Daily Reading: April 24
Today’s Scripture Reading
Reflection and Prayer
What do these passages reveal about God, and how can his revealed character cause me to praise him, give him thanks, or wonder at his mystery?
How does God speak into the historical situation of the original readers and work to bring about his redemption in Jesus Christ? How does this build my trust in God's ability to fulfill his promises regardless of my present circumstances?
What sins do these passages expose that I need to confess before the Lord? In response to the grace of God and by the power of the Holy Spirit, how am I to think, act, and worship differently, putting off my sin and putting on Christ's righteousness?
How do these passages challenge the ways I typically engage my spheres of influence? How do they encourage me to live in the Kingdom of God and pray for the redemption of all things?
These passages follow the TPC daily Bible reading plan, which leads us as a community through the full breadth of God’s Word over the course of two years. For more information, click here.
To receive these readings to your inbox, sign-up with your email using the link below.
Daily Reading: April 23
Today’s Scripture Reading
Reflection and Prayer
What do these passages reveal about God, and how can his revealed character cause me to praise him, give him thanks, or wonder at his mystery?
How does God speak into the historical situation of the original readers and work to bring about his redemption in Jesus Christ? How does this build my trust in God's ability to fulfill his promises regardless of my present circumstances?
What sins do these passages expose that I need to confess before the Lord? In response to the grace of God and by the power of the Holy Spirit, how am I to think, act, and worship differently, putting off my sin and putting on Christ's righteousness?
How do these passages challenge the ways I typically engage my spheres of influence? How do they encourage me to live in the Kingdom of God and pray for the redemption of all things?
These passages follow the TPC daily Bible reading plan, which leads us as a community through the full breadth of God’s Word over the course of two years. For more information, click here.
To receive these readings to your inbox, sign-up with your email using the link below.
Daily Reading: April 22
Today’s Scripture Reading
Reflection and Prayer
What do these passages reveal about God, and how can his revealed character cause me to praise him, give him thanks, or wonder at his mystery?
How does God speak into the historical situation of the original readers and work to bring about his redemption in Jesus Christ? How does this build my trust in God's ability to fulfill his promises regardless of my present circumstances?
What sins do these passages expose that I need to confess before the Lord? In response to the grace of God and by the power of the Holy Spirit, how am I to think, act, and worship differently, putting off my sin and putting on Christ's righteousness?
How do these passages challenge the ways I typically engage my spheres of influence? How do they encourage me to live in the Kingdom of God and pray for the redemption of all things?
These passages follow the TPC daily Bible reading plan, which leads us as a community through the full breadth of God’s Word over the course of two years. For more information, click here.
To receive these readings to your inbox, sign-up with your email using the link below.
Daily Reading: April 21
Today’s Scripture Reading
Reflection and Prayer
What do these passages reveal about God, and how can his revealed character cause me to praise him, give him thanks, or wonder at his mystery?
How does God speak into the historical situation of the original readers and work to bring about his redemption in Jesus Christ? How does this build my trust in God's ability to fulfill his promises regardless of my present circumstances?
What sins do these passages expose that I need to confess before the Lord? In response to the grace of God and by the power of the Holy Spirit, how am I to think, act, and worship differently, putting off my sin and putting on Christ's righteousness?
How do these passages challenge the ways I typically engage my spheres of influence? How do they encourage me to live in the Kingdom of God and pray for the redemption of all things?
These passages follow the TPC daily Bible reading plan, which leads us as a community through the full breadth of God’s Word over the course of two years. For more information, click here.
To receive these readings to your inbox, sign-up with your email using the link below.
Daily Reading: April 20
Today’s Scripture Reading
Reflection and Prayer
What do these passages reveal about God, and how can his revealed character cause me to praise him, give him thanks, or wonder at his mystery?
How does God speak into the historical situation of the original readers and work to bring about his redemption in Jesus Christ? How does this build my trust in God's ability to fulfill his promises regardless of my present circumstances?
What sins do these passages expose that I need to confess before the Lord? In response to the grace of God and by the power of the Holy Spirit, how am I to think, act, and worship differently, putting off my sin and putting on Christ's righteousness?
