Sunday Services

We aim to tell the story of the gospel together with our services each week. That story unfolds in four movements: First, God gathers us in from our ordinary lives and draws us to himself, inviting us to come near and worship him. He speaks to us through the reading and preaching of his Word, offering us hope, comfort, and correction as the Holy Spirit applies the truths of Scripture to our hearts. We respond to God’s Word by eating at his Table, participating in the body and blood of Jesus by receiving the bread and the cup. And finally, God sends us out with his blessing to carry the work he has done in our midst into the world. Like movements of a symphony or acts in a play, these four acts of every service tell of the whole story of the Bible in miniature, from Creation, to the Law and Prophets, to Jesus, and his church.

Music

One of the ways we tell this story and respond to it is by singing together. We sing a wide variety of songs from hymns that may be a few hundred years old to contemporary worship music. We have a small band of volunteer musicians who accompany our singing with arrangements and instrumentation that seek to locate the songs within our own Appalachian culture. Though we aim to make beautiful music together that lifts our hearts and glorifies God, we try to keep Jesus at the center of our focus by standing the musicians off to the side.

Learn more about the songs we sing and listen to live recordings here.

Liturgy

Another storytelling tool that helps us to rehearse the gospel every week is the use of written prayers that give us words to articulate the depth of our need for God and the riches of grace to us. Because prayer and worship aren’t just about authentically expressing how feel about God, but also a means God uses to shape and form us, we believe written prayers are a helpful tool the Holy Spirit can use to guide our hearts toward the ways we ought to feel even when we don’t. Many of these prayers come directly from Scripture, like the Call to Worship that begins our service every week. Some of them are taken from the rich tradition of church history, and others we write ourselves using biblical imagery and themes to tie the different parts of the service together.

Sometimes these prayers are led by one person, and sometimes we read them together. A lot of times we take turns, where one person reads the plain text, and we all read the text in bold together, like this:

Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good,
for his love endures forever.

Get a feel for what this is like by viewing the liturgy of this weekend’s service here.

Confession & Assurance

One of the key places these written prayers will appear in the service is during the Confession of Sin. Part of approaching God as he gathers us to himself is being reminded of his perfect holiness and justice. When we see God for who he is, he can’t help but recognize how we have sinned and fallen short of his glory. We are broken creatures, beset with weakness and need for God’s grace. At CityChurch we believe there is great freedom to be found in confessing this every week when we gather. We don’t have to keep up appearances and pretend like we have it all together, but we’re allowed to be broken and free to be honest about our struggles. And so we pray together a written prayer that admits to God our need for his forgiveness and help.

But we never confess our brokenness and need together without also being reminded of God’s mercy and forgiveness promised to us in Jesus. We don’t go on wallowing in shame and guilt over our sin, beating ourselves up to prove how sorry we are. But rather, in the Assurance of Pardon we receive anew the grace and mercy of Jesus communicated to us in the Scriptures and are reminded of God’s faithfulness to complete the work in us which he has begun. And then we always stand and sing together to celebrate the love God has shown us.

CityKids

We love having children of all ages be a part of our worship, along with all the accompanying noises and wiggles. You’ll probably hear a restless toddler or an upset infant make their presence known during the service. We’re more than okay with that, and if your kids might be a little noisy sometimes, you’ll fit right in. However, if you do need to step out of the room with them for a moment, a livestream of the service is available in our Little Lambs room with toys and other things to keep them occupied. You’re welcome to come and go as you please.

We do have a nursery and classes during the sermon for children up to age 10 (give or take). There’s a brief break in the service before the Reading of Scripture and the Sermon during which CityKids are dismissed to their classes. They’ll rejoin us after the sermon during Communion.

Learn more about CityKids and what our children are learning here.

Sermon

Every Sunday at CityChurch you’ll hear a gospel centered sermon preached from the Scriptures. You won’t hear a moralistic message of how to clean yourself up and get your life together, but rather the gospel of Jesus filled with truth and grace: the good news that you are both more broken than you could ever imagine, and yet far more loved than you ever dared hope. We endeavor to proclaim the freedom of no longer having to work our way up to God, but resting and rejoicing in the truth that God came down to us in the person of Jesus.

Listen to our past recorded sermons here or study along to prepare for this Sunday here.

Communion

After the sermon, we respond to God’s Word by coming around his table to receive a real and tangible reminder of his love for us in the gifts of Christ’s body and blood. We practice open communion, meaning that you don’t have to be a member of CityChurch to receive Communion, but as long as your faith rests in Jesus, no matter how small that faith may be or how feebly you hold on to him, you are welcome to come to his table. Because, as you will often hear us say, it’s not about the strength of our faith, but the object of our faith.

We practice Communion by gathering in small groups around tables throughout the room where an elder will pray over us before we receive the bread and the cup. We have both wine and grape juice available, as well as gluten-free bread for those who need it.