Actively worship God

Worship | MBC Nursery Ministry | Metro Praise Kids | Worship Team | Technical Arts Ministry

Worship

Worship, in its simplest form, is bringing pleasure to God by living for His glory. Pastor and author John Piper puts it like this: “God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him.” Corporate worship brings together those who seek to understand what that means. At Metropolitan, we remind one another that the Church is not a mall where one looks for those things that fit one’s personal tastes, but a family where everyone contributes for the greater good of the advancement of God’s Kingdom on earth and God’s glory over the universe.

It is the goal of Metropolitan to teach and help each Christian understand worship better. We use a variety of methods and styles on Sundays to lift up corporate worship to the Lord. By using the gifts and talents God supplies through each member of the family, we encourage, strengthen, comfort, and teach one another as we wait for Jesus Christ to come back. Not being a large congregation, we have learned that it is not in the perfect presentation that God is glorified, but in the passionate desire to unite our hearts in that passionate pursuit of His glory. We invite you to join us in this passionate pursuit.

WHO IS JESUS CHRIST?

Over two thousand years ago, a man named Jesus was born in a village called Bethlehem, in a nation called Judea, modern day Israel. He came as the one promised throughout the Old Testament, the Jewish Messiah, which in the Greek language was translated as Christos, and into English as Christ.

Jesus, the Christ was and is many things. He was a teacher unsurpassed in history. Even those who do not believe on Him still recognize the vitality of His teaching. He backed up His teaching with powerful miracles. The Bible records such miracles as the blind seeing, the lame walking, and the dead being raised to life. He walked on water, stopped powerful storms with just a word, and fed well over five thousand people with a couple loaves of bread and a few fish.

His teaching and the attention His miracles received stirred up problems with the political and religious leaders of His day. They felt He threatened their position in society. Jesus challenged their religiosity, calling them hypocrites. Eventually they got so upset, they had Him crucified, a terrible, cruel, torturous death.

What they did not realize was that Jesus’ death was God’s plan. Back at the beginning of creation, our ancestors rebelled against God – that is what sin is. Every human since has carried on that rebellion. Punishment for treasonous rebellion is death. But we had not rebelled simply against a human king; we had rebelled against the God of the universe, our Creator. Since everyone joined the rebellion, then all human beings deserve eternal punishment.

The Son of God become a man, Jesus, in order to take our punishment on Himself. We deserved death and eternal judgment, but Jesus Christ, the Son of God, died on a cross to take our place so that God’s judgment fell on Him instead. Three days later, God raised Him from the dead. He restored to Him His glory as the eternal Son of God. That is why He is the Lord Jesus Christ. The title, Jesus indicates He is the human savior. Lord means He is God, and Christ is the title that means He is now ascended into heaven as the God-man, our Savior.

The Good News is that by believing on Jesus Christ, you can receive forgiveness for your sins and the new life God offers. If you want to know more, contact us here at Metropolitan.

MBC Nursery Ministry

The Sunday morning MBC Nursery Ministry takes seriously Jesus’ statement in Luke 18:16, “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.” Caring for the young children from infants to 3 ½ years old is a delight for the trained, loving ministry staff. With the goal of providing a safe, comfortable, clean, and fun environment for these young ones, the nursery staff checks in each child, keeps track of any allergies, and gives them the tender love they would give to their own children.

Parents are given peace of mind through the pager system which each family receives as their child is checked in. Our Child Safety Protection course and the Church Security staff enhance the care that each child receives. The Nursery Ministry is a team effort, where there are at least two qualified persons caring for the children at all times. Age appropriate toys fill the shelves, and are cleaned on a regular basis.

The whole room receives a thorough cleaning on a weekly basis. While parents are given the freedom to keep their infants and young children with them during their time at Metropolitan, they can be assured that, should they choose the nursery, their children will be treated as gifts from God.

Metro Praise Kids

Calling all children ages 4 to 12 years old. Wanted for Metro Praise Kids on Sunday mornings! During Metro Praise Kids, children learn how to worship God through singing together. They also learn how to be a part of a worship service, how to encourage others, and how to proclaim the gospel through songs. The children practice a set of songs together for several weeks before coming before the Body of Christ to share the songs they've learned. During the weeks that they practice, the children learn the meanings of the words they sing. They also learn how to use hand motions to accompany the songs they sing.

Metro Praise Kids meets every Sunday morning in the Fellowship Hall from 10:50 to 11:35. We focus on prayer, memorization of songs, the meanings of songs and what it means to be a part of a worship service. Singing a mix of styles of thematic songs, the young people have opportunities to do solos, duets, counter melodies, and learn to be confident in the power of the Lord.

While the MPKs get to sing around special holidays, they also learn to lead during regular worship services. These young people may not have any background in singing, but all are welcome to be a part of this amazing ministry. The Bible says we are to make melody unto the Lord. This is a wonderful opportunity for even the youngest to understand why worship and praise are essential to spiritual growth.

Worship Team

From the earliest times of the assembly of God’s people, music has been an integral part of the corporate worship experience. Miriam led the women is a song of celebration over the defeat of Pharaoh and his army. Deborah composed a song when the Canaanite king Sisera was destroyed. King David organized choirs, wrote songs, and played instruments as he helped lead the Israelites to worship the Lord. 150 of the Hebrew songs have come to us in the Psalms. The Apostle Paul wrote to the Ephesians and Colossians exhorting them to sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. At MBC, the Worship Team is responsible for organizing the music ministry to enhance the preaching and the prayers during the corporate services.

The Purpose of the Worship Team is to serve as leaders of the congregation by example, teaching, and worship expressed in music and prayer. The music sung grows out of the personal and corporate relationship each member has with the eternal God, through the Lord Jesus Christ, to whom all praise, honor, and glory belongs. As each member passionately pursues the glory of God, he or she must purpose to sing every song as though singing before the throne of God.

At MBC, we do blended worship music, which means a blend of contemporary and traditional. We desire that for the majority of weeks, at least one older hymn, whether done traditionally or contemporized, be part of the schedule. This is not done to cater to any group of people but to remind us that we are tied organically to the Church of all ages. Our songs also are selective for far too often music, both old and new, lacks solid biblical foundations. As with all parts of corporate worship, we want God’s Word to guide what we say and sing.

Technical Arts Ministry: Audio and Visual

The technical arts team is a ministry within Metropolitan Baptist Church that directly supports and reinforces anything and everything that goes forward by the church, that requires the assistance of audio, video, lightning, graphics, or any other form of technical or stage support that will deliver an improved reception and understanding by all those who are impacted by our effects.

The technical arts team serves to assist multiple aspects of the worship service and other church events with the use of audio and visual equipment. The service of the technical arts team extends to all members of the congregation.

The focus of the technical arts ministry is to enhance the experience of the members of the congregation through the use of audio and visual enhancements. At the core the team: presents informative announcements, displays lyrics during songs in an engaging and attractive manner, plays videos related to the church service or ongoing church ministries and visually assists the sermon by displaying pertinent sermon information.

Meeting times for the Technical Arts Ministry consist of a weekly audio rehearsal with the worship team. In addition the primary time the team is utilized is during the Sunday morning worship service.

On the Audio side, the focus of this ministry is to provide a balanced sound for the music, whether the worship team, piano accompaniment, or the Metro Praise Kids during the morning worship service or for special occasion services. The Audio team also is responsible for recording the sermons, guest speaker presentations, or special events like baptisms or baby dedications.

The Technical Arts Ministry will soon be adding video recording to the mix. We are excited about this new medium for extending the church ministries.