What to Expect

What to Expect When You Visit

When we worship, we gather as one people in the presence of God to hear his voice; offer our praise, prayers, and gifts; and to eat at his table. Worship brings glory to the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. It trains and strengthens us for the hard work of living a life of hope in the world. 

At worship you will hear a sermon on a passage of the Bible, usually 30-40 minutes long, explaining the text and calling us to praise God, repent of sin, and walk in his ways. You will hear a prayer of praise for God, and be invited to silently confess sin along with the congregation. You will sing the psalms of the Bible along with the whole church. Many visitors will be able to join us in eating at the Lord’s Table (we take the privilege of communion very seriously, see below). 

Worship is at the heart of all we do as Christians and as a church. Everything we do—hospitality, mercy, our longstanding work with area refugees—flows from it, because when we worship we are reminded who Christ is and who we are because of what he has done for us. We “set the Lord always before” us (Psalm 16:8). We believe that the Holy Spirit works through the reading and preaching of Scripture and through the sacraments: that God himself comes to us and blesses us. And no one who meets God goes away unchanged.

The Lord’s Supper

We observe the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper each week during our morning worship. Just as the Israelite’s observed the Passover meal when enslaved under Pharaoh, and as Christ shared a table with his disciples; we join as one body of believers to remember how God provided a way for our deliverance through the sacrifice of his son Jesus Christ. The bread and the wine are symbols of his flesh and blood which were shed as atonement for our sins, once and for all.

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One aspect of our worship service that may surprise some is that, while everyone who comes in the door is welcome to hear the word, sing, and pray with the congregation, participation in the Lord’s Supper is something we carefully guard. The Supper is a great and wonderful privilege, which Jesus gave to his people. Jesus commanded his disciples—and only his disciples—to celebrate it. The apostle Paul warned that people who ate and drank carelessly risked the wrath of God (1 Corinthians 11:17-32). We don’t want that for you.

We take this privilege very seriously. For that reason, if you’re visiting, we ask that you arrive a little early (at least ten minutes) and speak with one of our elders about eating and drinking. We will ask you if you have been baptized and if you are a member of a Christian church. If you are both, we will normally invite you to take part with us.

If those things don’t describe you, or you arrive too late to meet with an elder, don’t be offended! We’re not judging your heart: just carrying out the work of shepherding God’s sheep (1 Peter 5:1-5). Stay and worship with us, and let the bread and wine pass you by when they are distributed.

Worship Schedule

10:00 am start

  • Call to Worship

  • Sing a Psalm

  • Prayer of Adoration & Confession

  • Sing a Psalm

  • Prayer of Supplication

  • Scripture Reading

  • Sermon

  • Sing a Psalm

  • Giving of our Tithes & Offerings

  • Prayer of Thanksgiving

  • The Lord’s Supper

  • Sing a Psalm

  • Benediction: Pronouncement of God’s Blessing

Psalm Singing

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We sing from The Book of Psalms for Worship. You will notice that we sing a cappella (without instruments), and some will even break out into four part harmony. While we attempt to sing beautiful praise back to our God, you do not need to be good at singing! God is more concerned with our heart. As we worship him, He hears us from all backgrounds, as one body of believers, offering up praise to our God who loves us.

Below is an example of Psalm 1A.