Recently I updated the content of our worship page at shec.net. The purpose of this content is to briefly answer the 'What', 'Why' and 'How' of worship, in particular, our worship at SHEC. I hope it is helpful...
God is glorious, so we find Him to be of infinite worth. Jesus is a Treasure, so we find Him to be of infinite value.
At SHEC we love to lift high the name of Jesus through music and singing. Though we know that music is only a part of all that worship is, we believe it is an important one, and most importantly a Biblical one. Singing together as Christians has been a central part of the Church since Jesus established it over 2000 years ago, and of God's people for thousands of years before that, and we are honored to be a part of this God-ordained tradition.
We sing songs of praise, lift up holy hands, and celebrate the glory of King Jesus!
Romans 12:1 says that our spiritual worship is "to present our bodies as living sacrifices, holy and acceptable to God." So big picture, God wants us. Not our songs, not our music, not our hands raised or clapping. He wants our hearts. God is not interested in people who can merely perform ritualistic ceremonies or utter heartless prayers and songs. He wants the hearts of His people to love Him and give Him everything. As Jesus says in Mark 7:6-7 when He is quoting Isaiah, "This people honors me with their lips but their hearts are far from me; in vain do they worship me..." So we, above all, want to be a people who love God with our whole heart, soul, and mind (Matthew 22:37), and because of that love, obey His commands (John 14:21). Then from that place we sing songs of praise, lift up holy hands, and celebrate the glory of King Jesus!
In regards to style, our aim is to be culturally relevant, speaking a language that the culture in which we exist understands. So, if you needed to, you could label our style as modern rock to folk or pop. We sing new songs and we strive to play skillfully with loud shouts and songs, as is commanded in Psalm 33:3. In our view, the most beautiful union for a song is deep, rich, and accurate theology set to artistic, creative and inspiring music.
