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Worship Vision Statement
Expressive liturgy in the rhythm of the gospel, by which God effectively increases our faith and builds His church.
Liturgy Overview
The liturgy, or order of worship, of the Sunday service at Northside Church has five major sections:
We gather in the presence of God
In this section we recognize the presence and greatness of God. The distinctiveness of corporate worship begins to be felt and seen. The liturgist welcomes the congregation and leads them through a call to worship, a song is sung, and Scripture is read.
We confess our sin and receive grace
The purpose of this section is to pull our affections off the things we worship instead of God. This is a time to be honest with God through corporate and silent confession, receive the proclamation of forgiveness from our Father through Christ, and respond in praise through song.
We respond to the grace received
In this section the grace received from God is manifested outwardly. Through passing the peace, baptizing covenant children, praying together, and taking up the offering we declare that our faith is more than an interior set of beliefs. We are also made ready to actively hear God's Word in the next section.
God feeds us with His Word
Together we receive food from the Lord that will not spoil: a biblical, Christ-centered sermon, and the meal of the Lord's Supper. In this way we affirm that God uniquely nourishes our minds and spirits through the practices of preaching and communion.
God sends us out refreshed
At the conclusion of the service we rejoice in song and are charged to put our faith into practice by loving and serving God and neighbor.
We highly recommend listening to Rev. Greg Thompson's lecture, The Order of Worship and the Order of Love (click to listen; right-click to download). Visit Bifrost Arts for more helpful resources. -
At Northside Church of Richmond, we are committed to Spiritual Formation. We believe that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion (Philippians 1:6) and that he invites us to participate in that work as we work out our salvation with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12). We seek to intentionally form our members more fully into joyful worshippers, nurturing family, and engaged neighbors as we instill and grow in them our six core values (the centrality of the gospel, the Bible as authority, a cross-cultural commitment, the primacy of the church, a Northside focus and a kingdom mindset). We do this through our Nurturing Family Groups, Journey Partners, Congregation-Wide Bible Study, Adult Sunday School and a number of other avenues and opportunities as part of our Spiritual Formation Plan.
If you have any questions or would like more information, please email gwen@northsidechurchrva.org.
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God has given His people different gifts and passions. We believe that God wants us to use these gifts and passions to love God and our neighbors. Community Engagement Teams are groups of people who come together to love our neighbors by serving the community in some capacity. Currently, we have teams serving in the following areas:
Youth Life
The Youth Life Engagement Team partners with Youth Life Foundation of Richmond (a local non-profit that runs after-school programs for elementary through high school students) to provide consistent volunteers who care about students' holistic growth and, through long-term relationships, evangelism, and discipleship, to welcome these students into the larger church body. Our purpose is to lead Youth Life students to spiritual, relational, personal, academic, and job-ready maturity.
Mercy Response
The Mercy Response Team shares the mercy God has given us by responding to requests for short-term financial assistance from members of the congregation or the community.
Neighborhood Engagement
The Neighborhood Engagement Team exists to provide ideas, encouragement, and accountability for those who are seeking to live as neighbors who "were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well" (1 Thessalonians 2:8). They do this by developing relationships with those who live around them, actively sharing the gospel, and serving practical needs identified by the community.
If you would like to join an engagement team, please contact Corinne Tucker via the form below.
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