How We Worship
Nothing compares to the joy of worshipping God. It is what human beings were created for! Because of what Christ has done for us, we can boldly approach the throne of God’s grace. We pray to God, sing songs to God, and eagerly seek to meet God as we open the Bible together.
Our worship on Sundays is practice for our worship in Heaven. At First Baptist Church we seek to “offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire” (Heb 12:28b-29, ESV). God deserves dignity and honor; we hope to offer him nothing less.
Prayer, as part of a conversation with God, holds great importance for the Christian; intercessory prayer, and thanksgiving for answered prayers, is a major way Christians in the Body of Christ care for one another. Our Sundays begin with a service concentrated on prayer. We open with a hymn, and one of our elders gives a homily which might be from a book of the Bible, or a chapter of a book on prayer. Some discussion generally follows. Afterward, we share prayer requests and praises. Some people from among the congregation may undertake to lift these to God, or to pray along themes arising from the homily; or we may split into small groups to do the same.
We pattern our morning services after the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We begin with adoration of who God is. This portion of our service usually includes a call to worship and a hymn of adoration. We enjoy but do not require parts singing, and a piano or other stringed instruments accompany us. Upon seeing the holy glory of God, we acknowledge our own unworthiness to worship him apart from Christ. We use this portion of our service to confess our sin and remember the pardon we have received through atoning work of Christ. We then respond with thanksgiving for what Christ has done for us. Having rehearsed the Gospel, we then attend to growth in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ through the ministry of the Word, which includes Scripture readings, hymns, and the sermon. We close the service with a prayer and benediction.
Here is a typical Sunday-morning worship service:
Prelude
†Call to Worship: Psalm 112:1
†Hymn It’s Good to Thank the Lord, Red 121
Hymn Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah, Gray 291
Offering
Scripture Reading : 1 Samuel 6:1-7:2; Matthew 23:37-24:28
Doxology: Gloria Patri, Red 436
Sermon: The Face of God from John 14:7-11, Pastor David de Bruyn
†Hymn How Sweet the Name of Jesus Sounds, Gray 310
†Closing Prayer
†Benediction
†Postlude
†Congregation stands if able