How do these passages challenge the ways I typically engage my spheres of influence? How do they encourage me to live in the Kingdom of God and pray for the redemption of all things?
These passages follow the TPC daily Bible reading plan, which leads us as a community through the full breadth of God’s Word over the course of two years. For more information, click here.
To receive these readings to your inbox, sign-up with your email using the link below.
Daily Reading: April 19
Today’s Scripture Reading
Reflection and Prayer
What do these passages reveal about God, and how can his revealed character cause me to praise him, give him thanks, or wonder at his mystery?
How does God speak into the historical situation of the original readers and work to bring about his redemption in Jesus Christ? How does this build my trust in God's ability to fulfill his promises regardless of my present circumstances?
What sins do these passages expose that I need to confess before the Lord? In response to the grace of God and by the power of the Holy Spirit, how am I to think, act, and worship differently, putting off my sin and putting on Christ's righteousness?
How do these passages challenge the ways I typically engage my spheres of influence? How do they encourage me to live in the Kingdom of God and pray for the redemption of all things?
These passages follow the TPC daily Bible reading plan, which leads us as a community through the full breadth of God’s Word over the course of two years. For more information, click here.
To receive these readings to your inbox, sign-up with your email using the link below.
Daily Reading: April 17
Today’s Scripture Reading
Reflection and Prayer
What do these passages reveal about God, and how can his revealed character cause me to praise him, give him thanks, or wonder at his mystery?
How does God speak into the historical situation of the original readers and work to bring about his redemption in Jesus Christ? How does this build my trust in God's ability to fulfill his promises regardless of my present circumstances?
What sins do these passages expose that I need to confess before the Lord? In response to the grace of God and by the power of the Holy Spirit, how am I to think, act, and worship differently, putting off my sin and putting on Christ's righteousness?
How do these passages challenge the ways I typically engage my spheres of influence? How do they encourage me to live in the Kingdom of God and pray for the redemption of all things?
These passages follow the TPC daily Bible reading plan, which leads us as a community through the full breadth of God’s Word over the course of two years. For more information, click here.
To receive these readings to your inbox, sign-up with your email using the link below.
Memorize Scripture: Week of April 18
Memorize Romans 6:4-5 this week.
What?
Memorize Romans 6:4-5 this week.
Why?
When the devil sought to tempt Jesus, the Son of God responded with the Word of God: “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Matt 4:4, quoting Deut 8:3). He resisted the lure of sin by storing the Word in his heart (Ps 119:11) and relishing it as sweeter than honey (Ps 19:10). By following this pattern of Scripture memorization, we discover the will of God more fully, discern truth from error more easily, disciple others more effectively, and commune with the Father more deeply. In short, we grow more into the image of Christ — full of his life, love, peace, and righteousness.
How?
Memorization techniques abound, and a simple internet search could track down some effective methods (like this one for long-term memorization). But to store the Word in your heart is a deeper process that ought to integrate as much of you — mind, spirit, and body — as possible. With that in mind, here are some helpful tips:
Understand the text. Look at the full context in which the passage falls and take time to consider what the author intended to communicate. Do a little study.
Meditate on the text. Allow the Word to fill your imagination, considering all the implications of the text and how it affects you directly. Wonder at the majesty of God revealed in the text, express gratitude for his goodness, and join your story to his Story.
Pray the text. Turn those verses into a prayer of praise, thanksgiving, confession, or petition.
Embody the text. This could mean two things. Embodying the text could refer to living it out, practicing what it says. And you should certainly do that. But also engage the text with your body: Speak it out loud, listen to it, and write it. To challenge your creativity, draw it or turn it into a song.
Combine these with traditional memorization techniques, which usually involve a fair amount of repetition and quizzing yourself, and ask the Holy Spirit to “let the word of Christ dwell in you richly” (Col 3:16). Commit with another person to practice this discipline and hold each other accountable.
Daily Reading: April 16
Today’s Scripture Reading
Reflection and Prayer
What do these passages reveal about God, and how can his revealed character cause me to praise him, give him thanks, or wonder at his mystery?
