Our Purpose – Every human being is made to worship. That is our purpose. The Church is a community of worshippers. The Bible calls the Church “saints.” This much-misunderstood word literally means “holy ones.” To be holy means to be set apart, or designated for something special. That something for which we are set apart is, quite simply, worship. God has called and redeemed a people for Himself, through faith in Jesus Christ, and literally set us apart for the holy purpose of praising God. As one of our church confessions famously states, “the chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.”
Our Joy – We believe worship is a privilege, not merely a duty. God made man to worship Him, but our sin separated us from God and rendered us unclean and unholy. Now, by faith in Christ, we, the Church of Jesus Christ are forgiven and freed to forever do what we were made to do. Worship is no burdensome duty for us. It is a delight to honor the One who saved us! We seek therefore, to worship with a thankful, humble and reverent joy, for we are redeemed by God’s grace alone through the perfect work of Jesus on our behalf. We are convicted that He is worthy of our fullest expression of reverence, affection, and gratitude.
Our Sundays – While we believe that God ought to be served in our everyday lives as individual Christians, we gather weekly as a congregation to praise His great name on His high and holy feast day – the Lord’s Day. The gathering of the Church to worship on Sunday is not our idea. It’s God’s idea. God considers worship to be so important that he devoted the fourth of the Ten Commandments to address our duty to keep holy His Day of Worship. Sunday is the Christian Day of Worship in remembrance of the fact that Jesus rose from the grave on a Sunday.
Our Services – When you worship at Pilgrim, you will be led in a worship service that may be best described as a conversation between God and His Church. When worship begins, through the ministry of the pastor, you will be greeted by Christ, through the minister, then called by Him into worship. God’s people then respond to Him through singing praise to Him. We confess our sins to God, and God responds by assuring us of His forgiveness. We respond in prayer and praise. God speaks to us in the preaching of His Word, and in response we sing praise again. God’s final response to us is Christ’s Benediction – a spiritual blessing given through the upraised hands of the minister. The congregation then offers one last joyful round of praise to our great God.
Our worship services have no dress code, as worship, after all, is a matter of the heart. We come to worship as children coming to their Father. As God’s children, we simply come to express our love and respect for Him, to encourage our fellow brothers and sisters, and to warmly welcome any and all who so desire to join us. Come, and worship our great God with us!