November 14-20, 2009
Sunday Morning Starts
On Saturday Night
It’s a fact: More shoes are lost on Sunday morning than all other days of the week combined. Is “Hurry up!” the Sunday morning call to worship in your home? Remember that you forgot to practice the memory verse with your child in preparation for Sunday School? We could go on, couldn’t we? I know we could.
However, God is bringing us to a place where we realize all of this must change. We desperately want to experience “simple devotion” with our Lord. And Sundays are a reflection of what has been going on in our week in preparation for this Sabbath day.
We’re asking ourselves these questions as a matter of “Heart Preparation.” Are you eager to worship the Lord or are you going through the motions? Are you profoundly grateful for the saving work of Christ on the cross, or are you religious by habit? Do you talk about preparations for worship during the week? Do you and your children sense that, just as they would look forward to birthdays, you can hardly wait for Sunday to get here?
God absolutely rejoices in our sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving. How do we practically prepare our wholehearted offering once our attitude is prepared with expectancy and love? Well, Sunday morning begins on Saturday night. Our children need to hear us say to friends and baby-sitters, “No, we won’t be too late; we are set to worship God tomorrow morning.”
Sundays need to embrace the calm of Sabbath rest. That might mean that we prepare all clothes and items we need for church on Saturday night. It might mean that we drop the late Saturday nights so we can transition into Sundays with a fresh sense of awareness of the Lord. When our alarm goes off, maybe our homes are filled with light worship music that points our hearts and minds upward.
The call to worship centers on the One who calls us. This call is not a friendly suggestion, but a loving command. God is worthy of our worship and He is watchful when we worship. God sees us. He sees our posture, our faces, our giving. He cares about how we show Him that we love Him. Do we show Him that He is special?
Together, let’s prepare ourselves to have few hassles and regrets, so that our Sundays become a holy joy, filled with fresh worship.
Seeking Him In Restful Worship,
Chad
Weekly Financial Report
Weekly Need $4,829
Last Week's Giving $1,673 (Tithe $1,498/Faith Prom. $175)
Over/Under -$3,156
YTD Actual Weekly Giving Average $5,213
YTD Weekly Average Over/Under $384
YTD Total Over/Under $17,269 |
