Question: What is the purpose of the Intecessory Prayers?

  8. Intercessory Prayer
      Here we stand in the gap for one another before God. We show our love and concern for one another by praying for one another, together before God in worship.
          -1 Tim. 2:1-2; Ezek. 22:30; Acts 4:31; Eph. 6:18-19

Question: What is the purpose of the Gloria Patri?

  9. Gloria Patri
      After the confession of sin and the promise of God's forgiveness, the people offer an act of praise and thanksgiving. In its present form the Gloria Patri is based largely on the Trinitarian formula as found in Matthew 28:19; primitive versions of it appear also in Romans 16:27, Ephesians 3:21, and 2 Peter 3:18. 22
          -Ps. 51:14-15; PS. 32:11

Question: What is the purpose of the Sign of Peace and Holy Kiss?

10. The Sign of Peace/ Holy Kiss
      The Holy Kiss is an expression of Christian love. Since love is the essential mark of the Christian it seems this would have been an important part of worship in the early church.
       -Rom. 16:16; 1 Cor.16:20; 2 Cor. 13:12; 1 Thess. 5:26; 1 Peter 5:14

      The Sign of Peace is a symbol of the peace and unity of the church through the presence of the Holy Spirit. Peter likewise ended his first letter, "Greet one another with a kiss of love. Peace to all of you who are in Christ" (1 Pet. 5:14). This gesture was a sign of the reconciliation and unity that mark the lives of believers within the body of Christ; it was a symbol of the peace of the community of the new covenant.23

      The greeting, or kiss, of peace became part of the service of the Lord's Table by the middle of the second century. Justin Martyr (Apology I, 66) describes it thus: "We salute one another with a kiss when we have ended the prayers. Then is brought to the president of the brethren bread and a cup of water and wine."24

      Matt. 5:23-24 instructs worshippers to be first reconciled with other Christians before offering gifts at the altar. The sign of peace is a symbol that that has been done. Each Christian is a vehicle of God's grace. When the peace is exchanged, people become a means of grace to each other.
        -John 14:27

Question: What is the purpose of the Lord's Supper?

11. The Lord's Supper
      The Lord's Supper is central to worship as in this one act, the whole of God's plan of redemption is displayed. It reminds us of Jesus' sacrificial death and shed blood on the cross of Calvary on our behalf. It also reminds us that He did not stay in the grave but rose and that we have hope of our own resurrection because He lives. It further encourages us that He will come back one day for His own.
      -1 Cor. 11:23-26

          There is no directive or description in Scripture for HOW communion is to be distributed. Stay in the seat or go forward, who presides over the Lord's Supper, who distributes it.

Question: What is the purpose of the Message/Sermon?

12. The Message/Sermon
      The church has always acknowledged that God speaks through the sermon as well as through the Scripture readings.
      -Neh. 8:1-8; Acts 20:7; 1 Cor.1:23-24