Come and Worship

I love Sunday mornings. In fact, I think Sunday mornings (and evenings) are the highlight of my week. It’s the day when my family and I get to come to our loving church and worship our wonderful Saviour together with a precious group of saints. Corporate worship is a gift to us from the Lord where we can come and express our love for Him and for His people by serving and participating in our worship services. Now, the subject of worship is quite broad and comes with its fair share of controversial subjects. I could debate “hymns versus choruses” or “to drum or not to drum,” but I think those discussions have consumed enough oxygen. I don’t want to rekindle old fiery conversations, but rather I want to offer a few nuggets to chew on that may encourage us all to think about worship as we anticipate coming together again on the next Lord’s Day. 

Worship is Our Priority

First, worship is a priority. That should not be news to you, as Scripture is clear that we are to come before our God and worship Him. Matthew 4:10 records Jesus in the wilderness being tempted by the Devil. In reply to Satan’s false promise of worldly kingdoms if Jesus would only bow down, Jesus says, “‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve” (Matt. 4:10 ESV). Jesus is quoting Deuteronomy 6:13, which makes evident the imperative to worship the Lord and Him alone (see also Exodus 20). I don’t want to belabour the point, but I hope you realize just how important our corporate worship services are. They are commanded by Scripture and are vital for the life of the church. 

Worship Deserves Our Preparation 

Second, worship deserves our preparation. This is what I really want to stress for us this week. If worship is a priority, then it deserves proper preparation (we will see why in a moment). How many of us prepare adequately for a vacation? We research things to do, places to see, where we will stay, how we will get there, etc. There is a lot of preparation that goes into a family vacation. Vacations are important, but they aren’t more important than Sunday morning worship, so how much more should we prepare! Here are a few things for us to consider as we prepare for our worship services. 

Reclaim Saturday Night

I’m not sure if you’re aware, but Saturday night comes right before Sunday morning. All kidding aside, I think it is important that we as Christians recognize just how impactful Saturday night can be on our Sunday morning. Typically, we think of the weekend as the night to stay up late or go out and enjoy the weekend. I would say that most of us don’t sit in our armchairs reading Scripture and praying, preparing our hearts to come to church the next day.  We often are watching sports, movies, playing games, or spending time with our families and friends. Those are all good things, and we need to and should do those things. All I want us to consider is whether Saturday night is the best time to do those things. Perhaps we ought to consider ways we can reclaim Saturday night in order to better prepare us for Sunday morning. 

Get a Good Night’s Sleep

Right alongside reclaiming Saturday night is getting a good night’s sleep. I remember as a kid my bedtime was earlier for school nights than for weekends. Why was that? Because my parents knew that I needed to be awake in school, getting a good night’s sleep not only kept me awake, but I was a lot more reasonable to be around. If we are willing to get a good night’s rest before a big test, or an important day of work so that we are at our best, how much more so should we do this before coming to worship our Holy God?At this point, let me make something clear. I can’t point to a verse and say, “See, you have to go to bed early Saturday night, or you can only read your Bible past 4:00 pm Saturday. If you don’t do these things, you’re sinning against God!” To do that would be legalism, and that would be wrong. However, for these next three, I can point to texts that tell you to do them, and my encouragement would be that you do them to prepare for Sunday morning worship. 

Commit to Self-Examination

Psalm 139:23-24 says, “Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!” (Ps. 139:23-24 ESV). David is crying out to YHWH, asking that He would examine his heart and reveal to him any sins that are there. You and I need to be doing this regularly, but I think even more so before we come to worship. We need to confess and repent of anything in our lives that would tarnish our worship. We need to offer sincere praise from a pure heart, and so self-examination is vital to preparing to worship.   

Come Early, Eager to Participate

Ok, confession time. I can’t point to a verse that says you have to come to church early, but when you aren’t rushed, it helps you participate. That said, Scripture implores us all to participate in corporate worship. The Psalmist declares, “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord! Praise the Lord! (Ps. 150:6 ESV). Everything includes all of us. That means when someone is praying, we pray with them. When we sing, we all sing and contribute to the congregational choir. We need to purpose in our hearts to be eager and joyful in our participation in corporate worship. 

Discipline Yourself to Be Engaged

Finally, as we prepare to come to worship, we need to discipline ourselves to be engaged. That means actively listening to the sermon, praying alongside those who are praying. If worship is something we participate in (and it is), then we need to be disciplined to do it. When you study the criteria for the Levitical priesthood, there were a lot of steps they had to take to do anything, and everything included in Temple worship. From various washings to what they wore, they needed discipline to worship YHWH worthily. Read Leviticus 10 and find out what happens when these things weren’t taken seriously. Now I’m not suggesting that we are the same as the priesthood, but we are a priesthood. 1 Peter 2:5 says, “you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (1 Pt. 2:5 ESV). Peter repeats this in verse 9, calling believers a “royal priesthood.” Being engaged in worship is a spiritual discipline. You have to fight the urge to glaze over when the pastor references the Greek participle for the eighth week in a row. You have to work hard to sing sincerely and enthusiastically when the song maybe doesn’t resonate with you that week. The point is you have to WORK and be disciplined so that you are engaged in worship.

Come and Worship

I hope that at the very least I have caused you to consider Sunday morning worship in a new light. Maybe you’ll think more about how you prepare to come to worship. I know that not all of these things will resonate with everyone, but I pray there is something that challenges you to prepare intentionally to come to worship Sunday morning. The fact is none of what we do is about us. It’s all for Christ’s glory and praise. We serve Him and seek to honour Him. So as we prepare for Sunday, let’s reflect on Hebrews 13:15, “Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name” (Heb. 13:15 ESV). 

For the Master,
Pastor Matt Shields