Presbyterian Reformed Church
Maroondah
What to Expect at our Service of Worship…
Let us
introduce ourselves and tell you some of the things you can expect as part of
our worship service.
As a
denomination the Presbyterian Reformed
Church of Australia
has developed a position paper on Corporate
Worship.
Here at Maroondah our worship practice
includes:
The Service
The
service includes hymns, Bible reading, prayers and sermon. The order of service
varies from time to time, but always includes these elements of worship. The
whole service usually takes about an hour and a half.
The Sermon
The
sermon is usually between 40 to 55 minutes and most often will be an exposition
of a passage of Scripture, with application to the needs of the congregation.
Sometimes the sermon will be specifically topical, but most often it will be
part of a series, working systematically through a book of the Bible.
Stand or sit?
We sit
for most of the time – while we pray, read the scriptures and listen to the
sermon. We stand up while we sing.
Singing
We
sing psalms, hymns and other spiritual songs from a number of sources. The hymn board at the front, or the order of
service hand-out, will indicate which book to use for each of the songs.
At the
end of each song we sing ‘Amen’ – which is scripture’s way for us to affirm
heartily to each other the truth and importance of what we have sung.
Offerings
During
the service, members of our church are given the opportunity to contribute
money for the work of the gospel within our own congregation, and to support
the missionary work our church undertakes.
We don’t expect visitors to contribute, so please don’t feel any
obligation to put money into the offering when it is taken up.
After the service
Immediately
after the service, take a moment or two to reflect on what you have learned
from the hymns, scripture readings and sermon, and ask God to help you to
remember and apply those things.
Before
you leave, please join us for light refreshments and an opportunity for us to
get to know each other.
On the
first Sunday of each month we share a meal together after the worship
service. You are very welcome to join
us.
The Lord’s Supper
After
lunch on the first Sunday of each month, we observe the sacrament of the Lord’s
Supper. If you would like to participate
with us in this communion service, please speak to one of the elders. Please read “Taking
part in the Lord’s Supper” below, which has more information about
this important part of our congregation’s life.
Presbyterian Reformed Church
Maroondah
Taking Part in the Lord’s Supper
The
Lord’s Supper is a special and very precious ‘means of grace’. It can be of great benefit to everyone who
attends the service. But participation in
the Lord’s Supper – by sitting at the table and taking the bread and the cup –
is not for everyone.
1. The Lord’s Supper is for Christians
It
is for those who know themselves to be sinners by nature, by habit and by deed,
but who are humbly repenting of their sins and trusting in the death of the
Lord Jesus Christ on the cross to save them from the guilt and pollution of
their sin, to restore them to a relationship of fellowship with God, and to fit
them, at the end of their lives on this earth, to dwell with Him and praise Him
in glory forever.
1 Corinthians
11:23-26
For I received
from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the
same night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks,
He broke it and said, "Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you;
do this in remembrance of Me." In
the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, "This cup is
the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance
of Me." For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you
proclaim the Lord's death till He comes.
2. The Lord’s Supper is for Christians in true
Christian churches
Many
of our spiritual duties, privileges and exercises are intensely personal. But the Lord’s Supper is a corporate act, not
a personal one. It is a Sacrament, given
by Christ to the Church – not to individual Christians – to observe in a
disciplined way following His example (Luke 22:14-20) and according to the
instructions He gave through the apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 10 &
11. We often refer to the Lord’s Supper
as the ‘Communion’ service, which emphasises not only
the relationship we have with Christ, but also the unity of those who sit
together at the Lord’s Table. Christians
will desire to be active, involved members of an evangelical church – where
they come under the discipline of Biblical preaching, the oversight of the
elders and the fellowship of others. All
such people, if they are at one with the members of the Presbyterian Reformed
Church, are warmly invited to join us at the Lord’s Table. If you are not a member of the Presbyterian
Reformed Church please speak to one of the elders of this congregation before
first sitting at the Lord’s Table with us.
1 Corinthians 10:16-18,
21, 23, 24
The cup of
blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The
bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? For we, though many, are one bread and one
body; for we all partake of that one bread.
Observe
3. The Lord’s Supper is for Christians who are
repenting of their sins.
Given
the previous two ‘qualifications’, this might seem obvious. Haven’t all Christians repented of their
sins? Yes, but the Bible shows that
Christians can become careless and indifferent – or even fall into open sin and
rebellion – and that in such a state they should not participate in the Lord’s
Supper. The Lord’s Supper is a
remembrance of Jesus’ death for sinners.
It would be hypocrisy of the worst kind to join in commemorating His
saving death while unrepentantly harbouring the very
sins for which He died. This does not
mean that the Sacrament cannot benefit a backslidden Christian. Its regular observance by the church is a
rebuke to sin, and calls us all to repentance, renewed dependence on God’s
saving grace, and devotion to live a godly life. Christian, do not come to the Lord’s Table
while you are willfully sinning and refusing to yield to God’s law – instead
repent, and then come gratefully and joyfully to this memorial of Christ’s
death for your sin.
1 Corinthians
11:27-31
Therefore
whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner
will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him
eat of the bread and drink of the cup.
For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks
judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. For this reason many are weak and sick among
you, and many sleep. For if we would
judge ourselves, we would not be judged.
For everyone who takes part properly, the Lord’s Supper brings
the blessing of hearts warmed by recalling our loving God’s infinite grace to
sinners in the death of His own beloved Son.
·
Prepare, therefore, to come solemnly yet joyfully to
this feast.
For those who do not join in the observance of the sacrament, we invite you to take a seat behind
those who are participating, and to benefit from this service by considering
the message of God’s grace for undeserving sinners, set out before you in the
broken bread and in the cup.
· Watch as
communicants, who have gathered at the table, partake.
· Listen as
the gospel of salvation through the death of the Lord Jesus Christ is
proclaimed both in word and in the visible elements.
· Consider the
free offer of eternal salvation set out before you, and all the blessings of
fellowship in a true church available to you.