Our Philosophy of Worship

Corporate worship is a time of interaction between God and His people in which God reveals Himself through His Word and His people respond with praise and obedience. This definition implies numerous principles that guide our worship decisions.  For example:

 

·                God is the focus of our corporate worship. [1]

·                Christians are the primary audience in our corporate worship.[2]

·                Biblical exposition is the centerpiece of our corporate worship.

·                Worship follows the two-fold movement of proclamation and response

·                The effects of our corporate worship extend to all of life.

 

We believe that the Bible regulates the elements of corporate worship and provides the content of the elements.[3]  In other words, we may only include what God commands in our services and each element must focus on the Word of God. Consequently, each Lord’s Day we gather to . . .

 

·                Sing the Word—We choose songs with scriptural, theological content to support the theme of the sermon text.

·                Read the Word—We select Scripture readings that complement the theme of the sermon.

·                Pray the Word—We offer prayers with content and language shaped by Scripture and connected to the theme of the sermon.

·                Preach the Word—We listen to expository sermons, that is, sermons that “expose” the meaning of the Scriptures. These are the centerpiece of the worship service.

·                See the Word—We visually depict the gospel, the Bible’s central message, through the ordinances of Baptism and the Lord's Supper. 

 

Here is a typical order of service with an explanation of the various components:

 

Preparation for Worship

The service begins with a musical prelude. We suggest that people find their seats at least five minutes before the service officially starts at 10:00a.m. We ask them to use this time to prepare their heart to meet with God.  They should pray, asking the Lord to help them focus on Him, to understand His Word, and to respond to His truth in a way that brings Him glory.

Salutation

The service officially begins at 10:00am with the Salutation (or Welcome). This is a biblical greeting offered to all who have gathered for worship.

Invocation

The invocation is a prayer that expresses our desire to worship God and asks for his assistance as we do so.

Call to Worship

A brief Scripture passage is read after the opening prayer which summons God’s people to praise and thankfulness.

Opening Hymns

We sing a variety of songs throughout the service. Hymns and anthems in the first portion of the service often proclaim God's worthiness to receive our worship.

Pastoral Prayer

The pastoral prayer has a long history in the Christian Church. In this prayer the minister represents the people before God, confessing collective sins, expressing gratitude for pardon, and often presenting specific prayer requests. It also calls upon God to minister to us as we read and study his word together.

Selection from the Psalter

The New Testament instructs us to worship God with “psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs.” Thus, we are careful to include at least one selection from the Psalter each week.

Worship Through Meditation on God’s Word

While every element of our worship is focused on the Word of God, this portion of our worship service gives special attention to the text of Scripture. It includes (1) the reading of a Scripture text that is meant to complement the sermon text. As often as possible, a text from the opposite testament of the sermon text is selected; (2) a hymn or devotional song which responds to the reading and prepares us to receive the sermon; and (3) biblical preaching.

Biblical preaching is the centerpiece of corporate worship.  We believe that expository preaching[4] best serves God’s purposes and his people. Typically, we work section by section through large portions of Scripture, usually complete books of the Bible at a time.

Worship Through our Response to God’s Word

A final hymn that encourages the application of Scripture truth to our lives is offered after the sermon. Following this, the offertory is played. The weekly offering is an act of worship that demonstrates the believer’s utter dependence on the sovereignty and goodness of God.

Closing of Worship

Our worship service closes the way it opened—with a brief text of Scripture. Since this one comes at the end of the service, a text is chosen which calls the congregation to remember and obey what they have heard and calls for the blessing of the Lord upon His people as they dismiss.


The attentive worshipper will notice that this order of service closely follows the gospel story: We proclaim God’s worth, then confess our sins and receive his pardon. Next we praise him, meditate on his Word, apply it to our lives, and offer ourselves back to him as living sacrifices. Our church was formed by the gospel, it exists to spread the gospel, and it gathers every week in celebration of the gospel. 



[1] By “corporate” we mean worship that takes place in community.  It is public and collective rather than private and individual.

[2] Current ministry fads have retooled the historic understanding of corporate worship, assuming it serves evangelistic goals.  This establishes the non-Christian as the target audience.  We believe in evangelism and acknowledge that genuine worship always has evangelistic value.  However, the unbeliever can never truly worship; by definition, only believers can worship.  So we conduct our worship services with sensitivity to the presence of unbelievers (1 Cor. 14:23), but always plan the content and structure with Christians in mind.

[3] The historic formulation of this idea is called the regulative principle of worship.”

[4] Expository preaching “exposes” the meaning of the text of Scripture.  The text shapes the form of the message so that the preacher is less inclined to substitute his own ideas for what God has said.