I hope your week is going well! Man has it been nice to see the sunshine and feel warmer temps this past week! I want to take a few weeks and talk about our Sunday morning worship gathering and what we do with or time together. Maybe you are reading this as a faithful member or regular attender of The Village or maybe you are reading this through a social media post and are interested in our church. Either way, I believe it's good for us to understand why we do what we do on Sunday morning. Something might seem boring or repetitive and understanding why we do it may open your heart to better receive what the Lord has for you when we gather. This week I just want to introduce the parts of our worship gathering, I'll explain them biblically in subsequent weeks. If you join us this Sunday here is what you can expect:
We read Scripture. Our worship gathering starts at 10am with a Call to Worship through the reading of Scripture, currently coming from Psalm 119. Think of this as a call to attention, a focusing of our hearts on the reason we have gathered, which is to worship and glorify the Lord.
We sing songs of praise to God each week to glorify God, who delights in the praise of his people, and to encourage one another.
We pray together as a church for things like growth in our walk with God, salvation of lost souls, neighboring churches, missionaries, and our community. This time of prayer is also intended to help you model prayer in your own life.
We preach the word of God through a sermon/teaching that is intended to encourage and challenge us in our walk with God, and to proclaim the Gospel or Good News of Jesus Christ, calling sinners to repentance.
We may baptize a new believer and we may observe the Lord's Supper, or Communion. These last two things don't happen every week, but they are foundational ordinances given by Christ to his church that should be observed when the church is gathered together.
This is what a Sunday morning worship gathering at The Village Church looks like. You won't find a lot of frills, videos, skits, or comedic flare, a polished band, or perfect speakers, because the heartbeat of why we gather is to worship and glorify God, not impress or put on a show. In coming weeks I'll break these elements down one at a time and show you biblically why we have modeled our worship gathering this way. If you have any questions, please contact me! I'll see you Sunday!
Grace & Peace,
John
(You can reach Pastor John at jwhite@thevillagemi.com)