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What is
a Worship Service?
Twice every Sunday, the church gathers together to meet with her God
– that is the essence of worship. Why do we worship? Simply put,
because God calls us to. He wants to maintain a relationship with His
people. God has given us the Bible as His Word, and from there we hear
Him call us to meet with Him in worship. We gather in order to honour,
praise, and glorify Him. We do this because God is our Creator and our
Saviour. At the same time, we receive from the Lord wonderful gifts
– forgiveness of our sins, peace with Himself, and His continued
care over our lives.
Receiving
God’s Gifts
How do we receive these gifts? God gives them to us especially through
the preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ. As we listen, we hear from
the Bible all about God’s gifts, how he has sacrificed His own
Son to save us from our sin, how He has sent His Holy Spirit to give
us faith and even live in our hearts. It’s really amazing what
God has done! As well, we hear God’s will explained in the preaching
so that we understand how we are to live as Christians, as God’s
holy people.
Worship
Service Tour – Enter in!
Well, you ask, what actually takes place inside the church building
every Sunday? Let’s take a walk through a typical Sunday morning
worship service. Members and guests usually begin to take their seats
in the auditorium at about 8:30 AM. In the background you will hear
the organ or piano playing songs which help focus people’s attention
on the coming meeting with God. The host family will greet you at the
door and the usher will be happy to provide you with a Bible and song
book if needed. As the usher directs you to your seat, you will see
various families seated around you. God wants all His people to worship
Him together. Infants and toddlers are cared for in a nursery, but as
soon as the children can sit in church they do so.
Dress Code?
You will notice, too, that most people are dressed up. Please don’t
mistake this for elitism or snobbery. All we are trying to do is to
show honour and respect to the Lord God as much as we can. Much like
if we were to have an audience with the Queen where our whole attitude,
demeanour, and dress would reflect our respect for her Royal Majesty,
so when we meet with the King of Kings we want to show Him honour in
every way.
Praise and
Blessing
A few minutes before the service begins, the congregation sings a song.
We use a song book which contains the 150 Psalms of the Bible put to
music as well as 65 hymns based mostly on texts of Scripture. As much
as possible we want to keep the Word of God on our lips as we praise
Him! With a bit of practice, you’ll be singing them as well as
anyone!
The service formally
begins as the minister issues a call to rise and worship God. The congregation
responds by confessing her trust in the Lord alone to which the minister
responds by giving God’s greeting of peace on His behalf. Throughout
the service you will find a back-and-forth interaction as God and His
people come together and speak together.
Reflecting
on the 10 Commandments
After singing a song of praise, we then listen to God again through
the reading of His law, the 10 Commandments. Why read the law? That
may sound like an odd thing to do, but it is an important act of worship.
The 10 Commandments show us how God wants us to live. They act as a
mirror for our lives and a standard of perfection to strive for. As
we listen and compare our lives to God’s law, we realize every
week how our lives do not match up. Our sin is made clear to us and
we are humbled before the Lord.
But the amazing
thing is we are not led to despair! Instead we are driven into the arms
of our Saviour Jesus Christ! In the prayer after the law, we publicly
confess our sins and then seek forgiveness for them in the sacrifice
of Jesus Christ on the cross. Because God has promised forgiveness,
we do not go away dreading or doubting, but we continue our worship
in humble confidence that we stand right with God again. It’s
a beautiful moment- our guilt has been cleared away! Even more, we are
given the Holy Spirit to help us fight against sin and to show how thankful
we are to Him. In the end, the law shows us how to be thankful to God!
Taking in
God’s Word
After the law, singing, and prayer, we then read a portion or two of
Scripture that is related to the “text” of the sermon. The
morning sermons are based squarely on one text of Scripture. After singing
a song to prepare our hearts and minds for the hearing of the gospel,
we then set to work listening to the preacher explain God’s Word
from the selected text. Each sermon is about 35 minutes in length. It
takes up the most time in the worship service for one key reason - because
God wants us to be instructed by the preaching of His Word (Romans 10:14-17).
You won’t see any visual aids nor will you hear a lot of personal
anecdotes or funny stories. But you will hear a Bible passage explained,
the good news of salvation in Jesus Christ trumpeted, and how we Christians
should live outlined. As we listen, the Holy Spirit makes us understand
and believe God’s Word, and then helps us to live it out each
day.
Offering
of Thanks
After the sermon is over, the congregation responds with a song of praise
chosen in connection with the message of the sermon. After singing,
the congregation again responds to the gospel message by bringing a
thank-offering to the Lord. Yes, this is indeed a financial gift dedicated
to the Lord, but please do not misunderstand this as a payment for the
service or even as support for the minister. Not one penny of the offering
goes to support the minister – that is done by the voluntary contributions
of the members on their own. The offering is given to show your thanks
to the Lord for His salvation as just proclaimed, and all the monies
are distributed to the poor and needy, whether in the congregation,
or community or the world. The offering is accompanied by a song of
thanksgiving.
Parting
Blessing
The service moves into the final stage as a prayer of thanksgiving is
offered followed by a final song of praise. The Lord has the last say
in the worship service as He sends His people home with His blessing
of peace. We may leave His presence having our faith strengthened by
the preaching and being equipped with renewed commitment to live a life
pleasing to Him. After the blessing, the congregation trickles out of
the building, gathering informally in conversation and fellowship. As
a visitor, you will be invited to the host family’s home for refreshments
and more fellowship. All in all the whole service takes about 1hr and
15 minutes.
Twice on
Sunday?
Yes, we come back once again in the afternoon to meet with the Lord.
And why wouldn’t we? As part of celebrating the Lord’s Day,
we are glad to have the opportunity to gather twice with His people.
We are thankful to be able to praise Him and receive His good gifts
a second time. When you are thirsty, you look forward to a cool drink
and even to a refill – that’s what worship is like for God’s
people.
The afternoon service
is much like the morning with only a few differences. For example, instead
of reading the law, we publicly profess our faith by singing the Apostles’
Creed. But the key difference lies in the type of sermon we hear.
Whereas in the morning the preaching is based on one text of Scripture,
the afternoon sermon explains a teaching of the Bible that is learned
from several texts (e.g. the Trinity, how we are saved, how we are to
live, etc). The church has long ago summarized the Bible’s major
teachings in a written confession called the Heidelberg
Catechism. This Catechism then serves as a guide for the Scripture
teaching but the basis of the message remains the Bible. Catechism preaching
is geared especially to teach the young people the main doctrines of
the Bible.
What About
You?
And that’s how we worship God. It’s simple, Biblical, and
beautiful - why don’t you come and worship with us? God is calling
you too!
Here are the precise
orders of worship for morning and afternoon:
Orders of Worship For the Morning Service:
The LORD's call to worship
*Votum: "Our Help is in the Name of the LORD."
*God's greeting of peace
*Song of praise
Reading of the Law
Song of response to the law
Prayer of confession, forgiveness and illumination
Reading
*Song of intro to the sermon
Text Reading
Sermon Message
*Song of response to the sermon
Offering to the Lord
Song accompanying the offering
Prayer of intercession and thanksgiving
*Song of Praise
*Benediction
*Congregation stands
Orders of Worship For the Afternoon
Service:
The LORD's call to worship
*Votum: "Our Help is in the Name of the LORD."
*God's greeting of peace
*Song of praise
*Exhortation to profess our faith in God
*Song of Profession of Faith
Prayer of illumination
Reading
*Song of intro to the sermon
Text Reading
Sermon Message
*Song of response to the sermon
Offering to the Lord
Song accompanying the offering
Prayer of intercession and thanksgiving
*Song of Praise
*Benediction
*Congregation stands
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