GOD’S LOVE MOTIVATES OUR MISSION to SHARE IN HIS LOVE
Worship
GOD’S LOVE MOTIVATES OUR MISSION to SHARE IN HIS LOVE
Our Worship Life
The Lutheran church service is designed for the maximum participation of the worshippers. The order of service each Sunday follows four important segments: 1) The Confession of Sins and Absolution; 2) Praise and Prayer; 3) The Word; 4) The Offering of Gifts and Prayers. A fifth segment is included on the first and Third Sundays of month called the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper. Within each of these segments, however, there are variations.
Our services follow a church year cycle that is divided into two halves.
1. The altar is that table in the front of the worship area that ties us with God’s Old Testament people like Adam, Noah, Moses, David, Elijah, and others who for millennia built altars and offered animal sacrifices on them as pictures of the Savior to come. When the pastor faces the altar, he is speaking with the people to God. When he faces the people, he is speaking from God to them.
2. The cross on the altar and on the wall above it tie us with the New Testament Jesus who died on a cross as God’s own sacrifice for the sins of the world.
3. The candles on the altar are lit to remind us that Jesus, who is the Light of the World, is present with us and receives our worship and praise.
4. The bell rung at the beginning of the service is a solemn reminder that we are engaging in something very important, worship, and that God’s clear Word will be heard today for everyone to believe and obey.
Special church services are conducted each year for Advent
(one midweek service), Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year’s Eve, Lent (six
midweek services), Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Thanksgiving Eve. A joint
Reformation Service is held with other WELS churches in Oregon.
Common Questions