What is it like?
“God Himself is present, let us now adore Him and with awe appear before Him…”
These words are the opening line of one of our hymns. Written more than 200 years ago, it teaches an excellent understanding of what goes on in worship: the Holy God of the Universe is truly present in His sanctuary. We do not first go to God, but we believe that in worship God, in Christ comes to us. Our worship is Christ centered, first and foremost, and we created by God respond as He has given us to respond. Of course, we respond to His presence in a very reverent manner.
Why? It’s simple, really. That’s what God, through His Holy Word, shows us we should do. (Exodus 3:5; Isaiah 6:1-7; Luke 5:1-11; Revelation 1:17, 4:9-11, 5:6-14)
God is holy. That means perfect. We are sinners. That means imperfect. And God’s holiness always destroys sin.
Does that sound intimidating? It would be, except that God doesn’t come to His people to punish our sins. He comes to speak to us, to forgive us, and to give us His good gifts (Matthew 18:20).
Because God’s message to His people never changes, we worship in the same way the church always has. With only small changes through the years, the liturgy we use dates back to the earliest days of the Christian Church, and even into the Old Testament. We are linked through the liturgy to our Biblical forefathers David, Solomon, Peter and Paul, and perhaps even to your own personal ancestors, your parents and grandparents. Saint John currently uses the Lutheran Service Book (LSB) for worship.
We invite you to join us this Sunday!