Our Sunday School program begins at 10:00 a.m. and ends at 10:45 a.m. Classes are provided from Nursery through adults.
Our Sunday morning worship service begins at 11:00 a.m. and concludes at approximately 12:00 p.m. Our aim in each service is to reverence the name of God through worshipful singing, prayer, Scripture reading, and expository preaching.
True worship involves an awareness of the glory, wisdom, power, majesty, and greatness of God Almighty, our heavenly Father (Rev.7:10-12). With humble hearts, we express our complete dependence upon God for life, health, and salvation. We rejoice in his everlasting redemption which so gloriously reveals his lovingkindness, grace, and mercy. With these things in mind, we seek to cultivate a spirit of reverence in our worship services.
The people of God are always characterized by exuberant singing and praise in worship. "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord" (Col.3:16). We believe that there is no better outlet for expressing praise to God than the utilization of biblical hymns. Although many churches have abandoned the hymnbook for choruses, contemporary music, "worship leaders," solos, duets, etc., we believe that God is honored by singing hymns that have both doctrinal substance and biblical exhortations, born out of the godly experiences of noted Christians of the past. Thus, in our services we use the Trinity Hymnal: Baptist Edition and certain selections from Gadsby's Hymns. We are appalled at the superficiality and lack of reverence witnessed in many modern-day worship services of various churches. Reverence for God has been replaced with entertainment, laughter, and showmanship. A carnival atmosphere has no place in the "house of God" (1 Tim.3:15).
As the early church was noted for its steadfast adherence to both public and private prayer, so the modern church should be marked by dependence upon God through prayer(1 Tim.2:1-8). Our worship services always provide a time for the practice of prayer. Godly men lead the church body into the presence of God, interceding for God's blessings upon our marriages, children, church, nation, missionaries, etc.
During each worship service we give time to the reading of the Scriptures, as we are commanded: "Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine" (1 Tim.4:13). We wholeheartedly believe that the Word of God "is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness" (2 Tim.3:16). We read a selected chapter from one of the books of the Bible, systematically going through a certain epistle or gospel on consecutive Sundays.
Finally, we place a great emphasis on expository preaching, exegeting a certain verse or paragraph each week. Such a practice keeps both the pastor and congregation interacting with the whole counsel of God (Acts 20:27), rather than exclusively focusing in on one or more "pet" topics or "hobbyhorses." Like the apostles before us, we seek to preach Christ crucified, risen, exalted, and coming again. The people of God are confronted by a pulpit, not an altar, when they enter the doors of a biblical church. Their supreme delight is to be fed from the Word of God, not to engage in forms, ceremonies, and rituals. The preaching of God's Word usually lasts about an hour during the morning worship service.
Our Sunday evening worship service begins at 6:00 p.m. We continue to incorporate the same facets of worship mentioned above during this time, but it is more informal. The main difference is that our pastor teaches from a stand on the main floor, rather than from the pulpit. The congregation is given an opportunity to interact with the message by asking questions or giving input as the teaching time takes place, usually lasting some 45 minutes to an hour.