Worship

Prayer for Healing at Grace

Periodically, we offer time within our worship service to pray for the sick.

We do this with the conviction that God wants us to pray about everything (Eph. 6:18; Luke 18:1), and that physical healing is one of those things for which we are commanded to pray (James 5:14-15).

At GCC we are totally convinced that God can intervene within our physical bodies at any time, in any way that he deems best, for his glory. We serve an infinitely powerful God.

We know that sickness is something that often challenges our faith. It zaps our energy, producing feelings of anxiety and worry. And we want to stand with you when you struggle with physical ailments that generate anxiety and pain.

When members of our prayer team pray for the sick, our intent is to make simple bold requests for healing and then to rest in the wisdom and goodness of God to do as he wills. We leave the results up to him.

Sometimes God may heal in an instantaneous supernatural way. At other times, God's healing may be a process. At still other times, God will undoubtedly use physicians and medications to facilitate his healing.

We leave all those results to him; our goal is to do what we are commanded to do: pray!

When we offer healing prayer we will invite you to one of four different places in our auditorium. You can come forward where members of the prayer team will be available to pray on either side of our lower stage. (If you come forward we invite you to write your prayer request on a card due to the volume of the worship band.)

Or you can go to the two prayer stations set up on the side of our auditorium. Cafe tables (with lit candles) will be set in place and members of the prayer team will be next to those tables ready to pray.

One more thought: At times you might not the one who needs prayer but someone in your family. We invite you to come forward (or to the side stations) and stand in for your friend to receive prayer.

Receiving Prayer at Grace

Each week during the music portion of our worship service, we provide places where you can receive prayer from a member of our prayer team. We offer this because we believe God often speaks to us individually when the body of Christ is gathered for worship.

For instance, in Psalm 73 a man named Asaph recounts his story about a struggle that nearly caused him to give up on God. In the Psalm he was so distraught about the prosperity of evil people (73:1-13) that he wondered if it was worth it to remain a committed believer.

But in the context of corporate worship (73:17), Asaph remembers truths about the nature and the power of God. And on the spot, his perspective changes, and he's moved to heartfelt prayer.

A key insight from this Psalm is that God loves to reveal aspects of himself in the context of corporate worship.

At GCC, we expect that God will often reveal himself to you as you worship.

Therefore, if God speaks to you - through the music or the teaching - we want you to receive prayer quickly while the Spirit's conviction is still strong.

Members of the prayer team will be at two different prayer stations in our auditorium. Cafe tables (with Bibles and lit candles) will be set in place on either side of our auditorium and members of the prayer team will be present at those tables to pray with you.

In many churches you're expected to remain seated and pay attention. No up and down!

But at GCC we're striving to create an engaging worship experience where you can participate.

Through lighting candles, and receiving prayer, and raising hands, or kneeling at the prayer-benches, we hope that you'll experience God's presence in ways that encourage you to love and serve him more passionately during the week.

High Participation Worship

What we mean...

We value high participation worship in our corporate gatherings because this is the pattern of both the Old and New Testaments. The Old Testament tabernacle featured lots of participation, from the sacrificing of animals, to grain offerings, to the lifting of hands. The New Testament pattern is similar. Jesus and the N.T. authors present obvious high-participation options like the Lord's Supper and Baptism and some not so obvious options like prayer for the sick (James 5:14) and mutual encouragement, corporate prayer (Acts 13:1-4), generosity (Acts 2:42-47), and the list goes on.

Here is the pattern for high-participation worship that is developing at GCC:

• You can come forward to light a candle. We use white candles to celebrate answered prayer or as an expression of trust when a fervent prayer hasn't been answered yet. We light red candles as we pray for friends who don't know Christ.
• You can go to the prayer tables at the side of our auditorium. Each week (except communion Sunday) members of our prayer team are situated beside the cafe tables ready to stand with you in prayer. We frequently pray for people who need physical or emotional healing. Sometimes people come seeking relief from addictions and depression, or a marriage that needs repair.
• You can come forward and kneel at the prayer benches. Maybe God touched you during a song or through the message. Sometimes coming forward and kneeling at the prayer bench is a way to feel more deeply connected to God. The paintings on the benches are there to help you meditate on the One who is eternally committed to us with his loyal love.
• You can kneel right where you are. We don't have pillows or kneelers under each seat. But if God has touched you with a humble spirit, and you want to kneel, please feel the freedom to do it.
• You can stand and raise your hands. This was the pattern that David set forth in Psalm 63:4 and the pattern that Paul commanded in 1 Timothy 2:8.
• You can seek someone out after the service and express encouragement or make amends for a wrong done. In Matt. 5:23-24 Jesus suggests that God may convict us about a relationship that needs restoration in the context of worship. If this happens to you, we encourage you to get with that friend and seek forgiveness.

Candles as Part of Worship

We use candles as an expression of worship that engages our visual senses and gives testimony to who God is and what he is doing in our lives.

Where They Are Located

On the stage at the front of our worship center you will find votive candles and wooden sticks. At any time before, during, or after the service you are invited, if you wish, to light a candle and place it anywhere along the front edge of the worship platform which we affectionately call "the mushroom". These candles provide a visual representation of God's involvement in our lives and our connection with him.

White Candles

You may choose to light an white candle if you want to represent something that God is doing in your life: an answered prayer, an ongoing prayer, a special sense of his presence, a specific work that he is doing in your life, or really any reason you see fit that would prompt you to want to declare that God is working.

Red Candles

The red candles are unique. They represent an individual who has recently come into the Kingdom through belief in Christ. It may be you, a friend or acquaintance, or a family member. Or, if you have been praying for a non-Christian friend, you can come forward and light a red candle to express your trust that God is working to bring that person to faith in Christ.

Of course, there is nothing magical about lighting the candles, but God does command us to engage our bodies and our senses in personal and corporate worship (Psalm 63). The act of lighting candles provides a vivid expression of the reality that God is at work in the lives of his people both individually and corporately.