“Love the Lord your God with all your heart
and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.”
Mark 12:30
“Worshiping God with everything we’ve got” is what Mark 12:30 is talking about. Each Sunday at Laurelwood we engage in worshiping our Lord through a variety of mediums. Music is one of the most common ways that we worship and most Sundays, you will find some sort of music to help you look to God and worship Him.
But there are many other ways we can worship: prayer, scripture, testimonies, serving, giving, etc. You’ll find at Laurelwood we try to incorporate different ways to worship God so that ultimately we can live out Mark 12:30.
No matter what your personal preference or what way you connect best when worshiping, we want each Sunday to be about God and not about us. The Worship Ministry has a goal of “responding rightly to a right understanding of God” and this helps remind us that we worship not for ourselves or for our own entertainment but to give God the glory.
And God does deserve the glory. Jesus Christ lived the life we were supposed to live and died the death we were supposed to die so that we might have life with Him. That’s the Gospel message and that is good news worth getting excited about. So join us Sunday as we sing and worship and celebrate that truth together in community.
Worship Vision for Laurelwood Baptist Church
“Responding Rightly To a Right Understanding of God”
1. Our understanding of worship begins with a right understanding of God. Without knowing who GOD is, it is difficult to worship Him in spirit and in truth (John 4).
2. We gather for church not to be entertained, but to respond in faith and obedience to God with praise, adoration, reverence and awe (Hebrews 12:28). The goal of the worship service is to point the congregation toward God in His fullness and offer our appropriate response (Colossians 3:17; 1 Corinthians 10:31).
3. The Bible shares many forms of worship: prayer, giving, fellowship, sharing, Bible- reading, preaching, singing, making music to God, etc. (Ephesians 5:19; Colossians 3:16; 2 Chronicles 5-7; Psalm 150). These different expressions of worship enhance our understanding and appreciation for God; therefore we believe they should be a part of our worship services.
4. During a service, the role of the worship leader is to prayerfully plan, model, and instruct believers in acceptable worship. Part of this process includes both preparing for the service and removing distractions or barriers that may arise to prevent us from hearing from God and responding rightly to Him. (2 Chronicles 5:11).
5. The Bible and God’s revealed character – including His good creation – encourages a variety of styles, traditions and musical instruments used for the glory of God. This indicates that many styles, traditions and instruments are indeed good and of value (Psalm 33:1-3; Psalm 19:1-4).
6. It is easy – especially in our “consumer-mentality” society – to approach church with our own desires, preferences, or expectations (Isaiah 6). We therefore believe it is important to experience different styles, traditions and instruments which allow believers to examine their own heart and learn to worship with a right understanding of God. If only one style or tradition is used:
- People may be incorrectly led to equate that style or tradition with acceptable worship.
- If the style or tradition always matches a believer’s personal preferences, they may not be able to tell if they are worshiping God or simply enjoying the music or styles they personally like.
- If the style or tradition never reaches a believer’s preference or background, they may become discouraged from practicing joyful worship.
- There is no opportunity to practice unity with believers who may have a different style, which may present problems when working with other believers locally or cross-culturally.
- There is less opportunity for discussion, sacrifice and appreciation of the views and preferences of others, which is a necessary aspect of fellowship.
- We risk raising up a generation entrenched in a certain style or tradition, rather than one established with the right heart attitude.
For more information, please contact our front office.