Connections

There are several purposes for these groups:

To study the Bible together
To consider how we might encourage one another in our daily walk with Christ
To reach out to others who are not involved in the fellowship of the church
To mobilize members to minister to each other during times of special need
Most of our fellowships and ministry opportunities are organized through our Sunday School Share Groups
Each SS Share group has a missionary that they are praying for and communicating with
You do not need to be a member of the church to be a member of the SS Share group
All church members are assigned to a SS Share group for ministry opportunities and spiritual accountability

S.S. Share Groups:

Small groups meet each Sunday morning at 9:15 a.m. to study the Bible together and to consider how they might encourage each other in their daily walk with Christ and reach out to others. Fellowship and ministry opportunities are organized through our Sunday School Share Groups.

Personal Discipleship:

Every adult is encouraged to be involved in personal discipleship through our church. This is our T2 (T Squared) Discipleship ministry, because all discipleship should be tranform and be transferable. Through the discipleship process you should be transformed for the purpose of transfering what you have learned to someone else. Those that are interested in participating in a T2 Group are paired up with one or two partners––men with men and ladies with ladies––for a period of one year. During that time, they meet weekly, if possible, to study selected books, to pray, encourage, and be accountable to one another. At the end of the year, those who have been through the discipleship process are then paired with others who are ready to begin in the next year.

Men’s Ministry:

Through a Men’s Leadership Team, we endeavor to provide special events and activities that encourage both personal growth and outreach for men. These opportunities take various forms such as Bible Studies, retreats, camping trips, bowling tournaments, etc.

Ladies Ministry:

The Ladies Leadership Team works together to provide for the personal growth and outreach of our women. Practical ministry opportunities abound as our ladies provide meals for new mothers in the church, organize baby & bridal showers, and encourage each other in many other ways. This ministry also plans an annual Ladies Tea in the Spring and the Ladies Holiday House in the Fall. All of the ladies events have an emphasis on fellowship, outreach and ministry opportunities.

Experiencing God in Worship:

At the heart of all that we do is our congregational encounter with God on Sunday mornings where we gather to hear God’s Word and express our hearts to him in worship. The clear emphasis in all of our gatherings is the Word of God. We worship in music through a selective blend of great hymns and choruses that reflect the greatness of God and his gospel. The word of God is preached and taught in expository style with the Augustinian conviction, “when the Scriptures speak, God speaks.”

Ministry Point Sunday Evenings:

Sunday evenings we don't have an organized service at the church. We have our Ministry Points. This is a time set aside for our members to do outreach and to minister to one another. We encourage our members to do visitations, hospital visits, or invite neighbors over for dinner.

The proclamation and explanation of God’s word is the main element in worship. It informs everything else that we do and is God’s main appointed means of building his church. Worship is a personal experience with God in the heart of the believer, but is most often described as occurring in the context of the gathered church (Hebrews 10:25). The best definition of worship that I have found was penned by William Temple:

“Worship is the submission of all our nature to God. It is the quickening of the conscience by his holiness; the nourishment of the mind with his truth; the purification of the imagination by his beauty; the opening of the heart to his love; the surrender of the will to his purpose – and all this gathered up in adoration, which is the most selfless emotion of which our nature is capable and therefore the chief remedy to that self-centredness which is our original sin.”

Our worship includes the reading of God’s Word, prayer, preaching/teaching God’s Word, Lord’s Supper, baptism, and singing songs to God (Colossians 3:16). Music is important for praising God as well as for teaching. Our worship song selection includes Psalms (Scripture songs), hymns (songs of bible doctrine), and spiritual songs (songs of testimony and of present Christian experience).

We believe that a wide variety of styles can be used in worship music; however, the emphasis on choosing music for worship should first and foremost be the message of the song – it must be biblical. While the style can vary from traditional to contemporary, the style should compliment the message of the song. When the focus of the music is the worship of God through Jesus Christ, arguments that focus on style are properly seen as matters of preference; in which, mature Christians allow plenty of room for one another.