Interview by Jenene Stafford
Trust is a must if we want to step into all that God’s got for us. Sometimes, it’s like we shut down or hear the opposite when He says, “I know what I’m doing. I have it all planned out—plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for” (Jeremiah 29:11, MSG).
If we take a look at our lives, often it seems as if the enemy’s done quite the superb job in desensitizing us to the truths that set us free to be all that we’re meant to be. But God is on the move, gracefully at work to help us change the way we think (Romans 12:2). Serge Moskalets, Worship Arts Director at Bayside of Citrus Heights, is currently in process of releasing a worship record later this year. His fresh endeavors in fully trusting God beautifully lay the groundwork for anyone to follow suit. Serge says, “You know, God gives us these visions—these cravings—for something great. And we’re usually the ones who squash it, [focusing too much on thinking] ‘I don’t have this, this, this and that.’ We’re literally at the mercy of God in everything we do. But He’s giving us that flame, right? And He’s going, ‘Just trust Me. Just go. Just take that step. Just walk into that door and I’ll meet you on the other side of it.’ He’s wanting us to trust Him.”
Obedience Bears Fruit
“Fear and insecurity has been really strong in my life,” says Serge, “the moment we set out to write [the record], it was like, ‘Alright, I’m just going to put some guys together and they’re going to write it. I’m just going to facilitate.’” When it came to it, he says that all he did was be obedient and say “Yes.” All he did was walk into the promise already prepared for him; he believes that “God brought the people around.” For quite some time, He’s had the dream to write a project like the one God’s been calling him to write, but the deceitful feelings of insignificance set in early. Doubts tried to limit what God was up to on his behalf. Even with a steady flow of affirmation from his community and peers and leaders, he struggled to believe that God’s chosen him to lead and make it happen. Fear is such a liar, and a very good one at that.
Thankfully, God never lies nor leaves us hanging to fend for ourselves. Hebrews 13:5 (TPT) reminds us of this promise, “I will never leave you alone, never! And I will not loosen my grip on your life!” Because He knew what Serge needed for encouragement to risk in faith, He arrested his heart in love. He gave him a word that spoke life to the dream he thought he wasn’t cut out for. Serge says, “It was interesting—[someone] walked up to me one Sunday. She had no clue of any of this happening and she took me aside and said, ‘I need to tell you something. . .you’re going to write this project.’” That encounter was God’s way of graciously nudging him in the right direction. One simple word from Him can change everything.
At this point, Serge had two choices: answer the call to trust God on new levels, or don’t. A wise man very recently told me, “We may say we believe, but do we really?” Our actions are pretty big indicators of what we regard as truth. And if we’re honest, more often than not, we don’t believe to the extent that we should as sons and daughters of the Most High—as joint heirs to His throne. The thing is, if God starts a work, we can believe that He’ll surely finish it. Most times, it just won’t look or turn out how we typically expect it to. Whatever the scenario, however, we can guarantee it’ll always be far better than what we could ask or think because that’s just the way He works.
We can also expect God to search the earth, alert, always seeking out anyone who’s seriously committed to Him (2 Chronicles 16:9, MSG paraphrase). Before Serge stepped into writing the record, he was already writing it with his life. He was already well into his journey of trust; this strategically set him up for success. He says, “I’ve come a long way. I’ve always been trying to grasp how I can be a better worship leader. Seven or eight years ago. . .I copied a model because I didn’t know how. I don’t have any regrets in that because that was the best I could do. But what God’s been teaching me over this whole time is that, first of all, the actual worship-leading in music on a weekend is, like, 10 percent of my job now. Which is crazy, because I always thought that’s going to be my main thing. Majority of what it takes to be a Jesus follower, a worship leader, is relationship with people, the void of strive, the genuineness, and literally just sitting and talking to people (most of the week). And then, number two, is living a life of worship.”
Becoming Undone
Becoming Undone is proof that we’re trusting God on deeper levels. It’s an unraveling, an unlearning of all the extra stuff that tends to keep us tied up in a “neat” package. And in that, we find ourselves vulnerably close to Him since there’s little to nothing in the way anymore. In His presence, all of the nonsense withers away if we let it. Then, we’re left with an openness that we’ve been hungering for that gives us a greater capacity to be full of the Spirit. Once we find our home in that spot, we explode with awe and wonder and we don’t hold back in our trust. When we walk it out, we then gain the authority to share it with the people around us. All of this encapsulates the journey Serge has been on for the past few years. And his surrender is what has opened the door of his opportunity.
Serge shares, “There’s this put-togetherness of everyone. And everyone is losing their identity, slowly. They’re just losing grip on who they really are—their calling and what God’s telling them to do. They’re starting to just follow trends, changing so much that they’re completely lost. That’s where the depression comes in, insecurity. All of that drives even more [pressure] to be put-together. To just strive and strive and strive. As I think about being Undone, it’s literally just clearly knowing your calling. And that’s easy. I don’t have to be put-together. I don’t have to put on a face. I don’t have to put on a show; I know my identity. I’m Undone and I can be as free—I can be as wacky as I want to be.”
Because Serge’s focus isn’t on himself or his own agenda, God knows that he’s trustworthy in a place of influence. What Serge says next is evidence of his humility and how he honors the Lord: “We want our project to emit a specific frequency, that specific people in tune to the Spirit will hear. Not just [thinking] How can this song be really catchy and really cool? But [asking ourselves] How can we emit that frequency?
That frequency comes from us being in tune with what we are doing, and not allowing anything fake—anything that’s like striving.
We talk about striving a lot because striving is an interesting thing. The moment we start striving, we’re ahead of Jesus and we’re no longer really following where He is going. We are striving on our own. [So] we’re really careful about not doing that with this project. I can’t wait to share the stories because the stories of how God’s written it is just incredible. Every word, every melody in this project, is literally written by God.”
It’s a big deal to God when we give Him all the honor that’s due. And because of that, I’m so sure He’s working every detail together for Serge’s good, and for the good of the project he’s excited to release with his team. We can all learn from the way he serves and chooses to trust God; he has integrity and character that points to Jesus. “I think I’m genuinely excited for this next season of life. Just life,” Serge says, hopeful about the future, “because I can see God moving. I can just see that He’s doing something on a grander scale, not just in what we’re doing on the record and the album, I feel like He’s doing something with people. There’s been a season of drought. That’s so common to say, but honestly, a drought because of the put-togetherness—the striving—that people are just exhausted [and they’re asking], Is somebody just real out there? That’s what’s next—just genuine people being Jesus with skin on.”
If we want to live loud and be Jesus with skin on, we need trust God massively like He does. Trust is valuable in the Kingdom because the more we do it, the more He can trust us where He places us. Like most things, it is a continual journey, not a final destination. We can see this with Serge’s project—it’s been one step of trust at a time. As he moves forward, God will remain trustworthy. Whatever He began in Serge, He’ll finish—and it will multiply through the power of his obedience to share His music with the world.
Follow Serge Moskalets on Facebook to be in the loop on the release of his team’s latest project.
