When we gather to worship God, the central question isn't what we desire or enjoy, but what He commands. Worship is about Him! And He reveals how to worship Him in the Bible. In Scripture, He commands His church to regularly engage in these acts of worship when they gather: praying the Word, singing the Word, reading the Word, preaching the Word, and ‘seeing’ the Word through the ordinances of baptism and the Lord’s Supper. We seek to do these things together in a way that helps us enjoy the gospel and provides a pattern we can follow in our private worship. We begin by meditating on the greatness of God, remembering our need for a Savior, confessing our sins, clinging in faith to the promises of the gospel, singing for joy in response to what God has done, studying His Word together, and responding with sacrificial giving and worship.
God wants us to worship Him from the heart. Because we believe God is so important and worshiping Him is such a privilege, we want to take some time before the service begins to prepare ourselves to approach Him with faith, love, fear, joy, hope and gratitude.
We’re a family of believers partnering together to glorify God, serve one another and advance the cause of Christ. This short time of announcements before the service officially begins is intended to help visitors know they are loved and welcomed and members get caught up with some of what God’s doing here at the church.
We begin the service by reading a passage that either reminds us that God wants us to worship Him or highlights the great opportunity they have in worship, or presents an attribute or work of God that serves as a reason to worship. This turns our attention from daily concerns to who God is, what He has done, and how He wants us to respond. An opening prayer follows, praising God and asking Him to work in our hearts through our gathering. Then we sing a song of praise to God.
We seek to remember our need for a Savior by looing at a passage that reminds us of what God demands and deserves from us. Then we either take the opportunity to pray privately asking God for forgiveness or be led in a prayer where we are confessing sin and seeking forgiveness in Jesus' name..
After seeing our sin, we need a reminder from God that we are forgiven. We look at passage that provides that kind of assurance.We often speak this passage out loud to one another and to God as encouragement as a means of personally embracing the promise for ourselves.
The Psalms tell us to "shout for joy in the Lord" and that "praise befits the righteous." (Psalm 33:1) Paul commands us to "let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God." (Ephesians 5:19) We attempt to choose songs that are biblically true, God glorifying, spiritually edifying and easy to sing. We encourage you to happily sing as loudly as you can.
The Bible tells us that we should be devoted to the public reading of Scripture. (1 Timothy 4:13) We usually read a passage that helps us prepare for and benefit from the message that will be preached that day.
We are needy and express our dependence on God through prayer. The pastoral prayer is an intercessory prayer generally prayed by one of our elders. In this prayer, the person praying is talking to God on behalf of the congregation for various concerns in our lives, the church and the world.
God does not need us. But He graciously gives us the opportunity to partner with Him in His cause by giving our money to care for His church and further gospel promoting ministries around our community and the world.
God’s Word teaches us what we need to know about who He is, how to be saved, and how to live in a way that honors Him and is good for us. The sermon is when God most clearly speaks to us now through what He has previously said in His Word. Our preachers exist to serve Him and communicate His message to the congregation by accurately explaining the meaning of the text of Scripture and passionately communicating its significance for contemporary listeners. To accomplish this, they want both the content and intent of their sermon to be controlled by the content and intent of whatever particular passage of Scripture they are declaring.
The goal of our preachers is bigger than simply providing more information about the Bible – they are aiming to help God’s people respond in ways that are appropriate to the passage being preached. This means listeners have a responsibility as well. We want to listen to preaching having prepared ourselves to benefit, humbly asking what God is intending to teach us, desiring to see the glory of Christ in Scriptures, and willing to submit to what it says.
On the first Sunday of the month we enjoy the Lord’s Supper together. The Lord’s Supper is a fellowship meal with God and one another in the local church. It symbolizes the work of Jesus Christ for His people and is a means of grace to nourish, strengthen, and encourage the faith of believers. It is an opportunity to express our need for the gospel, commitment to Christ and to one another.