How does God speak into the historical situation of the original readers and work to bring about his redemption in Jesus Christ? How does this build my trust in God's ability to fulfill his promises regardless of my present circumstances?
What sins do these passages expose that I need to confess before the Lord? In response to the grace of God and by the power of the Holy Spirit, how am I to think, act, and worship differently, putting off my sin and putting on Christ's righteousness?
How do these passages challenge the ways I typically engage my spheres of influence? How do they encourage me to live in the Kingdom of God and pray for the redemption of all things?
These passages follow the TPC daily Bible reading plan, which leads us as a community through the full breadth of God’s Word over the course of two years. For more information, click here.
To receive these readings to your inbox, sign-up with your email using the link below.
Daily Reading: April 15
Today’s Scripture Reading
Reflection and Prayer
What do these passages reveal about God, and how can his revealed character cause me to praise him, give him thanks, or wonder at his mystery?
How does God speak into the historical situation of the original readers and work to bring about his redemption in Jesus Christ? How does this build my trust in God's ability to fulfill his promises regardless of my present circumstances?
What sins do these passages expose that I need to confess before the Lord? In response to the grace of God and by the power of the Holy Spirit, how am I to think, act, and worship differently, putting off my sin and putting on Christ's righteousness?
How do these passages challenge the ways I typically engage my spheres of influence? How do they encourage me to live in the Kingdom of God and pray for the redemption of all things?
These passages follow the TPC daily Bible reading plan, which leads us as a community through the full breadth of God’s Word over the course of two years. For more information, click here.
To receive these readings to your inbox, sign-up with your email using the link below.
Daily Reading: April 14
Today’s Scripture Reading
Reflection and Prayer
What do these passages reveal about God, and how can his revealed character cause me to praise him, give him thanks, or wonder at his mystery?
How does God speak into the historical situation of the original readers and work to bring about his redemption in Jesus Christ? How does this build my trust in God's ability to fulfill his promises regardless of my present circumstances?
What sins do these passages expose that I need to confess before the Lord? In response to the grace of God and by the power of the Holy Spirit, how am I to think, act, and worship differently, putting off my sin and putting on Christ's righteousness?
How do these passages challenge the ways I typically engage my spheres of influence? How do they encourage me to live in the Kingdom of God and pray for the redemption of all things?
These passages follow the TPC daily Bible reading plan, which leads us as a community through the full breadth of God’s Word over the course of two years. For more information, click here.
To receive these readings to your inbox, sign-up with your email using the link below.
Daily Reading: April 13
Today’s Scripture Reading
Reflection and Prayer
What do these passages reveal about God, and how can his revealed character cause me to praise him, give him thanks, or wonder at his mystery?
How does God speak into the historical situation of the original readers and work to bring about his redemption in Jesus Christ? How does this build my trust in God's ability to fulfill his promises regardless of my present circumstances?
What sins do these passages expose that I need to confess before the Lord? In response to the grace of God and by the power of the Holy Spirit, how am I to think, act, and worship differently, putting off my sin and putting on Christ's righteousness?
How do these passages challenge the ways I typically engage my spheres of influence? How do they encourage me to live in the Kingdom of God and pray for the redemption of all things?
These passages follow the TPC daily Bible reading plan, which leads us as a community through the full breadth of God’s Word over the course of two years. For more information, click here.
To receive these readings to your inbox, sign-up with your email using the link below.
Daily Reading: April 12
Today’s Scripture Reading
Reflection and Prayer
What do these passages reveal about God, and how can his revealed character cause me to praise him, give him thanks, or wonder at his mystery?
How does God speak into the historical situation of the original readers and work to bring about his redemption in Jesus Christ? How does this build my trust in God's ability to fulfill his promises regardless of my present circumstances?
What sins do these passages expose that I need to confess before the Lord? In response to the grace of God and by the power of the Holy Spirit, how am I to think, act, and worship differently, putting off my sin and putting on Christ's righteousness?
