Worship
Worship: Glorifying God together through Jesus. “And they were constantly devoting themselves to ?the breaking of bread” (Acts 2:42).
This refers primarily to the ceremony of the Lord’s Supper observed by the early Christians. (The “breaking of bread in their homes” mentioned in 2:46 is of an entirely different nature, denoting fellowship meals, not the Lord’s Supper). The early church established the pattern of gathering weekly to observe the Lord’s Supper (Acts 20:7), and this ceremony quickly became the central focus of weekly Christian worship.
Initially the accent was placed upon Christ’s resurrection. In the early church the theme was joyful, full of celebration. Only later did the death of Jesus become the dominant theme, adopting a more solemn tone.
Linguistic evidence suggests that each of these elements (fellowship, breaking of bread, teaching of the apostles, and prayer) may have been components of the worship service of the early church. Biblical evidence also suggests that worship is defined as obedience to God’s Word.
Second century worship service included Scripture reading, preaching, singing, praying, partaking the Lord’s Supper, and giving.
Early in the life of the Church, non-Christians were dismissed for the latter of these elements (Lord’s Supper and giving).
Congregational worship service encouraged members to live by high moral standards and brought the church together in the kind of faith that nurtured the Christian community.
An Open Invitation: We encourage all who desire to draw near to God in worship and praise of him, to attend our worship services with the body of believers at Memorial Church of Christ. We employ several types of worship services for different preference styles, from traditional to contemporary. We use instruments in our worship services to support corporate, congregational worship. Please refer to our schedule of services for the times for congregational worship.