At Sunrise, we believe that worship happens best when we create space for God to speak to us and us to respond to back to Him. The following is the typical flow (order) of the worship service at Sunrise Church.
WE ARE GREETED BY THE LORD AND CALLED BY HIM TO WORSHIP
Do we “go to Church” or does God gather us? At Sunrise we believe that God always initiates the relationship we have with Christ and his Church. Therefore, we intentionally focus on this truth every time we gather for worship be hearing a Call to Worship and the exhortation to find our only hope in “The God who created the heavens and the earth.”
WE RESPOND TO GOD IN PRAISE
In response to our call to worship, we praise God with song. We spend time specifically thanking Him and praising Him for what He has done, and what He continues to do in our lives through the work of the Holy Spirit. We sing a mix of hymns and contemporary songs.
WE CONFESSION & RECEIVE GOD’S ASSURANCE OF PARDON: GOD SPEAKS AND WE RESPOND
Our time together is to remember what we bring to the table (our sin and brokenness), as well as what Jesus does for us (grace and reconciliation). Each week, we carve out time on our service to confess our sins to God. We do this in a variety of ways: with a short communal prayer, a time of silence for us to each personally confess our sins to God, through scripture reading and/or a responsive reading. We always end our confession with a reminder of God’s unconditional love and Christ’s grace.
WE GIVE BACK TO THE LORD: TITHES & OFFERINGS
We believe that all we have came from God and rightfully belongs to him if we call him “Lord.” We believe that Christians should give of their “first fruits” as led by the Holy Spirit in a recognition of Christ’s Lordship in their lives and to participate in his kingdom ministry. The gifts received at Sunrise Church go to support a variety of Christian ministries, local and worldwide.
WE COME TO THE LORD IN PRAYER
We desire to be a people of prayer. We must be praying for each other, both requests and praises. Prayer is more than simply asking God for help. Prayer is focusing on God. Prayer is an act of worship. When we pray we acknowledge that God is the only being in the universe that is “big enough” to address our deep needs. The depth of our sin and needs point us constantly to the holiness and sufficiency of God.
WE HEAR THE WORD OF THE LORD: THE SERMON
At Sunrise Church, we believe that God’s Word is the ultimate authority in our lives. We spend time reading a section of scripture (We normally preach through a book of the Bible) and hearing how it applies to our lives today. We desire that the Holy Spirit will encourage us where we need to be encouraged and challenge us where we need to be challenged!
WE RESPOND TO THE LORD IN SONG
In response to God’s Word, we praise Him. We spend time specifically thanking Him and praising Him for what He has done, and what He continues to do in our lives through the work of the Holy Spirit.
WE COME TO THE TABLE OF THE LORD TOGETHER: COMMUNION
1 Corinthians 11.26 says For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. We celebrate the Lord’s Supper once a month. Following the sermon we react to who he is and what He has done. We do this by joining together to celebrate the oneness of God’s people with the savior who died to make us all His. At Sunrise, all who have put their faith in the work of Jesus Christ on the cross, alone, for their salvation are welcome to take communion.
BENEDICTION: GOD SPEAKS AND WE GO OUT REJOICING
We believe that God should always get the last word. We end our worship service with a blessing from God based on scripture and leave singing.