WHAT TO EXPECT

Our worship services are traditional in that we seek to facilitate and preserve the simplicity of New Testament worship. A typical service includes singing, prayer, scripture reading, expository preaching, prayer requests and announcements. We worship together in families and therefore welcome children into our services with their parents to participate and hear from the same great God as the adults.

Sunday morning attendance is between 60 – 80 people.  Dress trends from Sunday best to business-casual.  On the first, third, and fifth (when they occur) Sundays, we begin worship at 10:30 am followed by lunch with a service in the afternoon beginning around 1:45 pm.   On the second and fourth Sundays, we have a morning service beginning at 10:30 am.    

Since we worship together as families, all are invited into the sanctuary. We do however have a room for mothers with babies and small children who need attention for any reason.  This room is also equipped with a restroom, changing vanity and monitor to continue viewing the services.  Fathers are encouraged to use the lobby or fellowship hall for caring for children during worship.   These two areas also contain audio or visual devices for hearing/viewing purposes.

On Sunday morning we come together as a body for 30 minutes of congregational singing beginning at 10:30 am.  This worship helps prepare our hearts for hearing the preached word by speaking to one another in psalms, hymns and spiritual songs making melody in our hearts to the Lord.  All ages are encouraged to participate and come before His presence with singing. During this time, we sing several songs, offer prayer and hear scripture read.

The instrument we enjoy using as the vehicle of praise at HPBC is the voice, singing with grace in our hearts.   We love  doctrinally rich hymns as the staple of truth to sing praise over the glory of God.  We engage in congregational singing, which emphasizes the gathered body singing praise to God with one heart and one voice, over performed music.

Preaching at HPBC is generally expositional, meaning that it seeks to declare the point of a particular Biblical passage.  Sermons usually last around an hour and are packed with material for reflection.  Often our sermons are prepared as a series going through a book of the bible from both the Old and New Testaments.  All preaching is driven by the Gospel of Grace, the Bible’s main message of God saving sinners through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

We sing a hymn encapsulating the theme of the sermon which allows reflection on what God has spoken through His word.   Following the song, we have a brief time of prayer requests from the congregation.  A typical service is finished by 12:00 noon.  At the close of the service, we encourage fellowship with one another through a potluck meal twice a month.  On any given Sunday, you might still find folks talking over the sermon and events of the past week two hours after the service.

The pastors are available to meet with any visitors who may have questions about Jesus Christ/Christianity, Heritage or any prayer requests.