Why should I go to church?

While God calls us to worship Him in private and in families, He also calls us to worship Him corporately on the Lord’s Day. The fact that our Sunday morning worship is corporate has a few implications.

– The congregation participates as a body. Thus, we use some forms like hymns and written prayers and responses for the congregation to say together, as well as extemporaneous prayer led by the pastor, to which the congregation assents by saying “amen.”

– Our gathering is inclusive of the whole covenant community. It ought to manifest the unity of the church without favoritism (James 2:1-4). This gathering includes our children (Deut. 31:12, Mark 10:13-16), since we believe the children of believers are heirs of the covenant and members of the church (Acts 2:38-39, 1 Cor. 7:14, Gen. 17:7).

– We worship in unity with the historical church. The church transcends our period in history and includes those who have gone before and continue to worship God in heaven. We benefit by using an order of worship that is shaped by centuries of use and biblical reflection. In addition to biblical Psalms, we sing hymns produced by the church over the past two thousand years.

While we worship in a way understandable in our age, it will seem traditional and “churchy” to many. We desire to avoid fads and to have a multi-generational vision for worship.