We believe that worship is a God-centered experience. Therefore, worship is primarily about God, grounded in solid biblical truth, and secondarily about the music used.
Worship belongs to the whole body of Christ who gather together. If worship is to be God-centered, then it must be controlled by biblical truth. Our prayer is that the singing of biblical theology would lead us to a passionate declaration of our doxology, aided by both contemporary and historical musical expressions.
The principles below inform the choice of music we sing, the kinds of praying we pray, the structure of worship we employ and even the announcements we make. The following ideas are not new with us but help us as we seek to create a worship experience that is both faithful to the word and considerate of the diversity of people who worship at FBC.
1. God-centeredness: A high priority will be made to focus on our (vertical) relationship with God on Sunday mornings. The aim is to so experience God that he is magnified in our affections (Ex. 20:2-11; Ps. 96; Mt. 22:37)
2. Anticipation: We come expecting the powerful, life-transforming presence of God. We earnestly draw near to him according to his promise (James 4:8). We believe that in worship God draws near to us and makes himself known and felt for our good and for the salvation of unbelievers with us.
3. Bible based and saturated: The content of our singing, our praying and preaching (even our announcements!) will conform to the truth of Scripture. The content of God’s Word will be woven through all we do in worship and will be the basis of all we do in worship (Ps. 119:105, 106).
4. Head and Heart: Worship’s goal is God who satisfies the soul. The worship service aims at awakening strong, real and holy emotions toward God. Clear thinking in the light of biblical truth challenges the mind and inspires the heart’s affections for God (Ps. 42:1-2; 119:130).
5. Earnest and intense: We will strive to avoid the trite, the flippant and superficial atmosphere that characterizes our culture and trivializes God and the gathering of his people. Instead we will set an example of reverence, wonder and passion for God (Ps. 122:1-5).
6. Authentic communication: The atmosphere of worship is one of anticipating a personal encounter with God and His truth. Worship is not a performance for people but for God. Therefore, we will renounce pretense, hypocrisy, sham and posturing in worship. Worship is not an artistic performance, a music concert or an oratorical performance (Mt. 15:7-9; Isa. 29:13).
7. The common good: We expect that our planning and focus will be for the good of God’s people and foster a spirit of love for each other and for the lost (1 Cor. 12:7; 14:24, 25).
8. Undistracting excellence: We will sing, preach, and pray in such a way that people’s attention will not be diverted from the Object of our worship either through a careless ministry or excessive elegance. Natural excellence (i.e., undistracting) will let the truth and beauty of God shine through (Isa. 6:1-8).
9. Mingling of historic and contemporary: So much of the contemporary “worship wars” has done harm to the heritage of the church of past ages and reduced worship to the newest and the novel. We must subordinate our musical preferences (especially) to the wisdom of Jesus who said, “[E]very scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house, who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old” (Mt. 13:52; Ps. 92).
If you would like more information about our worship team please contact us.
[1] This document was originally published by
We believe that worship is a God-centered experience. Therefore, worship is primarily about God, grounded in solid biblical truth, and secondarily about the music used.
Worship belongs to the whole body of Christ who gather together. If worship is to be God-centered, then it must be controlled by biblical truth. Our prayer is that the singing of biblical theology would lead us to a passionate declaration of our doxology, aided by both contemporary and historical musical expressions.
The principles below inform the choice of music we sing, the kinds of praying we pray, the structure of worship we employ and even the announcements we make. The following ideas are not new with us but help us as we seek to create a worship experience that is both faithful to the word and considerate of the diversity of people who worship at FBC.
1. God-centeredness: A high priority will be made to focus on our (vertical) relationship with God on Sunday mornings. The aim is to so experience God that he is magnified in our affections (Ex. 20:2-11; Ps. 96; Mt. 22:37)
2. Anticipation: We come expecting the powerful, life-transforming presence of God. We earnestly draw near to him according to his promise (James 4:8). We believe that in worship God draws near to us and makes himself known and felt for our good and for the salvation of unbelievers with us.
3. Bible based and saturated: The content of our singing, our praying and preaching (even our announcements!) will conform to the truth of Scripture. The content of God’s Word will be woven through all we do in worship and will be the basis of all we do in worship (Ps. 119:105, 106).
4. Head and Heart: Worship’s goal is God who satisfies the soul. The worship service aims at awakening strong, real and holy emotions toward God. Clear thinking in the light of biblical truth challenges the mind and inspires the heart’s affections for God (Ps. 42:1-2; 119:130).
5. Earnest and intense: We will strive to avoid the trite, the flippant and superficial atmosphere that characterizes our culture and trivializes God and the gathering of his people. Instead we will set an example of reverence, wonder and passion for God (Ps. 122:1-5).
6. Authentic communication: The atmosphere of worship is one of anticipating a personal encounter with God and His truth. Worship is not a performance for people but for God. Therefore, we will renounce pretense, hypocrisy, sham and posturing in worship. Worship is not an artistic performance, a music concert or an oratorical performance (Mt. 15:7-9; Isa. 29:13).
7. The common good: We expect that our planning and focus will be for the good of God’s people and foster a spirit of love for each other and for the lost (1 Cor. 12:7; 14:24, 25).
8. Undistracting excellence: We will sing, preach, and pray in such a way that people’s attention will not be diverted from the Object of our worship either through a careless ministry or excessive elegance. Natural excellence (i.e., undistracting) will let the truth and beauty of God shine through (Isa. 6:1-8).
9. Mingling of historic and contemporary: So much of the contemporary “worship wars” has done harm to the heritage of the church of past ages and reduced worship to the newest and the novel. We must subordinate our musical preferences (especially) to the wisdom of Jesus who said, “[E]very scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house, who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old” (Mt. 13:52; Ps. 92).
If you would like more information about our worship team please contact us.
[1] This document was originally published by
