Frequently Asked Questions

Answers to Common Questions about Worship at Mars Hill Church                    

1.) What things should occur in a church worship service? The Scriptures provide a number of directives regarding corporate worship and require that there be the following:

• Prayer (I Tim. 2:1; Eph. 6:18)
• Scripture reading (I Tim. 4:13; I Thess. 5:27)
• Preaching (I Tim. 4:13; II Tim. 4:2)
• Singing (Eph. 5:19; Col. 3:16)Giving of tithes and offerings (I Cor. 16:1-2; Php. 4:18)
• Warm friendship (Rom. 16:16; I Cor. 16:20)
• Communion (I Cor. 11:17-34)

2.) Why do Christian churches meet on Sundays?

The Jews met for worship on Saturday until the resurrection of Jesus on Sunday morning. Consequently, God’s people changed their day of worship to Sunday to remember Jesus’ resurrection from death. The pagans used the term “Sunday,” and the early Christians instead chose to refer to that day as “the Lord’s Day,” as John did in Revelation 1:10. Because Sunday was typically a work day, the early Church would likely have to have met either early in the morning before work, or early in the evening following work.

This change in the day of worship was not without controversy, and so Paul later said that we are free to worship God on any day, or every day for that matter, as the issues of who we worship and how we worship are of greater importance than when we worship (Romans 14). Mars Hill meets on Sunday because it is the day of Jesus’ resurrection, and has met at a variety of times throughout that day, with as many as seven church services as our growth has required. In the future, it is possible that we may begin holding services on other days should the need arise.

3.) Why do some people raise their hands and clap in church during worship?

Because God is a person who we are in a relationship with, our response to Him must be more than just cognitive mental assent. Subsequently, we worship God with our bodies as He commands (Romans 12:1). This explains why God’s people commonly bow and kneel (Psalm 95:6), clap and shout (Psalm 47:1), and raise their hands (Nehemiah 8:6; Psalm 28:2, 63:4, 134:2, 141:2, 143:6; Lamentations 2:19, 3:41; I Timothy 2:8).

4.) Why is their laughter in church at Mars Hill?

At Mars Hill we take joy very seriously. Joy comes from God (Psalm 16:11), and joy makes us strong (Nehemiah 8:10). People who are close to God are filled with joy, and this joy enables them to get through the toils of life and laugh at the days to come, like the wise woman in Proverbs 31:25. In Scripture we see Sarah laughing at the thought of getting pregnant in her old age (Genesis 18:13-15), and God getting the last laugh as they named their son Isaac, which means laughter (Genesis 21:1-6). We also see that there are times for laughter (Ecclesiastes 3:4), while sometimes the best thing to do is laugh through our tears (Proverbs 14:13). We also see the prophets (e.g., Isaiah 44:12-20) and even Jesus (Matthew 19:24, 23:24) using irony and sarcasm to convict people of sin and show how foolish it is. Lastly, we see that God laughs at the wicked who in their folly disobey Him to their own demise (Psalm 2:7, 37:13, 59:8).

In summary, people are prone to taking themselves too seriously-and God and their sin too lightly-and at Mars Hill we use irony and sarcasm to learn to laugh at ourselves, and to laugh with God, who likely finds us about as silly as a father does His little kids.

5.) Why do we worship differently than the people in the Old Testament?

The Old Testament regulations regarding worship were very concerned with the outward forms of worship and the inward heart of the worshiper. In the New Testament the outward forms of worship are virtually deleted while the concern for the inward heart of the worshiper is kept intact. This is because all of the outward Old Testament forms of worship were fulfilled in Jesus, just as He promised they would be (Matthew 5:17, Hebrews). Therefore, we do not need: a tabernacle, because we have Jesus (John 1:14), a temple, because we have Jesus (John 2:19-22; Revelation 21:22), a priest, because we have Jesus (Hebrews 3:1), or a lamb to sacrifice, because Jesus is the Lamb of God (John 1:29). Therefore, all we need to worship God is a relationship with Jesus, who also sings with us to the glory of God the Father (Zephaniah 3:17; Romans 15:8-9). This explains why throughout the worship experiences in Revelation Jesus is continually on a throne next to the Father, who is the center and object of worship.

6.) What is seeker-sensitive worship?

In the past twenty or so years there has been an emerging trend toward what has become known as seeker-sensitive worship. This teaching assumes that people are seeking God and that church is the best place to evangelize them. Subsequently, the worship at seeker-sensitive churches has become a concert that people in church observe, rather than a worship experience that they participate in with such things as singing. While the desire to see non-Christians converted to saving faith in Jesus Christ is admirable, the methods employed are not biblically justifiable.

