We welcome all to worship at Our Lord's United Methodist Church. Praising God is something everyone can and should do and we would love to have you join in our praises. To help you understand a little bit more about the United Methodist Worship Service, here are the parts to our service with an explanation of the symbolism and meaning behind them.

Lighting of the Altar Candles
Before the service begins a person called an Acolyte brings in the flame that will light the candles on the Altar Table. This is called "The Light of Christ" and it reminds us that before worship starts our Lord and Savior should be present. At the end of the service the Acolyte will come and snuff out the light but before he does he will transfer the light to his wick and carry it out of the sanctuary symbolizing that “The Light of Christ” now goes into the world ahead of us to help and guide us.

Introit
This is usually music to help us prepare our hearts and minds for the worship of our God and to let go of all the things that we came into the worship area with.

Call to Worship
This part is the beginning of the actual Worship experience. It is usually a leader lead with the congregation responding to help us to get into the theme of the morning.

Hymns
Why do we sing hymns? Music is a way of expressing our joy to be the children of God and to help us to praise, ask for help and understand the scripture better.

Word to the Young
The Bible wasn’t written with children in mind and to that end we ask the kids to come up to have a special time for just them. This is a time when they can hear the message of the Bible in terms they can understand.

Scripture
Passages of the Bible are always read at every worship experience. The Bible is our instruction book and written by people who were God inspired. Handed down from generation to generation the Bible helps to tell us what people have learned about and who God is and how to build a relationship with him.

Message
Some churches call this part the Homily or the sermon. This is where the Pastor or spiritual leader for the day tries to tell us what God is saying though them and to us.

Prayers
We need to talk to God and we need to do it in many different ways. To ask for help, to ask for healing, ask for forgiveness and to ask for the sake of others. It is hard to build a relationship up with God and never speak to him. We need to do it and often. Jesus taught us a great prayer.

Sending Forth
Some churches will call this the benediction. It is a way to challenge us to continue to be the people of God outside the sanctuary walls. It is easy to leave the place of worship and to go right back to being and living without God at our sides. This indeed is a challenge.