Thoughts from Pastor Tim      

As the worship committee is forming and as Pughtown Baptist Church (PBC) is looking for better ways in which we can worship as a community, I thought it would be good to re-run an article from a previous newsletter that helps us understand the structure of our Sunday morning worship service. Here it is:

In the two years that I have pastored PBC, we have seen some of the most visible changes in our Sunday morning worship service. I want to take some time to help us understand our Sunday morning experience together. So, I will break down the Sunday morning service to you piece by piece.

Pre- Worship
When you enter the sanctuary, the worship team is usually singing one or two songs that will begin to set the atmosphere for the morning worship service. These are songs that the worship team plays by themselves (or Soh Yeong plays on the piano) as an invitation for you to begin to settle yourself down and open your heart for worship. This is a good time for everyone who attends the service to pray, listen to the songs, meditate or do whatever you have to do to open your heart for worship.

Coming into the Presence of the Lord:
All of us come together on Sunday mornings with many things going on in our hearts and many concerns in our lives. At the beginning of the worship service, we plan a couple of songs, scriptures and prayers to slow our selves down and focus our hearts on the Lord. This time in the worship service is intended to help us recognize that God is with us always, and that His presence is with us as we are gathered together. Songs such as "Come, Now is the Time to Worship," "Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee," and "Spirit of the Living God" are songs that we sing in order to help us focus our hearts heavenward. Whether the worship team sings and the congregation listens, or we share in a responsive reading of scripture or we spend time praying or the congregation joins the worship team as a choir, this time is intended for us to cast aside the worries of our day and connect with the Living God who is in our midst. Our goal is to come into the presence of the Lord, just as many of our ancestors and biblical heroes have - Moses (Exodus 6), Isaiah (Isaiah 6), etc. Our goal is to recognize and worship God for all of His glory.

This part of the service is also a time where we start to introduce the Word of the Lord that we are going to hear during the sermon. So, many times we will sing something that speaks to the sermon topic or scripture of the sermon. Once again, this part of the worship service is meant for us to prepare our selves to encounter the Word of the Lord as we are in His presence.

Hearing the Word of the Lord:
As we have prepared our hearts for worship and hearing the Word of the Lord, we then take time to open the Scriptures and see what they have to say to us through the sermon. The sermon is intended to be a multi-sensory encounter with the Word of God. Each Sunday, you will hear me preach the Word of the Lord. On most Sundays, you will see the main points and Scriptures projected onto the wall. I have also been encouraging you to bring your Bible with you in order that you may see the scriptures first-hand. There is also an outline in the bulletin of the sermon in order that you may follow along with a sermon guide in your hand. There is usually enough space on the sermon outline for you to write down a poignant thought or scripture reference that strikes your heart. There is usually also enough space for you take notes to refer back to later on in the week as you continue to let the word of the Lord speak to you.

The congregation’s job in this portion of the service is not just to listen to the sermon. Acts 17: 10-12 (Paul was preaching in Berea) shows us that the congregation’s job is threefold. First, the Bereans received the message preached by Paul. The congregation’s first job is to receive the preached message. Secondly. they examined the scriptures see if the message was true. The congregation's second job is to examine the words of the preacher and see if they are true. Do they match up with what the scriptures say? Thirdly, Acts 17: 12 says that "many of the Jews believed." After they discovered that the words of Paul were true, they believed what he had to say and developed their relationship with Jesus. The congregation’s third job is that if the words of the preacher are true, then to take them and use them to grow closer in their relationship with Jesus.

Responding to the Word of the Lord:
We then take time to respond to the preaching of the Word. Our response comes in many different ways. The congregation is led in singing and pray ing as we reflect on the message. Many times the songs that we sing are connected to the sermon’s message. This is a time for you to respond per. sonally. How has the Word of the Lord impacted you today? As we sing and pray, this is a time to apply the sermon to your life. Is there a commit ment that you need to make as a result of the ser mon? This is a time to make that commitment to God. Has the Word revealed to you a larger pic ture of Gods grace, compassion, mercy or love? This is the time to thank the Lord in song and prayer.

Another way that we respond to the Lord is by giving back to God what God deserves. God has blessed us with so many things - family and loved ones, homes and treasured possessions, etc. Part of our worship is to give back to Him the many blessings that He has given to us. So, we take an offering as a way of responding to the great love of the Lord - to thank Him for all that God has done for us. We also connect the offering to the special music, as a musician gives back a piece of the musical gift that God has given to them.

Praise and Celebration:
We end our service with a time of praise and cele bration. We praise God for the mighty things that He has done in and through our lives. We cele brate that God so loved the world that he gave His only begotten Son. This portion of the service usu ally begins with the sharing of praises, testimonies and prayer concerns. I like to ask, "How have you seen God working in or through your life in the past week?" These are things that we need to praise God for and celebrate with Him. As we also share prayer requests, we share them knowing that God is interested in our lives and holds our lives in the palm of His Hand - another reason to praise God. We then take time to pray and celebrate with God the testimonies of how He is working in our lives. We also take time to call upon Him to continue to move powerfully in this community and in this world.

We then close the service by singing songs of celebration and praise... songs like "You are Holy": and "Victory in Jesus." These songs help us to praise God for His mighty works in our midst. As we lift our voices, we are asked to give our hearts directly to God as we praise Him. As we sing, we join with those who have been praising God’s name throughout history. As we worship the Lord through song, we experience a foretaste of the heavenly choirs that will praise God throughout eternity.

Our Sunday morning worship service closes with a benediction, where the congregation receives the blessing of the Lord as we head back out into the world in order to share God love in our community, workplaces, families and to the ends of the earth.

I look forward to continuing to unite with the congregation as we praise and worship God together each and every Sunday morning!

Pastor Tim,

Updated March 5, 2008