Thursday, May 13, 2010

How to Get the Most Out of Sunday Morning Worship


If worship is really important to us, we will prepare ourselves properly so we can get the most out of it. Preparing for Sunday involves making both spiritual and practical decisions. Follow these simple steps in order to be ready for worship.
  1. Go to bed at a decent hour on Saturday night so we can be well rested the next morning.
  2. Wake up early enough on Sunday morning to get ready for church.
  3. Before church, spend some time reading the Bible and praying so our hearts can be in an attitude of worship.
  4. Do whatever it takes to protect the day. Too many of us have let other things crowd out God.
  5. Help our family and friends have a worshipful attitude by speaking kind words to them in the parking lot or in the lobby at church. Save the closest parking spots for the elderly, the handicapped or young moms with small children. Hold the door open for others.
  6. Before the service starts, try to find people who are new to the church or who don't appear to know others and befriend them.
  7. Attend to our personal needs before the service starts so that we do not have to get up and disturb the worship service.
  8. Focus our minds on the truth of what we sing during the music portion of the service. Think about the Person we are singing to. Remember that we are not at church to be entertained; we are there to focus on the risen King.
  9. Express our commitment to listen to the sermon by bringing both our Bible and something to take notes with. Taking notes will help us remember more of what was said.
  10. Ask ourselves what we will do with the truth we hear in the sermon. Hearing the truth obligates us to respond to it. 
This material was developed by Dr. Terry Dorsett based on ideas from Joshua Harris's book, Stop Dating the Church and Fall in Love with the Family of God, published by Multnomah Books.

7 comments:

  1. Excellent points to ponder!All of these tips will help to enhance the service...not only for ourselves but for others as well!

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  2. Would you mind if we posted this to our Notes in facebook? I think this is very well written and many would benefit from this. Please let me know.

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  3. Yes, feel free to re-post it. Just keep the reference to Joshua Harris's book with it since many of the ideas came from that book and he deserves credit for it.

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  4. Great article. I actually did a series of sermons using this same type of material on Christ Centered worship. Joshua Harris is a Reformed Pastor with Sovereign Grace Ministries in Washington, DC and connected loosely with Al Mohler, and John MacArthur.

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  5. Donna D. Smith ZumwaltMay 14, 2010 at 10:12 AM

    I like this.

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