Sunday is the day of the Lord, it is the day when believers collectively gather as a church in order to Worship God and claim their alliance as citizens of heaven. Hebrews 10: 24 - 25 encourages and commands us to not neglect the gathering but encourage good works through it. In the Hebrew mind, there is something significant about gathering together.
The Sunday service is more than a list of things that we do at church during the service but it is a time where we worship God, Hear the Word, sing the Word to one another, and we disciple one another
indirectly. Now there are some ways in which we can be intentional to experience these things in a more tangible way on Sundays. Here are some steps to enhance our Sunday experience:
Imagine that a brother or a sister discloses ways in which they are fighting with sin, or a critical diagnosis that they have just received, and worshipping together at the same time is a declaration that in spite of the unfortunate events in this sinful world we still plead allegiance to the Kingdom of God. Picture singing “It Is Well” with a sister who has been diagnosed with cancer but despise of her diagnosis, she still trusts the Lord.
Knowing each other lives and coming to assemble together is a powerful statement of the Gospel to one another. We are together saying: He is still at work (Hebrews 12: 1-2).
2. Pray for the Family : This may sound obvious but one of the ways to enrich one another is to pray for one another (Acts 1:14, 2:42, Romans 12:12, 1 Timothy 2:1). Maybe you can go through a member’s directory and make a list of people in your close circles from your church (small group or core class, etc) write next to their names how you can pray for them. You could reach out to them through a text, email or a call and ask: How can I pray for you this week?
Reaching out to the Family will warm their hearts for Sunday. When we see those whom we reached to or those who reached to us, we will be reminded of God’s care and love towards us. We will recognize our family love to one another through it (Philippians 1:4).
3. Encourage and Pray for your Pastors: We need to encourage those who shepherd us, Scripture tells us that those who work and teach well are worthy of double honor. Honor them by asking them how you can pray for them. That will help you to care for the soul of your pastor, and remind you that they are also sheep (1 Timothy 5: 17).
Encourage them by acknowledging how they have blessed you during the sermon. Maybe there was an illustration or a point in their sermon that made things clear to you. Shoot them a text or an email commending them for it. Look for things that have been genuinely been impactful for you. This will warm the heart of your pastor (Hebrews 13:7).
4. Come Early to Church: You may say what? But, yes, come early. Churches prepare before service for service, and there is time when coming early to help will encourage you as well encourage others. Find tangible ways to serve at church to be a blessing to your congregation. Come early and help your church to move chairs, organize some bulletins or just get together with some other brothers and sisters and pray for the service (Romans 12:11, 14:18; Galatians 5:13).
5. Listen to the Songs and read the Sermon Text: Some churches disclose their songs for Sunday and the text that they will preach on but there is other that don’t. If they don’t ask if they could facilitate this info to you that it may be helpful.
Listen to the songs, listen to the lyrics, read the text of the sermon and meditate in the Word. Be reminded of the Glorious Gospel as you do this, maybe you will not have a lot of time for this, that is ok but that you do it a couple of times can prepare your heart (Joshua 1:8, Psalm 119:15, 150, Ephesians 5:19, 1 Timothy 4:13) .
This are some ways in which we can enhance our Sunday gathering, and warm our heart as we fight sin together, and we claim our citizenship to the Kingdom of heaven. I am not saying that this is THE Formula to it, but I do believe that this will help us to point one another to look up to the prize who is Jesus.
