beyond singing, from her husband's drumming to her mother-in-law's work with the dying.
- How the Psalms give language to grief and lead back to praise.
- A simple way to start if worship has only ever meant Sunday morning.
(0:00) Why worship, why now
(3:29) Meet Charis Napier
(4:36) Her dad's diagnosis and her mom
(6:19) Leading the youth band at 14
(10:16) How Charis defines worship
(13:18) John Piper on worship
(15:58) If you can't carry a tune
(19:12) Why we gather on Sunday
(21:37) When you don't feel like going
(24:29) The 5am "I'm not feeling it"
(26:47) Singing words you don't feel yet
(28:08) Leading "I Trust in God" after loss
(31:55) The many ways we worship
(38:21) Her mother-in-law's quiet worship
(41:06) Worship in lament
(43:22) Praise in the waiting room
(46:49) The honesty of the Psalms
(48:11) In lament, praise erupts
(51:07) Where to start
(54:01) Thank you, Charis
Learn more about Charis at Hope Church.
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