Why Do We Worship?

In worship we affirm our relationship with our Creator through acts of praise, song, thanksgiving and storytelling. We celebrate together what God has done and is doing to create and renew the world. In worship, we reset our compasses toward that which is truly ultimate amidst a culture cluttered with distractions. In a stressed and harried world, we enter sacred time, when we are refreshed in the company of God and one another. In worship God nourishes us through Word and Sacrament and strengthens us for service.

From the earliest days of the church, Christians gathered together on the first day of the week to tell the story of Jesus, share a meal, pray and sing. We continue this tradition in celebrating the Eucharist (from the Greek word for “thanksgiving”) every week. The Eucharist is a feast in which God offers us a foretaste of heaven. Jesus described God’s reign (or kingdom) as a great banquet, around which people from every tribe and nation are reconciled in love and peace. The Eucharist points toward God’s ultimate vision for human community and helps us live into that vision in our time and place.