Why We Worship

There is a song by the artist Chris Tomlin that declares "You and I were made to worship."  This declares a truth: all things were made by God and for God.  People were made uniquely in God's image so that they can worship him and know him like no other member of creation.  If we are honest with ourselves, we see that we are worshipping something or someone pretty often.  We can't help ourselves - we want to put something in the place of a god in our lives.

But we were made to know, love, and worship our Creator above all things.  He sent his Son Jesus Christ to bridge the gap so that we can be forgiven and know God.  Our lives never reach their fullest meaning till we worship our Creator and Redeemer.  Corporate public worship on Sunday morning is simply our community worshipping the God we seek to worship the rest of the week as well.

There is something life-giving about gathering together as a family of believers. It is very countercultural in one sense. How many times during the week do adults and children gather together to sing as a group?  For the disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ, our faith is built, our hearts are stirred, and our minds challenged when we gather together to sing, pray, and hear the Word of God spoken and preached.

Who We Worship

There is one true and living God - a God who is One and yet is God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Jesus declares in John 14:6 "I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." The first two of the ten commandments both deal with God's desire for exclusive worship (no other gods before me...make no idol). In today's culture, it may seem unduly exclusive that God requires that only He be worshipped, but since He made us and gave his own Son for us, He alone is worthy of our worship as King over all creation. He knows that our idols will only bring us disappointment and ultimate destruction. So we worship the one God - the true God, the only God who exists.

How We Worship

Our weekly worship service is the centerpiece of our life together as a church.  It is significant because we were made to worship God our Creator and Savior.  When you join us for corporate public worship, you will find that we strive for worship that…

• … is lively.
  

  We meet for worship on Sunday because Jesus rose from the dead on Sunday.  Christian worship is the weekly reminder that Jesus died for our sins but rose again from the grave, ruling right now in Heaven for His Church.  We celebrate those truths every week.  Feel free to join in the celebration!

• … is contemporary.
  

  You will notice right away that there are modern musical instruments up front, and the first thing you will hear is our worship team leading us in a contemporary style. We seek to have the ancient truths of our faith sung into our hearts with a new song and in understandable words.

• … includes older hymns and worship forms.
  

  Christianity is very relevant for today, but it has been changing lives for over two thousand years.  From those who have gone before us, we have received a rich heritage of great words and great music, in liturgy and in hymnody.  We include some of these forms as a part of our worship service in order to connect with our past and to learn from Christians of previous generations.

• … invites your participation.
  

  It’s hard to sit still during our worship.  Some enjoy clapping their hands to the Lord, while others feel free to lift their hands in worship of their risen Savior.  Others feel free not to participate in either of those ways but sing from their hearts.  GCC is a place of freedom - we recognize that we don’t all express ourselves in the same way.  Rather, we participate in our own ways, realizing that “the only thing that counts is faith working through love” (Galatians 5:6).

  One way we participate in worship is through our offerings.  Out of thanksgiving to God for all He has done, out of faith in Him to provide for all our needs, we share in the ministry of our local church.

• … applies God’s Word to real life.
  

  Our preaching has this goal: clear explanation and real life application of the Bible.  This goal involves more than conveying information. We seek God’s transformation.  We often have sermon series that work through entire books of the Bible as we seek to discern the author’s meaning to his original audience, but we believe God’s Word is relevant for today, and we look for application of His message to our lives.

You should hear the gospel message in all that we do! After all, our connection with Jesus Christ by grace through faith is the real source of  Christian life.  Preaching, therefore, is more than information or advice.  It is an encounter with the risen Lord who changes  our lives by His presence and His Word.