A GCF SUNDAY TOUR

This is designed to give provide any one who has yet to visit GCF a perspective of what to expect when one attends for the first time.

Every maturing believer in Christ needs to be growing in three simultaneous relationships: with God through worship and trust; with fellow believers through love, edification, and accountability; with unbelievers, conveying the gospel message in word and deed to the end that they would become disciples of the Lord Christ.

These three relationships - with God, the church and the world - involve three distinct actions on our part: worship, nurture, and outreach. These three actions develop in the Christ-follower simultaneously. At GCF, our worship celebration services try to embody all three areas.

Worship comes in many forms and sizes. Worship isn't just about music-- we can worship God by singing and the arts, but there are so many other acts of worship. We have come to understand worship as an expression of our enjoyment of God. In other words, we best glorify God when we fully enjoy him. “God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him” (John Piper).

Part of our worship is helping people to see God's hand in their lives, caring for them, providing for them-- and also helping them to understand that there is little else as rewarding than full abandon in worship everyday, not just on a Sunday morning but living our day to day experience and lives under the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

One enters the building and is welcomed into a grand lobby.

Friendly people will smile at you, shake your hand and make sure you feel welcome!

You take an escalator to the worship center.

A door is opened for you by our friendly ushers.

You choose a seat which is most comfortable to you...each seat is positioned in a way that it provides a full view of the chancel (stage).

Our services are usually 90 minutes long. In all five services, you can expect to interact with people who are glad to see you. We generally spend time singing together, praying, reading from the Bible, and listening to truth about how we can better love and live for God and others. The messages you'll hear about are both deep and practical, dealing with everyday issues.

We begin our time of worship with singing songs of praise and worship led by a team of vocalists and a band. Music at GCF can be best described as a fusion. We are a contemporary church that remains in love and attached to Christianity’s historical expressions and elements of worship. It has become our goal to span every musical genre and worship expression. At any given service, we sing songs by modern worship music composers after a grand rendition of an ancient hymn, or Jazz praise side by side a Baroque anthem. The primary benchmark for choosing songs however is the Word of God, upon which our faith is founded, and should point to the person and praise of God alone.

As a way to encourage others, people who have experienced God's salvation, healing touch, and faithfulness stand and tell their story.

We join our hearts in prayer. We invite people who have praise items or a prayer need to stand. A church member or a pastor/leader stands alongside them to pray with them.

We give our offerings to the Lord while we sing a song of worship.

The choir sings a song of worship!

A benchmark of GCF is our commitment to preach the Word as it is. We believe in handling the Word of God carefully and rightly; preach what it says, live out what it teaches. Whether behind the pulpit at our large corporate worship times or small group meetings, Sunday school classes or mentoring, our primary tool is and will always be God’s inerrant Word.

At the end of the homily, the pastor pronounces God's blessings on people.

We often incorporate other elements into our services such as a drama, dance, video, or musical selection that helps drive home the theme or topic we're discussing. We celebrate communion every second Sunday of each month and celebrate baptism every third Sunday.

We have a library you can spend time in with a good book.

We have a counseling center for those who need someone to talk and pray with.

We have a prayer room where one can spend time in solitude with God.

People fellowship with each other at the lobby and fellowship hall over coffee.

We hope you'll join us this Sunday and we look forward to meeting you. Attending a new church can be intimidating at first, so we want to make you at ease as possible. We encourage you to arrive early to look around the building, get acquainted with others, locate the cry room/nursery and classrooms for your children, and find a good seat in the auditorium.

Our Welcome Center staff and Greeters are eager to help you in any way possible. Please stop by the Welcome Center for a cup of coffee and cookies after the service. Also, feel free to contact us ahead of time with any questions or for assistance with driving directions.

GCF is teeming with life and activities all week-- small groups, Wednesday worship, Bible studies, Saturday youth worship, and many more- take place, all designed to provide venues for the worship of God, and the growth of His children.