Coast's Vision for Worship
A Passionate, Joyful Celebration
We are to exult in God with proper affections. God is to be our supreme joy. The worship of God should be grand and worthy of His name. It is our desire that we would enjoy and delight in God above all things and that our worship would reflect our heart for God. (Psalm 63:1-5; 71:23; 2 Samuel 6:12-14; Romans 5:11; Psalm 96:4; Isaiah 61:10; Psalm 149:1-4)
Of the Triune God
We believe that God is our audience in worship. We celebrate Who He is and what He has done for us in Christ. We celebrate God as "LIFE" and Jesus as our Righteousness. Our worship is one of the ways we draw attention to the value of God in our lives. God is One in essence and three in Person and all Persons of the Godhead are to be recognized and honored in our worship. (John 6:35; Jeremiah 23:6; Revelation 22:9; Matthew 28:19)
As Our Sovereign, Savior, Sufficiency, and Satisfaction
We believe worship is a response to Who God is and What God is and to all that He has promised to be for us in Christ. One way to summarize these great truths and magnificent promises is say that God is our sovereign, savior, sufficiency, and satisfaction. We cele-brate God as the sovereign Lord of the universe and of our everyday lives. We celebrate God as the savior of sinners by His grace alone through faith alone because of Jesus Christ alone. We celebrate God as our sufficiency in every relationship, responsibility, challenge, need, trial, and aspect of life. We celebrate God as our satisfaction, being the fountain of all joy, peace, and every good thing and thus, the supreme delight of our souls. (Psalm 37:4; 103:1-22; 2 Chronicles 20:21-22; Psalm 73:25)
With Our Entire Being
We believe that worship is an activity that involves the whole person. We are to worship God from our hearts – with right ideas of God and proper affections toward Him with faith in the work of Jesus Christ. We are to worship God with our bodies – voices raised in song as well as in testimonies of praise and thanksgiving to God; hands raised in adoration of God or clapping in praise; gifts and abilities used to lead and foster worship. (John 4:23-24; Psalm 47:1; Hebrews 13:15; Psalm 150; Matthew 15:8-9)
By Our Entire Body of Believers
We believe that worship is an activity that involves the whole body of believers. Everyone is called to participate in worship, not simply spectate or watch. Not everyone will worship in the same way, nor will everyone have the same role in our public worship together, but everyone is to join with the rest of the body in our celebration of God. We desire for our families to worship together and to teach their children to be participants in the public worship of God. We would like to see the cultivation of gifts and talents among members of our body and their children so that we might raise up men and women who have a vision and skills to lead their families and the body of Christ in worship. (1 Corinthians 14:26; Psalm 150:6; 1 Corinthians 11:5; Psalm 148:12-13)
In Skillful, Scripturally Sound and Edifying, Classic, and Contemporary Song
We believe that we can pursue excellence in music and worship leadership without falling into the error of man-exalting performance. We recognize that God gifts some of His people with musical skills, vocal skills, and a vision for worship cultivation and discipleship in the body and it is our desire to encourage those with these gifts to use and cultivate them for the good of all. We will employ a "blended style" of songs from the past ("classic" hymns) and songs from more recent times ("contemporary" choruses), as long as they are sound theologically and sufficiently edifying in the depth of truth communicated. (Psalm 33:3; Colossians 3:16; John 4:23-24; Psalm 92:1-4; 149:1; 1 Samuel 16:12-23; Psalm 68:24-26; 1 Chronicles 15:16, 19-22, 27-28; 16:4-6; 25:7; 2 Chronicles 5:11-14; 7:6; 23:13; 34:12; Psalm 47:7; Nehemiah 12:44-47)
To Spread a Passion for God, Godliness, and the Gospel
All that we do at Coast is ultimately to be used by God to spread a passion for God Himself and therefore, by necessity, a passion for godliness and the gospel of Jesus Christ. We desire to cultivate true worshipers of God by the ministry of the Spirit through the truth of the Word and to exult in God Who is worthy of the highest and grandest exaltation. (Romans 12:1; Psalm 148-150; 145:1-12; 147:1; John 17:3; 14:21, 23; Romans 1:16-17)