What is Fourth Service?

As you have no doubt noticed, the Deeper church service is no more.  When Deeper started, it was to meet a specific need: to connect the disconnected with a loving church community.  The idea was simple, we were growing a deeper relationship with God together as a community (Deeper with God, Deeper with each other), and the little Deeper service that met each week in the Youth Center grew to be a real blessing for the church.  Eventually, though, so many people were coming to Deeper that the Youth Center could no longer hold them all, and Deeper moved to the Schmidt Auditorium that was graciously offered by Forest Lake Academy. 

While the Schmidt definitely had enough space for the growing community, it took Deeper further away from our church family.  People could no longer take their children to Sabbath School and come to Deeper easily.  We were not connected to any of morning Bible studies going on all around the church.  And while the Academy was kind enough to lend us the use of some of their classrooms, we no longer had that close sense of connectedness with the rest of the church.  The Bible calls us to work together as one body, one family, sharing our talents and spreading the Good News about Jesus to everyone. By having Deeper way over in the Schmidt, and at the same time as the Third Service at Forest Lake to boot, we were cutting ourselves off from our church family.

After much prayerful discussion and consideration, the Deeper leadership decided that there was no longer a need to have a Young Adult specific service.  And so, Deeper the service ended.  However, the Forest Lake Church is a very large and vibrant church, and with so many people coming to worship each week, the three existing services are very full.  There is a definite need for a Fourth Service at our church, and the leadership has been working for several months with Forest Lake to create that Fourth Service.

The Fourth Service will meet at 6:00p each Sabbath at the Forest Lake Church.  There will also be Bible studies starting at 4:30p and a social mingling time starting at 5:30 so people can catch up before the service.  The sermon will be the same for Fourth as it is for First, Second, and Third, and though the music at Fourth may sometimes have a more modern flavor, the worship will include everyone.  

Beyond just another worship service, Forest Lake is also hoping to further engage people in our community, so you may see artwork from a local artist, hear music in the atrium from a neighborhood musician, or get a snack in the lobby prepared by a community chef.

So is the Fourth Service just Deeper in a new time slot?  No.  The original purpose of Deeper was to connect the disconnected to a community of similarly disconnected people.  Deeper carved itself out of the church to meet a need (and many, many people were blessed).  The need Deeper was created to help fill all those years ago is different now.   The mission of the Forest Lake Church is: To Teach the Word of God, lead people to Jesus, and help others to do the same.  As part of the Forest Lake Church family, we are still working towards our mission to share the Good News about Jesus with those around us, and the best way to do that is to work together as a family.  Therefore all of the worship services at Forest Lake Church (First, Second, Third, and Fourth) have a renewed emphasis on connecting people with a big, loving, Jesus-centered church family. 

And don't worry, Deeper isn't going away.  It is still a vital ministry of the church targeted at meeting the specific needs of Young Adults. There will still be Deeper small group studies, game nights, potlucks, and other social gatherings.

So what is Fourth Service?  Like the

First, Second, and Third Services, it is a time where God's people can come together to worship Him.  More than that, it is a place we can all develop a stronger relationship with Jesus together and learn how to share that relationship with our friends and neighbors.


If that sounds like something you want to be a part of, come join us at Fourth (or First, or Second, or Third)!