Worship
Each Sunday Morning the family of Grace Lutheran Church gather together at 10:00 a.m. for a time of worshiping our God. We come together to lift our voices in praise and thanksgiving to God for all that he has done for us. Our services are liturgical services, meaning we follow a written order of service which includes the singing of hymns and responsively chanting God's Word to him as the most sincere form of praise.
Our services begin with Confession and Absolution each week. As we reflect on how we have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, we lay our failings at the foot of the cross as we confess to God our sorrow and our repentance. As a response to our plea for mercy, the Pastor stands before us as the servant of Christ and announces to us the forgiveness of our sins.
We then pray for the mercy of God on our worship as we build toward hearing the Word of God read to us. Our readings follow the Three Year lectionary adopted by the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod. Generally we hear a passage from the Old Testament, followed by a portion of one of the letters of the New Testament, and conclude with a selection from one of the four gospels. As we conclude the readings of scripture, we join together and confess our common faith through one of the creeds of the Christian faith (Apostles', Nicene, or Athanasian Creed).
God in his grace accepts our worship and gives us gifts in return. After hearing from God's Word a sermon, or message, is preached by Pastor Matthews. The message is most often based upon the Gospel reading for the day, although on occasion he selects one of the other readings as the text for our contemplation.
Following the sermon, we lift up our prayers to God as we anticipate his hearing and responding to our praises and requests.
As we bask in the grace of God, we are blessed to celebrate Holy Communion each Sunday. As we receive the true Body and true Blood of Jesus Christ our Lord, in with and under the bread and the wine, we once again receive the forgiveness of sins and are assured of our salvation. God truly does give us wonderful gifts as we gather in his name.
As we close our service, we look forward to the week to come when we can share the love of Christ and the grace we received in the service with others.
Following the worship service all people are invited to join together in the education wing of the Church for a time of informal fellowship sharing Lutheran Coffee and light snacks.