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Sunday Worship
I rejoiced with those who said to me, "Let us go to
the house of the LORD" Psalm 122:1.
Every church has its own style of worship. I think you’ll enjoy the
services here at Grace Lutheran Church, but as in any church you
should expect it to take a couple of Sundays to become accustomed to
our way of praising God together.
Each week the outline of the service is printed in the service folder which will be handed out to you as your enter the
church sanctuary. The service folder directs us to the hymns,
Psalms and liturgy (or path of worship) that we use in our hymnal
called Christian Worship. The Bible readings and the prayers are
also printed there for you in the service folder. You are
certainly welcome to bring along your
own Bible and follow along with it if you prefer.
Our services focus on readings from the Bible. There
we hear God talk to us. Music and singing are an important part of
our services, too. Loud or soft, in monotone or rich harmony, all
our praises are music to God.
The services usually include the following
parts in a variety of forms:
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The Invocation:
We begin our Christian worship service by calling on the name of
our Savior God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
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Admitting sins and finding
forgiveness: We acknowledge that we have not been or done
what God asks. Then we are assured of forgiveness by the
pastor because of what Jesus has
done for us.
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Bible Readings:
Our pastor reads from
God’s Old Testament prophets, Jesus’ apostles, and from Jesus
Himself in the New Testament gospels.
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Sermon: Our pastor
offers instruction and encouragement in a Bible based sermon.
Expect God’s grace and guidance for dealing with problems but
most importantly expect to hear the
promise of eternal life in heaven through Jesus, God's answer to
our sin.
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Response to the Word: We respond
to God's amazing grace with offerings and prayers for the things
He has promised to us
and for strength to do what He has asked.
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Holy Communion (celebrated the last Sunday of
each month): According to the institution of our Lord
Jesus, He offers us His true body and blood together with bread
and wine for a tangible and personal assurance of our
forgiveness. The Bible also teaches that Communion is a
wonderfully intimate expression of our oneness of faith.
Accordingly we practice "closed" communion and invite to the
altar those who have expressed their agreement with the
teachings of our church family as drawn from the Bible through
membership. This is in no way a judgment on anyone's faith.
Everyone is welcome to stay to the close of the service.
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Benediction, or parting blessing: We hear one last
assurance of God’s loving care as we begin a new week of His
grace.
Mixed throughout these different parts of our
service are hymns and songs of praise to God.
Our services use traditional forms and modern language
and application. The traditional brings us the best from God’s
Church throughout the ages and the contemporary brings God’s
promises and His will into our daily lives. We hope you enjoy
both.
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Dress
Perhaps you're wondering "What do I wear to a church
I've never visited before?"
Since the Bible presents no dress code,
aside from simple decency and Christian humility, Grace Lutheran Church
doesn’t make any rules either.
Like most people, our members try to make their
worship time at church a special time, and so this is often reflected in
the way they dress.
But dress is a personal matter of worship before God.
One may dress casually and rejoice that we have a God who accepts us
as we are. Another may dress to reflect the awe and reverence we
have for our Savior King.
On any given Sunday at our church you may see jeans or
suits, open collars or ties, running shoes or high heels. When a
person dresses out of love for God, the choice of dress (casual or
more formal) is acceptable to God . . . and us. If you
would happen to glance at Pastor Glaeske's feet, you'd be sure to notice
a shiny black pair of cowboy boots!
Offerings
"When will they take the offering?" "How will it
be collected?" "How much am I expected to give?" "Do they want
visitors to contribute too?" These are typical worries about
church offerings.
The Bible teaches that our offerings to God should
reflect our belief that all we have is His gift to us. It teaches us
that with our offerings we worship and honor God.
Like most Christians, our members bring offerings to
God through their church. Since offerings are gifts of love for God
who loved us first,
no one dictates what each person is to give.
We pass an offering plate during the service so that
our worship may include bringing gifts to God. You would notice in
the worship folder that we have a paragraph that reads like this:
(The members of Grace have joined
together to spread God’s message both in this community and around
the world. If you are a visitor you are welcome to give an offering,
but please do not feel obligated to participate. You are our guests
and we thank you for giving us the opportunity to share God’s Word
with you!)
You may wish at first to learn more about our ministry
before bringing your offerings to God through our church. But you
are welcome to participate as your heart leads you to
give.
A child may bring the quarters and dimes his parents
give him. Someone older may write a check. Both are remembering
Jesus and giving their gift out of love for Him.
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The Worst That Can
Happen
Attending church somewhere for the first time can be
intimidating. Here are some common worries:
"I would just die if they made me stand up and say
something." I assure you, we won’t embarrass you in this
or any other way! We want you to feel comfortable and at home with
us. Church should be an enjoyable and uplifting experience. We
promise to do all we can so you can learn about your Savior.
"I know my child is going to be too noisy."
I assure you that no one will look down on you for this. Your
entire family will be welcome. Your children are little lambs that
are precious to Jesus, the Good Shepherd, and so to us also. And for
your convenience we have a nursery room right in the back of church
where you can feel free to take your child at any time during the service.
"I know I will feel out of place." I hope
that this visitor's guide will ease your mind, but if you have a
question, please ask someone for help. Don’t hesitate to say, "I am
new. What is this about?" Someone will be delighted to assist you.
"I am afraid I will say or do
something wrong." All of us have felt this way when in a
new situation. But I hope you see the people of Grace to be
ordinary people like yourself. We want to accept you as you are and
help you become what Christ wants you to be. We do not want to throw
cold water on that by a critical spirit.
"I just want to watch at first and I know that they
will try to involve me or sign me up." It's unpleasant to be
pressured or to be part of a "membership drive" as
though we were heads of cattle, isn’t
it? We believe that church membership should be a voluntary thing,
and that the most important thing is to trust in the Lord Jesus
Christ for forgiveness and salvation. We're not interested in
"adding another name to the rolls." We're interested in
bringing you into contact with the life-saving, life-changing Word
of God. Church membership takes time to be cultivated. People
need time to evaluate and decide if they wish further involvement.
We understand this and believe we should respect that need. Please
feel free to discuss your relationship with God with our pastor at
any time.
"I don’t know that much about the Bible." That's ok! Church
and Bible study are wonderful opportunities to grow in our knowledge of the
Bible and faith in Jesus. You won’t have to answer any questions you
don’t want to answer. Members of Grace are all at varying levels of
their Bible knowledge. And remember, sometimes the wisest words we
say are, "I don’t know."
To Find Out
More
If you'd like to
find out more about who we are and what our beliefs and practices
are, please refer to the
About Us page on this website.
Also, take some time to browse the rest of our website for all the
other things that are going on here at Grace.
A Final
Thought
We pray that this has helped answer some of your
questions and alleviate your fears. Our goals as a congregation are
quite simple. We have the greatest treasure that endures forever in
the Good News about God's grace in Jesus. We want to grow in our faith and share that faith with
people like you. Everything we do is meant to accomplish these two
goals. We pray that there is nothing that stands in your way from
learning more about your Savior.
Please do not hesitate to
contact
us if you have any
questions or if there is anything we can do for you.
God’s blessings to you, and we look forward to seeing
you in church.
Grace is handicapped accessible
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