What to Expect
A Visitor's Guide to Worship: All Your Questions and Concerns Addressed
Welcome!
Your attendance in worship is very encouraging to us, and we want you to know that you are welcome here. We understand that people have various experiences in religious practices, and come from many different denominational backgrounds. With this in mind, we want to offer a little view into how we structure our assembly at Main Street. It is our hope that the following will be helpful to you.
There are some individuals who are thrilled by the thought of visiting a congregation for the first time. Other individuals look forward to visiting, but with more reservation and some nervousness. Still others dread the entire experience of going to a new place and meeting new people. Please allow us to take a moment and explain what you will see and encounter when you visit one of the worship services of the Main Street Church of Christ. We genuinely hope you will consider worshipping with us.
If you have a Bible, bring it. If you don’t have a Bible, we have extra Bibles for you to use.
We have Bible Classes for all ages on Sunday morning from 9:30am-10:15am. All Bible classes are located down stairs in various classrooms.
Upon your arrival and entrance into our church building, you will be warmly greeted by two or more individuals who will welcome you with a bright smile, a handshake and provide you with a handout for the upcoming sermon. They will most likely hand you a copy of the current bulletin and provide you with a visitor handout that will tell you about the congregation.
You will also immediately "run into" a group of our members talking and enjoying each other's company. Whether it is brothers and sisters catching up on each others' lives, someone asking our preacher a question about a sermon or bible class, or members getting to know a new individual or family at services, the minutes leading up to and immediately following our bible classes and worship services are always warm, welcoming, and encouraging.
You will quickly notice that our members come from all walks of life. You will meet Christians who are drawing social security, see babies still in diapers, notice young singles, as well as middle-aged couples. We believe that you will find the kind of unity which is desired by our Lord (John 17:20-21; I Corinthians 12:12-27).
Appropriate clothing for the assembly is defined by one word: Modest . Some worshippers attend wearing blue jeans and others "dress up", so the traditional idea of "wearing your Sunday best" doesn't mean that you are required to wear a dress, or a suit & tie. Our Evangelist wears a tie in the Sunday morning assembly (and sometimes a suit jacket) because... well, he likes to wear ties. You will never be scorned or "put-down" for what you wear. Please keep in mind that the Bible does teach us to be modest. Otherwise, come in whatever makes you feel comfortable.
Our congregation is widely known for its love of people. While attending one of our services, you will quickly notice that we enjoy meeting new people. Sometimes guests are a little surprised by the lack of anonymity in our assembly ... we don't like the idea of anyone feeling like a "stranger". We're going to introduce ourselves to you ... you'll have to shake some hands and exchange some "howdys" while you're here with us. We sincerely hope you understand.
Crying babies, cell phones, pagers and PDAs are all a wonderful part of our culture. We understand when babies cry or when someone accidentally forgets to turn off a cell phone or other electronic devices. Although it is a little embarrassing for the person who forgets, we will never belittle you for such a thing happening in our assembly, and we would never want you to feel too embarrassed to return.
The goal of our assembly is to encourage one another, honor God in our united voice through worship, and to be equipped by the Bible for better service in God's kingdom. Though we make every effort to communicate clearly, sometimes, we cover information or use terms that may seem foreign to guests or those who are unfamiliar with Christianity. If you should have any questions about anything regarding our faith, practices or programs, please ask Chip or one of our elders, and we will be sure to assist you.
Worshipping God in Spirit and Truth
The Setting
Our worship services are held in what we refer to as the "auditorium." There will be rows of chairs or pews for the worshippers. There are no reserved seats, so please feel free to sit anywhere you choose. If you arrive at or near the start time of our service, you may be greeted as you enter the auditorium, by one of our ushers. They will offer to assist you in finding a comfortable location to sit. Many of our members will come and introduce themselves to you and welcome you here at our services.
Praying
Our worship begins with one of
our Shepherd’s, also referred to as Bishop, Pastor or Elder, who will bring
before the congregation those individuals of the congregation who have asked for
special prayers to be offered on their behalf. These may be members of the
congregation as well as friends and relatives of members. This prayer will be
focused on those special needs.
