Christian Life Assembly - How We Worship

What to expect and Why

“We’ve never done church this way before!”

If this is your first time at Christian Life Assembly, you may find our worship service unlike any you’ve been in before. The format today will include several different aspects. This program has been put together to give you a “Play by Play” guide. Although God has the prerogative of changing and interrupting “our order of service”, most of the elements listed should be a part of what will go on while you’re here today. Don’t let a traditional “hang-up” keep you from something new. We’re not a traditional church for good reason. Jesus warned that some religious traditions could actually hinder God’s work. Matt. 15:6. So we have endeavored to let the scripture, rather than tradition be our guide. Stick around, observe and feel free to participate with us today.

Sincerely,
Bob Maddux
Senior Pastor

Jubilant Worship

We usually begin ‘church’ with a time of congregational singing. Although this is a common practice in most churches, there may be a few surprises awaiting you. First of all our worship is enthusiastic. To someone who comes from a more traditional background, this may be a bit of a shock. Often church is pictured as a place only of quiet contemplation. Nothing could be farther from what the Bible teaches. We do have periods of stillness, but also times of loud rejoicing. Heaven’s like that. The apostle John describes heaven as a place of thunderous praise and loud music. Rev 5:11,12. When Jesus came to Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, loud praise greeted Him. John 12:13. In the temple He was surrounded by children shouting their praise. Matt. 21:15. In some churches the organ music can be loud. Here guitars and percussion join with keyboards. Instruments are part of the ensemble around God’s throne. Rev. 5:8. In another section of this brochure entitled “How We Worship” you can read the biblical references for several of our worship practices. One other thing that may be surprising is the length of our singing time. Worship is something to be enjoyed. Once you really get into it, 20 minutes seems less then adequate. God invites us to rise above our earthly environment and commune with Him. This can require longer than we might think, but once you’ve laid aside distractions and “pressed” through, you will find yourself arriving at a place of “High Praise” Ps. 149:6 and the language of the heart overrides the clutter of the ordinary. I encourage you; since you’ve come to church to “find out” more about God, don’t waste your visit by shutting down before you’ve really arrived.

Spiritual Gifts

Usually during our worship times, there will be the demonstration of “spiritual gifts”. If you’re used to hearing only the pastor or some other leader speak in church, this will also be different for you. As different as it may appear, it is clear from the Bible that God intends for different members of the church to minister. We believe in the “Priesthood of the believer”. I Peter 2:9. In other words all of God’s people with proper training and faith can express “gifts” from God if they do it at the proper time and place. One of those “gifts” you may observe today could be the gift of prophecy. This is a vocal gift that involves the person speaking out to the congregation a message they believe they’ve received from God. The message can be uplifting, comforting and challenging. I Cor. 14:3. Scripture teaches that those who hear it must analyze its value for them with a sincere heart. Another gift that may be expressed is the gift of tongues. This involves the speaker giving an utterance that is in a language unknown to the speaker and the listener. After it’s given, it will be followed by an “interpretation” in English. As with prophecy this message must be evaluated by the listener with a sincere but discerning heart.

You may also hear individuals speaking to themselves in tongues. The apostle Paul taught that this expression is for personal building up and not something for the entire congregation. I Cor. 14:28.

Other gifts that may be in operation today can be gifts of healing, words of wisdom and knowledge. 1 Cor. 12:9,10. All of these gifts are for the exalting of God and for the building up of those who are in attendance.

Offering and Announcements

If you’ve ever been in a church service, you know there’s almost always an offering. Those who attend here regularly support the church with their tithes, (one-tenth of their income) as well as offerings to special projects such as relief of the poor and support of missionaries. Please do not feel obligated to participate in the offering. As our guest, we only ask that you fill out and turn in a welcome card.

During our announcements one of our associate pastors usually brings the congregation up-to-date on events of interest. Prior to the offering our senior pastor often shares something “on his heart” to keep the church current on special issues.

The Sermon

There are many styles of preaching in the Christian world. Some pastors read their messages, others are completely extemporaneous. Although we lean more towards the latter, many hours of study have gone into the preparation of the message. To assist you in your understanding of the sermon a visual outline is provided through “power point” projected on the screen. Sometimes other visual and audio tools will be used as well. Brief skits may be part of an illustrated sermon. “Human Videos” where the speakers pantomime the words of a song, even clips of video may be inserted to “bring home” the point and make it relevant to where we live today. God’s prophets in the Old Testament used visual teachings. Although they didn’t have video projectors and sound systems they did at times act out their sermons in hopes of getting through to their audience. Ezk. 4:1,2. Even though we may use some of these techniques, the foundation for all our messages is the Bible. We use a modern translation of the scripture (NIV) but often refer to the original Greek or Hebrew text for clarification.

Prayer Times and Altar Services

These are parts of the church meeting where individuals are invited to receive special attention for spiritual needs ie. prayer for sickness or spiritual direction. The pastor may invite people to come forward for prayer. Jesus said that a public acknowledgement of Him would result in his special blessing. He called all his apostles publicly. He publicly prayed for the sick and hurting. When Jesus ministered to people at times “great emotion” was expressed. Luke 17:15. Although people crying publicly and struggling with deep issues of the heart may appear out of place in our sanitized 21st century American culture, it was a serious part of all Bible life. God’s people wept, shouted, knelt, shook and even fell down when overcome by the deep emotion of an encounter with God. Rev. 1:17. From Moses to the apostle John, the scriptures are full of accounts where people did the unusual when confronted with the reality of a God who knows all things and requires complete honesty and openness when we approach Him.