What should I wear to church?
Wear what you are comfortable with. You will see people who are casual, semi-casual, and people wearing suits. Come as you are.
What kind of music do you sing?
We sing a variety of praise songs, hymns, and contemporary songs that seek to bring theological and biblical praise to God. We use a piano, organ, instruments, and our voices to join in communal worship to God.
What style of worship do you have?
Blended. We believe in all forms of authentic worship that seek to have biblical and God focused worship, which is Spirit-filled worship. Worship also seeks to supply people with what they need in their walk with God. We can employ hymns, praise songs, guitars, organ, piano, instrumentalists, drama, art, scripture, prayer, mediation, praise, communion, baptism, and lament to worship God. The labels of “traditional”, “contemporary ”, or “liturgical” tend to point that all other forms of worship are somehow how unimportant. Our worship is blended to remember the traditions and the celebrations of worship in our lives. Worship must also be relevant, or worship for the church-goer does not make sense. All of these elements have been used at our church and worship will reflect the diversity of tradition of our congregants.
What is the Christian Calendar?
We follow the Christian Calendar because it helps us remember the highlights of the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ. It also helps us share the story of Jesus with people who are new to the Christian faith. In addition, it helps us remember the stories of the Bible that correspond to the Gospel story in the Old Testament and in the New Testament.
The Christian calendar is divided into two parts. In the first part we remember our Lord’s arrival, life, death, resurrection, and ascension. In the second part we celebrate the Holy Spirit’s coming at Pentecost, our sharing in the life of the Trinity, and our long discipleship with other “saints” under the overarching lordship of Jesus Christ.
The Christian calendar begins with the four Sundays of Advent during which we prepare to celebrate the birth of Jesus and also wait for His second coming (advent). After Christmas Day comes the season of Epiphany which starts with the Magi arriving in Bethlehem and Jesus being “shown” to them (Epiphany means “manifestation”). The Gospel readings often focus on the early years of Jesus’ ministry.
The season of Lent starts with Ash Wednesday in which we confront our sin and mortality. The 40 days of Lent (excluding the six Sundays) to remember Jesus’ 40-day fast in the wilderness. Christians from the seventh century on have used it as a time of preparation for the Easter. This could be a time for repentance, denial of certain things, acts of devotion, or reflection on the meaning of Christ’s death.
The Easter season begins with Palm Sunday in which we celebrate Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem. On Maundy Thursday we recall Christ’s supper with His disciples and their observing the Passover meal together. On Good Friday we remember Jesus’ death on the cross, and share the disciple’s grief and loss. When Easter Sunday arrives, we are ready to celebrate Jesus’ victory over sin and death, and grow our hope of the resurrection. During the following five weeks the celebration remains as we read stories of how Jesus appeared to the disciples on certain occasions, proclaiming that he had risen from the dead. Then come the Sundays when we remember Jesus’ ascension to heaven, the Day of Pentecost when we celebrate the Holy Spirit coming to the disciples.
During the last five months of the Christian calendar we celebrate the work of Jesus on our behalf, consider what it means to follow Him in this world, and wait for His second coming.
Why does all this matter?
Worship should share some sense of biblical grounding guided by theology for the worship of God. Worship started all the back in Genesis and continues through the book of Revelation. Throughout the Bible, worship has always been guided by the theological purpose of God’s work among His people. By using things like the lectionary, the church calendar, and a variety of styles of worship elements we can expose each other to the wonders of worship in community.
