Worship
the LORD with gladness;
come before him with joyful songs.
Psalm 100:2,
NIV
The LORD is in his holy
temple;
let all the earth be silent before him.
Hab. 2:20, NIV
Worship is a personal encounter with the Living God in which we find
ourselves deepened in our faith and strengthened for service. At UBC, we
believe that touching the lives of people through dynamic, corporate
worship is an important means of bringing people to experience their full
potential in Christ. In fact, we understand that worship is one of the
most important activities of the church. Without a regular, personal
encounter with God, our teaching becomes stale, our fellowship grows cold,
our evangelism ceases, and our compassion for ministry disappears. Our
commitment to dynamic, corporate worship is expressed in the way we plan
and design worship experiences.
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Sunday Morning Worship
Sunday morning worship
at UBC is prayerfully planned to lead each worshiper to an encounter with
God. We employ a variety of musical forms, from praise teams to
instrumental presentation and solos, vocal ensembles,
and solos. The music spans a spectrum from the traditional to the
contemporary, depending upon what best communicates the focal theme of
worship on a particular Sunday. Congregational singing is an important
dimension of the experience. We sing both hymns and choruses to express
our worship of God. The preaching of God's Word is done in sermon series
intended to speak to the real-life needs of contemporary people.
In planning
worship experiences, we try to keep in mind a metaphor. We would like to
think of ourselves as a family gathered together, perhaps at a family
dinner. But we recognize that we have guests with us who are not a part of
the family. We want to be certain that they are made to feel welcome and
comfortable, and that they can understand the things we do. We would hope
that eventually they, too, would want to know and love the God we worship,
and so become a part of the family.
With this in
mind, we attempt to be seeker sensitive in our worship experiences. This
means we try to communicate in ways that seekers, or outsiders, can
understand. It means that we try to use music that they, too, can identify
with. It means that we do not use methods of welcoming guests that would
embarrass them or cause them to stand out. You should feel comfortable
inviting a friend who is not yet a Christian to worship with you at UBC,
knowing that they will not be made to feel threatened. |
