Worship

What is worship like at SGRC?

Christ Centered

Our worship is first and foremost "Christian" worship.

A public worship service is Christian when the worshipers recognize that Christ is the Mediator by whom alone they can come to God, when they honor Christ as the Head of the church who rules over public worship, and when their worship is an expression of their faith in Christ and of their love for him.

For this reason, our worship is conducted in a manner that plainly expresses a conscious reliance upon the mediation and merits of Jesus Christ. 

It is only through Jesus Christ that we can have boldness to approach the holy God.

Biblical

Because Scripture is our ultimate authority, it defines not only our theology (what we believe about God) but also how we are to worship Him. This is what we refer to as the “Regulative Principle of Worship.” The Regulative Principle of Worship says that we are to worship God only in the manner He has commanded us in His Word. 

For this reason, you will not find entertainment focused worship at Sovereign Grace Reformed Church. Our worship is simple, reverent, Scripturally grounded, Christ centered, Bible saturated worship. Each Lord's Day as God's Word is read and preached, we respond by praying, singing, confessing our faith, giving thanks, and receiving the sacraments. 

Orderly (Liturgical)

A "liturgy", simply put, is what people do when they worship. All churches have a liturgy because all churches have a certain way they do things during their worship services. (Unless they are pure chaos!) 

Because public worship is not an individual activity, we want everyone to be able to participate in an informed and meaningful way. For this reason, we have a printed liturgy (order of worship). 

Having a printed liturgy (printed prayers, responses, confessions, and adorations) allows us to worship corporately as one body. In this way everyone can be involved in worship together.

It also allows us to worship Biblically (as mentioned above) and dialogically (as mentioned below).

Dialogical

As stated above, when Christians meet together for public worship on the Lord's Day, it's not merely a gathering of God’s children with one another. Rather, it's before all else, a meeting of the Triune God with his covenant people. 

God is present in public worship, not only because he is an everywhere present Spirit, but much more intimately, as the faithful covenant Savior. For this reason, those in the Reformed and Presbyterian tradition see the order of worship as a dialogue between God and his covenant people. 

If you examine our "order of worship", you will notice it follows a specific pattern. If you look carefully, you will find a back and forth dialogue between God and his people.

God speaks (through his Word), and we respond (through praise, thanksgiving, and prayer).

This is known as the "dialogical principle."

When we gather together on the Lord's Day for public worship, we have the great privilege of hearing God speak to us though his Word, and to then respond to him as a congregation (not just individually).

In this way, our worship is a joyous experience of meeting together with our Glorious God!