worship

The gospel delivers us from both impersonal religion (traditionalism) and shallow emotionalism so we can worship God with both reverence and joy. Worship at Grace is about doing the things which God promises will build up our faith: giving God praise, seeking God in prayer, reading the Scriptures, hearing the gospel preached, and receiving the sacraments.

To help you worship with us, here is an example of our Sunday worship. The movement of the service reflects the movement of the gospel: God’s greatness, our guilt, God’s grace, and our gratitude. This back and forth nature reflects a “holy conversation” with God in which he speaks and we listen and respond.

Salutation and Call to Worship: 

Because we are sinners who cannot approach God on our own, God must welcome and call us into his presence. True worship is not only for God but initiated by God.

Songs of Praise: 

The response to God’s call is to praise him. As we approach God in worship, we sing songs which exalt his holy character, his love and grace, and his great act of salvation in Jesus Christ.

Prayer of Approach:

As we approach God in worship, we acknowledge him as our creator and redeemer and ask him for grace to worship Him acceptably from the heart.

Confession of Sin:

We all sin daily, in thought and word and deed. As we come into God’s presence, we need to acknowledge how we have rebelled against our King and seek his forgiveness. 

Assurance of Pardon:

Having confessed our sins, what we need most is to hear the good news of Jesus Christ and his forgiveness from the Scriptures.

Song of Assurance:

In light of God’s amazing grace, we continue to rejoice and give thanks to the Lord as his pardoned, forgiven people.

Offering:

We give back to God a portion of what he has graciously given to us. Our giving is our confession that the Lord owns all that we possess, and that we are stewards of his possessions.

Congregational Prayer:

It is our privilege as God’s children to pray to our heavenly Father. We pray for needs in our church family, our community, our country, and the world. 

Scripture and Sermon:

God addresses and speaks to the congregation by the reading and preaching of his Word. Both saints and sinners need to hear the good news of salvation and grow in it.

The Lord’s Supper:

The Lord’s Supper is served weekly as a visible sign and seal that God communes with his people. All those who trust in Christ and are professing members of his church can come for their spiritual nourishment and comfort.

Song of Dedication:

Having communed with our God, we take upon our lips a song of joyful thanksgiving.

Benediction and Dismissal:

Just as God initiated our worship, so now God concludes our worship with His benediction, blessing his beloved people.