St. Matthew's Unison Freewill Baptist Church
What to expect when you Worship with us!
Why We do what We do?
WHY DO WE PRAISE AND WORSHIP GOD?
Psalm 96:9
Oh, worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness! Tremble before Him, all the earth.
Psalm 100:4 Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.
John 4:23-24 But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. (24) God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.
Philippians 3:3 For we are the circumcision, who worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.
WHY DO WE STAND WHEN WE SING?
2 Chronicles 20:19 Then the Levites of the children of the Kohathites and of the children of the Korahites stood up to praise the Lord God of Israel with voices loud and high.
WHY DO WE LIFT OUR HANDS IN WORSHIP?
Psalm 134:2 Lift up your hands in the sanctuary, and bless the Lord.
1 Timothy 2:8 I desire therefore that the men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting;
WHY ARE MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS USED IN OUR WORSHIP?
Psalm 150:3-5 (3) Praise Him with the sound of the trumpet; Praise Him with the lute and harp! (4) Praise Him with the timbrel and dance; Praise Him with stringed instruments and flutes! (5) Praise Him with loud cymbals; Praise Him with clashing cymbals!
WHY DO WE PRAISE GOD WITH DANCING?
Psalm 149:3 Let them praise His name with the dance; Let them sing praises to Him with the timbrel and harp.
Psalm 150:4 Praise Him with the timbrel and dance; Praise Him with stringed instruments and flutes!
WHY DO WE SPEAK AND SING IN TONGUES?
1 Corinthians 14:14-15 For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my understanding is unfruitful. (15) What is the conclusion then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will also pray with the understanding. I will sing with the spirit, and I will also sing with the understanding.
WHY ARE "SPIRITUAL GIFTS" A PART OF OUR WORSHIP EXPERIENCE?
Romans 12:3-8 (3) For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith. (4) For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, (5) so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another. (6) Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith; (7) or ministry, let us use it in our ministering; he who teaches, in teaching; (8) he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.
1 Corinthians 14:3-4 (3) But he who prophesies speaks edification and exhortation and comfort to men. (4) He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but he who prophesies edifies the church.
Ephesians 4:8-14 (8) Therefore He says: “When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, and gave gifts to men.” (9) Now this, “He ascended”- what does it mean but that He also first descended into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things. (11) And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, (12) for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, (13) till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; (14) that we should no longer be children, tossed to and from and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting.
1 Thessalonians 5:19-21 (19) Do not quench the Spirit. (20) Do not despise prophecies. (21) Test all things; hold fast what is good.
AFFIRMATION OF FAITH
We believe that God is the Father Almighty and that He is the maker of Heaven and Earth as the scriptures have said. We believe in Jesus, that He is the Christ and is the only begotten Son of the Father. He is the way, the truth, and the life.
He was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead and buried. On the third day He rose from the dead and declared victory over the grave, death and hell. He has gone back to the Father to prepare a place for us in His Kingdom.
He will come back as He promised to judge the world and to deliver the righteous. We believe in the Holy Ghost, the Christian Church, the Communion of Saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body and eternal life for all true believers.
Amen
