As a part of our welcome we strive to remind us that we gather because of what God has done. We refer to this as a "gospel welcome" and it serves to encourage us that regardless of how we come into the service, God has been working to bring us together. Along with this we highlight things of the church through our announcements, focus on supported missionaries once a month, and bring attention to various ministries of the church. 

Throughout history the church has been marked by singing. Singing together accomplishes at least two things. First, we sing to give God glory and acknowledge who He is and what He has done. Second, in singing we encourage one another with the truths of Scripture. During our singing we will also recite various creeds and confessions, have responsive readings, and spend time in silence and confession.

Before our sermon we have an extended prayer from one of our overseers (church leaders). While there is no specific form that these prayers take, they will often include a prayer from the passage that will be preached, lifting up the needs of our congregation, or using the ACTS model of prayer to walk through themes of adoration, confession, thanksgiving, and supplication.

A primary responsibility of the gathered church is to attend ourselves to faithful preaching of God's word which requires applying what we hear to our lives. Each week we spend 30-35 minutes preaching God's word by walking through a passage each week, usually working our way through a specific book of the Bible. You can find previous sermon series in our media page to get caught up. 

There are two ordinances given to the church: Baptism and Communion. Neither sacrament gives salvation but each display the gospel in the life of the church. At South Suburban we practice baptism on a regular basis as people express a desire to be baptized and we practice communion on a monthly basis.

At the end of our service we have a benediction and sending. The benediction is a blessing and encouragement from God's word, and each week we remind ourselves that just as God sent Christ into the world so He sends us to live out and proclaim the realities of the gospel.