How do these passages challenge the ways I typically engage my spheres of influence? How do they encourage me to live in the Kingdom of God and pray for the redemption of all things?
These passages follow the TPC daily Bible reading plan, which leads us as a community through the full breadth of God’s Word over the course of two years. For more information, click here.
To receive these readings to your inbox, sign-up with your email using the link below.
Feast: Week of April 11
Gather some close friends or family together for a feast to celebrate the goodness of God.
What?
Gather some close friends or family together for a feast to celebrate the goodness of God.
Why?
Nehemiah encouraged the people of Israel that “the joy of the LORD is your strength” (Nehemiah 8:10). Similarly, Paul charged the church at Philippi to “rejoice in the Lord always” (Philippians 4:4). They direct us to live with joy because, together as God’s redeemed people, we have the ability to delight in the fellowship of the most glorious, beautiful Being in the universe. But in a world of anxiety and insecurity, guilt and shame, licentiousness and legalism, we must purposefully practice the joy of the Lord in community with other believers. Holding a feast is one avenue towards cultivating that joy.
How?
First, we have to distinguish a feast from a party. For a party, the hosts often fret about pulling together all the preparations and entertaining their guests. And for some, partying simply means over indulging (usually with alcohol). A feast, on the other hand, is about cultivating an anxiety-free, safe, and hospitable environment in which some celebration, some thanksgiving, and some simple enjoyment can take place to the glory of God.
Second, Paul’s words in Philippians 4:4-8 can guide our feasting:
Be reasonable; don’t go crazy (v. 5).
Actively reduce stressors and anxiety inducers (v. 6a). Share the load with meal preparation, don’t worry about dieting, give the kids a little more freedom in what they eat, etc.
Invite the peace of God with prayer and thanksgiving (vv. 6b-7). That doesn’t mean you need to prepare a devotional, but at least draw attention to the fact of God’s goodness evident among you.
Enjoy what is true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, excellent, or worthy of praise (v. 8) Let these things guide your conversation more than the general cares of life. Focus on future dreams, hobbies, exciting life events, or any good gift of God
In his book Recapturing the Wonder, Mike Cosper draws up eight “ground rules” for feasting. (1) Turn off your phones. (2) Do not count calories, carbs, or “any other nonsense.” (3) Make some buttered noodles (or something simple) for the kids. (4) Conversations should be driven by joy. (5) Plan for abundance. (6) Don’t worry about place settings, tidying up just right, or impressing. (7) Call attention to the feast as a gift from God. (8) Give yourself grace because this is a practice.
Written Prayer: Week of April 4
Each day, read a pre-written prayer or write a prayer of your own.
What?
Each day, read a pre-written prayer or write a prayer of your own.
Why?
The earliest Christians devoted themselves to consciously communing with God, trusting that by going before him in prayer, his kingdom of love and peace and joy would take root in their hearts and spread out into all the world. The Lord answered their prayers mightily. And he would answer our prayers today as well, but we frequently find our prayer life stunted by distracted minds and a weak, thin vocabulary of prayer. Written prayers, whether composed by others or ourselves, can counter these impediments to our walk with God and can deepen and enlarge our life of prayer.
How?
The desire to grow in prayer is good, but it is an empty desire if we do not create some plan of action. Start by answering these simple questions:
When will I pray each day?
Where will I pray each day?
Will I write down my prayer, or will I adopt the written prayer of another in my daily time of prayer?
Writing a Prayer. Writing down a prayer especially helps to curb the tendency we all have to let our minds wander off while praying. We are forced to say something specific to God rather than allow some vague ideas and prayers to float around in our minds without ever really getting at anything. One’s pen or pencil can capture those prayers and set them before the Lord. Your written prayer could take many forms or cover various topics.
Simply jot down whatever prayer comes to mind in the moment.
Write a prayer in response to your Scripture reading.
Focus on one particular kind of prayer: adoration, confession, petition, thanksgiving, or intercession. (See Matthew Henry’s helpful breakdown.)
Center your prayers around the needs of those in your sphere of influence.
Pray for the church and all who are called to witness to Christ (which is all of us!).
