Worship at Good Shepherd follows a liturgical format that blends the excellence of old and new with:
classic hymns
contemporary accompaniments
historical texts
modern messages
The message at Good Shepherd communicates God's Word in a way that 21st century people appreciate and understand. Our pastor speaks on the level of the listeners, using contemporary anecdotes and intriguing illustrations to give messages of God's grace and guidance. The relevance of these Bible-based messages will guide you with new insight for the week ahead. At the same time, the reverence of our church setting provides a transcendent worship experience to give you greater joy and strength.
Liturgy
Our services typically follow an order of service such as:
Prayer before service and musical prelude
Greeting
Opening Hymn
Confession and Absolution
Lessons and singing of Psalms
Hymn of the Day
Sermon
Reading of the Creed Offering Prayer
Communion (on 1st and 3rd Sundays of the month)
Blessing
Welcome
When you enter the church, you will be greeted by an usher, who will hand you an order of service to follow. Feel free to ask the ushers for any questions you have about our church or assistance you need. Our entire order of service is printed in the service folder. After the service, our pastor greets the worshippers. Following the service, feel free to stay and visit.
Dress
Sometimes people wonder how they are expected to dress at a church they’ve never visited before. Since the Bible presents no dress code, aside from simple decency and Christian humility, we don't make any rules either. Like most people, our members try to make their worship time at church a special time. This is often reflected in the way they dress.
On any Sunday at our church you may see running shoes and high heels, jeans and suits, or open collars and ties. When a person dresses out of love for God, the choice of dress (casual or more formal) is acceptable to God ...and us.
Children
Many parents are worried that their children will cause a disruption. Some churches do not encourage or even allow parents to bring young children to worship with them. We love having children in worship. We believe that they grow in faith through the Word of God just as adults do.
If you are concerned about your children in worship, please know that we understand that children have short attention spans and often make some noise. We expect that. We also have a cry room for those times when parents need to calm or quiet their children. We are also equipped to offer child care. Because most of our children currently worship with their parents, we ask that you call to request childcare if needed.
Offerings
"When will they take the offering?" "How will it be collected?" "How much am I expected to give?" "Do they want visitors to contribute too?" These are typical worries about church offerings.
The Bible teaches that our offerings to God should reflect our belief that all we have is His gift to us. It teaches us that with our offerings we worship and honor God.
Like most Christians, our members bring offerings to God through their church. Since offerings are gifts of love for God, no one dictates what each person is to give. We pass an offering plate during the service so that our worship may include bringing gifts to God.
You may wish at first to learn more about our ministry before bringing your offerings to God through our church. But you are welcome to participate as your heart leads you to give.
Why Do We Use a Liturgy? The word liturgy comes from the Latin word meaning "to work." Basically it is the order of service that is used to guide us in our worship.
The liturgy we use is based on the historical Christian order of worship dating back to the 1st century Christians. With slight variations or with major changes, we follow a similar pattern with each service. A liturgy doesn't stifle our worship. It rather gives it direction so that goals and objectives are met. These goals and objectives include: confession of sin, receiving forgiveness, and growing in God's will for our lives. Weekly themes direct our attention to specific thoughts God would have us learn. In this way the majority of God's counsel can be covered in one year, rather than relying on a hit and miss topical approach.
There are three key elements in a liturgical form of worship:
The proclamation of the good news of Jesus Christ is to be the central part of of worship
The participation of our congregation. Each christian has the God-given priviledge to glorify God. A liturgy allows each worshipper to be a participant and not just a spectator.
A liturgy ties us to the history of the Christian church and unites us with all the saints of God.
Close Communion (please....not "closed") We practice in our church "close" communion (as in close friends). Clear Bible teachings cause us to follow this practice.
Communicants are Christians, that is they trust in the Lord Jesus Christ and Him alone as Savior. Only true believers want to proclaim the Lord's death until He comes. 1Cor. 11:23-26)
Communicants will recognize what they receive. This is not just plain wine and bread-but the true body and blood of Jesus in communion with the bread and wine. (1Cor. 10:16)
Communicants examine themselves. Paul writes, "Let a person examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup..." (1Cor. 11:27-28)Do I see myself as a sinner? Am I sorry for my sin? Do I believe that Jesus provides forgiveness for me through this sacrament?
Communicants agree together with the Bible's teachings. Unity at the Lord's Supper is a witness to a common belief in the Savior's teachings. Scripture warns to "watch out for those who cause divisions...contrary to the teachings you have learned. Keep away from them. (Romans 16:17)
it preserves the word of God
it protects Christians from giving a false witness to unity
it protects those who commune, as much as humanly possible, from communing improperly
Since we are speaking of the Lord's Supper, not ours, and since God's word speaks plainly on the subject, we diligently strive to preserve these truths among us. For all these reasons, participation at the Lord's Supper is offered to those who by their church membership are united in the teachings of the word of God as they are confessed by the Wisconsin Ev. Lutheran Synod and the Evangelical Lutheran Synod.
Why this concern? Scripture warns, "Whoever eats and drinks without recognizing the body and blood of Jesus, eats and drinks God's judgment on himself." (1Cor. 11:28) It is really an act of love to practice close communion. It's loving because: This is not a new practice for Christian congregations. We have writings of the earliest centruies A.D. which state that those believers refused commuion to all who were not baptized, all who refused to repent of sins and all who were unwilling to forsake false doctrine. In fact, just about all the major denominations of today took the matter just as seriously in the early years of their existence. Sadly, most of these have lost faithfulness to Scripture in this area--and this makes our practice seem "unusual." But God's word has not changed. We sincerely hope that we have expressed ourselves clearly in this important matter. We have tried to speak the truth in love.
back to the 1st century Christians. With slight variations or with major changes, we follow a similar pattern with each service.
