Worship Schedule

  • 10:00 am Worship; 8:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m.  — Adult Bible Study; 9:30 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.  — Fellowship;  Children/Youth Sunday School is currently conducted remotely.
  • During the season of Advent and Lent, we have worship on Wednesdays at 7:00pm, with free community dinners before at 6pm
  • Holy Communion generally is served and celebrated every 1st, 3rd, and 5th Sunday
  • Our worship services are typically printed out and are traditional or blended. We use a variety of music including organ, piano, soloists, and sounds and songs on our keyboard!
  • There is no dress code for coming to worship; some dress up and some dress casually, we just ask that you bring yourself!

Music

What is worship?

  • In Christian worship, we gather together with other believers to worship the Triune God, especially our risen Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who through His death and resurrection has won for us forgiveness, eternal life, and the hope of the resurrection of the dead! We worship on Sunday because that is the day Jesus rose from the dead and won the victory for us over sin, death, and the power of the devil!
  • The reformers during the time of Martin Luther used the German word, “Gottesdienst”, which means ‘the service of God” to describe worship. God comes to us and serves us during worship with His Holy Spirit through the Word (the Bible and sermon) and the Sacraments (Baptism and Holy Communion, where we receive Christ’s body and blood for our forgiveness and remember His death and resurrection). We then respond by serving Him in prayer, praise, offerings, and gladly hearing and receiving His Word. We cannot come to God or worship Him on our own (John 6:44) but His Spirit calls us, opens the eyes of our hearts to His beauty, and empowers us with faith and joy to worship Him and to be changed by His Word. God alone is the one worthy of praise, glory, and honor as He is our Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier! As the Psalmist says, “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord!” (Psalm 150:6). If you do not have faith in Jesus or are unsure, you are still more than welcome to come and join us, we always love visitors and to meet new people!
  • Worship though, is not just something we do on Sunday or publicly , but individually, it is a way of life (Romans 12:1-2). In response to God’s great love for us and empowered by His grace, we offer our lives for His glory and to do His will, loving God and those around us, knowing that we belong to Him and only find true purpose and life in Him! We seek to live lives of thanks and praise in response to all the love He has shown us (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, 1 John 4:19).
  • The word ‘Church’ in the New Testament literally means ‘sent ones’. It is not a building but the fellowship of believers. We gather together in worship on Sunday and rest in God’s forgiveness and are fed by His Word and Holy Communion, empowered to be sent out to serve Him and love people during the week.

The Church Year

  • The Church Year is an ancient tradition of the Christian Church that was established to ensure the major events in the story of the life of Jesus would be taught every year. Colors help set the atmosphere and focus for each time of the church year. So throughout the Church Year, the altar paraments (the cloths on the altar) and the pastor’s stole (the sash the pastor wears over his robe) change in accordance with the time of the Church Year. Each color and section of the church year is like a light that shines on another area of the love and life of Jesus. There are also sometimes special Sundays that will get their own color, like Ash Wednesday and Good Friday is black (we remember our frailty and the cost of our redemption through Jesus) and Pentecost is red (fire of the Spirit!). The pastor wears the white robe and stole as a sign of the office that He has been called to, and as a reminder to God’s people that they are covered in the righteousness of Christ!
    The Church Year runs from Advent through Pentecost, the major colors and emphasis are:

    • Advent – Blue – We focus on the coming of Jesus, repentance, and hope. Blue is the color of the sky and just as Jesus ascended into heaven through the clouds, one day He will come again down from the sky to make all things new and to be with us and all believers forever! The coming of Jesus brings us hope! We prepare our hearts for His coming through repentance.
    • Christmas – White – We celebrate the birth of Jesus! White is the color of purity and completeness. It reminds us we are covered with Christ’s righteousness. Though are sins are like scarlet, they are made as white as snow! (Is. 1:18).
    • Epiphany – Green – We celebrate the visit of the Wise Men, or Magi, to the infant Jesus. This shows that Jesus came for all people and nations, including us, the Gentiles (people other than Jews)! (Is. 49:6). We focus on Mission and outreach. Green symbolizes growth. As the CEO of McDonald’s said, ‘When you’re green you grow, when you’re ripe you rot’! ☺ Growth is great! The Christian life is one of spiritual growth individually and as a Church, as we reach out to the lost.
    • Lent – Purple – We focus on Jesus suffering and death. Lent is especially of time of reflection on our own hearts and repentance as we remember the price Jesus paid for us to make us His own and to reconcile our relationship with Him, that we may serve Him in joy and righteousness forever.
    • Easter – White – We focus on Jesus Resurrection! It is a time of triumph to remember the victory Jesus won forever over the powers of sin, death, and the devil! We know we are united with Him in His victory and that our resurrection is certain and the Kingdom is ours forever! But of course, every Sunday is a celebration of the Resurrection! That is the day our Lord rose from the dead!
    • Pentecost – Green – We focus on the time of the Church (God’s people) and spiritual growth as we remember we have been given the Holy Spirit by grace through faith. We live in between resurrection and resurrection. That is, that of Jesus, and that of all people on the Last Day.

Of course, those times of the year are not the only times we think about those things, i.e. we rejoice in the resurrection every day! The Church Year simply denotes a time of special focus on those things.