Worship services at First Church are not just a time for personal acts of devotion but a communal expression of faith where we engage with God through his Word and our interactions with others. As the people of God, we celebrate our salvation, affirm our identity, and glorify our Lord through worship. It is also how we overcome our differences and come together as one unified body of Christ.
We are a diverse group of people at First Church. Perhaps we are not racially diverse, but we come from different backgrounds, denominations, and worship experiences. We have grown up and lived in other parts of the country and have diverse preferences, opinions, and perspectives. We are not a homogeneous congregation but a mosaic of God’s grace. However, our diversity does not mean that we are divided. On the contrary, our diversity is a gift that enriches our fellowship and enhances our worship. As the Apostle Paul declared, “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28).
When we worship together, we declare our union with Christ and each other. We proclaim our shared belief in Christ as our redeemer through corporate worship. We sing with one voice, pray with one heart, and celebrate one story of redemption. Both as individuals and as the church, we confess our sins acknowledging that we have fallen short of the glory of God. We receive God’s forgiveness and grace, not just for ourselves but for the whole community of faith.
All the actions of worship are simultaneously an individual declaration and a statement by the congregation of our love for God and our belief in his Word and his work in our lives and the church. We commit ourselves individually and as a church through the Sacraments of Communion and Baptism. For only together are we the body of Christ, receiving the gift of salvation from the Word made flesh.
We are united because we all have failed and fallen short of the glory of God. No one person needs grace more than another. We all need the same gift of redemption as we all depend on God’s grace and mercy. We are all called to repent and have faith. We are all invited to join God’s family, a people who once were lost but now are redeemed. Recognizing that all Christians need the gift of God’s love demonstrated equally through the death of Christ, we are compelled to respond to this gift not only individually but also as a community.
Together, we celebrate our identity as God’s people and our adoption as his children. We rejoice in the privilege of being part of God’s kingdom and mission and affirm our common bond and purpose as followers of Christ. Worship is not just a collection of rituals and practices but a narrative of God’s love and action in history and our lives. Worship is how we hear and live out God’s story together. Worship shapes us into the image of Christ and empowers us to live as his witnesses in the world.
The church in Acts, led by the Spirit, understood the power of worship to unify a community. Acts 2 tells us that the newly formed Christian church participated in acts of worship together. They listened to the Word of God, fellowshipped, prayed, ate, and praised God. Their unity through worship drew people to their community and God, and our constant worship is to be Christian witnesses to the lost. We love and worship God by loving our neighbors; love is the ultimate form of Christian unity. As God is love, the Body of Christ—the church—is defined by the love it shows its members and the world. Loving our neighbor is our constant worship, witness, and bond.
Corporate worship is a foretaste of the feast to come where all God’s people will worship him and give him the glory due his name in eternity. Worship anticipates the day when every tribe, tongue, and nation will bow before the throne of God and the Lamb and sing the new song of praise. It prepares us for the ultimate and final unity of the people of God in his presence. As the heart and soul of the church, worship is how we as the people of God yield to the Spirit and unite in love through Christ to glorify God.
by Jeff Faux, Director of Sacred Arts
