Expect

At Sovereign Grace PCA, we believe that our worship is to be governed by the Word of God. When we come into God’s presence for gathered worship each Lord’s Day, the question we are to ask is not “What would we like to do?” but “What has the Lord called us to do in our worship of Him?” Thus, while our worship may be considered both “simple” and “traditional,” our ultimate aim is that our worship be biblical. This is what is often referred to as the Regulative Principle of Worship - the idea that God’s Word regulates our worship. We do only those things which the Bible tells us to do.

As a result, here are some elements of worship you can expect at Sovereign Grace:

Scripture Reading: In his first letter to Timothy, the Apostle Paul instructs him to “devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture” (1 Tim. 4:13). Our worship services include several Scripture readings, from our Call to Worship, to our Congregational Reading, to our Assurance of Pardon and God’s Love, and finally to the text of Scripture upon which the sermon is based.

Expository Preaching: We believe that God’s Word is to not only govern the worship service in general, but also the sermon in particular. Thus, we do not begin with a topic and then look for various Bible verses that speak to it. Instead, we begin with a passage of Scripture, which is then interpreted, explained, and applied. Typically, we preach through books of the Bible. Currently we are working through Acts in morning worship and Haggai in evening worship.

Prayer: In Acts 2:42, we learn that one of the things the early church devoted itself to was prayer. Scripture is full of commands to offer prayer to the Lord. During each of our worship services, we devote significant time to prayer, typically with our pastor or one of our elders leading us.

Singing of Psalms and Hymns: The Scriptures call us to sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs (Eph. 5:19; Col. 3:16). We sing hymns from the “Trinity Hymnal” and Psalms from “The Book of Psalms for Singing” - a psalter that puts the 150 Psalms of Scripture to music. Because God instructs all people to sing his praises, we believe it is important for the entire congregation to actively participate in the singing of Psalms and Hymns. Thus, any musical accompaniment we have is meant only to support congregational singing, not to replace it.

Sacraments: We believe that in the New Testament era of the Church, there are two sacraments which Christ has ordained - Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Baptism, as the sign of the Covenant of Grace, is to be administered to all professing believers and their children (Gen. 17:7-14; Col. 2:11-12; Acts 2:38-39), and is administered as necessary. The Lord’s Supper is celebrated twice a month - on the first Sunday morning and third Sunday evening.