Outline Of Our Liturgy

What is Liturgy? The word “liturgy” merely means “order of service.” Every church has one, from the seeker-sensitive church to the formal high-church traditions. Everyone comes to church, planning to do something. When you hear “liturgy” you may instinctively think of “ritual” or “ceremony”. However, liturgy is much more than ritual. The liturgy of your church will form and fashion you in vital ways. Simply stated, your church liturgy is like operating software. What you practice on Sunday in your local church informs and shapes your actions Monday through Saturday. The historic Christian faith has been fine-tuning church liturgy for two thousand years. Instead of trying to create “new software,” we chose to model our services around a historic protestant liturgy. Each week we are shaped and formed by prayer, worship, confession, teaching, training, and thanksgiving. Our services usually last 90 minutes, but keep in mind, this service order is often altered if the Lord leads the team at King’s Fellowship to do so. If you are interested to see the typical liturgy we practice, you can see an order of service below:

Opening Prayer

At King’s Fellowship, our Ada Church Worship Service begins in prayer and ends in prayer as Jesus proclaimed
“My house shall be called a house of prayer.”
“ALMIGHTY God, unto whom all hearts are open, all desires known, and from whom no secrets are hidden;
Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of thy Holy Spirit,
that we may perfectly love thee, and worthily magnify Thy Holy Name.
Through Christ our Lord. Amen.”

The Word of God is the final authority in our lives. We joyfully submit to all that it declares in everything we sing, say, and do. As we worship together, we confidently proclaim the truth of the Word and respond eagerly to the leading of the Holy Spirit. We will therefore strive to sing and speak what the Spirit inspires, regardless of whether it is previously planned or composed.

a Prayer Of Confession

Each week we recite a prayer of confession to the Lord. Scripture is unambiguous about our necessity to repent and live lives of repentance and confession. We recite this prayer every Sunday both as a reminder to repent but more importantly as an act of faithful obedience.

“Almighty and most merciful Father, we have erred, and strayed from Your ways like lost sheep. We have followed too much the devices and desires of our own hearts. We have offended against Your holy laws. We have left undone those things which we ought to have done, and we have done those things which we ought not to have done, and there is no health in us. But you, O Lord, have mercy upon us, miserable offenders. Spare those, O God, who confess their faults. Restore those who are penitent, according to your promises declared to humanity in Christ Jesus, our Lord. And grant, O most merciful Father, for His sake, that we may hereafter live a godly, righteous, and sober life. To the Glory of Your Holy Name. Amen.”

Preaching Of The Word

We LOVE God’s Word! When rightly preached, Christ Jesus is always present. Our services are truly devoted to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, and to teaching (1 Timothy 4:13). We eagerly gather around God’s word that he might show us wondrous things (Psalms 119:18).

Up until the preaching of the Word, our children join us in service for public readings, recited prayers, and worship. If parents so choose, we do dismiss the children for kid’s ministry during the preaching and teaching of the Word, and they are brought back into service at the close of the sermon. Those in the Kid’s Ministry will receive a bible lesson that is appropriate for children ages 5-12 by our qualified and vetted children’s leaders. Children younger than 5 will be ushered into our nursery. 

For parents who believe their children can retain the contents of a 40 minute sermon, and believe that their children can handle mature themes such as abortion, suicide, substance abuse, and other sinful practices, we encourage you to keep your children with you in the adult’s service. 

Nicene Creed

What Is the Nicene Creed: The Nicene Creed is a historic confession that was written by the Church in 325 AD and updated in 381. This Creed succinctly states what all Christians everywhere have always believed. Eastern Orthodox, Catholic, and Protestants alike have recited this creed in their services for the past 1,700 years, and we eagerly join them in that beautiful tradition.

“We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all things seen and unseen. We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made; of one Being with the Father. Through him all things were made. For us men and for our salvation he came down from heaven; by the power of the Holy Spirit he became incarnate from the virgin Mary and was made human. He was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate; he suffered death and was buried. On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and His kingdom will have no end. We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, and with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified. He spoke through the prophets. We believe in one holy catholic (meaning universal not Roman Catholic) and apostolic Church. We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. We look forward to the resurrection of the dead, and to life in the world to come. Amen.” 

The Lord’s Prayer

The Lord’s prayer can be found in Matthew 6. Here Jesus gives us instructions on our model of prayer. We recite this prayer each Sunday to remind us how to pray. You may see there at the end an added section of the prayer called the “doxology”. This part of the prayer is not Holy Scripture, but an added church tradition that we recite along with the prayer in Matthew 6.

“Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from The Evil One.”

Doxology: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

THE EUCHARIST OR HOLY COMMUNION

What Do I Do During Communion? At Kings Fellowship, we believe the Eucharist (meaning thanksgiving) or holy communion is for the members of Christ’s Body. If you are a born-again believer, and you are in right standing with your local church, you are welcome to partake of the table. However, if you are not yet a follower of Christ, or you are under the discipline of your local church, we would ask that you abstain from taking the wine and bread during the Eucharistic meal. This meal is Holy unto the Lord and to partake of this meal without union with Christ, you drink judgment upon yourself.

If you would like to know what it means to be a follower of Jesus please ask one of our Elders, we would be glad to discuss this with you!

Closing Prayer

We acknowledge that only God brings meaning and power to our prayers, worship, preaching, and thanksgiving. We close out our services with a prayer that depends on his power and grace to sustain us throughout our week.

“Almighty God, eternal Father, we have sat at your feet, learned from your Word, and eaten from your table. We give you thanks and praise for accepting us into your family. Send us out with your blessing, to live and witness for you in the power of the Spirit, through Jesus Christ, the firstborn from the dead. Amen.”