"Worship at Immanuel is at the heart of our life together as a congregation. With gratitude for the gift of new life in Jesus Christ, we gather each week to praise God, to dwell upon his character, and to hear his Word proclaimed"

Order of Service

As a Presbyterian church, Immanuel has a worship service which reflects important emphases from the Reformed tradition. Because we believe in what Scripture says about our sinfulness, near the beginning of every service we pause to confess our sins and to hear the promise of forgiveness through the work of Christ. Because we prize the Bible as God's revelation of himself to us, the sermon occupies a central place in our service and is almost always an exposition of a passage of Scripture. Because we hold that the Bible teaches the Christian priesthood of every believer, we encourage the participation of the congregation's people in the service -- to read Scripture, pray, communicate a mission's concern, or share a testimony to God's grace. In all that we do in worship, we seek to kindle awe at the greatness of God, holy fear at his perfection, and deepest joy at his love shown to us in Jesus Christ.

Preaching

At Immanuel we want the preacher of the word to be its servant, one who yields to that Word's authority, who searches for its many truths, and who commits much time to studying that Word and preparing to convey its message to our congregation. As John Stott explains, through the written word of the Bible, God "continues to speak with a living voice powerfully. And the church needs to listen attentively to his Word, since its health and maturity depends upon it. So pastors must expound it; it is to this they have been called. Whenever they do so with integrity, the voice of God is heard, and the Church is convicted and humbled, restored and reinvigorated, and transformed into an instrument for use and glory."

Music

As long as Christians have come together to worship, music has been a central part of their experience. Music at Immanuel is not meant to be primarily a preparation for worship; instead, it is an act of worship itself. Whether we as a congregation are singing hymns or choruses or listening to a choir or a soloist, we are participating in the offering of praise to God.

Singing itself is a unique form of human expression, which has the power to open our individual souls and to blend them into the harmony of shared feelings and meanings. When we sing in worship services, we affirm our individual and group committments, we receive instruction, and we are opened to one another and to the Holy Spirit.

Instead of being entertainers who are there to enhance our comfort and enjoyment, the choir and soloists help lead us in worship by providing encouragement to our spirits. Instrumental music may serve to draw our minds away from ordinary concerns toward a contemplation of God himself. Having no words, such music may evoke specific feelings, images, and associations. Like vocal music, it can lead us into worship as well as serve as an act of worship itself.

All of the music at Immanuel is selected each week to coincide, as closely as possible, with the spirit and content of the Scripture and sermon for that day. At times, this will mean that we worship with familiar tunes and words, while at other times we may be introduced to new songs and hymns that are appropriate to the particular theme of that week. Whether classic or contemporary, whether strange or familiar, music at Immanuel is meant to help each of us flourish in our fellowship with one another and in the worship of our Savior.
[see also Music @ Immanuel]

The Visual Arts

The visual arts play a part in worship and the teaching ministry at Immanuel. As a gift to God and as a help in corporate worship, the artists of the church periodically design art works to be used on particular occasions. The works we create are considered to be aids to worship. They symbolize some truth or help clarify a theme related to the focus of a service or season. On occasion, we make celebratory and decorative pieces to do for our sense of sight what "making a joyful noise unto the Lord" does for our hearing in worship. We seek to support the creative efforts of the artists in our fellowship, as we appreciate their offerings which bring beauty to us and praise to God.

Scot's Form of Communion

Many early Reformation churches practiced communion in this way: as the congregation sang, the people came to tables at the front of the santuary or in the aisles.

Scottish Presbyterians believed that the Lord's Supper should symbolize the risen Christ at the covenant meal where believers are nourished by his redemptive work. In the words of Samuel Rutherford, Christians "should sit, as banqueters, at one table with our King, and eat and drink...." Or as the Dutch theologian Abraham Kuyper explained, the Lord's Supper should be eaten from a table, because "Jesus spreads a feast for his friends and as a King invites his people to his table."

For more than a decade we have used this form and found it spiritually rewarding. We go forward to the tables in response to our Lord's invitation to receive his grace. In sacrament and song, we share with others in the meal which anticipates our life together in the kingdom of God.

In accord with our practice of the Lord's Supper, children who have not yet made a public profession of faith are asked to refrain from partaking in communion. Until such profession is made, we invite those children to come to the Table and be seated with their parents with his or her hands folded on the Table as an indication to the serving elder. The elder who serves the elements will offer a prayer of blessing upon each child. It is our hope that this custom will encourage children as they grow in "the nurture and admonition of the Lord" and prepare them for fuller participation in the life of the church.