Worship at New Song

About Corporate Worship at New Song

Our approach to corporate worship is built upon several philosophical, biblical, and theological principles. Among them are:

God is worthy of our praise, thanksgiving, adoration, reverence, worship, and offerings. He deserves and enjoys the best our creative minds and bodies have to offer in worship.
We, as His creation, were made to worship Him. It is part of our design to bow before Him in worship and adoration.
Genuine worship is for God and for His enjoyment. But, when we give ourselves to Him in worship - body, soul, and spirit - we, too, are ministered to and our needs for praise and celebration are somehow mysteriously met. Worship is an expression of love. And like other expressions of love, "giving" is to be the primary motivation. If we come to worship with the attitude of taking rather than giving, if we come merely to seek some emotional experience, we will usually leave unsatisfied, unfulfilled, and disappointed. But, when we come to worship to give, as an expression of love, without concern for our own needs, but primarily to please God, we will find that not only will God be pleased with our worship, but somehow we, too, are pleased and our needs for giving love and worship are met. And...we come away satisfied.
Worship is to be participated in by all; it is not a spectator sport. Those who are up front are merely the leaders, the encouragers, the prompters helping those in the congregation to give themselves in worship to God. Worship is to be active, not passive. Nor is worship to be merely an intellectual exercise. It is to involve the whole person: body, soul and spirit.
Since God is by His very nature creative, and since His people display a broad diversity and range of creative abilities, we believe that worship ought to be broad, innovative, and with a creative spirit that reflects our creative God and the gifts that He has given us. There is not one right way to worship God, but many diverse and innovative ways to give Him pleasure and praise. We are only limited by the infinite creative abilities that He has shared with us.

A Few Distinctives of our Worship

Here are some of the ways we love to worship at New Song:

Singing Songs. We have several worship teams: Groups of musicians who have a heart to worship and to lead in worship. The worship leader is responsible for leading the musical team, as well as facilitating the congregation in singing songs to the Lord.
We have a projection screen, so the words of the songs are easily visible.
Art and Painting. We are excited to have so many skilled painters and artists in the church. We have easels set up at the front of the sanctuary and people will often paint during the worship as an offering of artistic creativity to God.
Dancing and Flags. We encourage people who want to dance as their expression of worship, to either come to the front, or find some space, to dance as their offering of worship. We have flags and banners which are also freely available for this purpose.
Prophetic Words, Songs or Tongues. Occasionally God will give an individual a prophetic word, song or tongue that is to be shared corporately. Anyone receiving this kind of prophetic inspiration should speak to the pastor leading the meeting so that they can determine most appropriate way to incorporate it into the service.

Emotions in Worship

God made us emotive creatures. Emotions are not the sum total of who we are, but they are a significant part. To use worship as a mindless play on our emotions is a shame and a mistake. But to keep all emotiveness out of worship and to relegate it to purely a mental exercise, is also a mistake. God wants us to love Him and worship Him with our whole person - heart, soul, mind and strength.

Unfortunately, church tradition has often left us a bit intimidated to show any emotion in worship. Yet the Scripture is full of emotive responses to God: laughing, weeping, dancing, falling on one's face, raising of hands, rejoicing, lamenting, clapping, fear. Our worship services should provide an environment where God can freely touch our emotions and allow us to express an appropriate worshipful response to Him without intimidation.

Awe, Wonder and Celebration

Worship should be characterized by awe, reverence, wonder, and celebration. It is a celebration of the awesome person and presence of God who has revealed Himself to us through His Word, through the wonder of nature and in His Son; who has displayed His amazing, unconditional love to us by sending His Son to die for us in our place; and who has lovingly forgiven us and brought us to Himself for a special relationship. Worship is to be more than "fun" or "enjoyable" and not merely a stirring of our emotions. It should reflect the nature of the one we are worshiping and our appreciation and gratefulness of the work He has graciously and mercifully done for us. Worship therefore at times needs to create an atmosphere of awe and wonder. Worship at times needs to communicate an atmosphere of warm, compassionate, accepting love. Worship must be God focused, not human need focused. For our human needs will only be met in His sufficiency.