Our Worship - New Life Presbyterian Church

What is worship?

In Romans 12:1 the apostle Paul tells us to present ourselves as living sacrifices, fully pleasing to God. The reason he tells us to do this is given in the next phrase: “because this is your reasonable act of worship.” In other words, to worship God is to please Him in all that we do. Thus, a Christian is someone who is worshiping God all the time, wanting always to live in a way that is pleasing to Him. A Christian knows what is pleasing to God, because the Lord has told us what pleases Him in the Bible.
So ALL of life can be seen as worship, but the Scriptures also teach us that God calls His people together once a week to worship Him corporately as the assembly of His people, His church (Lev. 23:7; Ps. 95:2; Hebrews 10:25). This event, the Public Worship of God, is very important; and we must learn to practice it not only in ways that are the most pleasing to us but in the ways that are most pleasing to God.

How does God want us to worship Him?

Thankfully our Lord has told us just what pleases Him when His people come together for Public Worship. The Scriptures are clear that God calls His church together each week so that three things might happen to them. God calls His people together to cleanse them from their sins, to make them more like Himself, and to deeply commune together by sharing a fellowship meal with Him and with each other. In the Old Testament, whenever God’s people appeared as a group before Him to worship, they were instructed by God to offer three particular sacrifices to Him in a very specific order: the sin offering followed by the ascension offering followed by the fellowship offering (Lev. 9; Num. 6:16-17; 2 Chr. 29:20-26). The sacrifices symbolized what God Himself desired to do for His people: first, take their sins away; second, make them holy (or consecrate them); and finally, enjoy a time of joy and unity as He shared a meal with them. Though the New Testament teaches us that Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection has brought about the realities that those Old Testament sacrifices symbolized, it also teaches us that God the Father continues to call His people into His presence each week to confirm and to apply to us the benefits that Jesus has won for us. The Father assures us that we are cleansed from sin (1 John 1:9; Heb. 10:22). He then consecrates us (changes us) by His word as it is read and preached (Heb. 4:12). And finally, He enjoys a meal, communing with His forgiven and changed people (1 Cor. 10:16-17).
Amazingly enough, the Bible teaches us that God mainly calls us to Public Worship in order that HE may serve US. What pleases our Lord the most is serving His people, specifically by cleansing and consecrating them in order that He might more closely commune with them and they with each other.
The order of worship at New Life Presbyterian Church is structured in such a way to vividly reflect this cleansing, consecration, and communion. You’ll often hear us refer to them as the “3 C’s”.

Why is New Life's worship service liturgical?

ALL churches follow a liturgy. The word liturgy simply means “order of worship”.   And as we’ve seen already, the order of worship at New Life is designed to reflect what God is doing for and with His people during the worship service.
Since there is so much misunderstanding today concerning liturgy, some of the things we do together in worship may require some explanation. These things include the “call and response” portions of our service, the “corporate prayers”, and the reciting of the creeds.
While individual worship is a wonderful thing, that is not the focus of Public Worship as described in the Bible. Certain prayers and “call and responses” are said by the whole congregation in order to emphasize that God’s people are not merely acting as individuals but also enjoying His presence as the united people of God - people who share one mind, one heart, and often one voice. The Bible book of Psalms, the prayer book and hymnbook of ancient Israel, gives us many pictures of this (see Ps. 136 for example).
We say the historic creeds of the church for the same reasons. The Bible teaches plainly that the souls of the saints of the past are with us in Public Worship (Heb. 12:23). By confessing the creeds and confessions of church history, we unite with our brothers and sisters from previous generations.
The great glory of the church of Christ is her corporate glory. Yet this is a truth that is nearly lost today.

Why celebrate the Lord's Supper every Sunday?

We believe the Lord’s Supper (also known as Communion) is essential to the Public Worship of God’s people for two reasons. It strengthens us spiritually; and also, it is the completion of what the Lord desires to take place when His church assembles together to worship. The Bible teaches that Jesus spiritually nourishes His people through the celebration of the Lord’s Supper as it reminds us of His death for us. By the Holy Spirit, the risen Jesus is present at the Lord’s Table, strengthening us for the battle that is the Christian life. In addition, we are convinced the Scriptures say that the reason God cleanses us and consecrates us in Public Worship is so that we might then be able to joyfully fellowship with Him and His people around the communion table. In other words, by forgiving our sins and giving us His character, God is making us into people capable of enjoying and being enjoyed by the Lord and the rest of His people. It would be incomplete to enter the Lord’s presence to worship and not celebrate the Lord’s Supper, because fellowship between the Lord and His people is the ultimate goal of worship in the first place.

What type of music do we sing?

From the beginning to the end of the Bible, God’s people are commanded to sing to the Lord. And most of the time, the singing of the people of God is seen as a response to the wonderful things He has done for us. This includes His wondrous works in history and even the kindness He has shown to us in our day during the worship service itself.
Based on the these truths, we believe it’s important to recognize that God Himself is our audience when we are singing as a congregation in Public Worship. And the Bible is clear that we must always present our best to Him, no matter what it is we are offering to Him (Mal. 1:18-19). This certainly includes our music and singing (Ps. 33:3).
Since God is our audience, we at New Life are not concerned about what year a song was written. Rather, our goal is to present what we feel is the best music before the Lord, not paying much attention to whether the song was written in 807, 1723, or 2005. Our aims musically are to please the Lord and to sing songs that aid in uniting the people of God into one musical voice before their King.
We also believe the Bible clearly commands us to worship the Lord with a large variety of instruments. If you play an instrument and would like to play in our worship service, please speak to the one of the elders.