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At First Baptist Church, our commitment to God is to acknowledge His glory above all else, and to conform
our lives to His Word in all that we say and do. When it comes to worship, we believe that in the general
sense, every moment of the Christian life is worship. Worship is first of all the daily, moment by moment
recognition that our lives are not our own; that we have been crucified with Christ, and that it is no
longer we who live, but Christ who lives in us (Galatians 2:20)Galatians 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and delivered Himself up for me..
Living by faith in Christ means continually presenting ourselves as living, holy sacrifices to God, which is our
spiritual service of worship. This means not being conformed to the world around us, but being transformed
by the renewing of our minds (Romans 12:1-2)Romans 12:1-2 1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
It means coming before God's Throne of Grace, confessing our need of Him, and receiving
mercy from Him (Hebrews 4:16)Hebrews 4:16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. It means longing for God like a thirsty deer longs for water (Psalm 42:1)Psalm 42:1 1 To the choirmaster. A Maskil of the Sons of Korah. As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God.,
and being daily satisfied with His abundant supply We believe that all of what it means to worship God comes into particular focus during our regular, Sunday morning worship-service where we come in spiritual hunger and thirst, and gather together in God's presence for the purpose of receiving from Him the New Covenant blessings that we have inherited in Jesus Christ. God has ordained to grant the blessings of His grace through His Word, and through the two ordinances of Baptism and the Lord's Supper as we look upon Christ and the Gospel in faith. In the worship-service, our conviction is that everything that we do must convey the weighty reality that we are entering into the presence of God Almighty in the heavenly sanctuary (cf. Isaiah 6:1-8)Isaiah 6:1-8 - 1 In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one called to another and said: "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!" 4 And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. 5 And I said: "Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!" 6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 And he touched my mouth and said: "Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for." 8 And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?" Then I said, "Here am I! Send me." We sing with passion and joy, but the words and music of our songs are carefully chosen to reflect God's majesty and the grandeur of His grace, and the fact that we are standing in the presence of the King of Kings. We believe that our focus in worship must be on the biblical realities of God's person and redemptive work on our behalf, not first on our feelings and experiences. At the same time, the grace of God which we receive is unfathomable in its richness, and so we respond to Him with hearts full of joy and gratitude. As Hebrews 12 says, "Let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe; for our God is a consuming fire." Our Sunday Morning worship services begin with a Call to Worship, where we acknowledge that we are in God's presence, and proclaim His majesty. We confess our faith in Him by reciting the Nicene Creed together, and we confess our sins to Him and meditate on His amazing grace to us in Christ Jesus. We believe that in the worship service, God desires to speak to us through His Word, and to transform us by the renewing of our minds. For this reason, scripture-reading and preaching are prized and emphasized centrally in the service. Since the worship service means that God's people are coming before His Throne of Grace to receive covenant mercy and grace, the redemptive work of Christ is always the climax of each service. This means that we end our service by gathering together at the Lord's Table in celebration of His great atoning work on our behalf. Throughout the entire service, we lift our hearts and voices in reverent and joyful song to the Lord as we respond to His majesty and goodness to us. We use the Trinity Hymnal as the basis for our singing of Psalms and Hymns to God. To learn more about the subject of worship, please click here to listen to a series of messages on the subject. Previous Page: About Our Church | Next Page: Whom We Welcome To The Lord's Table |
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