At Spring Road, we believe that Christianity, like life, is not just a Sunday morning event, but a journey. At the same time, every journey has to have a starting place. For those who are curious about Christianity in general, or our congregation in particular, Sunday morning is a great starting place. Here’s what you can expect from our Sunday Morning Worship Assembly.
Greeters:
When you first enter the building, you will be greeted by some of our members who will hand you our congregation’s weekly bulletin called the Messenger. In this publication you will find articles, information about congregational activities, an Order of Worship for the assembly and other items depending on the week. In the Messenger you will find our Prayers for the week insert. We believe deeply in prayer and are a fervently praying group of Christians.
Projection Screen:
One of the first things you may notice as you enter our auditorium is the use of the large projection screen at the front. This screen is used to project the songs we sing and sermon support slides during each assembly.
Singing:
One of the unique things you’ll notice about our congregation is that the music is a cappella (according to the chapel, in chapel style). This means that we sing without the accompaniment of musical instruments. We all sing together as our Song Leader leads us.
We hope you will find this type of praise to be uplifting and beautiful. Please note that if our Song Leader does not announce a song number and the song is included in our hymnal, the number appears in the Order of Worship in the Messenger weekly news and information bulletin and usually on the first slide of each song on the large screen.
Prayers:
There are usually a number of prayers led during each assembly because we believe God’s people should be in constant communication with Him. We talk to God and share our praise, dreams and requests with Him. We also pray for one another.
At some point in our assembly, one of our Shepherds (men chosen by our church family to lead us) will offer a “Shepherd’s Prayer. ” This prayer is a very important tradition at Spring Road. We realize that life is a struggle and that we all face various challenges and sorrows as we move through it. Our “Shepherd’s Prayer” is a time when we pause to pray specifically for those who are suffering in any way and to offer praise to God for blessings and answered prayers.
The Lord’s Supper:
In our assemblies on Sunday mornings, the Lord’s Supper (or Communion) will always be included. We observe this memorial of Jesus’ death and resurrection every Sunday.
Someone first shares a meditation with us, words designed to help us focus on Jesus’ sacrifice on the Cross. Then, following prayer, plates of bread will be passed throughout the congregation. The bread symbolizes Jesus’ body that was sacrificed on the Cross. Next, following another prayer, trays of “fruit of the vine” (grape juice) will be distributed. This symbolizes the blood of Jesus.
As we take these emblems, we are reminded of God’s love for us. He sent Jesus to be sacrificed for our sins so that we can live with Him forever! We are also reminded through the Lord’s Supper that people who have been saved are called to live in community to provide support and encouragement for one another. In essence, we are a family, created by the Cross of Jesus Christ and our faith in His ability to save us.
The Lord’s Supper will be passed in trays through each pew. If you choose not to participate, simply pass the plate or tray to the person next to you.
After the Lord’s Supper, during the Sermon, a Junior Worship class is offered to age 3 through 1st Grade and a Route 252 class is offered for Children grades 2 -5.
Publication For Children
The ‘next generation’ are very important to us and the continuation of the spreading of the Gospel. There are yellow and blue activity pages for our youth available which focus on Bible stories. These are on a table near the auditorium and are called Children’s Bulletins. New ones are put out each Sunday. Though ages are listed for each, any child may take and work on any of these.
Offering:
Each Sunday morning we also collect a financial offering which supports the work of the Spring Road Church. Our congregation is funded solely by these offerings and this collection is an important part of our worship to God and our time together.
While the collection plates are passed, you are welcome to place visitor cards and prayer request cards in the plate.
If you are a guest, please do not feel you are expected to make an offering.
Invitation:
At the close of the sermon, an “invitation” (or “altar call” as some call it) is offered. Those who wish to become Christians by confessing their belief in Christ and being baptized for the forgiveness of their sins should come to the front of the auditorium.
However, if you wish to respond in any way to God’s grace by coming to the front of the auditorium, you are more than welcome to do so!
If someone wishes to be baptized, you will witness the baptism during our assembly. This is a joyous occasion for us at the Spring Road Church of Christ! After the baptism there will be singing, part of our celebration of joy at the birth of a new Christian.
The baptism will be by complete immersion in water to receive the forgiveness of sins and the presence of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer (Acts 2:38; Titus 3:3-7). Baptisms do not have to occur during the assembly. A person may be baptized in any body of water and at any time, day or night.
We welcome you to participate in all aspects of our assembly, but don’t feel obligated to do so. If you wish, just observe. You are honoring us, and God, with your presence. We would be honored for you to fill out a Visitor Card at the beginning of the assembly. This simply provides us information so we can write or call to thank you for your visit. Feel free to decline, if you prefer. However, if you do fill out a visitor card, please place it in an offering plate when they are passed. We hope you enjoy our assembly and that it is both inspirational and uplifting. We thank you for your attendance and welcome you to worship and praise God with us whenever possible.