Would you like to play classic Christmas carols on the piano? As a worship piano teacher, I have created easy-to-follow chord charts for 13 traditional Christmas songs and step-by-step video tutorials showing the chords, notes, and timing.

The meaning of life is to know Jesus. And that is why we worship – to see Him, and to know Him. We don’t worship for an encounter. We worship because He is the encounter. And knowing Him is the greatest privilege we will ever have.

Would you like to learn how to play piano for worship? Follow this step-by-step tutorial to learn the basics of worship piano and start playing your favorite songs today! For more in-depth instruction, also check out my Worship Essentials courses.

“Be still and know that I am God.” Go be alone with Jesus, and simply sit still. You will never find Him in the busyness of life until you have first found Him in the stillness, in the quiet places. Elijah did not find Him in the wind or the fire but in the still, small voice. You will never find Him in the doing until you have first found Him in the being.

Most of classical music wasn’t written for worship, and a large part of it wasn’t even written by Christians. So as worship musicians, is it okay to play Beethoven… or Tchaikovsky… or the Beatles… or Happy Birthday? Where is the line, where does the sacred meet the secular, and where does the secular become sacred because the light of Jesus has shone upon it, casting out all darkness?

Have you ever played the piano and been so nervous that your hands were shaking and you couldn’t find the keys? Have you ever led a worship set where you started in the wrong key, came in at the wrong time, and forgot the words – all in the same song? Situations like this have happened to all of us.

When the wise men brought their gifts to Jesus, they gave us a clear pattern for how Jesus desires to be worshipped. In addition, the very gifts they brought spoke of Jesus as the Son of God, the One worthy of our worship, and the suffering Savior. How beautiful He is!

Many of the accounts in Scripture are patterns for worship. That is, often when the writers of Scripture recount an event, the Holy Spirit is revealing a deeper truth about how the Lord desires to be worshipped. This is the first in a series on patterns for worship in the Bible.

As worship musicians, we have a lot to think about during a set: playing the right notes, staying with the band, reading chord charts, following cues from other musicians, adjusting the sound of our own instrument, and paying attention to what the Lord is doing in the room.

But there is something more important than executing a set perfectly or even following the leading of the Holy Spirit perfectly. It is our hearts.

Behold this Jesus. Behold Him on the cross, suffering, bleeding, dying.