Let’s be honest. Attending a service at a new Church can be more than a little intimidating. Actually, sometimes, it can be downright scary. Yet if we have a general idea about what we might encounter, much of the unnecessary fear can be eliminated.
Let me just say that it is definitely worth the effort to find a good Church home. The fact is, God never intended any individual believer to live the Christian life in isolation. We were never meant to “do Christianity” by ourselves. The Bible tells us that the members of the early church “devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.” (Acts 2:42)
WE NEED ONE ANOTHER
It is true to say that God saves each of us individually but He immediately sets each of us as Christians in a family, called “the Body of Christ” and in a visible expression of it called the local Church. This is where we can be equipped, nourished and strengthened in our faith and is the primary place where we can grow in our walk with God as disciples of Christ. Its also a place where we can use the gifts God has given us to help and serve others. Being a member of a local Church is an indispensible part of God’s intended will for each individual Christian.
A HIGH PRIORITY FOR CHRIST’S TRUE DISCIPLES
As followers of Christ, our lives should be built around the commands of Christ. As the Lord of the Church, through His Apostles, Christ summons His people to gather to worship Him together each Lord’s day, in the assembly of the saints. In obedience to Christ, participation in the weekly gathering of the saints on the Lord’s day needs to be a very high priority and focus.
Why?
Although there are many benefits for us in our assembling together, the chief reason for doing so is because He tells us to.
Hebrews 10:24-25 says:
“And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.”
As the return of Christ draws near we are told to gather together “all the more.” This being the case, is it not right that Sunday morning Church becomes the first thing scheduled on our weekly calendars and not merely something that may happen if we can fit it in, after scheduling all sorts of other activities?
The answer, of course, is “Yes.” This is both the duty and delight of His people, if indeed Christ is Lord in more than name only. As God’s beloved children we can trust that He has only the best of intentions in instructing us to gether together to worship Him, to hear His word, fellowship with His people, and to partake of His supper. These in fact are the very ‘means of grace’ He has ordained to bless, feed, protect, nurture and beautify His precious bride.
JUST A THOUGHT….
If we really think about it, part of our Sunday worship could even be the fact that we plan ahead and seek to get a good night of sleep the night before (Saturday night). That way, our minds can be in the best possible shape to be ready and attentive to listen to His word as it is ministered in the service. I realize that this is not always possible for many different reasons outside of our hands (e.g. our next door neighbor decides to throw a loud party until the early hours of the morning), but nevertheless, it is something well worth thinking about as true disciples of Christ. As much as it depends on us, each of us should do all that we can to regard worship on the Lord’s day as special, set aside, different, unique and holy – in a word, “sacred.”
Our purpose in meeting together is to worship our great God, to be equipped and strengthened by the word of God, and to serve and encourage one another as disciples of Christ.
Because of these convictions, you are likely to see the following features in a Sunday worship service at the King’s Church:
We start with a call to worship. A passage from the Bible is read and we are exhorted to worship our great God, in spirit and truth.
Then we enter a time of praise and worship as we come into God’s presence with singing, celebrating who He is and His amazing grace towards us in the gospel. Our music is contemporary in style as we sing both new songs as well as more familiar hymns.
We then include a short time to welcome our first time guests and make announcements.
We then take a few moments to greet one another as we prepare to listen to the word of God.
Our worship continues as we hear a portion of the Bible read to us and then through preaching, its meaning and life application is made clear to us. We call this “expository preaching” and it constitutes the main part of our service.
What exactly is expositional preaching? A sermon is expositional if its content and intent are controlled by the content and intent of a particular passage of Scripture. In other words, the preacher says what the passage says, drawing out the intended meaning of the author, and that the sermon accomplishes in his listeners exactly what God is seeking to accomplish through the chosen passage of his Word.
To aid us in our study of God’s word, outlines of the sermons are normally provided.
Our worship continues as we give in the offering to honor God and support the work of the local church as well as mission projects locally and around the world.
We receive communion together as a church family usually on the second and fourth Sunday morning’s of each month. Prayer and personal ministry is available.
Our Sunday morning service lasts approximately 90 minutes.
Just a word on Bible translation. Our generation is so blessed. In contrast to former generations where access to the word of God was very rare, there are many good Bible translations available to us in the English language today. How we thank God for this. It is simply a fact of history to say that many have paid the ultimate price (forfeiting their very lives) so that we would have access to the word of God in our native tongue. Yet now, because there are so many translations available to us, if the version used from the pulpit is not the same one we have brought to the service it is often difficult to follow a preacher’s sermon. Therefore, it may be helpful to know that we mainly use the English Standard Version of the Bible (ESV) in our services.
We hope the above comments are helpful to you. By the way, you can come in casual or smart clothes – either is fine with us. We look forward to seeing you at one of our services very soon.