What To Expect
If you come and worship with us on a Sunday morning or at another time, you might find some things that you are expecting, but there might be some things that are a surprise to you. First and foremost, the thing that we hope you find when you come and worship with us is God. We believe that God abides with his people and Jesus promised his followers that "...where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am in their midst." (Matthew 18:20 NASB). The things we say and do and the way that we worship are all intended to bring us into the presence of our God. We bring our worship to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit knowing that we are heard. Sometimes the worship might be jubilant and exciting. Sometimes, it may be less so, but all the time we believe that God is in our midst and that we are privileged to come before him with the fellow saints in Christ. If you come to one of our assemblies, I hope you are encouraged and uplifted by our worship time. But even more, I pray earnestly that you are impacted by the presence and truth of God.
While we don't necessarily do the same thing every Sunday, here is what a typical worship service looks like.
At 9:30 AM we have Bible classes available for all ages - from babies who can barely sit up to adults who can barely sit up and everyone in between. We try to use this time to study God's word, ask questions and engage in conversations where we can help each other grow more into the likeness of Christ.
At 10:30 AM, or a few minutes after, we begin by singing together. It is acappella (without musical instruments) and everyone is encouraged to take part. Some people may be self conscious about their singing voices, but please don't be. Our voices are a gift from God and when they are blended with the voices of fellow believers around us, it forms a wonderful chorus of praise which brings glory and honor to our God. The only bad singing voice is the singing voice that goes unused.
We spend time in prayer together. Honestly, we don't do it near enough. We will sometimes have special services where we spend extra time in prayer together, but we try not to let a gathering go by where we do not pray, acknowledging God's goodness and asking him for his blessing and guidance on our congregation and on our lives.
There is a lesson presented based on the truths of scripture. Someone, usually the preacher, will deliver a message that we hope you will find both uplifting and challenging which will help you to have a closer walk with God. The point of this lesson is not to play upon your emotions or to guilt you into a response, but rather it is simply intended to be an open door through which God's Spirit will work on your heart so that you can become more like our Lord, Jesus Christ.
During the sermon, there is frequently a children's worship time where all the kids in our congregation come up front to sing a song together and hear a brief thought about God. After this, parents have the option of letting their small children go to an age-appropriate lesson time. This is available both so that the children can have a meaningful lesson and grow closer to God and so that the parents can also have a time where they can engage with the lesson with fewer distractions. Some Sundays, we remain together so that we can all share in the same worship experience, young and old alike, but many Sundays we will offer the option of the Children's worship for the kids and parents who would like to use it.
We take the Lord's Supper together. This is the very heart of our worship time together. You can read a little more about it here, along with other topics, but we cherish this special time we have to commune with one another and with our Lord, Jesus Christ, sharing table together and receiving the emblems of Christ's body and blood, given for our salvation.
We often offer an invitation. We want to give everyone the opportunity to respond to the good news of Jesus Christ. During this time we encourage people to respond who might need some extra support and prayers from the congregation and we especially hope that someone might respond and surrender their lives to Christ, finding the salvation that is available only in him, being baptized for the forgiveness of their sins.
On Wednesday evenings at 6:30 PM we have another Bible Class time. It is a great way to reengage and recharge so that we can finish out the week strong, continuing to walk in faith knowing that we are a part of God's kingdom.
If you would like more information on our worship times and schedule of activities, just call the church offices. We hope you will join us soon.