Our worship

It's been a challenging week, and you're off to church. What do you need there? A friendly and caring atmosphere? Encouragement and power so you can leave behind last week's failures and move confidently into a new week? To be connected to something far bigger and better than your daily life?

Lutheran worship meets this need because it is saturated with the gospel, the good news of God's love in Christ. This message is far more than information; it is also "the power of God" (Romans 1:16).

Of course, divine power is nothing if we think our week has been "good enough" for a perfect God. Lutheran worship doesn't minimize the reality of sin and its consequences. This makes elements of worship serious, a spiritual "reality check," but a reality solved and healed by God's grace.

The dominant message isn't sin and failure; it's forgiveness and encouragement. Lutheran worship showcases this transforming and empowering "gospel focus" within the framework of the historic and timeless Christian liturgy. We follow the Christian calendar for its annual review of the life and work of Jesus and to apply those events to our lives.

Lessons from the Bible help us to see both the bad news of our failures and the meaning of Jesus' life, death, and resurrection—to pay for our sins and guarantee eternity for each of us. The sermon sticks with God's message, not the pastor's opinion or other agendas. Holy Communion is a special way by which God forgives us and empowers our lives.

Praise, prayer, and song fill out the menu. These enable both our faith-filled responding to God's love as well as our shared telling of God's message. Since our praise tells "the story," it is two-dimensional: directed to God and to each other. We praise God by retelling the story of his deeds for the salvation of the world. We use songs that span centuries, connecting us with the Church across millennia.