First, the purpose of the church service is not to reach unbelievers or to build up Christians, as much as it is to call everyone to repentance of sin and faith in Jesus. In this way, if the gospel is the heart of a church service, it will be applicable to Christians and non-Christians alike, as they both need Jesus. This explains why it is common in Scripture to see non-Christians converted in the midst of a worship gathering of God’s people (e.g., Acts 2:42-47; I Corinthians 14:24-26; Psalm 105:1-2).

Second, the Bible repeatedly teaches that we are to worship before the nations, which means that when God’s people meet to adore their Maker and sing His praises, unbelievers are compelled to see His goodness and cry out for His salvation (Isaiah 2:1-4, 56:6-8, Psalm 47:1, 100:1-5, 102:18, 117).

Third, while at Mars Hill we try to be sensitive to non-Christians by making what we mean and do intelligible (e.g., I Corinthians 14), we also realize that the gospel itself is an offense, and that no matter how loving and sensitive we are some people will simply dislike hearing that they are sinful and need Jesus to be righteous (e.g., Galatians 5:11, etc.). So, at Mars Hill we seek not to focus on creating a church service for the building up of believers or for reaching out to non-Christians but to lift up Jesus so He can draw everyone to Himself.

Fourth, the most obvious problem with seeker-sensitive worship is a misunderstanding of the gospel, because people do not seek God (Isaiah 65:1; Romans 3:11), but rather God seeks them, as we are lost and are not Him (John 4:23).

7.) What is Mars Hill’s position on the Regulative Principle?

Theologically, Mars Hill is basically what has been coined a “theologically reformed” church, as opposed to Catholic or Arminian churches. Reformed theology is largely shaped by the teachings of John Calvin and Martin Luther. Out of the teachings of John Calvin came the Westminster Confession of Faith, and the Puritans. At each step of this move from Calvin to Calvinists, the theology of worship became increasingly more restrictive, and what is known as the Regulative Principle was born. At its essence, the Regulative Principle simply means that God’s people should worship Him according to the precepts of Scripture; and, on this point Mars Hill is in agreement. But, the stricter reformed theologians go so far as to teach that whatever is not literally commanded in Scripture is forbidden in worship, and they often also teach that only the Psalms should be sung in church (not hymns or other songs written outside of the Bible), and that instruments should not be permitted in church. While acknowledging that churches practicing this principle are filled with many brothers and sisters in Christ whom we love, Mars Hill does not endorse this restrictive theology. Instead, we believe that freedom in Christ extends to our worship, where we are to worship God with creativity-providing that we are not in violation of Scripture by doing what He forbids or neglecting what He commands.

In philosophy there is an argumentative strategy that in Latin is called reductio ad absurdum. This tactic assumes that the opponent’s position is true, and then reasons it out to its logical conclusion to demonstrate that it falls apart and is therefore fallacious. In this same spirit, I will explain the flaws in a strict regulative principle of worship:

• First, since announcements, sound equipment, overheads, and PowerPoint projectors are never mentioned in Scripture, it would be a sin to use them in a worship service.
• Second, when the Bible commands us to sing new songs (e.g., Psalm 33:3, 40:3, 144:9, 149:1; Isaiah 42:10; Revelation 5:9, 14:3) it is commanding us to sin because singing new songs is a sin.
• Third, when Miriam sang after the parting of the Red Sea and Mary sang at the conception of Jesus, they were in sin because they did not sing the Psalms.
• Fourth, since the Psalms were written in Hebrew they also should be sung in that language to be biblical and should also be accompanied by Hebrew musical forms.
• Fifth, when the Bible shows God handing out instruments for people to use in worship it proves that He is a sinner, because using instruments in worship is a sin (Revelation 15:2).
• Sixth, since the only songs that are allowed to be sung are Psalms, it is a sin to sing any other part of the Bible.
• Seventh, since the Psalms are the only songs to be sung, all of the worship that existed for the thousands of years before it was written (e.g., Exodus 15; Numbers 21:17; Deuteronomy 32; Judges 5, etc.) was sinful.
• Eighth, to be consistent with the principle that we only sing songs in the Bible, we should also only teach lessons already in the Bible, preach sermons that are already in the Bible, and pray prayers that are already in the Bible.
• Ninth, we should apply the regulative principle to the general worship of God’s people in their daily lives and not just to the narrow worship of them gathered together for a church service, and likewise forbid them from doing anything unless the Scriptures command it-such as driving cars, using computers, talking on the phone, or playing sports.
• Tenth, since Jesus’ name is never mentioned in the Psalms, it is a sin to sing the name of Jesus in His Church.

