August 30, 2017

Preparing for Worship

Prepping for Worship

I know it would be nice that when you woke up this Sunday, the kids would not fight, you and your spouse would not argue, and that you come to church with everything perfect in your world, but we all realize that isn’t the case.  However, let me share some practical steps you can take to experience God’s presence this Sunday and in the weeks to come.

1)     Prepare for it.  Spend time with God during the week.  Get up on Sunday and spend time with Him in His Word or prayer.  Turn on some God honoring music to prepare your heart for worship or sit in silence and meditate.  But if you want to experience the presence of God, prepare for it.

2)     Pray for your pastors before you come.  I promise you that we have spent time praying for you to experience the presence of God during the week, so pray for us to help lead you into worship of our Great Savior.

3)     Be a Participant, not a spectator.  At sporting events, the crowd doesn’t have to go out and play to participate.  They cheer, they are in tune with what’s going on, etc.  You can do the same in church.  When we pray, you pray.  Don’t just sing words off a screen, participate in worship.  Stay in tune during the sermon.

4)     Focus on God, not the ministry you do for God.  Some of you are busy on Sundays and that is a great thing.  The church needs and depends on faithful volunteers to do the work of the ministry but if you’re not careful, Sunday will become a job to do, instead of a time to worship.  Do your ministry well, but when it’s time to worship, then focus on worship!

5)     Eliminate as many Distractions as possible.  I realize that we live in the age of technology.  I preach from an ipad.  Some of you read the Bible on your phone or ipad, but they should be on airplane mode.  There is absolutely no need to check your phone during a worship service, unless your child is in the nursery and that is the way the nursery worker will contact you. 

These steps will help you if you will follow them this week.  I hope and pray that you do and that we come with hearts prepared to worship Jesus this week!