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What visitors can expect...
Our sanctuary

Our Sunday service takes place in our sanctuary. It
is a place of escape from day-to-day life. We encourage those who want
to get away for a moment to enter the sanctuary where music will usually
be playing, where people will be praying and where it's just a good
place to sit with God for a moment away from the many distractions of
life.
What we wear
Since we are not all that concerned about appearance,
people come in everything from blue-jeans to slacks, pants to dresses.
Some wear tee shirts and others wear ties.
Discipleship Hour
At 9:30 AM each Sunday morning we have Adult Sunday
School which we consider to be an hour of discipleship. This is a time
when we gather in the sanctuary and learn about matters important to
those who want to daily follow Jesus as a disciple of his. We have set
aside 45 minutes for this teaching and it usually involves the teacher
presenting the topic and the open discussion of the topic by all
participants.
Testimonies
Often times we will begin our service by asking if
anyone has a testimony of what the Lord has done, at which time, anyone
who wants to tell others about what God has done in their lives
(children and adults) can do so. In recent weeks we've heard about how
God has healed people...how God has helped people overcome
addiction...how God has helped people just get through a very hard time
in life. We'll usually give 5 to 10 minutes to testimonies.
How we worship
Some
of us sit down and others of us stand up. Some clap and some shout. Some
of us raise our hands and others bow their heads and reflect quietly
upon the Lord and all that He has done for them. Most weeks Pastor Jeff
is on the guitar and our sister Karen accompanies and praise God, her
voice is much more in key that Pastors! Our worship songs range from
hymns and old favorites like How Great Thou Art or I Have
Decided to
Follow Jesus, to some of the more contemporary songs like Oh Lord
Your Beautiful, Here I Am to Worship or As the Deer.
We also sing a number of songs written by Pastor and others in our
fellowship, like 24/7 and You Fill Me. The words to the
songs are projected to a wall at the front of the sanctuary to make it
easy for all to join in. All in all, we'll typically sing 5 or 6 songs
each week, lasting maybe 35 minutes.
Our Offering
We do not expect visitors to bring forth an offering,
but we do believe members and those who regularly attend our fellowship
should financially support their church and the missionaries we sponsor,
so at the beginning of Sunday service, we pray and ask the Lord to speak
to people about what they should give, then during worship, people have
an opportunity to come forward and place their offering in a basket.
There is also an offering box towards the back of the church for those
who do not want to walk to the front.
The Sermon
We will not tell you how to get a perfect life in 5
easy steps. We will not tell you that when you give your life to Jesus
everything will be perfect. We will not tell you that God will fill your
bank account miraculously with money. We will not tell you that the Lord
will 100% of the time will heal you. We believe the Lord heals people
and prospers people when He can receive glory from these things, but
these are not things we should focused our faith upon. We believe our
focus needs to be upon Christ and the entirety of His Word - the Bible - so when you come to our church you will hear
messages straight out of the Bible. Normally we pick a book out of the
Bible and begin preaching at verse 1, chapter one and go through the
entire book over a number of weeks. A couple of years ago we began with
the book of James, then we went to Galatians, then onto 1st John, 2nd
John...son on and so forth. It might take us 5-6 months to get through
one book. We take things slow, hoping that people will hear what God is
personally saying to them that day from His Word, so they can apply it
to their lives. The average length of the message each week is 35 to 40
minutes.
Children's Church
During
the sermon message, children between the ages of 3 and 10 are invited to
leave the sanctuary to be taught Biblical truths more appropriate for
their age. We are very selective in choosing the women who teach our
Children's Church. They are members who we know well and who are mature
women of God that can be trusted to teach the children and ensure their
safety at all times.
Prayer
After the message, we'll close our service in prayer
and then ask anyone who needs prayer to come forward to be prayed for or
to raise their hand. Some may leave the sanctuary at that time. Some may
stay in the sanctuary and reflect upon what they just heard in the
message. Others may go to the altar and pray. Those who ask for prayer
after service will be prayed for by Pastor and or others in the
fellowship.
Fellowship
After
the message, our fellowship hall opens and people
are invited to stay and talk to one another over a cup of coffee, tea,
hot chocolate or water and a few snacks. This is a wonderful time to get
to know one another and to develop some life-long friendships. On good
weather days our fellowship may "go outdoors" with a barbeque and
children playing ball on the grass.
Thursday Evenings
Each Thursday evening from 7 to 8 PM we have our
mid-week study. We just finished a 6 month walk through the Book of
Lamentations and know we're looking at America's Christian Heritage
using the Bible, historical books and DVD teaching. Our Thursday's are
very informal, encouraging group participation. We all seem to learn
more when everyone has a chance to share what is on their hearts.
Outings
There
are times that we all just want to get together for an outing. Maybe
we'll sit arou nd a campfire eating hamburgers and making s'mores or
we'll have "movie night" we'll eat popcorn as we watch a good movie on
the wall (we a CVLI license that permits us to do so). We've even been
known to "camp out" at times. We're are just real people following a real God, living
a real life and having some real fun!
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