Worship

Our vision is to see God glorified, lives transformed and guests encounter Jesus.

Defining Worship
We have been invited, through Jesus, into an eternal and intimate relationship with God the Father. The Holy Spirit brings revelation to our lives, which makes it possible for us to begin to know the Father as Jesus knew Him. Worship plays a key part in the development and deepening of this relationship. Worship involves far more than words; it involves a total submission of all that we do, all that we have, and all that we are to the will of the Father. To worship the Living God is to allow His amazing presence to overshadow us and to break into every area of our lives. Being in God's presence softens our hearts and inspires us to become more like Christ. It also deepens our dependency and trust on Him and cultivates an intimacy with our Heavenly Father. We must learn to hear His voice and respond with obedience. Knowing God is our highest priority – it is the foundation upon which all else is built.

"Christian worship is the most momentous, the most urgent, the most glorious action that can take place in a human life."
- Karl Barth

Created to worship

We have all been created to worship the living God. Jesus said that the greatest commandment is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. So in Open Heaven we desire to be first and foremost worshippers.

To worship is to change.

God created us and desires to have an intimate relationship with us. As we understand more of his Love for us we will respond and worship Him in Spirit and in truth and will be changed and fashioned more into His likeness. As John Piper says, ‘Beholding is becoming’. As we behold Him and respond to the revelation of who He is, we become more like Him in character.  

Genuine worship

In our gathered times of worship, we seek to provide an accessible, creative and real place where Christians and not yet Christians are free to worship, engage and respond to God in a meaningful and heartfelt way. We want to give space for people to enter into a deeper awareness of God. We want people to be free to respond to God in whatever way seems appropriate in their present circumstances: some may want to be quiet, some may weep and others will be loud and expressive.

Creative worship

One of the distinctive of gathered worship in Open Heaven is that we are creative in the way we express our love and worship to God. We often use music but also use other creative ways (e.g. Art, film, meditation, story telling etc) as vehicles for a corporate expression of love and thankfulness to God. We have a number of worship bands that all have different styles and approaches; the heart to worship God remains the same. We believe this variation and diversity is important and reflects our creative God.

“The Church must seek out her poets and artists, film-makers, liturgists, painters, musicians, photographers, sculptors and storytellers, recover her imagination, filling up an empty ritual to tell the story again” - Jonny Baker

Gathered and Dispersed worship

When we gather together as a Church we celebrate God’s Love and Grace, we proclaim God’s Truth and seek to reach the lost. When we disperse we seek to worship God in the way we live our lives. We can live lives that honour and please him in the way we think, speak and act.

God is primarily interested in the sound of our hearts. Day and night, twenty-four seven, as we live our lives, God listens to the sound we make on the inside. Long after the earthly noise we make has faded, the sound that echoes around the throne of heaven is the sound of the heart. - Al Gordon

If you would like to get involved with the worship in the gatherings please contact Sam

Great Links for worshippers and worship leaders

For the Worshipper...

For the Worship Leader...