While we personally love much of the writings of the Puritans, we believe it is obvious that, in the end, the Regulative Principle which they claimed was biblical creates a home more akin to Egypt, where the freedom to worship was denied to God’s people, rather than the desert to which they were liberated to dance and sing new songs to the Lord. Sadly, in an effort to be biblical, Christians holding this position have gravely taken to worshiping God by rules invented by men, which is condemned by God as wickedness (Isaiah 29:13; Matthew 15:7-9). Their concern for worshiping in truth is admirable; what they have neglected is the spirit of worship and the Holy Spirit, who is better able to guide and lead God’s people into worship than man-made rules. This explains why Jesus commanded that we worship in both spirit and truth (John 4:24).

8.) Why does Mars Hill partake of communion every week?

There are a seemingly infinite number of ways to divide human history. One of the ways in which the Bible breaks history into epochs is by the eating of meals. It was our first parents who ate apart from obedience to God, Jesus who came to remedy our ensuing sin problem who ate the last supper with His disciples, and all of God’s people who will gather around God’s table to feast at the wedding supper of the Lamb at the end of time when redemption is completed. According to Revelation, at that time the same trees that grew sweet fruit in the Garden of Eden will reappear, and we who love God will partake of those trees together forever with Jesus.

While celebrating the Passover in memory of the night in Egypt when God passed over the blood-covered entries to the homes of His people (thereby sparing the lives of their firstborn children) Jesus showed that He was the Lamb of God whose blood would atone for the sins of His people-protecting them from the sting of sin and death-and the firstborn son of God who would die (Exodus 12:1-30; Matthew 26:17-30). In the early Church communion was also called the Lord’s Supper, and was accompanied by sincere introspection and repentance of one’s sins (I Corinthians 11:17-34). During the first few years of our church, we did not partake of communion every week until we were studying the Passover from the book of Exodus; we became convinced that it would be best for us to have the gospel of Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection for our sins, according to the Scriptures, as the center point of our church service, to ensure that everyone would be compelled to repentance of sin and faith in Jesus. Because of this we also allow time after the preaching of God’s Word to permit people to repent of sin, pray, and get their time with God. Then, when they are ready, they are welcome to come forward for communion. In this way, people are not rushed to partake of communion before getting right with God, unbelievers present are not made to feel awkward because they are the only people not partaking at a certain time, and, by rising from our seats to come forward for communion, we are demonstrating our hope of resurrection, when we will one day rise together in Christ.

9.) How does the offering relate to worship?

In his lengthy instruction to the Corinthian church, Paul outlined principles for financial giving that include it being sacrificial in amount, regular in frequency, and cheerful in attitude (2 Corinthians 8-9). Jesus also taught that money is a good indicator of our hearts’ first love, and that we cannot worship both God and money (Matthew 6:21-24). Therefore, at Mars Hill we include our financial offerings as part of our worship to God, and have people give as they come forward for communion, give online during the week, drop their gift in the information collectors in the foyers, or send their tithes and offerings into the church via check during the week.  Some of our people find it most worshipful to give during the service, while others prefer to do so online or through the mail out of a desire to not appear boastful before others. We provide these different options so that people can worship God with their giving according to their conscience, and we prefer these methods to passing a plate; the offering is incorporated with communion and singing, thereby cementing it as vital part of our worship. It also excludes non-Christians who do not come forward for communion or the offering, so they are, therefore, never made to feel in any way responsible to give any monies to the church.

10.) Why does Mars Hill sing songs I have never heard before?

The Bible tells us to sing “.psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs.” (Ephesians 5:19; Colossians 3:16). And, the it repeatedly tells us to sing new songs to the Lord (e.g., Psalm 33:3, 40:3, 144:9, 149:1; Isaiah 42:10; Revelation 5:9, 14:3). Because God is our Creator who has made us in His image and likeness, it is important that we be creative. At Mars Hill we enjoy singing from the Psalms, other Scriptures that we set to music, and redone older hymns, as well as a large library of songs that our own musicians have composed out of their love for God. Because of the richness of the resources God has given our church in the areas of songwriting and composition, we are blessed by an abundance of talent and creativity, for which we thank God and our artists. And, because worship is the response of a people in a particular time and place to God, it would only make sense that the songs they sing include songs that come from them and their lives in Christ. For this reason Mars Hill uses a lot of older songs to connect us to the history of the Church-songs that have been composed by our people out of our life together in Christ-and tends to shy away from more contemporary worship songs, as they are not very representative of our church community.