Stuff We Do on Sunday Morning: Decoded

What is a prayer of praise? Why do we have a benediction? How would you explain to a friend or family member why we baptize people who profess faith in Christ’s saving work on the cross?

These are good questions. It can be a little confusing to navigate the different terms and phrases we come across at church on any given Sunday morning, so we wanted to define a few of them for you. Let’s dive right in.

Broadly, our service is made up of singing, a reading from Scripture and a prayer, and the sermon followed by Communion. To close the service, one of the pastors will offer a Benediction. The singing portion of the service is known as Congregational Singing. This is the corporate singing of the truths of Scripture and praise to God and edification of Christ’s church. Amidst some of the songs, we may have a Scripture Reading—the public reading of God’s word during the congregational worship of the church. We often have a Prayer of Praise during the middle of our service. This is a prayer to the triune God, voiced on behalf of the congregation, praising Him for who He is and what He has done. Or perhaps it might be more fitting to the theme of the morning to have a Prayer of Confession—a prayer to God, voiced on behalf of the congregation, confessing our sins and seeking forgiveness for Christ’s sake.

As we transition out of the singing portion of our service, we move to the Sermon. The sermon is the preaching of God’s word, giving explanation and application of God’s truth to God’s people, with a focus on the person and work of Jesus Christ. 

Typically in our service, as the pastor preaching comes to the end of his message, he will move into Communion, also known as The Lord’s Supper. Communion is the second of two church ordinances commanded by Christ in which members of the church eat the bread and drink the fruit of the vine, signifying their present faith in Christ, communion with God through the new covenant in Christ’s blood, and communion with God’s people in Christ, as they anticipate the Lord’s return. Finally, the pastor will offer a Benediction. A Benediction is a bi-directional address; the pastor, appealing to God, offers a pronouncement of the blessings of God’s grace in Christ upon God’s people, encouraging God’s people to live faithfully in light of God’s word and grace.

You might be wondering, “if Communion is the second of two church ordinances commanded by Christ, what is the first?” And the answer is Baptism. Baptism is the first of two church ordinances commanded by Christ in which the believer is immersed in water, signifying inward repentance and faith in Christ, union with Christ in his death, burial, and resurrection, cleansing and forgiveness of sins, salvation from the wrath of God, the transfer of citizenship into Christ’s kingdom, and the entrance into the church of God. We may hold baptisms during our church service or during a separate baptism service.

For further reading—

• Congregational Singing—Psalm 95:1–5, Ephesians 5:18–20, Colossians 3:16

• Scripture Reading—1 Timothy 4:13

• Prayer of Praise—Ephesians 1:3–14

• Prayer of Confession—Nehemiah 1:4–11, 1 John 1:9

• Sermon—Luke 24:25–27, 1 Timothy 4:13, 2 Timothy 4:1–2

• Benediction—Romans 16: 25–27, 2 Corinthians 13:14, Hebrews 13:20–21

• Baptism—Matthew 28:18–20, Romans 6:1–14

• Communion / The Lord’s Supper—Luke 22:14–23, 1 Corinthians 10:16–17, 1 Corinthians 11:23–34

And in case you are interested, we published an article series last summer titled, “Why do we do that?” It covered 8 ways we have chosen to structure Table Rock.