Hill Avenue Seventh-day Adventist Church

About Hill Ave

Praise & Worship

Pastoral Team

Praise and Worship

Praise and Worship is central to Hill Avenue. Worship is an end in itself; it is not a means to something else. We worship God purely for the sake of worshipping God. God offers Himself in a personal relationship, and we respond.

At Hill Avenue, we strive to make worship a very real and powerful experience. We blend traditional and contemporary styles of music and attempt to create an environment where you can encounter God and allow Him to meet you where you are.

Christian worship defies definition; it can only be experienced. In fact, some experiences are so intimate that the worshipper cannot share them. The majesty and holiness of God cannot be comprehended, and the feeling of awe cannot be strictly defined. However, worship does have some identifiable elements:

Mystery. Worship is both revelation and mystery. A worshipper experiences the presence of God in revelation and stands in awe of God in the face of mystery. While we can be conscious of God in our lives, we can never comprehend the ultimate meaning of God.

Celebration. Worship is essentially the celebration of the acts of God in history -- God's creation; God's providence; God's covenant of redemption; God's redemptive revelation through Jesus Christ in the Incarnation, the Cross, and the Resurrection; and the manifestation of God's power through the Holy Spirit.

Life. worship is not limited to acts of devotion, rites, and ceremonies. For the Christian, worship is synonomous with life. In it's broadest aspect worship is related to all human action. As part of God's creation, humankind responds in gratitude to the Creator. Every area of life belongs to the kingdom of God; therefore, worship is practicing the presence of God in every experience of life.

Dialogue. Worshipers experience God in a conscious dialogue. Worship is both revelation and response. God takes the initiative in revelation, and humankind responds in worship. God is revealed to the worshipper's spirit through the Bible, through persons in the fellowship of believers, through music, through symbols, through human actions, and through God's Spirit. Humankind responds to God through words and music and acts of celebration and dedication. Worship is also encounter. Meaningful worship leads to decisive experiences with God.

Offering. The purpose of worship is not primarily to receive blessings from God but to make offerings to God. Ancient peoples presented offerings in the form of sacrifices. The "holy priesthood," the congregation of believers, is to "offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to god through Jesus Christ" (1 Peter 2:5). Worship is primarily the offering of our total selves to God -- our intellects, our feelings, our attitudes, and our possessions. Our outward gifts are the result of our inward dedication. The highest expression of giving is offering yourself, presenting "your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and acceptable to God" (Romans 12:1)