"Intro to Our Church" Series Coming

We are starting a new series called “Intro to Our Church.” Over the month, we will explore the basic beliefs and structure of the Presbyterian Church as well as our particular church here in Mt. Vernon. The bigger picture of taking the time to do this is an effort to share the vision of our church’s mission in Mt. Vernon. Who are we called to be as individuals… as a congregation? What are our values and our ministries that reflect those values? This will be a fantastic experience for long-time, new, and prospective members of the church.

August will include a 9am discussion time and a 10am worship time where topics will be explored. As a sort of warmup, I would like to share with you the following explaination of worship from the latest issue of Presbyterians Today magazine on the “Building Blocks of Worship.” The following is a summary of that article.
For Christians in the Presbyterian/Reformed tradition, worship contains the following elements:
PRAISE As God’s people gather for worship, we focus our attention on God and away from ourselves.
CONFESSION We cannot come into the presence of our holy God without realizing our own sinfulness. When we confess, we do so for ourselves and for the church as a whole.
ASSURANCE Scripture calls us to confession and then assures us of God’s forgiving love.
ILLUMINATION Before attempting to listen for the Word of God, we pray for the Holy Spirit’s help to open our ears to hear and our hearts to receive what God is saying in the Scripture and through the sermon.
WORD The Word of God comes from Scripture. Interpretation of God’s Word comes through Spirit-inspired sermons, dramas, music, dance, or other forms of communication.
PRAYER Part of our response to God’s Word in prayer, which can come in many different forms and formats.
THANKSGIVING Our greatest rejoicing comes around Communion. We also express thankfulness in our offerings to God. We believe that our offerings are simply a return of a portion of the blessings received from God.
TRUE WORSHIP When the worship service is concluded, our true worship begins. Everything we know about God teaches us that our true worship is in the daily glorification and enjoyment of God. We seek to live the Word in our lives.