Our worship celebrates God in an understandable way.

How do you view God? Usually, our concept of God is rooted in our concept of our fathers. We may think that God doesn't laugh, doesn't cry, and doesn't know how to tell us that He loves us. Nothing could be further from the truth. The Bible reveals that God is a loving and strong God who offers healing and purpose to everyone who will come to Him. God isn't impressed by complex rituals or religious jargon. Rather, worship is our whole-hearted response to His love. We can come to God without pretense because He accepts us and loves us as we are. Therefore, worship at Grace Community encourages everyone to tell his/her story, to laugh or cry together, to experience God's life-changing love, and to celebrate that love together in ways that we all understand.

Here are six principles that guide our worship:

 

Music Worship Principle #1

Music engages the heart and mind in worship. It is a powerful tool for expression, and one that we seek to use to the fullest in communicating our love of God, our celebration of His goodness, and our love for the world in which He has placed us. But it is not a universal language: it is a learned vocabulary. At Grace Community, we seek to expand that vocabulary of worship, utilizing music from many different traditions of Christian faith.

Newness Worship Principle #2

In the Bible, we see the use of both that which is ancient and time-honored, as well as that which is new and spontaneous. Worship at Grace Community incorporates both traditional music and liturgies, which ground us in the worship of The Church Universal, and contemporary music and newly-created prayers and orders for worship, which allow us to express ourselves in our contemporary culture and to use the creative imagination God has given us.

Symbolism Worship Principle #3

We cannot see God because He is spirit. But we are beings made up of both material and spiritual aspects. In order for us to express our love, adoration and praise to God, we must use symbols. The most basic and ancient symbols we use to express worship are the bread and the cup of the Eucharist. But we recognize the symbolism of everything that is part of our worship space, from the way in which we arrange the seating to the art that is put on the walls. And we encourage the use of the visual arts in helping us to worship by encouraging those with artistic gifts to aid us in our worship.

Flow Worship Principle #4

God created us with a mind and emotions, as well as with a will. Worship should engage us in all ways, with intellectual and emotional tension and climax. Worship should not be boring or meaninglessly repetitive, as if we were only exerting our wills to worship. At Grace Community we want our worship to both challenge and stimulate the mind and heart.

Posture Worship Principle #5

God also created us with a body, so worship should involve our bodies, too. The Bible shows us many ways to use our bodies to worship God. Here are some examples: standing (Neh. 9:2-3); kneeling (Psalm 95:6); clapping (Psalm 47:1); raising our hands (Psalm 134:2). Each of these actions demonstrates recognition of a different aspect of God: His majesty, His creatorship, His sovereignty, His power for healing, and His love. These postures are another part of the vocabulary of worship that we are learning at Grace Community.

Community Worship Principle #6

God calls us to worship Him together. The pictures of worship in the Bible are often of great throngs of people worshiping God together. A worship service is not a group of individuals, who just happen to be in close proximity to each other. Instead, we recognize that we are called to join together in worshiping God as a collective body, as a community brought together by God's grace. We worship as Grace Community.

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This information is also available in brochure form. Visit us on Sunday and pick one up!