“Serve the LORD with gladness! Come into his presence with singing!”
Psalm 100
The Bible tells us that true worship is a dialogue: God summons and speaks to us from His Word, and we respond with praise and prayer. This short guide provides an overview of our worship, explaining the different parts (elements) of our dialogue and devotion to God.
Worship begins with God. We see this even in the word “church,” which means “those who are called out.” We gather because God has summoned us out of the world and set a meeting with us. This Call to Worship comes through the reading of Scripture, and we respond with a song of praise. Next comes a pronouncement of God’s blessed welcome (the Salutation), then a prayer for God to help us worship (the Invocation).
We respond to God's welcome with another song of praise. God then teaches us what it means to live a holy life (Call to Confession). This humbles us, because it reveals how far short we fall of God's greatness. Yet through Christ, we are able to confess our sin together in a unison prayer (Prayer of Confession).
After we confess our sins, God declares that we have been forgiven through an Assurance of Pardon. We have absolutely no fear of condemnation, for Jesus has carried away all our guilt and taken it upon Himself. When we hear this assurance from God's Word, we often respond with a hymn, praising our merciful God.
On the first Sunday of each month, the congregation reaffirms her common faith through the unison reading of creeds, such as the Apostles’ Creed or the Nicene Creed (you can read more about them here). In some services, individual believers will also make a Profession of Faith before God and His people, particularly as he or she enters into communicant membership at Delta Oaks.
“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit...” (Matthew 28:19). When Jesus brings people into His church, He tells us that they should receive Baptism as a sign and seal (sacrament) of their union with Him and with the church. The Bible teaches that this sign rightly belongs to believers and their children as a means of grace and a mark setting them apart from the world and dedicating them to God. Learn more about the reason we baptize infants here.
All of life is to be devoted to God. We demonstrate this by giving our money to Him in the Offering, and our hearts to Him in the Congregational Prayer. Normally, the officiating minister represents the congregation in leading this prayer, and the whole congregation is then asked to join in at the conclusion in The Lord's Prayer:
Our Father which art in heaven:
Hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil:
For thine is the kingdom, and the power,
and the glory, for ever. Amen.
God created all things out of nothing “by word of His power” (Westminster Shorter Catechism Q & A 9; see Genesis 1:3; Hebrews 1:3). It is fitting, then, that God’s words would serve as the centerpiece of our worship service. The Bible tells us that it is through the “foolishness of preaching” that God saves and builds up His church. We are eager to hear from Him and receive His grace through Scripture Reading and the Sermon.
After God’s Word preached, we give thanks to Him through a Prayer of Thanksgiving, and ask Him to increase our faith and make us more holy by the hearing of His Word. This is followed by another song of praise, typically chosen as a fitting response to the Good News (“Gospel”) that God has announced to us in this service.
On the first Sunday of each month, we observe the Lord’s Supper, another sign given to us by Jesus. If Baptism signifies and seals our union with God and each other, then the Supper signifies and seals our communion with Him. As we eat the bread and drink the wine, we are reminded of our Lord’s death, strengthened by His presence, and driven further on to the Day when He will return and welcome us home. This table is open to all who are baptized, have professed faith, and are walking with God by faith and in union with His church.
Our service concludes with the Benediction (“good word”), which is God placing His blessing upon us as He sends us back into the world. This is a pronouncement; rather than asking God to bless us, God is telling us, “I surely bless you,” strengthening us so that all we do might be for His glory and our good.
Though the benediction ends the service proper, we can’t help but reply with one final song, the Doxology, which defines our life in the week ahead:
Praise God from whom all blessings flow;
praise him, all creatures here below;
praise him above, ye heavn’ly host;
praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.