Craft a poem of praise; create something beautiful for God.
We could create an endless list of topics. The idea is that you might find it helpful to pick one topic or idea and construct your prayer around that.
Reading a Written Prayer. Like Jesus’ original disciples, we often don’t even know what to pray (Luke 11:1). We can enlarge our vocabulary of prayer, however, by taking up the prayer that another believer has recorded for the benefit of the faithful. We can read these prayers as they are written, using our imagination to step into the thoughts and feelings of the original author and make the prayer our own. Or we can use these prayers as a template, summarizing and elaborating the writer’s words with our own.
The first place one might start, of course, is the Bible. Besides the Psalms, which function like the Bible’s prayerbook, God led many of his prophets and apostles to write down their prayers. One attempt at cataloging all these prayers may be found here.
We may also learn from the saints of old who have demonstrated faithfulness or the liturgies of various churches across time, space, and tradition. Some of these include:
John Calvin (“Several Godly Prayers” and prayers from his commentary on Hosea)
A Collection of Prayers (This is perhaps the most expansive collection of Christian prayers online.)
Advent Week Four: Love
All of us long for love — to experience relationships in which another person desires and knows us intimately and pursues our good even so. But this is not just a longing; it’s a need. It’s embedded in who we are. We are made in the image of God, a God who exists in a fellowship of love: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Without love, from God and each other, we are not whole, flourishing image bearers.
All of us long for love — to experience relationships in which another person desires and knows us intimately and pursues our good even so. But this is not just a longing; it’s a need. It’s embedded in who we are. We are made in the image of God, a God who exists in a fellowship of love: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Without love, from God and each other, we are not whole, flourishing image bearers.
And so the Enemy attacks our loves in order to mar our image and dishonor the Lord. He convinces us that God does not have our best interests in mind. He disorders our loves by drawing our primary love away from our Creator and towards created things. He directs our loves inward to ourselves and against God and neighbor. We begin fearing to love those who are different, and we fear losing the love of those who are the same. Distractions limit our desires for and engagement with others and instead breed shallow relationships at best or indifferent relationships at worst. Choked by lies, distortions, and false promises, love withers, the world suffers, and we perish.
But “in this is love, not that we have loved God, but that he loved us” (1 John 4:10). In fact, we were sinners, enemies of God. But because of his incredible love, he gave his only Son to us. Jesus Christ entered our world of hate, indifference, and misguided loves — all of which are ultimately directed against him — to perform the greatest act of love. He died on our behalf, wicked as we are, so that we might not perish but have everlasting life, basking in the radiance of God’s perfect, eternal love (John 3:16; Romans 5:6-11). This is the foundation of our peace, our joy, and all our hope. In Advent, we celebrate the fact that he implants this love in our hearts now, defeating sin and the devil, restoring the image of God in us, and reconciling us to himself and each other. And he will continue to water and nurture his love in us until it comes into full bloom when he returns for his Bride.
Advent Week Three: Joy
What gives you joy? Many encourage us to ask this question and pursue only those things which cause us to feel delight. Everything else is simply clutter, if not something more detrimental to our well-being. Whatever doesn’t “spark joy,” as the organizationalist Marie Kondo suggests, ought to be discarded. While this advice seems wise, it will fail us.
What gives you joy? Many encourage us to ask this question and pursue only those things which cause us to feel delight. Everything else is simply clutter, if not something more detrimental to our well-being. Whatever doesn’t “spark joy,” as the organizationalist Marie Kondo suggests, ought to be discarded. While this advice seems wise, it will fail us.
First, because sin impedes our understanding, we often do not know what will produce real, lasting delight. We choose things that generate a spark for a moment but then soon fade. Or we chase after delights that put down, harm, or conflict with others. Second, the world bombards us with images, videos, and songs to train us that certain relationships, services, or products will bestow joy upon us. All indications point to the fact that this siege warfare works: Often what we choose to delight in is what advertisers have told us to delight in. And where has that gotten us? To a world of anxiety, depression, and isolation. That is no cause for rejoicing.
