We worship God because God created us to worship Him. Worship is at the center of our existence; it is at the heart of our reason for living. It encompasses all of life and takes the form of both public (corporate) worship and private worship. Whether public or private, worship is the spiritual work of the church wherein the triune God is glorified and believers are edified. The end of worship is the glory of God; therefore our deepest desire and supreme goal is to offer worship that is reverent, purposeful, holy, orderly, joyful, and heartfelt. Our worship should be the very best we can bring to the Lord.
We seek to engage in corporate worship that is genuine and biblical, worship that celebrates the glorious attributes and perfections of all three persons of the Trinity, worship that is sacrificial and sacramental, worship that is Christ-centered and gospel-oriented, and worship that is offered by a covenant community seeking to worship in spirit and in truth. Our worship should be carefully planned and prepared with each element of the service building upon and reinforcing the Scripture lesson of the day. This requires communication, cooperation, and commitment from all the worship leaders.
As a church committed to the principles of Reformed Theology and Presbyterian polity, we strive to engage in forms of worship that are authorized by our sovereign God and that are pleasing and acceptable to Him; therefore we rely upon his holy, infallible, and inerrant Word to instruct us with regard to those elements of worship that are appropriately included in our services of worship. In that regard, we seek to be guided by the “Directory for the Worship of God” included in the book of Church Order of the Presbyterian Church in America. Our utmost concern is that our worship be pleasing to God who is the object and subject of our worship.
While worship is necessarily vertical, directed toward God and for his benefit, it is also horizontal, extending to the family of faith, which joins together as a community of priests to honor God. It must, therefore, be inclusive and congregational and, with reasonable effort, accessible for everyone. Congregants are encouraged to focus body, mind, and spirit in active participation, thereby pleasing God by our attention to the importance of every facet of the worship experience. Worship is hard work; we acknowledge that to intelligently and continually worship through a service requires careful concentration. Our goal is to engage in worship that strengthens the church by promoting unity, enhancing relationships, and building community.
Our worship is primarily for God and secondarily for believers; as such, it includes an element of evangelism. As an unbeliever encounters genuine worship, he or she inherently encounters God’s presence. It is our hope that this encounter will be an encouragement to turn to God in faith and glorify Him along with the church. For this reason our worship should be inviting, welcoming, and understandable for visitors, though not at the expense of the sanctity of worshiping God according to His commands and the needs of the church. We pray that God will use our worship to speak to the heart of the unbeliever.
God alone is worthy of worship. To praise Him is to recognize that He is unconditionally superior to us in every respect. Because of his incomparable greatness, we find our greatest pleasure in pleasing Him. To God and God alone be the glory!