There
will be a special Worship
Please join us on Sunday mornings or during any of our special services.
| Adult Bible Study (Fellowship Hall) | 9:15 AM |
| Sunday School |
9:15 AM (September - May) |
| Worship | 10:30 AM |
There
will be a special
Thanksgiving Eve Service
on Wednesday, November 25, 2009
at 7:00 PM.
Give thanks to the Lord for he is good!
Advent
begins Sunday, November 29, 2009.
During our Midweek Advent Services which are at 7:00 PM on December 2, 9, and 16, there will be a Soup and Sandwich Supper first (starting at 6:00 PM).
Holy Communion is celebrated on the first and third Sunday of the month.
Sunday at 10:30 AM
Each Christian denomination has its own style of worship. Ours is more formal than some. It is known as liturgical worship. This means that we use a formal mode of worship which has come down to us from the ancient church. As you look at different parts of the worship service, you will discover that it is made up of portions of psalms and other scripture verses. Obviously there have been modifications in the form of worship over the centuries, but the basics remain the same.
Some of the elements of our worship structure include the Church Year, the Propers (specific prayers and readings used on the appropriate Sunday of the Church Year), paraments (colored altar hangings), and the liturgy itself.
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Long ago, the Christian Church developed a church year with a specific emphasis for each Sunday and season. The church year begins four weeks before Christmas with the Advent Season, then moves on through Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Easter, Pentecost, and the Trinity Season.
The first half of the church year emphasizes what God has done for mankind through Jesus Christ. The second half (Trinity Season) emphasizes Christ's teachings for Christian living. Every Sunday there is a specific Old Testament and New Testament reading which emphasizes the theme of the particular Sunday. This was done to make sure that a congregation receives the full counsel of God during the course of the year. It also protects against over-emphasis or under-emphasis by pastors. In other words, during the course of the church year, every major teaching of the Christian faith is included in the various Scripture readings. Most of our pastors develop a sermon based on one of the readings of the day. Every attempt is made to serve up a "balanced diet" for the people of God.
The paraments (altar and pulpit hangings) change with the season of the year to serve as a visual reminder of the emphasis of the current season. Purple is the color of preparation and repentance. White is the color of high festival celebration. Red is to remind us of the blood of martyrs and is used for lesser festivals. Green is the color of living things and reminds us that God's Word is to be applied to the living.
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The Word and Sacrament are both emphasized in our worship services. Even the architecture of our churches is calculated to draw attention to the altar as the focal point of our attention. It is not as though we can confine God to a particular location, but he has promised to attend us in a special way when we gather in his name. "Where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am in the midst of them." Our people are informed in the basic teachings of the Christian faith, so that it is with one mind and one voice that we gather to praise the God who has redeemed us from sin and death through the victorious life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
It follows, therefore, that our liturgy becomes a familiar vehicle for our expression of worship. In a real way it unites us in a common bond reminding each of us what we share in Jesus. Even the positioning of the worship leader reminds us of the distinct sacramental and sacrificial aspects of worship. The sacramental portions of the service are those in which God offers us his blessings through absolution, scripture readings, invitation to pray, proclamation, and benediction. In these portions, the leader faces the congregation. The sacrificial portions of the service are those in which the congregation unites in praise through song and verse, confession, prayers, and thanksgiving. Here the leader faces the altar and joins with the congregation in directing those responses to the Lord.
We are not bound to the liturgy. This is to say that you will find many instances of departure from the standard forms of worship in our hymnal. But in the main, we will be found to utilize one of the many established liturgical forms for the day. You will find this to be a consistent practice in our congregations throughout the world.
Yes, it can be confusing at first. Each of us remembers a day when we had to learn how to follow along through the form of the service. Please be patient and give yourself a few Sundays to become familiar with it. You may even wish to introduce yourself to a member and ask for assistance.