HOW WE WORSHIP?
Worship for us is not just about our Sunday meeting but it must be the expression of our hearts as we live our lives on this earth. Worship is more about an attitude than an activity, which is why we believe that worship begins first and foremost in private, in the intimacy of your heart, of how you relate to God, specifically if you “bow before Him”, before His sovereign leadership. Worship is then seen in the family, especially in how we lead our families in singing, reading the Word, and prayer each day.
Our worship should not be elaborate or complicated but sincere and simple, more accurate in spirit and in truth. For this reason also in the Church the emphasis is not on what is seen or heard but on what is really going on in our hearts as we gather before our King before whom all is naked and unveiled. Our liturgy (order or mode of worship) is simple, reverent and follows the historic Reformed mode of worship. The name of the liturgy we practice is Covenant Renewal Worship.
WHAT TO EXPECT IN WORSHIP?
Basically, worship as we understand it has the following 6 parts: Call to Worship, Confession of Sins, Assurance of the Gospel, Confession of faith, Preaching and Benediction.
We believe that worship is a dialogue initiated by God through the CALL TO WORSHIP. It was not our idea to worship Him but He calls us to worship as we see in the Scriptures, especially in the Psalms. We respond by CONFFESING our SINS since we cannot enter His presence as sinners without Him forgiving us of all sin and cleansing us from all unrighteousness. Then God offers us the HOPE of the GOSPEL and assures us of His forgiveness and then invites us to fellowship. Then we CONFESS OUR FAITH in the gospel by reciting the historical creeds or other portions of Scripture. Next comes THE PREACHING OF THE WORD through which God addresses His people and we have com. We respond with a prayer of thanksgiving for His Word. Then we receive the BLESSING whereby He sends us back into the world to live according to His will revealed in the Word, and we sing the DOXOLOGY.
In the first part of our meeting from 10:00 to 11:00 we have Sunday School. Both adults and children are taught at age-specific levels. Adults are currently studying the “Westminster Confession of Faith” while the children are studying the book “Theology for the young hearts” taught by the church moms in turn. Then from 11 am follows public worship which as I have already said is simple, including several moments of reading the Word, prayers, singing of psalms and hymns and preaching the Word. All the singing is congregational and we do not have a worship team, just one or at most two instruments to help us as a congregation sing together harmoniously. We have no imposed dress code, but we strongly recommend in light of Scripture decent and modest dress that does not distract from the One who deserves our admiration and worship – God.
Below you can see a bulletin from our public worship on Sunday morning.
THE PRESENCE OF CHILDREN IN WORSHIP
We believe that children are part of the church family, along with their adult parents. That’s why we encourage children to sit with us as we worship and listen to God’s Word. In Sunday School at 10:00 a.m., children are prepared for listening to the Word with a brief summary of the sermon in their own understanding.Although some children may not be accustomed to attending the entire service, we urge you to encourage them by telling them we are glad to have them with us!At the beginning of the service, each child will receive a handout, or several, to help them pay attention to the Word being preached. You can talk to them quietly when they have questions or need further explanation. It is always a joy to see parents focusing their attention on their children and engaging them in community worship. We are grateful for God’s blessing through our children and for His precious cross-generational promises, and we want to faithfully heed the Savior’s words, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hold them back, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these” – Luke 18:16
HOW DO WE RELATE TO CHURCH LIFE?
We want to be not just a weekly meeting or a religious program, but to be as the Scripture calls us “A SPIRITUAL FAMILY OF THE COVENANT”. We want our faith life to be a community life and for this to be a reality and not just a nice slogan requires a big investment in relationships and that costs time. That’s why we aim to have frequent meetings, both planned and purposeful (public worship, adult Sunday school, discipleship, biblical counseling, fellowship, dining together as a church, church-wide outings, etc.) and other spontaneous and natural gatherings.
We want to really know ourselves, not just the face of the church, so that we can love and serve in truth. This of course involves occasional hurts, frustrations and upsets because we are still sinners, but we believe that even through these unpleasant events we can show grace and turn them into opportunities to grow in holiness, patience, forgiveness and compassion. This is how we believe true Christian character is formed and how we want to grow together in likeness to Jesus as a church.