How We Worship

We worship on the first day of the week, on Sunday, after the tradition of early Christians (Acts 20:7; 1 Corinthians 16:2).

The first day of the week was also known as “the Lord’s day” (Revelation 1:10). It was the day of Christ’s resurrection (Matthew 28:1-6; Mark 16:1-8; Luke 24:1-8; John 20:1), and it was also the day the risen Christ appeared to His disciples as they gathered together (John 20:19).

Obviously, those reasons have led Christians to meet for worship on the first day of the week. The writings of the early church fathers also bear witness to those facts. So, we also according to this biblical tradition, rejoice and worship the Lord.

In order to help you better prepare for coming to our church, here is what you can expect during our worship service.

Martin Luther said that "music is next to theology". We believe that the songs we sing must give praise and glory to God.

During our worship service (and also fellowship meetings), we sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs (Ephesians 5:19). In terms of musical instruments, we use the piano and organ for our worship. We have the occasional violin and other orchestral instruments during special presentations.

We avoid playing contemporary Christian music (CCM) in our worship services. We find that most CCM set their music and lyrics to the music of the present age, namely rock and pop. CCM, generally, is quite indistinguishable from secular rock and pop. Additionally, the lyrics of many contemporary songs tend to lack the gravitas and solemnity of old-time hymns.

The primary focus of the worship service is on the preaching and teaching of the Word of God. We have a particular order of worship in order to help the congregation to focus on the preaching of God's word. Here is how a typical Sunday service would look like.

The worship leader—an Elder, Deacon, or Preacher—appointed for the day will start by reading a portion of Scripture. Following the reading of Scripture, there will be a hymn of praise. The song here usually reminds us of God's goodness in the past week.

After the first hymn, the worship leader will lead the congregation in prayer. After the invocatory prayer, we will usually sing the Gloria Patri (a short hymn of praise) or some other short song of praise.

A time of scripture reading will follow the invocation. The scripture passage chosen will be related to the sermon topic. Following the scripture reading, we will have a second hymn, usually a hymn of assurance.

After the second hymn, the worship leader will announce some upcoming events and activities of the church. This is to keep the congregation updated on weekly activities that they can attend in order to be spiritually nourished throughout the week.

Following the announcements, we will sing a third hymn, which is usually a hymn of consecration. This is to prepare the congregants for the hearing of the sermon.

At the end of the third hymn, the worship leader will hand the time over to the Pastor. The Pastor will take the pulpit, and first lead the congregation in a time of scripture memorisation. Usually, the Pastor will use this as a time to speak to the children as well. This is to help the children memorise God's Word.

The Pastor will then lead the congregation in prayer. He will pray for the church, both for specific and general matters.

After the pastoral prayer, the Pastor will then deliver the sermon for the day.

At the end of the sermon, we will sing a closing hymn. This hymn will generally recapitulate the key points of the sermon, helping the congregants to better remember the sermon.

The Pastor will then deliver the benediction—the pronouncement of God's blessing on the congregation.

After the benediction, the congregation is encouraged to take some time to silently meditate on the service and sermon before leaving the worship hall.