We believe that worship should exalt the Lord Jesus Christ. For the Scripture says, Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth (Phil 2:9). Ultimately our worship is not about us—what we prefer, feel, or desire—it is about Him. Jesus is to be exalted, and we are to bow down. Our modern English word worship comes from the old English word worthship—meaning to ascribe praise to the One who is worthy (Rev. 5:9).

We believe that worship is to be done in spirit and in truth. For the Scripture says, But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth. (John 4:23-24). By spirit we mean that invisible part of us that is not seen. It is insufficient for us to outwardly conform in worship if our heart is not in it. By truth we mean that God has placed parameters on the kind of worship that pleases Him. The truth of God’s Word should inform, inspire and encourage our worship (John 17:17). Often our worship music is interspersed with the reading of the Scripture to deepen our understanding of worshiping the Lord in truth.

We believe that worship can be both celebrative and meditative. The Scripture says, Make a joyful shout to the Lord, all you lands! Serve the Lord with gladness; Come before His presence with singing. (Psalm 100:1) Yet the Scripture also says, Be still, and know that I am God (Psalm 46:10). We believe that there are times when our praise of the Lord should be loud and celebratory. We believe that there are times that we can reflect quietly upon His awesome presence. We believe that both our joyful celebration and our quiet reflection can be pleasing to our Creator when we worship Him.

We believe that worship should include both the old and the new. The Scripture says, Sing to the Lord a new song (Psa. 96:1; Isa. 42:10; Rev. 5:9). The Psalms in our Bible comprised the Hebrew hymnal. Although we read them, initially they were sung during worship (Col. 3:16). The Psalms were written by various authors over a period of 700 years. On any given day an Israelite could be singing a worship song that was 700 years old and immediately follow it with one that was written as recently as the day before. We find this to be a Biblical model for our worship singing as well. We praise the Lord for the old hymns of the faith, and we sing them. We also eagerly embrace the worship music that is coming from the hearts of committed Christians in the 21^st century. We believe that God is honored by both the old and the new.

We believe that our worship should express a sacrificial spirit. The Scripture says, Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name. But do not forget to do good and to share, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased (Heb. 13:15-16) Certainly we are encouraged to give sacrificially and joyfully to the Lord (2 Cor. 8:3; Psa. 54:6). So we consider that the offering taken on a given Sunday is also an expression of our worship to the Lord. We believe, as well that our personal preferences in worship should be a shared sacrifice. For that reason we intentionally sing a variety of music during our corporate worship time; not so that all would be satisfied, but so that all might have equal opportunity to sacrifice their personal preferences, tastes and traditions for others in the body of Christ as we worship our Lord together.

We believe that our service should flow out of our worship. The Scripture says, You shall worship the Lord, your God and Him only you shall serve (Matt. 4:10). This passage was the one that Jesus cited when he addressed Satan himself during our Lord’s wilderness temptation. Notice what comes first in the divinely inspired order: worship then service. We are delighted when people are serving the Lord, but we desire for them to be worshiping Him first. We believe that if our service for the Lord is not flowing out of our worship of the Lord we are uniquely susceptible to temptation.