|
|
|
 |
|
|
Worship
Centres - CCWC
Lusaka Zambia |
|
Links >>
Senior
Pastor's message | Corporate
Worship | Ministry
Staff | Ministries |
CORPORATE WORSHIP
CHURCH SERVICES:
We are a Pentecostal/Charismatic congregation, holding contemporary church services, which are relevant to our target audience within the capital city. Excellence is exemplified in all our corporate life as a congregation. We are ministering to university students, professionals and business people of the city. These are highly motivated people who appreciate a well-organized and spiritually mature operation, which empowers them to serve Christ more perceptively.
The dynamism of a charismatic environment, coupled with the highly trained ministry team and the empowering Holy Spirit, our congregants are receiving a balanced approach to worship and Christian formation.
Any person looking for a place to worship where their questions in life can be answered, and can develop a meaningful Christian life, this is the place they should check out and confirm what is being said by so many happy and fulfilled members of the church.
1. BIBLICAL ADMONITION FOR CORPORATE WORSHIP:
"Therefore, brothers (and sisters), since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another - and all the more as you see the Day approaching." (Hebrews 10:19-25)
It's without doubt that all who call upon the name of the Lord should regularly gather with fellow-believers to encourage one another in the hope they profess in Christ Jesus. As was the custom of the Early Church, they continued to meet, every day, in the temple courts and from house to house (Acts 2:46-47), and also as the Apostle Paul alluded to it, they met regularly on the first day of the week, when they were supposed to collect their offerings (1 Cor. 16:2).
2. PURPOSE FOR CORPORATE WORSHIP:
"They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer…Praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved." (Acts 2:42,47)
Our Corporate gathering for Worship is a VISIBLE display, by the local church (CCWC), of our HONOR and REVERENCE to the Lord God Almighty, which in Acts 2:47 are rendered as "PRAISING GOD." All the benefits that come to us during, and after, our corporate time of worship, such as the salvation of souls, healings, deliverance, edification, etc. are by-products of God's acceptance of the HONOR and REVERENCE we give him.
Therefore, our corporate gatherings for worship are primarily for HONORING and REVERENCING God, and then secondarily for our human benefit. When our primary focus is on showing and displaying our acceptable HONOR and REVERENCE to the Lord God Almighty, then God's primary focus is on us, to bless us, with all that he has always desired for his people.
3. PLAN FOR CORPORATE WORSHIP:
"What then shall we say, brothers? (Sisters?) When you come together, everyone has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. All these must be done for the strengthening of the church…For God is not a God of disorder but of peace…But everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way." (1 Cor. 14:26,33,40).
Order and Clarity are welcome and significant virtues in our corporate worship. There should always be a deliberate focus and intentional approach to HONORING and REVERENCING our God when we come together for corporate time of worship.
Therefore, a lot of effort should be put into preparation for our corporate time of worship. Every participant should approach their assignment with an attitude of giving God, and displaying the highest HONOR and REVERENCE for God.
4. PROCESS FOR CORPORATE WORSHIP:
Since the bible does not offer us any order of service or format to use in our corporate gatherings, except the substance of our gatherings, we should and have, at all times sought the Lord's direct guidance, within the defined substance of worship.
Public gatherings for worship have spiritual, as well as practical implications. The spiritual implications should have priority over practical ones. But spiritual implications will suffer if we prioritize them to the neglect of significant practical implications.
The spiritual implications are that we want, in all our corporate times of worship, to GIVE the Lord the highest HONOR, and YIELD ourselves to his supreme directives or interventions in our midst. As stated above, it's for this primary purpose that we come together for worship.
The practical implications are that we want, in all our corporate times of worship, to DISPLAY the highest HONOR in the way we worship our God. Therefore, we seek, practically, to HONOR the Lord in the orderly conduct of our worship; in the effects of our ambient surroundings and manner we prepare our meeting place, in the tools we use in worship, and most importantly in the manner we guide the congregation to maximize their practical potential, in their bodies, to HONOR Christ, "Therefore, I urge you brothers (Sisters), in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God - this is your spiritual act of worship" (Rom.12:1).
5. THE ORDER OF SERVICE:
The following is a brief description of items we have included on the order of service for our corporate gathering. We shall continue to seek God for other items that may help to refine and forge a meaningful experience in corporate worship. All those who are assigned any of these items during a corporate time of worship are guided by these general instructions, while remaining sensitive to what the Lord may want to do differently, without necessarily becoming disorderly and unfitting.
