Simple, Spirit-Led Worship

By Rylie Jones

Met By Love, or MBL, is a campus initiative that launches student-led movements on college campuses that are committed to worship, prayer, and evangelism. ​The goal or telos of the ministry Samford Met By Love is to create a space where people encounter the presence of God. The MBL team focuses their attention on building a heart posture that attracts the glory and power of God’s presence. Samford MBL exists to get people to look at God. They desire to create spaces on college campuses where true revelation of Jesus can be formed. Patterns of worship have a particular ethos, a “character” or “style,” that fits with its telos. Simple, spirit-led worship is the ethos of Samford MBL.

Simple

Samford MBL is marked by its simple worship. Its focus on simplicity comes from the idea that one convicted person with an acoustic guitar can take the room so much deeper in worship than an entire band of unconvicted musicians with the best sound gear and the biggest of stages. There are no stages or fancy lights, just a raw hunger for the presence of God. MBL believes God’s presence is enough; leaders do not have to add to it or overcomplicate it. The treasure, the prize of MBL’s ministry is simply Jesus’s presence. The agenda of every gathering is the same: host and respond to the presence of God. Brennan Joseph, the founder of Met By Love, said, “If we could get our generation to just see Him, see Him for who He truly is, we will not have to do much. His beauty will arrest the heart of this generation.”

Samford MBL’s one-to-two hours of praise and worship takes place in a college classroom, with three team members leading – one on guitar and singing, one singing, and the other on the cajon, or box drum. There is no stage or elevated surface for the worship leaders. They are at the front of the classroom, but are facing each other, not the people in the room. Many times, one of the singers sit or kneel, completely out of view for the people towards the back of the classroom. The team has the posture of John the Baptist preparing the way for the Lord. In John 1:29, he proclaims, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.” Furthermore, in chapter 3 of the same book, John the Baptist says the bride (the church) belongs to the bridegroom (Jesus). Like John the Baptist demonstrates in the Gospels, it is clear the MBL team’s goal is not to draw attention to themselves, but rather to point people’s attention to the one who is worthy.

Spirit-Led

Through the pursuit simplicity, Samford MBL creates space to pursue God’s presence and puts the demand on the Holy Spirit to do the rest. There is no liturgy or strict framework, just the desire to host a space where people can encounter Jesus. Most would classify Samford MBL’s worship as leaning “charismatic” due to its spirit-led nature. Spirit-led does not mean lack of planning–that is just being unprepared. Spirit-led worship means you are led by and yielded to the Holy Spirit. This spirit-led nature does not mean there is no structure to the night; it means the leaders let the Lord build their structure. They are huge on prophetic and spontaneous worship, but they recognize that if everything is spontaneous, nothing is truly spontaneous. The MBL leaders ask the wisdom of God and seek the direction of the Holy Spirit in worship. They believe the Holy Spirit will illuminate the revelation of Jesus to the people in the room, as taught in John 16. Samford MBL operates in a way that allows God to reveal himself in new ways each week.

Our God is a personal God, and he knows how to best speak to his people. Every week, the room is filled with different people, so it makes sense that worship also varies in structure and content from week to week. Because of the spontaneous, spirit-led character of worship, the end time varies from week to week, but the worship normally lasts around an hour and a half. The MBL team comes in prepared with a set list of songs, but they are open-handed with it, allowing for spontaneous changes as the Spirit leads. As well as deviating from the set list, throughout the songs the worship leaders do not always stick to the song layout. They often repeat lines or a chorus. Sometimes lyrics are rewritten or tweaked in the moment. For example the original bridge lyrics of “We Fall Down” by Chris Tomlin is “We cry holy, holy, holy is the Lamb,” but after singing that through a few times one past week, the worship leader led the room in singing “We cry worthy, worthy, worthy is the Lamb.” Spirit-led spontaneity is not just present in the song selection and presentation, but also in the reading of Scripture and sharing of words. At some point during the night, in between the songs, it is common for a team member to share a Scripture on their heart, an altar call, or a specific prayer or encouragement for the room. The team lets the Spirit build their sets and plans for the night, and then they follow as he leads.

Conclusion

It is significant to note how Samford MBL has a culture of preparation while yielding to the spontaneous interruption of the Holy Spirit. They surrender to the leadership of the Lord every night and expect radical transformation. The team prayerfully creates space for God to speak into songs, Scriptures, or any words of knowledge. The nights are oriented around what direction or theme the team feels from the Lord. The number one priority of Samford MBL’s worship is to get people to engage with the presence of God. They accomplish this through a very simple classroom setup because they believe God’s presence is enough. The nights are spirit-led, but still intentionally prayed over and prepared with the help of the Holy Spirit’s leadership. With these plans though, MBL still yields to what the Lord has for the room.

Samford Met By Love
Address:  Brooks Hall, Room 129, Samford University, 800 Lakeshore Dr, Homewood, AL 35209
Services Observed:  Monday night 8pm, March 17, March 24, March 31, April 7, April 14, April 21, 2025 (in person).
Website: https://www.everyheartmovement.com/blank-3
Affiliation: Met By Love, EveryHeart Movement, YWAM
Community established: 2023

References

“ABOUT | EveryHeart.” EveryHeart, 2018, http://www.everyheartmovement.com/about. Accessed 17 Apr. 2025.

Joseph, Brennan. “Simple, Pure, Spirit-Led Worship.” YouTube, YouTube, 16 Dec. 2024, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4UborXRiJ8.

Pulliam, Syndey. “Met By Love Demonstrates Christ to the Samford Community.” Samford Crimson. October 2, 2024. https://www.thesamfordcrimson.com/2024/10/02/met-by-love-demonstrates-christ-to-the-samford-community/

Phillips, L. Edward. The Purpose, Pattern, & Character of Worship. Abingdon Press, 2020.

Rylie Jones ‘26 was a student in Christian Worship: History & Theology in Samford University’s Department of Biblical and Religious Studies in spring 2025.

Published June 15, 2025.