Theology of Worship
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Theology of Worship

We gather to worship weekly at 9:15 on Sundays mornings. As a worshipping body, we put more time and effort into this than anything else that we do corporately. Come 10-15 minutes early to quietly listen to the pre-worship music and prepare your hearts for God’s touch.

What is our worship style?
You will find that it is difficult to pigeon-hole the worship style at NLFP. We feel very free to appropriately borrow from contemporary, classical, liturgical, contemplative, postmodern and Jewish expressions of worship, effectively utilizing a wide variety of music and worship. It is anything but boring.

Goal?
We come to worship from many contexts and situations. But it is probably safe to say that in this increasingly frenetic and busy world, God and the things of God have to some degree been squeezed out of most of our daily experience. To a large degree, we often come to Sunday morning very spiritually dry. We come with doubts, wounds, low expectations, heavily distracted, maybe depressed and angry. You may relate to this a little or a lot. But no matter. On Sunday, we are all invited to come – as we are-- into the powerful warm presence of the Good God who created us—who loves us far more than anyone else on the planet ever has. We are invited to touch Him and be touched by Him. We are invited to experience abundant life and hope again. No matter who you are-- this is the invitation. You may not even believe that there is a God. Come as you are and be touched. 

Our worship is—

God-Centered
Our goal is to boldly worship the Triune Creator God of the Bible—God the Father, Jesus the Crucified and Risen Son of God and the Holy Spirit—who powerfully exists among us.

Contemporary, Relevant and Provocative
We spend great time and prayer on relevant Biblical exposition, creatively telling the story of the Bible, both Old and New Testaments. It is in His word that God manifests His purposes for us (2Tim 3:16). In recent months, we have looked in-depth at the Song of Songs, Revelation, the Sermon on the Mount, and the Gospel of Mark. Sermon topics have included ‘In Search of Ideal Womanhood’, ‘In Search of Will and Grace: the Bible and Homosexuality’, ‘Why do bad things happen?’ and ‘How to Complain to God’. We jokingly say that the messages are ‘ungodly long,’ but we promise that you will not be bored. Many of these messages are available for free download.

Holistic
We not only appreciate God’s specific revelation, but in worship we freely
explore God’s general revelation of His glory and beauty through creation.
We deeply value art, media, music, and movement. God is manifested
powerfully through His creation. We also provocatively and relevantly
use media clips, drama, worship art, dance, etc.

Participatory
We emphasize both individual and corporate aspects of our gathering times. Each worshipper is warmly invited to become involved in worship. We participate through prayer, confession, responsive readings, singing, communion, etc. It is our desire for all who come to experience the powerful presence of God. We want everyone who comes to both touch and be touched by God. This is an individual, as well as a corporate, event. Additionally, many sermons conclude with two-way dialogue centered around certain complex topics. Recent dialogue involved homosexuality, suffering and the role of women, just to mention a few. These are wonderful times of community shaping.

Table Centered
One of the central aspects of our worship event is the Lord’s table, the Eucharist. Each week, the service takes us to the Communion Table (Eucharist). Here, those who are ‘Jesus-followers’ participate once again in His body and bread. In many ways, this is the pinnacle of our personal and corporate experience.

Formative
Worship is a shaping event. We can’t imagine thinking that God will shape us—to form our character—apart from the worship event. Worship is participatory and community oriented—a foretaste of the Heavenly banquet and therefore very important to the rhythm of our walk here as His disciples. In and through worship, God reaches and shapes our hearts. It is this that affects our characters and lives. There are many other ‘events’ that shape our lives. Godly worship offers, in many ways, a weekly corrective to those forces.

Reformed/ Presbyterian
It freely and reverently incorporates the specific elements of Biblical worship developed in the Reformed tradition of the church and as defined by the denominational standards of the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA.)