Here’s a better question: Where can we discover the highest source of eternal, never-fading joy? Real, true joy will only be found where perfect love has cast out fear and guilt and where peace has conquered anxiety and disunity. Surrounded by those conditions, the heart cannot help but burst forth with rejoicing and delight. These conditions are only met fully in one location: the Kingdom of God. Although we await the day when this Kingdom will cover the whole earth, today the King, Jesus Christ, is establishing his Kingdom in our hearts. When he becomes our everything — our identity, our goal, our boasting — we can rejoice even in the midst of suffering, knowing that his loving presence remains with us always, now and forever (Romans 5:1-11; 1 Peter 1:3-9). Why do we continually turn to lesser joys when the greatest joy, Christ our Lord and Savior, graciously gives us himself?
Advent Week Two: Peace
Chances are, within the last nine months, you have said, or you know somebody who has said, something to the effect of “Well, that’s 2020 for you.” Every one of us can immediately interpret that sentiment. With a sigh, that simple sentence acknowledges the absurd, chaotic mess that has flooded over this year, seeping into every area of life. We express that phrase in an attempt to keep ourselves afloat in all the craziness, like laughing to stop yourself from crying, but we still feel like Murphy’s Law (“Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong”) has become the rule of life.
Chances are, within the last nine months, you have said, or you know somebody who has said, something to the effect of “Well, that’s 2020 for you.” Every one of us can immediately interpret that sentiment. With a sigh, that simple sentence acknowledges the absurd, chaotic mess that has flooded over this year, seeping into every area of life. We express that phrase in an attempt to keep ourselves afloat in all the craziness, like laughing to stop yourself from crying, but we still feel like Murphy’s Law (“Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong”) has become the rule of life.
God did not initially create the world to be this way. Shalom characterized the original garden paradise; peace, wholeness, order, and flourishing permeated every crevice of existence. But the sin of Adam and Eve broke that harmony, sowing chaos, discord, and death in the human heart and throughout the entire cosmos. We now live at odds with the natural world, with each other, and, most tragically, with God. Something inside us, however, cries out that it does not have to be this way. Something longs for that original state of perfect peace.
Although we have tried to establish peace through politics, education, vague spirituality, and more, only Jesus Christ will do. On our behalf, the eternal Son of God stepped into our sinful chaos and allowed it to consume him to the point of death on a cross. But his blood, given in loving self-sacrifice, purifies us of our sin, reconciling us with God and with one another. He broke the destructive cycle of sin and death by absorbing it into himself (1 Peter 2:24) and offers those that come to him wholeness and life — a peace that surpasses all understanding (Philippians 4:7), endures all trials (John 16:33), and breaks down every wall of hostility (Ephesians 2:13-17). Let us pray for his peace to heal our hearts and our world.
Advent Week One: Hope
Standing in pitch-black darkness can be both suffocating and crushing. Life and breath seem to vanish, for what could exist in that empty blankness? And yet, the darkness itself has substance and almost tangibly weighs on us, wrapping us in fear and doubt as our eyes are robbed of their ability to verify our surroundings. If this is true of physical darkness, how much more true is this of emotional and spiritual darkness?
Standing in pitch-black darkness can be both suffocating and crushing. Life and breath seem to vanish, for what could exist in that empty blankness? And yet, the darkness itself has substance and almost tangibly weighs on us, wrapping us in fear and doubt as our eyes are robbed of their ability to verify our surroundings. If this is true of physical darkness, how much more true is this of emotional and spiritual darkness? Our own sins or this chaotic world, polluted by generations of sin, can hurl us into a pit of shadowy despair, enveloped by addictions, financial distress, broken relationships, abuse, sickness, and more. But in that darkness, the faintest glimmer of light, as dim as it may be, shines like a beacon to the burdened soul, calling them onward in hope.
As the ancient people of Israel and Judah were enticed into greater and greater sins and the threat of Assyrian invasion grew, “distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish” overshadowed their land (Isaiah 8:22). They knew what it was like to feel that “thick darkness.” Just like us, they too longed for a twinkle of hope. It is just at this point that God promises hope: “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone” (Isaiah 9:2). This hopeful light would come as a child, whose name is “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace (v 6). He would take up the throne of David and establish everlasting peace, justice, and righteousness (v 7). How they longed for this light to shine!
