Readiness For Sunday Worship
Have you ever taken the time to think about your readiness when gathering together with God’s people in worship on Sunday?
When I was growing up, after dinner every Saturday night, my parents had us lay out our clothes for Sunday, bathe or shower, and go to bed a bit earlier so we would be ready and energized Sunday morning when we climbed into our station wagon (remember those?) and drove to church. My point is we had a plan for readiness on Sunday because it was an important day for our family. We would get our mind, body, and spirit ready to give our best to the Lord and with His people (and I might add, we were never late).
What made me think of this was a post I ran across entitled: 10 Questions to Ask Ourselves Each Lord’s Day by Dustin Benge (Visiting professor of Munster Bible College in Ireland, Managing Director of Unashamed Truth). Here are the questions he posted:
Am I living according to God's Word? "Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith" (2 Cor 13:5).
How can I show more love to my neighbors? "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another" (John 13:34).
Am I using my gifts to serve God and others? "As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another" (1 Pet 4:10).
Does my prayer life show trust in God's plan? "Pray without ceasing" (1 Thess 5:17).
Am I seeking God's wisdom in my decisions? "If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God" (James 1:5).
Am I fostering a spirit of forgiveness towards others? "Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you" (Eph 4:32).
Am I being a good steward of what God has given me? "As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God" (1 Tim 6:17).
Do my words and actions reflect Christ? "Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves" (Phil 2:3).
How am I nurturing my family's faith? "Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it" (Prov 22:6).
How will I cultivate a deeper relationship with God? "But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness" (Matt 6:33).
I’d like to add an 11th question: “Have I addressed any deviations (e.g., unconfessed sin, relational conflict, self-focus, personal preferences) that would keep me from giving my best in worship with God’s people? “Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded” (James 4:8).
Let’s come ready to give our best every Sunday to our all-deserving Savior and King!
Pastor Jeff
“Men, it is the ‘legal’ sensualities, the culturally acceptable indulgences, which will take us down. The long hours of indiscriminate TV watching, which is not only culturally cachet but is expected of the American male, is a massive culprit of desensitization. The expected male talk — double entendre, coarse humor, laughter at things which ought to make us blush — is another deadly agent. Acceptable sensualities have insidiously softened Christian men, as statistics well attest. A man who succumbs to desensitization of the ‘legal’ sensualities is primed for a fall.”