St. Luke, the author of Acts writes: Acts 2:42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. These words define the essence of worship in the early church. Worship consisted of: teaching, fellowship, receiving the Lord’s Supper and prayer. These basic elements are central to Lutheran worship. In the worship service teaching comes though the sermon and interpretation of the scripture. It comes through musical texts that open up our upstanding about God. Fellowship has to do with relationship with two: God and His people. We fellowship with the Lord when we worship Him. We fellowship with each other as we share the peace, pray for one another, respond to each other before and after the service. We are nourished in worship when we share and partake in the Sacrament of Holy Communion. However, worship is much more than these four acts.

In The Purpose Driven Life/Created for God’s Pleasure, Rick Warren writes: “My first purpose is to love God back. There’s a word for this kind of love. It’s a word that we misunderstand so a lot of people don’t use it. It’s the word, ‘worship.’ Worship is knowing and loving God back. When I say the word ‘worship’ what do you think of? You may think of prayer. You may think of singing. You may think of liturgy or Holy Communion or going to church, or something you do in church. Worship is far, far more than all those things. My first purpose in life is to worship God. It’s your primary objective. It’s your highest priority. It’s your number one purpose in life.

Probably the best verse that defines worship in the Bible – your very first purpose – is Romans 12:1 ‘Because of God’s great mercy to us, offer yourselves as a living sacrifice to God dedicated to His service and pleasing to Him. This is the true worship that you should offer.’ Worship is the way I react, I respond to God when He loves me. That’s what worship is and why we celebrate our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”

Each Sunday at 8:30 a.m. we have a blended worship service that uses both elements of contemporary praise music and traditional worship styles. In a more relaxed and casual environment, music is provided by piano, guitar, vocalists or other instruments.

Our traditional Lutheran worship services takes place at 11:00 a.m. and uses the Lutheran Book of Worship as our primary source. Organ, handbells, instruments and a Chancel Choir provide the music. This 11:00 a.m. service is broadcast live each week on Time Warner Cable Channel 20 to bring God’s message to the local community.  Our most recent sermons are also available in video and audio format in the video ministries section of our website.