This guide is meant to help explain why we do what we do in worship. The way we worship God is closely connected with what we believe about God. If you would like to learn more about our beliefs, we regularly offer a free Bible Basics class. Talk to Pastor if you’re interested!
Worship Pattern
Every service at Hope follows a similar pattern. This pattern has roots going back all the way to worship in the Old Testament, thousands of years ago. We do this because there is meaning behind each piece of the pattern, not because we blindly follow tradition.
Call to Worship (Invocation)
We begin each service in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit as a reminder of our baptism, where God placed his name on us and washed us clean of all our sins.
Spoken Responses
It might seem strange at first to recite words off a page or screen, but this format is intended to portray the conversation that worship is meant to be. Worship is more than just singing songs and listening to a message; it’s a conversation with God. We confess; he forgives. He speaks through his Word; we give thanks.
Confession and Forgiveness
Confession and forgiveness have been called the “spiritual heartbeat of a Christian.” Despite our best efforts, we fall into sin countless times every day. When we confess our sins together, we are reminded that we are not alone in the struggle against sin. After confessing our sins together, we get to rejoice together as we hear that, for Jesus’ sake, we have been forgiven. It is this truth that motivates both our worship and our Christian lives.
The Word (Lessons, Children’s Message, Sermon)
Every week we hear lessons from different parts of God’s Word, with one of those being the basis for the sermon. Pastor prepares a message in order to dig deeply into the meaning of the lesson and apply God’s Word to our everyday lives. We also have a children’s message every week, where the children get to hear one of the lessons in an age-appropriate way.
Creed
After the sermon, we join together to confess our faith, using the words of either the Apostles or Nicene Creed. As we confess, we remember the Christians throughout the centuries and throughout the world who have joined together in these same words. In the creed, we are reminded of the basic truths on which our faith is based.
Prayer
Every week, we pray for each other and for people throughout the world. We do this because God tells us that we can approach him as confidently and comfortably as children asking their father.
Offering
the offering, members of Hope give freely from the heart, in order to support the church as it does Christ’s work in Houston and throughout the world. If you’re new here at Hope, we aren’t expecting anything from you, but if you would like to support our ministry, you can place cash in the offering box on your way out, or by going to hopeintheheights.com/give.
Blessing
The words we most often use for the blessing come from Numbers 6 and were spoken by Aaron at the command of God to bless his people and put his name on them. The blessing reminds us that we do not leave God behind when we leave the worship service. He accompanies us out into the world as we live our whole lives to his glory.