Today, we have more than a promise of light but the light himself — Jesus Christ, who breached the gloom of this world and whose “light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:5). Through his perfect life, sacrificial death, and triumphant resurrection, he gives us a “sure and steadfast anchor of the soul” (Hebrews 6:19), the certainty of healing and restoration. As we journey into this season of Advent after a year of uncertainty and difficulty, may hold on to the hope we have in Jesus, the light of the world.
Preparing for Sunday Worship
Since Jesus Christ miraculously and victoriously rose from the dead on the first day of the week, his faithful followers have gathered together on the same day to glorify God and encourage one another through preaching the Word of God, receiving the sacraments, praying together, singing songs of praise, and sharing testimonies of God’s goodness (Acts 2:42; 1 Cor 14:26; Col 3:16; Eph 5:19). In corporate worship, the Holy Spirit reminds our hearts and minds of his incredible grace and our new life in the Kingdom of God, and we get to respond in gratitude as we recenter our lives on Jesus for the coming week. This time is so crucial to the life of Christians that Scriptures implores us not to neglect the gathering of the saints and to actively stir up one another to love and good works (Heb 10:24-25).
The Sunday Gathering
Since Jesus Christ miraculously and victoriously rose from the dead on the first day of the week, his faithful followers have gathered together on the same day to glorify God and encourage one another through preaching the Word of God, receiving the sacraments, praying together, singing songs of praise, and sharing testimonies of God’s goodness (Acts 2:42; 1 Cor 14:26; Col 3:16; Eph 5:19). In corporate worship, the Holy Spirit reminds our hearts and minds of his incredible grace and our new life in the Kingdom of God, and we get to respond in gratitude as we recenter our lives on Jesus for the coming week. This time is so crucial to the life of Christians that Scriptures implores us not to neglect the gathering of the saints and to actively stir up one another to love and good works (Heb 10:24-25).
If we consume sports news all week leading up to a game or watch movie trailers before heading to the theater, how much more should we prepare our whole selves — body, mind, and spirit — before this infinitely more significant gathering? We require preparation even more since the devil and our own sin seek to distract us from the work of God. So what might preparing for our Sunday gathering look like practically?
Preparing the Body
Get some sleep! Safeguard your Saturday night from late-night activities so that you can be well-rested Sunday morning. Worship requires attention, and tiredness transforms us into absentminded zombies.
Be present. Plan to show up, and plan when to show up. Take into account your family situation and how long it will take everyone to be ready so that no one is frazzled by rushing to get to church. You just might arrive early and have some time to fellowship with others before service begins.
Play worship music as you get ready and drive to church. Singing along will warm up your vocal chords, preparing you for singing with the congregation, but more importantly, music can help focus your mind and soften your heart to worship.
Preparing the Mind
Read the Scripture beforehand. We almost always preach through books of the Bible verse by verse, so you should know what passage will be preached next. Having some ideas about the text by reading it the night before or several times throughout the week will allow you to hone in on the preaching and be more receptive to the Word.
Reflect on your attitude. Have you felt frustrated, angry, anxious, jealous, etc.? Have you felt at peace, joyful, content, etc.? Knowing your state of mind allows you to commune with God more honestly. Consider whether you’re even looking forward to worshipping together, and if not, ask yourself why that is.
Keep your morning distraction-free. Work can wait. News can wait. Entertainment can wait. Social media can wait. So many things vie for our attention that we must vigilantly guard our mind. The God of the universe deserves at least a morning of our attention. (Though our whole lives would be better!)
Preparing the Spirit
Pray that your heart and mind would be attentive and receptive to God’s Word and Spirit.
Pray that the presence of God would draw you closer to him.
Pray that others would come to know the love and grace of God in Jesus Christ.
Pray that you would connect with your brothers and sisters — those you have relationships with and one or two you have yet to meet.
Pray that God would be glorified above all else.