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Worship – A Way of Life
We believe that everything about our lives should be worship to the Lord. Singing, praying, service and giving are expressions of that worship; but the Bible tells us that true and proper worship to God is to offer our bodies, yourselves, as a sacrifice to God. Which means we are to give Him every part us and let Him transform our heart and mind to make us the perfect child of God that He created us to be. Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. Romans 12:1-2
Verbal Praise - Necessary
The Bible tells us in Luke 19:37-40 that if we don’t sing praises to the Lord, the rocks will cry out and do so! That tells me that it’s pretty important for us to sing praises to God. If it’s important that someone or something cries out praise to the Lord, wouldn’t we want that be us as believers! When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen: “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!” “I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.” Luke 19: 37-40
Praise From the Heart
Singing praises to God is a way of showing Him honor and telling him how much we love Him, but it needs to be from the heart. If we give someone a compliment or tell them we love them but don’t mean it, they can usually tell, and it doesn’t mean much. We want our praise to be an overflow of what we feel in our heart. We aren’t singing to impress anyone. We are making a joyful noise to the Lord as an expression of our heart, from the inside out.
Praise & Worship is Powerful
Praise & Worship is PowerfulMusic has a way of sticking in our heads. We remember words put to music more than we do the words by themselves. We use songs to teach kids the alphabet and such when they are young, and most people can still sing along to the songs they listened to in their teen years. In the same way, singing the truths of the Bible, helps us to remember those truths. Singing the truths of God’s Word not only helps us to learn and remember those truths, but it’s often a tool that helps us to share those truths with those in the congregation who may not know them. It’s almost like a mini-sermon in song.Praise & Worship changes us! The Bible tells us that where two or more are gathered in His name, He is there with us. As we are praising God, we are also listening to God. We are opening our eyes and ears to what the Holy Spirit is trying to say to us, do in us, or do through us. We are drawing closer to God and enjoying His presence. The more we focus on God, the more He changes our heart and perspective.
Style of Praise & Worship
As you just read, Praise & Worship is an overflow of the heart. And since we are all different, we have different styles and preferences in how we express ourselves. Therefore, we try to include a mix of styles in our song service. We have a blend of traditional hymns and Contemporary Christian songs you would hear on the radio. Our Praise Team leads the congregation accompanied by a mix of videos, piano, organ and a praise band.We are also intentional about including the kids in our time of praise and worship. They are in the service for the singing each week and then we also have them come up front and sing to the congregation about once a month.