Preparing for Sunday Worship

Are you anticipating the church gathering this Sunday, or is it simply one of those things you have to squeeze into your busy schedule? Does it seem like just another errand you have to complete? Sunday worship gatherings should be one of the weekly highlights for the Christian.  It is in the context of church fellowship that we encourage and build up each other.  It is a time we gather to meet with the One True God alongside our brothers and sisters.  It is the time our souls are feed and renewed through the singing and preaching of God’s Word.  Even though the preacher might be average, or the singing sub-par, we should long to meet with God’s people to worship Him in spirit and truth.  So, how do we prepare our hearts?  How do we motivate ourselves to anticipate the worship service?  When it comes to our desires, we cannot force ourselves to want to be around God’s people, but there are several ways we can steer our hearts in the right direction, and cultivate a rich desire to worship with God’s people.

1.     Spend time praying for others.  The worship service is not about us, but it is about King Jesus.  Specifically, it is about the church corporately worshiping King Jesus.  By taking the attention off ourselves and what we want in the worship service each week, our attention, and therefore, our desires are focused where they should be: on Jesus and others.  We do not meet with the church in order to “be blessed,” but we gather together because we have been blessed in Christ.

2.      Spend time in God’s Word.  His Word feeds our souls, satisfies our longings, prioritizes our thoughts, and reminds us of the Person we gather each week to worship.

3.      Prepare for the Service.  Hopefully, you know the passage of Scripture for the Sunday morning Scripture.  If you do not, please contact your Pastor and ask him the text for Sunday.  He should have an idea of where he is preaching at least a week in advance.  I am currently preaching through the Gospel of John, so the congregation knows the passage will follow the previous week’s passage.  Read over the passage several times throughout the week.  Pray through it, and ask questions regarding its meaning and application.  Also, spend time singing and listening to the type of songs which the congregation will sing.  Familiarity with the lyrics can only enrich your experience of congregational singing.  Pray for the service throughout the week, especially on Saturday evening.

4.      Talk about the service with others.  This is does not mean that you talk about how good the pastor preached, or how well the choir sang, but it includes phases like, “this past Sunday I learned this . . .” or “the Lord’s word really convicted me by . . .” or “That song really showed me how gracious the Lord is.”  As you reflect on the service, the sermon, and the singing, you should want to tell others (inside and outside the church) how your life was changed or how great God is!

This is not an exhaustive list, but simply four ways you can prepare your heart for this Sunday.  Take some time this week to reflect over this list and try to incorporate one or two of these suggestions into your week.  I am sure the Lord will be worshiped, his church will be edified, and your heart will be encouraged.  

Children"s Devotional Resource

Family Devotions can be fun, memorable , and sometimes crazy; especially when younger children are involved. It is not easy to find devotional resources which engage the short attention span of children and remain Biblically faithful.  A great devotional resource which our family enjoys  is The Jesus Story Book Bible, by Sally Lloyd -Jones.  This book weaves the great stories of the Bible together in order to demonstrate the over-arching story of the Bible; that God the Father sent His Son to redeem His people.  Each chapter explains how the stories "whisper" the name of Jesus.  The stories are engaging and the illustrations are creative and fun. Although the book is idea for preschoolers, any age (including adults) will enjoy reading this devotional as a family.   

Translating a Treasure

7 The instruction of the Lord is perfect,
renewing one’s life;
the testimony of the Lord is trustworthy,
making the inexperienced wise.
8 The precepts of the Lord are right,
making the heart glad;
the command of the Lord is radiant,
making the eyes light up.
9 The fear of the Lord is pure,
enduring forever;
the ordinances of the Lord are reliable
and altogether righteous.
10 They are more desirable than gold—
than an abundance of pure gold;
and sweeter than honey,
which comes from the honeycomb.
11 In addition, Your servant is warned by them;
there is great reward in keeping them.  Psalm 19.7-11

The Word of God is precious.  His word created life (Gen 1-2), and it is His word that creates new life in us. 

We are blessed with so many good translations of the Bible, and I am thankful it is the desire of Unity Baptist Church to see this precious gift reach the hearts and minds of people around the world.  Below is a brief, yet excellent video of a Bible Translation project in Nepal.  This project is not complete, but has been ongoing for over 30 years.  It is story of perseverance, repentance, forgiveness, hope, healing, and spiritual growth among God's people.  Those who know me, know that I am not the emotional type, but several times throughout this video I could not fight back the tears.  It is amazing how God is working among his people!  

Our Last Sunday in 1st Peter

. . . to encourage you and to testify that this is the true grace of God. 

