Every church has a liturgy (the order according to which Christian worship is conducted), but you must ask, “Is our liturgy well thought-out, biblical, reverent, and edifying?” We believe that God’s Word gives His people, for all time, the acceptable way to worship Him, and that He may not be worshiped according to the imaginations or innovations of men. Our liturgy reflects this belief.
It is wise to go beyond our own generation in seeking an answer to the question of how we should worship God. Knowing that we celebrate a faith “once for all delivered to the saints,” we endeavor to give our Christian forefathers a say in our liturgy so that we might see ourselves, and our worship, as part of Christ’s work throughout history. Our worship follows the principles established in the Bible and rediscovered during the Reformation. It is Reformed worship.
Through the liturgy the Triune God and the goodness and beauty of the Gospel are made known. We have an opportunity to express both our sinfulness and our thankfulness. But best of all we get to hear God’s assurance that we are, in Christ, totally forgiven and forever loved. In the worship service God calls us to Himself, cleanses us as we confess our sins, consecrates us as we hear His Word, communes with us at His table (the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper), and commissions us to serve Him in the world by serving others. The whole service is saturated with God’s Word. This is necessary because all week long we have competing voices telling us who we are or who we should be. It is through worship that God reorients us, reminding us where our true identity is found, namely, in Christ “who is our life.” (Colossians 3).
A Sample Order of Service:
God Calls Us
*Call to Worship
*Prayer of Invocation
*Hymn of Praise
God Cleanses Us
Reading of the Law
Prayer of Confession
Assurance of Pardon
*Hymn of Assurance
*Apostles’ Creed pg. 845
God Rejoices in our Prayers and Offerings
Congregational Prayer and the Lord’s Prayer
Our Tithes and Offerings
*Doxology
God Consecrates Us by His Inspired Word
*Hymn of Preparation
*OT Reading
*NT Reading
Sermon:
*Hymn of Response
God Commissions His People
*Benediction