Worship
The heart of our life as a parish family is worship.
Worship brings us to the deepest core of our identity and our understanding of God. As we bow down, we acknowledge that we are not God; we recognize our sinful and broken nature and our need for salvation. At the same time, through our act of worship, we convey to the One before whom we bow: “You are God, and we believe that You can and want to save us!”
Our worship together as a parish family not only sets our relationship with God and with ourselves right, but it also sets our relationship with one another right. Worship changes the way we relate to one another. Worshipping with others reminds me that I am in the same boat they are, that I am a sinner just like them. Worship reminds me that we have come together before the Lord as sinners who are all in need of saving. In this way, worship levels the playing field and keeps us from proudly thinking that we are better than anyone else.
Everything else our parish does flows out of worship. With our relationship made right with God, self, and neighbor, then we are ready to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, share the Gospel, teach the faith.