WELCOME TO LIVING FAITH LUTHERAN CHURCH
The purpose of our worship service is to bring you joy!
WORSHIP SERVICE
We use a liturgical style of worship that is organized around four main parts:
GATHERING – We come together after a full week of joys and troubles and share in a short corporate confession with words of assurance of God’s grace and forgiveness. We sing some songs and share some prayers to get us started.
WORD – We listen to the Word of God, so that we may hear what God is saying to us. This usually includes readings from the Scriptures, both Old (“Hebrew”) and New Testaments, and sometimes some other sources as well. Usually, we hear a sermon that relates God’s Word to our lives. We make a statement of our faith (“Creed”) and share the prayer concerns of those who are gathered. We encourage each other by imparting a word of “PEACE” with one another.
MEAL – Communion is shared weekly. We break bread and share the cup of wine (see below for details on how we do it) as Jesus directed the disciples in the Last Supper. It is a gift of God’s grace and presence (“sacrament”) to strengthen us for the week to come.
SENDING – A blessing to send us on our way! There is always some coffee, juice, and great snacks to share before we go on our way.
The whole service is printed out on an insert in our weekly bulletin. Please join in as you are able. The words to our songs are printed out, but if you read music, you may look them up in the songbook by the number.
WHAT ABOUT THE CHILDREN?
We try to make our services child-friendly. The children are encouraged to serve as acolytes, communion assistants, and helpers during the offering. Please feel free to move about the worship area with your child if need be. No worries, we enjoy having them at worship.
WHAT ABOUT COMMUNION?
All Christians are welcome to receive communion here. Bread and wine are received as we come to the Table. We use a fresh loaf of bread each week, but if you prefer, you may request a gluten-free wafer. The inner circle of each tray of glasses contains grape juice. Children who are not communing yet are welcome to come forward for a blessing prayer.
WHAT ELSE DO I NEED TO KNOW?
On the last Sunday of every month, we offer an opportunity for prayer with anointing of oil. If you would like prayers, our Pastor will be available near the back of our Worship Area and take time to pray. You may ask for an anointing and prayers in general, or share a specific prayer concern.
IS THERE ANYTHING I SHOULD DO?
Please fill out the attendance materials and let us know that you were here. Place those in the offering plate. If you are not a member, please do not feel obligated to give an offering. Your gifts are welcome, of course, but your time and presence today are enough for now.
WE LIKE TO CALL PEOPLE BY THEIR NAME… but first we need to know yours!
If you are visiting and would like to leave us your name, we’ll be glad to make up a clip-on name tag for you by next week. We encourage all our folks to wear a name tag so that we learn each other’s names and get to know each other better! The name tags are kept on a bulletin board by the entrance to the building. Ask one of the ushers to help you find the sign up sheet and the name tag itself if you are visiting a second (or third…or fourth…or…) time.