Worship

"Praise the LORD! How good to sing praises to our God! How delightful and how fitting!" -Psalm 147:2


Our Sunday morning worship services are the primary gatherings of FPC. Regular worship is vital to the life of a follower of Christ, and is also a good introduction for someone exploring the claims of Christianity. Our services are rooted in biblical and historic patterns and practices, while being welcoming to the newcomer. We hope worship will help Christians grow in their faith, as well as help skeptics gain a better understanding of the gospel, or good news, of Jesus Christ. 


On Sunday evenings, we gather for worship again, but the atmosphere is a little more relaxed. At both services, you can expect worship that is God-centered, comprehensible, biblical and relevant. We expect hymns, prayers, expositional sermons and sacraments, baptism and the Lord's Supper, on regular occasions, to connect our contemporary lives with the historic and ancient Christian faith.

Singing

For most of us, we do not sing with others often, maybe alone in the car, but not together frequently.  In worship, we sing simple hymns with profound biblical truth set to rhythms and melodies that help us remember and apply what we learn from God's Word.

Prayer

Theologian J. I. Packer wrote, "You sum up the whole of New Testament religion if you describe it as the knowledge of God as one’s holy Father. If you want to judge how well a person understands Christianity, find out how much he makes of the thought of being God’s child, and having God as his Father. If this is not the thought that prompts and controls his worship and prayers and his whole outlook on life, it means that he does not understand Christianity very well at all." Jesus connects prayer to knowing God is a father who enjoys hearing from his children and giving good gifts in return. In worship, we practice corporate, public prayer as well as individual private prayer.  

Sermons

The prophet Ezekiel had a vision in which God told him to preach to a pile of bones; after speaking, the bones came to life. His vision serves as a metaphor for what happens in sermons where the truth of the Bible is explained, illustrated and applied: we encounter the power of God and receive life. 

Offerings


"For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich." --2 Corinthians 8:9


Offerings are an act of worship, faith, gratitude and dependence. Through offerings, we declare that God is worthy of our possessions. We trust that his way of generosity is better than merely looking out for self. We give thanks, recognizing that all that we have was given to us by God. We expect God to provide for us on less than we had before the offering. In those ways, the offering is one of the fullest compact expressions of what worship truly is.


Sacraments

Jesus gave the church two rituals, baptism and the Lord's Supper. Both display the same truths as the Bible teaches, confirming what is preached. Augustine called each sacrament a "visible word."  On appropriate occasions, worship includes participation in the sacraments, as God communicates his gracious promise through drama acted out by worshipers.