Corporate Worship
Every Sunday
Details
The ordinary means of grace have been given by God to the church. These means are the ministry of the word, the administration of the sacraments, prayer, and song–in the context of the gathered church. These are the means God ordinarily uses to grow and sustain his people. There is nothing special about the means themselves; rather, God, by his Spirit, uses them as he has promised in his word.
We believe that the most significant things in the Christian life happen when we are assembled together and that the Lord’s Day gathering is the most important thing we do each week.
Therefore, We have a structured liturgy that we use every week and have designed it, so the entire service functions as a proclamation of the Gospel.
Our basic format is as follows:
- Announcements and Opening Statements
- These opening statements may include any announcements or other remarks as well as a brief welcoming. The goal is to put forward the temporal things, that the remainder of the service’s sole focus is on the worship of God, the work of Christ, and the working of the Spirit.
- Call to Worship
- The opening element of our service is the call to worship. Generally, a portion of scripture is read, and the practical and gospel application of the text is given. This helps us turn our minds towards the God.
- Reading of the Law
- The law illuminates the character of God and what He requires. It also demonstrates our inability to live out God’s standards and thus serves as a transition to the next section.
- Confession of Sin
- Considering the character of God and the requirements of the law, we recognize our sin, our unworthiness, and our desperate need for salvation. We also realize that none of us comes with a greater need of mercy and grace than another. In accordance with 1 John, as a body, we together in prayer, confess our sin and unworthiness to God and in our need cast ourselves on his mercy.
- Assurance of Pardon
- Following our prayer of confession, we read from Scripture a passage that assures us of God’s pardon of our sins in Christ by grace.
- Corporate Singing (w/o Music)
- After being given the assurance of our pardon and standing before God, we now can see our right to, and our motive for worship. We begin with a song of praise to God without musical accompaniment. This is done to help us turn our minds to the worship of Christ, concentrating on the written words, and not the “muscle memory” that music brings.
- Reading of a Psalm
- We read the Psalms because practically, the Psalms recognize all those emotions that we experience and teach us to offer them all to God. They remind us of how messy life can be and call us to pour our emotions worship to God. We also do this because the scriptures tell us to. (Eph. 5:19, Col. 3:16)
- Corporate Singing (w/ music)
- We join in corporate song about God and his grace. The amount and types of songs may vary here, but typically will be two songs from traditional and modern genres. Sometimes including “special led” music.
- We strive to ensure that all worship includes corporate participation even if a person or group is leading in this song(s). For this reason, you will often find the lyrics to all our music available.
- We join in corporate song about God and his grace. The amount and types of songs may vary here, but typically will be two songs from traditional and modern genres. Sometimes including “special led” music.
- Reading of the Text
- The reading and hearing of Scripture are some of the most important acts of worship. The introduction to the reading should indicate which text is being read and should invite the congregation’s careful attention to the text itself. For this reason, we may be phrases such as “Let’s call our attention to” or “This is the words of the Lord”.
- Prayer for Illumination
- The prayer for illumination explicitly acknowledges the Spirit’s work in this part of worship by requesting God to act through the reading and preaching of Scripture. This Prayer may also acknowledge that we all come to Scripture with varying degrees of faith, trust, and knowledge. The prayer is offered for both the preacher and the listener, for both the speaking and the hearing of the Word. This practice emphasizes that the reading itself, not just the preaching, is made effective only by the work of God’s Spirit.
- Sermon
- We hear the proclamation of the Word of God. We generally will be working through a book of the Bible, though we may at times have a singular message or a short topical series. The style of preaching is typically an expository proclamation of the text.
- The Lord’s Supper
- We partake of the Lord’s Supper no less than once a month (The first Sunday of the month, plus certain occasions) highlighting again and resting in what Christ has done for us in the past, is doing for us in the present, and will do for us in future.
- Doxology
- We respond to the gospel that we have heard and the grace that we have received in worship with the classic Doxology, as so many Christians have done in the past. In this we are connected with the global and historical church who have used this song for ages.
- Benediction
- We close our service with a benediction, sending the people out in grace and peace of God, that they may go and be who they are in Christ.