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Worship At LMCC
Our Desire
We, as worshipers at LMCC, desire to continually grow in our understanding of God's person and character. He is infinitely worthy of our worship.
Definition of Worship
Worship is the act of declaring to God His worth, affirming who He is and what He has done, and responding to Him in praise, adoration, thanksgiving, awe, and submission.
Priesthood of Believers
We affirm that worship is the responsibility of the people. For this reason, we give high priority to vibrant congregational singing. We regard the congregation as our first and foremost choir. Soloists, choirs, announcements, and even the preaching of God’s word should not be allowed to crowd out the time allotted to congregational praise. We also have worshipers (i.e., our people) lead in Scripture reading and prayer.
Order of Service
We seek to achieve an integrated worship service that flows, including the essentials of prayer, Scripture reading, singing, praise, an offering, and the sermon. Yet we also seek variety in the service from week to week. In the ordering of the service, the arrangement can vary from a number of short items, to long, continuous sections (e.g., ten minutes of uninterrupted singing). Either means can be effective, and we plan to use both. At other times we may incorporate a "morning praise" pre‑service for the purpose of teaching new and old hymns and songs, to prepare our people for worship and to instruct our people concerning worship. Additionally, Prayer, Scripture reading, and congregational praise are not seen as "preliminaries" before the sermon. We seek a service that is truly a worship service.
Performance
Worship entails a performance dimension whereby the people are the performers, the leaders are the prompters, and God is the audience. Our focus is to minister first to the Lord and then to one another. In this way we can guard against the kind of performance that is ego based and entertainment oriented. In general, the selection of worship leaders/contributors is based on skill, giftedness, and the demonstration of a credible Christian lifestyle.
Balance
- Balance of Receiving and Responding
Many evangelical services are really teaching services (not worship services). The people come to “get something from the main event (the sermon),” rather than to “offer something to God (praise and adoration).” Actually, both are critical and need not be ranked in some priority, or otherwise considered antithetical. Rather, they should be held as complementary to one another. We seek both to receive and to respond.
Trend setters should be encouraged to learn the great old hymns of the faith (which often contain great lines of theology) and become acquainted with their rich historic past. In the sam way, traditionalists should be willing to learn fresh, new songs. Each must respect the other and be willing to stretch and grow.
In the Sunday morning services, we mainly seek songs that put the emphasis upward, on our relationship with God (i.e., singing "to" the Lord, Eph. 5:19; Col. 3:16; Rev. 5:9‑10, 12‑13). Generally, the lyrics address God and/or speak of who God is, and what He has done (or is doing, or will do), rather than talk of our own experience. At the same time, relational fellowship songs (i.e., "addressing" and "admonishing" one another, Eph. 5:19; Col. 3:16), evangelistic songs (l Cor. 14:24), and other songs with sentimental value are not be excluded.
Our God is both personal and majestic. Therefore, in our worship services, we desire to project both a sense of intimacy and a sense of God's power and greatness.
In the oral tradition, one learns from a teacher (without the use of any printed medium) and repeats the material until everything in the end result is memorized. Material is getting into one's long‑term memory ‑‑it is being internalized. The material then becomes available for singing at home, at work, or while driving on the freeway; thus making possible the scriptural injunction to sing and make melody in your heart (Eph. 5:19). Contrawise, in the written tradition, the learner reads the new or old material, and memorization is not a critical component. In our congregational singing on a given Sunday morning, we intend to sing some things by memory and to read some things. We feel we should always be working toward the long‑term goal of having the people memorize (as much as possible) all songs and hymns. Accordingly, we may repeat a hymn or song of outstanding value on consecutive Sundays to aid the process of memorization. There is the added benefit also that when our people know selections by memory they are freer to focus on God rather than the printed page.
We encourage the use of a wide variety of sound sources, even though the human, corporate voice (congregational choir) is the essential element. In the Old Testament, the sound sources included string, woodwind, brass and percussion instruments.
Often, our worship will be simple, heartfelt, and unadorned. But at other times, it may be rich and elaborate in ceremony, pageantry, drama, and symbolism, as befits the occasion.
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Balance of Verbal Proclamation and Symbolical Communication
The verbal elements of prayer, Scripture reading, public praise, preaching, teaching and singing can find balance with symbolic communication such as the Lord's Supper, Baptism, drama and the visual arts.
Formation of the Choir
We will mount an occasional choir during holiday seasons, or for other occasions befitting a more formal presentation of God's truth in song.
Adaptation to our Culture
When we can do so without biblical compromise, we will willingly adapt/adjust to our culture's patterns in order to communicate in a relevant way the timeless truths of Scripture.
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