- A Call to Worship: This is a reminder that we are now laying aside any personal encumbrances or obsessions in order for us to focus on the reason we have come together, and that is to HONOR and REVERENCE the Lord God Almighty. Whoever is charged with this assignment, which often times has been Vessels of Praise (VOP) our Worship and Praise Team, but may also be someone else, bears in mind that people are coming from different experiences of the week, which may still be weighing heavily on them. Therefore, this is intended to be an uplifting and inspirational time, whether in song, word of exhortation or scripture reading, as we start our service. It's not necessary to linger too long on this item, but should guide the congregation into engaging in the day's business of the church.
- Intercessory Prayer: This time is scheduled to facilitate a moment in our gathering when we present the pressing needs of the congregation to the Lord. This is not a time of being preachy, but is a time of guiding people, even with specifically prepared scriptures, through a process of submitting their burdens to the Lord. Spiritual sensitivity guides this part of our service, because of the nature of the activity. People need to experience a release from the weight of the need in their hearts. This time does not need to be necessarily long, but it should manifest the intended purpose of bearing one another's burdens through prayer. Mostly, identified Intercessors are assigned this task.
- Welcome/Announcements: We show appreciation to our visitors attending the service by recognizing and welcoming them at this time. Other special guests, apart from Guest Speakers, are included in the welcome.
There is a section in the bulletin listing ongoing weekly or monthly meetings. These announcements are not repeatedly referred to in details, but are merely highlighted and we let people read the bulletin for details.
- Presenting Our Gifts: The ultimate goal in the area of giving is that people at CCWC will gladly and wholeheartedly give to the work of the Lord, not for what they hope to get from the Lord, even though the Lord faithfully meets our needs, but they will give because they love the Lord and are grateful for what he has done in their lives. Therefore, we do not manipulate and intimidate people into giving, even though we shall hold them accountable to their responsibility as children of the Most High. We pray for a special kind of giving-habit or grace-of-giving to grow among us as the one experienced by David and his people. David said to the Lord, "I know, my God, that you test the heart and are pleased with integrity. All these things have I given willingly and with honest intent. And now I have seen with joy how willingly your people who are here have given to you. O Lord, God of our fathers Abraham, Isaac and Israel, keep this desire in the hearts of your people forever, and keep their hearts loyal to you" (1 Chronicles 29:17-18).
It's perfectly alright to give a brief testimony of God's favor and provision, because of one's faithfulness in giving. Also, when we know of someone who has recently experienced the favor of the Lord, because of their faithfulness in giving to the Lord, we encourage them to testify of it. This has more positive effect than intimidation. Through intimidation and manipulation, people may give momentarily, but they will not cultivate the grace of giving in their life for continued and faithful giving.
- Prayer of Consecration: It's our desire that people's hearts shall be further prodded to yield to the word of God as it is being delivered. This prayer is one of intercession for human hearts to be softened towards the admonition of God's
word. There may be times when this prayer shall not be offered; because the preacher may feel and instruct that he/she wants to cover this in his/her own prayer before preaching. But as a general rule, it's always helpful to have someone else, other than the preacher, intercede on behalf of the congregation for the word being preached to have the effectual impact.
- Holy Communion: We observe the Lord's Supper on every first Sunday of the month. On that Sunday, we have a team of Communion Servers, who have been organized and properly instructed, to help in the distribution of the emblems. Due to the significance of this Church Ordinance and solemnity of the event, we take sufficient time to give it the due honor in our schedule, without necessarily prolonging it for the sake of it. On communion Sunday, we
usually combine our Intercessory Prayer with the observance of Holy Communion.
- Personal Testimonies: From time to time we encourage the presenting of personal testimonies, so that we corporately share in the inspiration of what the Lord is doing among us, through individual Christians. These testimonies, however, are ones that have recently happened, and not some reference to a matter that happed several years back, and may not even have much direct relevance to where we are today as a congregation.
- Other Special Events: We have special services, such as Foreign Missions Sundays, Lay Pastor Ordinations, Staff Installation, Baby Dedications, etc., which are occasionally incorporated, and usually few adjustments are made to our regular order of service.
|
|