Additional prayers will be offered throughout the rest of the worship service.
In most cases these prayers are offered by men of the congregation in humbleness
of heart, thanking God for his loving kindness and mercy.
Singing
You will discover our music is done without any musical instrument accompaniments, solos, choirs, or praise teams. We seek to worship God according to the New Testament pattern found in Colossians 3:16, and since the New Testament only authorizes singing, that's what we choose to do. This type of singing is called, a cappella, or without musical accompaniment. You may find this to be unusual. It is our desire to pattern our worship service after the first century Christians. Those Christians chose not to use mechanical instruments of music for their worship and neither do we.
Communion
We take the Lord's Supper or
Communion every Sunday. As we have previously mentioned, it is our desire for
our worship services to be patterned after the church of the First Century. Acts
20:7.
The communion was first established by Jesus as he met with His Apostles. It is
a memorial for His death. Jesus took unleavened bread and told His Apostles that
this represented His body. He then took the fruit of the vine and said that this
represented His blood. He told his Apostles that as often as they ate the bread
and drank of the cup, it would show his death until He comes again (1
Corinthians 11.23-26).
Giving
We will take a few minutes to collect money from the members of the congregation. As a matter of convenience, this will normally be done at the conclusion of the communion service. This responsibility rests solely with the members of the Main Street Congregation. 1 Corinthians 16:1-2. As a visitor we do not expect you to provide any contribution. Simply pass the tray to the next person and don’t feel compelled to put anything into the tray.
Preaching
Our preacher’s only title is
minister. He won't be referred to as Pastor or Reverend, because such titles are
not found in the New Testament in the context of a preacher. He won't be wearing
any ecclesiastical costume or robes that will set him apart from the rest of us.
The sermon will be about 30 minutes long and will be totally Bible-based. We
invite and encourage you to open your Bibles and follow along.
Our minister and leadership believe strongly in maintaining the practice
established by Jesus' Apostles in the Church of the 1st Century. Preaching has a
prominent place in our worship. Our evangelist presents the Bible as it is given
to mankind... in a practical and relevant manner. While preaching, Keith
commonly uses the N.A.S.B. (New American Standard Bible) rather than other
versions that use an "Old English" style of wording. Every worship service
includes a sermon that is Biblically responsible and relevant for today's
culture.
Sermon Inserts
Our evangelist often uses sermon notes or outlines
in the form of an insert included in our worship bulletin. Sermon inserts are a
great way to take notes of interest during the sermon for later study and they
also offer the additional bonus of helping to keep "in touch" with the
messenger. Nearly every message presented at Main Street includes this type of
note taking interaction. Additionally, sermon topics are relevant to modern
needs and presented in a manner that is not lost in Christian "jargon" or
terminology.
Invitation
At the conclusion of the sermon, our evangelist will offer a time of response to the message. For many, this will be the first opportunity to publicly express faith in Christ Jesus as their Savior and Lord. The New Testament is very clear that baptism is an essential part of becoming a Christian. The Main Street Church of Christ practices the Biblical form of baptism by immersion. We do not practice or accept infant baptism, so the candidates for baptism are always youth or adult. By attending a service at Main Street you will likely see someone make this decision of faith and be baptized in front of the entire crowd of worshippers. We have a clean, heated baptistery that is ready at all times for just such a decision of faith. Anyone who has questions about baptism, what it means to become a Christian or about Christianity in general, are encouraged to speak with Keith.
Membership
Becoming a member of the Main Street Church of Christ involves being a faithful
Christian and making a public confession of your faith in one of our worship
services. We are always excited when Christians choose to place their faithful
Church membership in our trust. Anyone with inquiries regarding membership is
encouraged to speak with our elders.
We hope you will visit with us.
Staff Who Are We? What We Believe Salvation Church History Missions Education Pre-School
Church Media Youth Prayers Calendar Links Contact Us
