Preparing for Sunday

It's been my experience that the things that I prepare for are always more meaningful and memorable than the things that I just show up for. I think that this applies to Sunday worship as well. We far too often show up bleary-eyed with arms crossed and eyes focused on the clock. In this post I want to share some of the things that help me prepare for a meaningful Sunday.

Be Prayerful - ask God to prepare your heart, ask God to do something amazing, ask God to bless us with a powerful awareness of His presence.

Come Early - I find it extremely helpful to show up early and pray for the service.

Have Your Quiet Time before you come - I like to start everyday with my personal devotion time. Why on earth would I change this practice on the day for public worship, I find this practice to be essential in preparing my heart for worship.

Have a big breakfast - lets be honest a growling stomach is incredibly distracting - we want to focus on God in worship.

Get a Good Night's Sleep - do I really need to explain this one. We need to be alert to worship, this is still true in college football season.

Be Open-Minded - be prepared to be challenged and ready to hear - remember that your leaders were set aside to lead you and we should be ready to heed their preaching of the Word.

Be a Berean - we must always come with the Word. We must have our Bible's and have them and make sure that we are hearing is truly the Word of God. We should be ready to hear from our leaders but only if it is truly God's truth.

Come Expectantly - come ready to see and hear the majesty of God. Come with a positive attitude trusting that God is still active.