This Sunday we finish our study of 1^st Peter, and it has been a rich and rewarding journey.  When we started 1^st Peter in January I hoped our study would inform us on how we should live in a culture which has become increasing hostile to our faith.  I believe this inspired little letter has not only given insight regarding our response to an unbelieving society, but it has also encouraged, instructed, and rebuked us.  As we draw our study to a close and examine the final three verses I noticed that these verses helpfully summarize the teaching of the entire book.  Expanding off of these three verses I have outlined several themes we consistently saw throughout our study.  This outline is not exhaustive, but merely represents several of the important themes I hope have shaped our congregation over the last sixth months.

1.      It is important to keep reality in perspective.  In other words, we should live in light of eternity.  Throughout this letter the Lord consistently reminds us that there is more to life than the here and now.  The letter begins by reminding us we are pilgrims (1:1, 17; 2:11), and this world is not our home.  Therefore, our “best life” is ahead of us. Our home, our hope, our reward, our inheritance is in the near future.

And Lord haste the day when the faith shall be sight,

The clouds be roll’d back as a scroll,

The trump shall resound and the Lord shall descend,

Even so, it is well with my soul,[i]

2.      We should endure innocent suffering.  The Lord Jesus is more than our example, but he is not less than our example.  His sacrificial suffering and death is not only our salvation, but it is our pattern for life.  1^st Peter 2: 21 reminds us, “For you were called to this, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you should follow in His steps.  He did not commit sin and no deceit was found in his mouth. . .”  1^st Peter 3.17 states, “For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God’s will, than for doing evil.  For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous . . .” Much to often we want to retaliate against those who persecute us rather than “turn the other cheek.”

 Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.  For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”[ii]

3.      We should live soberly and alert (1:13;4:7; 5:8).  It is very easy to lose focus of what is important in life, or even what is dangerous.  We are bombarded with messages clambering for our attention.  These messages (advertising, pop culture, etc.) call our attention away from reality, and urges us to focus on the petty and insignificant.  Therefore, we get excited over the new iPhone or latest fashion trend.  With so many distractions begging for our attention it is no wonder the American church is confused and frustrated when we feel “light” persecution. 

“. . . give him a grand general idea that he knows it all and that everything he happens to have picked up in causal talk and reading is ‘the results of modern investigation.’ Do remember you are there to fuddle him.”[iii]   

4.      We are called to a holy life (1:14; 2:11).  Since our Father is holy we are called to live a holy life, but many people view holiness like they view work- not fun.  The Bible gives us a different definition of holiness, which includes freedom from the slavery of sin, and the presences of righteousness, completeness, maturity, and satisfaction.  Since we were created to be holy, a perversion of this (sin) leaves us feeling discouraged, hopeless, devastated, and dark.  Since we have been given new life in Christ, through his sacrificial death on our behalf, we can leave behind sin, and pursue the life we were meant to live (in Christ), righteous and holy. 

But God, who is rich in mercy, because of his great love that he had for us, made us alive with the Messiah, even though we were dead in trespasses.  You are saved by grace! [iv]

5.      We should love one another.  At least four times in this letter we are instructed to love the brothers.  This seems fairly straightforward, but this command is in included in this letter for a reason.  The church often struggles with this basic principle, and therefore the hostility is sometimes more severe inside the church than against it.  If we love Jesus, then we will love his Bride, the church, and if we are children of God, then our lives will be marked with love.   

Dear friends, let us love one another, because love is from God, and everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.[v]

There is much more to glean from this brief encouraging letter, and we are unable to exhaust its riches even if we spent a year studying it.  However, I hope our six month journey has encouraged, edified, and shaped your faith, and it is my prayer that this book will continue to inform your walk with King Jesus till the day he returns.  May the Lord feed your souls. 

---

[i] It is Well With My Soul by Horatio Spafford, 1828-1888.

[ii] Matthew 16:24

[iii] The Screwtape Letters, C. S. Lewis, 1961.

[iv] Ephesians 2:4-5

[v] 1^st John 4:7

How Did We Get the New Testament?

We began our Study of the Baptist Faith and Message by discussing the topic of Scripture.  Follow the link below to watch a video answering the question "How did we get the New Testament?"

https://www.truelife.org/videos/how-did-we-get-the-new-testament

Can We Live Without God?

A fitting article by Dr. Albert Mohler in light of this past Sunday's sermon: How Should We Respond to "Persecution"
http://www.albertmohler.com/2016/04/07/keeping-the-faith-in-a-faithless-age-the-church-as-a-moral-minority/

Moral Objections to the Old Testament

Here is a series of lectures given at SEBTS by Peter Williams (prof at University of Cambridge and Warden at Tyndale House, Cambridge).
He addesses moral objections to the Old Testament, which many people have on a popular level. If you are struggling with morality in the OT, or you are conversating with people who are, then these lectures are worth your time. This is two part series. Therefore, make sure you watch them in order. Enjoy!

http://multimedia.sebts.edu/?p=4524...

http://multimedia.sebts.edu/?p=4531