Praise & Worship Service

Recognizing the flow of the Holy Spirit in our church service.

Why do we clap our hands and have audible praise go God?

Why do we dance in the Spirit?

Why do we move in the spiritual gifts?

Why is the Bible so important?

We would like to provide you with some Biblical information about our Worship and Praise service because during our service the worship may take forms which are unfamiliar to you. It is sincerely our desire to worship in a Scriptural fashion according to God's Word. Our purpose is to give all glory to God. John 4:24 says, "God is a spirit, and those who worship Him must worship Him in Spirit and truth." Because Jesus is our Lord, we purpose to obey His Holy Spirit and to adhere to the truth of His Word, the Bible. Therefore, our Worship & Praise may take various forms.
Sometimes the service will be structured; other times it will be spontaneous. At times, it may be loud and demonstrative while at other times, very quiet. There may be an excited celebration of praise or there may be a hushed reverence.

God seeks for every believer to Praise & Worship Him as John 4:23 says, "But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshippers." And Philippians 3:3 instructs, "...worship in the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh."

The following information is intended to assist you in recognizing, by God's Word, the flow of the Holy Spirit during Worship and Praise as well as throughout our services.

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Why do we lift our hands?

"We lift up our hearts with our hands toward God in heaven." Lamentations 3:41
"Lift up your hands in the sanctuary and bless the Lord." Psalms 134:2
"So I will bless Thee as long as I live; I will lift up my hands in Thy Name." Psalms 63:4
"Therefore I want the men in every place to pray lifting up holy hands" I Timothy 2:8

As you can see, the lifting up of our hands is a valid scriptural way to worship the Lord. It is a way by which we can respond from our hearts, demonstrating our love before Him during a song that is sung or our agreement with a word that is spoken or our reaching out with our hearts in prayer. It also shows our surrender to God and that our lives belong to Him.

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Why do we stand or kneel?

"And the Levites...stood up to praise the Lord God of Israel with a very loud voice." II Chronicles 20:19
"A great multitude...from every nation...standing before the throne and before the lamb...were crying out with a loud voice saying 'Salvation to our God who sits on the throne and to the Lamb!'" Revelation 7:9-10
"Then, Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God and all the people answered, 'Amen, Amen!' while lifting up their hands. Then they bowed low and worshipped the Lord with their faces to the ground." Nehemiah 8:6
"Come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord our Maker." Psalms 95:6

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Why do we clap our hands and have audible praise to God?

"Oh clap your hands, all people; shout to God with a voice of joy." Psalms 47:1
"Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth; break forth and sing for joy and sing praises." Psalms 98:4
"The sound of joyful shouting and salvation is in the tents of the righteous." Psalms 118:15
"Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with joyful shouting." Psalms 126:2

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Why do we dance in the Spirit?

"Thou has turned for me my mourning into dancing; Thou has loosed my sack cloth and girded me with gladness." Psalms 30:11
"Let them praise His Name with dancing." Psalms 149:3
"I urge you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship." Romans 12:1

When a believer yields his body to the Lord in praise, the result of such cooperation with Him can be that of exuberant dance as the individual allows the Holy Spirit to move upon and and influence him. We call this "dancing in the Spirit". Also, leaping before Him is another expression of joy and praise in His Presence.

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Why do we move in the spiritual gifts?

"Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. But each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, and to another the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, and to another gifts of healings by the One Spirit, and to another the effecting of miracles, and to another prophecy, and to another the distinguishing of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, and to another the interpretation of tongues. But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually just as He wills." I Corinthians 12:4, 7-11
"Pusue love, yet desire earnestly spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy. for one who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men, but to God; for no one understands, but in his spirit he speaks mysteries. But one who prophesies speaks to men for edification and exhortation and consolation. One who speaks in a tongue edifies himself; but one who prophesies edifies the church. Now I wish that you all spoke in tongues, but even more that you would prophesy; and greater is one who prophesies than one who speaks in tongues, unless he interprets, so that the church may receive edifying. so also you, since you are zealous of spiritual gifts, seek to abound for the edification of the church. When you assemble, each one has a psalm, has a teaching, has a revelation, has a tongue, has an interpretation. Let all things be done for edification. Let all things be done properly and in an orderly manner." I Corinthians 14:1-5, 12, 26, 40
The gifts are manifest as the Holy Spirit desires and the reason for them, as the Scriptures point out, is so the congregation of believers will be built up, encouraged and strengthened in faith. I Corinthians 14:12

Of the gifts, you'll more frequently observe the gift of tongues (accompanied by the gift of interpretation) or the gift of prophecy. So we give particular attention to these now.

You may hear an individual believer begin to speak or sing in tongues. You will usually observe the whole congregation giving attention to that person, often waiting in silence until someone begins to speak or sing in English. This will be the interpretation of what was said in tongues. These two gifts combined are equal to prophecy. Now, someone may give a message in English without someone first speaking in tongues. This is the Scriptual gift of prophecy in operation. In either case they fulfill God's purpose which is to edify His people.

If you hear the entire congregation speaking or singing in tongues, this is not the gift of "various kinds of tongues" (I Corinthians 12:10) but, rather, each believer's individual prayer language which is usually received with the initial infilling of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:4) and is released by the believer's will (Jude 1:20) and is directed to God (I Corinthians 14:2) and therefore does not require interpretation.

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Why do we sing in the Spirit?

"...I shall sing with the spirit and I shall sing with the mind also." I Corinthians 14:15
"...be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord." Ephesians 5:18-19
"Let the Word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God." Colossians 3:16

The phrase "sing in the spirit" means to sing spontaneously our praises to God in "other tongues". Singing (or speaking) in "other tongues" means the believer has received a language unknown or not understood by him and is enabled by God's Spirit within him to release as he wills, singing with a known melody or with a melody that God provides simultaneously. It is possible that in the service you will hear the congregation sing praises to God, both in English (in psalms or hymns or other written songs) as well as in "other tongues."

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Why do we pray for the sick?

"Is any among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the Name of the Lord; and the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick and the Lord will raise him up..." James 5:14-15

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Why do people fall?

"When therefore Jesus said to them, 'I am He', they drew back, and fell to the ground." John 18:1-6
"And the guards shook for fear of Him and became like men." Matthew 28:1-4
"And he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, 'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?" Acts 9:4
"And when we had all fallen to the ground I heard a voice saying to me..." Acts 26:14

Why did these people fall? Because they came into contact with the power of God!
If people fell over backwards in the presence of Jesus then, why would they not now, seeing that He lives in believers today?

You may see people "fall under the presence of God" as the Pastor prays for or lays hands on those individuals who come forward with a need.

As the Pastor moves in the gifts and anointing of the Holy Spirit and ministers to these people (possibly laying hands upon them), some may "fall under the power" as they are touched by the power of God's presence.

Keep in mind, "falling" does not indicate that a person's need has been met. Needs are met by the Lord through faith in Him and in His Word.

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Why is the Bible so important?

"All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work." II Timothy 3:16-17
"Jesus said, 'The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.'" John 6:63
"Jesus was therefore saying '...if you hold to My Word then you are truly disciples of mine and you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.'" John 8:31-32

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We trust this Biblical information has helped you see why we do what we do - that it is based upon God's Word. Should you have further questions, we would be happy to be of assistance to you.

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