How We Worship

It's About God

What we do in worship is shaped by what we believe about God. 
​God loves. Because of love, God created everything; and God’s creation is good.  God calls us and forms us to be a people, God’s people.  Not because we’re better than others, but because God loves the world.  It’s also true that we human beings ignore God, rebel against God’s ways, and put ourselves first.  Yet, God still loves us, keeps coming to us, and in Jesus God is restoring us and the whole creation back to God.  

We Receive God's Word

God reveals and shows us who God IS and how God wants us to live. 
​God's Word is living and active and it does something in us and among us as it is read and proclaimed. We read from the Bible because these scriptures are holy, and they point us to Jesus Christ-God's Word made flesh. And in the message that gets shared God's Word is proclaimed into this community and into this time and place. The reading and proclaiming orients us or re-orients us to the ways of God. 

God Gathers Us

We are one with God and one with each other.
God wants us together because God is a loving, relational God.  So, worship is not a solo activity, but always a community gathering (like loving parents wanting their kids to stick together).  
​We gather in God’s name.  We admit that we are all sinful and rebellious people and need forgiveness from God (called Confession).  We join our voices together in a shared prayer and we join in shared singing.  In doing these things we are acting out something important; even though we’re different, God draws us together to live and act as one.

We Come to Christ's Table

Jesus Christ invites us to share a meal and to be fed by him. 
​We share a holy meal, bread and wine.  But in a great and holy mystery we trust that Jesus is present in this meal, in the bread and in the wine.  We take Christ into ourselves. And in this ordinary eating and drinking, received with God’s holy Word, we become the body of Christ.  We are the living presence of Christ for our community and for the world.

We Are Sent

Now we are ready to go into the world, sharing the grace, love, and mercy of Jesus.
​Worship forms us to be disciples, to go out into the ministry of our daily lives trusting and believing that Christ goes with us. In our families, schools, work, neighborhoods, and communities we are sent to shine with the light of Christ in our words and in our actions.  Love God and love our neighbor, that’s what Jesus tells us to do.