When you arrive you will be met by kind and joyful people. After a few minutes of fellowship (which looks a lot like hanging out with friends) you will hear our worship leader playing music. That’s the sign that worship is beginning.
Then our worship leader will call us to worship God. We usually begin worship with a scripture reading, a prayer, and an invitation to praise God. Our worship music is a hybrid of contemporary songs and traditional hymns accompanied by acoustic instruments. Everyone is encouraged to sing out to the Lord, but if you don’t know the songs you can listen and enjoy the experience.
We usually make a confession of faith during worship. The whole church reads a scripture or a creed aloud together. In this way we declare what we believe. Occasionally, we take a moment to confess our sins to the Lord in prayer.
Our children attend Bible classes during the sermon. In this way our kids receive age-appropriate teaching and their parents can hear the word of God with fewer distractions.
The sermon is based on a text from the Bible and usually runs about 42 minutes. The goal of the sermon is not just to inform our minds, but also to transform our hearts. We believe God’s word prepares us for life in the world. (Sometimes we have a response time for anyone who needs prayers or wants to respond to God in some way.)
After the sermon all the kids rejoin us in the sanctuary. Then we all gather around tables to eat and drink the Lord’s supper.* Communion is a joyful time of fellowship, prayer, and encouragement.
When everyone returns to their places we bring our offerings to the Lord. We practice grace-giving, not tithing, according to the Gospel of Jesus. The offerings are used to support our ministers, our ministries, and our mission.**
Finally, before we are sent out into the world on mission with Jesus our minister gives us a blessing from God.
Above all else, we want to bring glory to God in worship and we want everyone present to experience the power of the gospel.
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* The Lord’s supper is a covenant meal between Christ and his church. Christ invites all his followers to come, eat and drink and be joyful. If you are not a follower of Christ, or if you are not spiritually prepared to take communion, we encourage you to spend this time in prayer.
** Under the Law of Moses God required his people to practice tithing; but now under the Gospel of Jesus God requires his people practice grace-giving. If people gave 10% under the Law, how much more should people give under the Gospel.
