Preparing For The Lord's Day

What do you do to prepare for Sunday and your time of fellowship with the people of God and your worship of God? Are you intentional in your preparation? I direct these thoughts to myself first and foremost. Certainly the pastor should be prepared for worship and preaching and ministry. But so should the members of the congregation. The question is sometimes asked: Does good listening make good preaching or does good preaching make good listening? The answer is: Both! However, when the people in the congregation come to church with a sense of anticipation of what God is going to do and say it makes a big difference. For me preparation for Sunday includes the routine study and prayer of a pastor, but it also includes guarding Saturday and being careful with the use of my time and energy. I generally seclude myself to my study by Saturday afternoon and do not engage in social events or anything that requires time, or physical and emotional energy. I do this in order to assure that I am rested and alert for the Lord's Day as much as possible. I encourage you, fellow Christian, to think seriously about preparation for worship. Worship is not controlled by a switch that is turned on at 10:30 on Sunday morning and is turned off at 12:05 on Sunday afternoon. How we worship God Monday through Saturday has a direct affect on how we worship Him on Sunday! Soli Deo Gloria, BR