The following are a series of letters written to our congregation at Hope Baptist Church with the goal of increasing joy and reaping all the benefits of local church life.
As your pastors we want to be, “fellow workers for your joy.” Paul made it clear how and why he instructed the Corinthian church, “Not that we have dominion over your faith, but are fellow workers for your joy; for by faith you stand.” (2 Cor 1:24). Like Paul in Corinth, we want to lead you into greater strength - increase our faith to stand firm. We want to lead us by still waters. We want to see our souls restored (Ps 23).
In these letters we are confident that we are encouraging you to do things helpful to restore your soul. We know we are leading you to good things.
Since the Lord’s Day is the “day of delight,” (Isa 58) these letters are meant to increase delight through focused, reverent, intentional, disciplined, orderly, devoted Lord’s Day Celebrations.
The first point we want to make is that our meetings are given by God to be sacred meetings, literally, holy convocations. Are we treating them that way? Many are! They are “Holy” which means that they are to be treated as completely separate from other gatherings. In Heb 4:14-16, It is a “throne of Grace.” Thankfully there is much grace when we meet with God. But, we must always remember, it is a THRONE!
In these letters we want to foster a culture where everything stops for the sacred moments of praying, preaching, singing and the Lord’s Supper.
The following letters are meant to encourage us in our preparation for the Lord’s Day, our arrival at church, listening to preaching, time in the nursing mothers room, in the hall ways during services, and the protocol for the security team.
Here is the heart of it:
“But the Lord is in His holy temple. Let all the earth keep silence before Him.” Habakkuk 2:20
In the first letter we said, we gather before a THRONE. It is a holy day, like no other. So foster a culture where everything stops for the sacred moments of praying, preaching, singing and the Lord’s Supper. It’s a holy convocation. (Lev 23:1-3, 44). Application for us: upon entering the worship services, during the worship services, in the nursing mothers room, the security team, in the hall ways… “let all the earth keep silence.” We ought to make it a bit like heaven, “nothing common,” not like everyday life… its uncommonly delightful – like heaven (Rev 21:27).
Now the second way to increase your joy and make the sabbath a delight: Be Prepared
The Sabbath was so important to the Jews that Friday was the day to prepare for the Sabbath the next day. This is an enduring principle we can apply in the New Covenant. Before the Passover, the Jews would spread leaven on their floors, sweep it up and then burn it as a symbol of their desire to turn away from sin (Ex 12:15, 19). Note that Jesus was crucified on the “day of preparation,” “Now it was the Preparation Day of the Passover, and about the sixth hour. And he said to the Jews, “Behold your King!” (John 19:14).
We offer you encouragement to ready your hearts and if you have a family, ready the hearts of the people in your families. This is how we escape haphazard, unprincipled, random, undisciplined church attendance. It is bad for adults and it’s bad for children. It’s bad for the church. It makes for insipid fellowship. It creates weak people. Here are five ways to prepare for the Lord’s Day:
First, get your family focused on the preaching text for the upcoming Sunday. Men, come to Men’s Bible Study on Monday morning. There we introduce you to the text so you can share it with your wives, siblings, and children – it’s a one hour meditation on the Words of God with your brothers. This is a wonderful opportunity to have the Word of God before your eyes, hearts and minds for one solid hour of uninterrupted blessing from heaven! Prepare at Men’s Bible Study!
Second, maintain family worship at the center of your family schedule. You have to fight off the whole world to do this. This way the worship of God in the church will not be foreign to your children. Sing the songs for the upcoming Sunday. Teach them to your children. Get them ready to sing with joyful gusto. A few weeks ago one of the fathers came to me and said, “we sing so many songs, my kids are not learning them.” Ok, the elders are trying to grapple with this in our song selection… But, you can do something right now. Each week, we send the lyrics of the songs to all of you in an email. We do this so you learn the songs and make them familiar so that they seep into the heart BEFORE Sunday. So, here’s the advice: take up these songs and sing them at home – at the dinner table – at family worship – while doing chores - not once at church. This is a great way to impress them on your children and on yourself. Prepare by singing!
Third, come and pray on Wednesday night. While there, anticipate the most important day of the week, coming up on Sunday and pray about the upcoming service of prayer and singing, preaching and feasting. Pray for salvation to come to the lost, comfort for the discouraged, strength for the weak, knowledge for the ignorant, deliverance for those trapped in sin. Prepare by Praying Wednesday night!
Fourth, make all your Sunday preparations on Saturday. Cook the food, get the clothes out, straighten the house – get all the chores done so that there is nothing to do on Sunday morning except delight in the Lord. See my book, “The Family at Church, How Parents are Tour Guides for Joy – Twenty Days to Transform Your Local Church Life.” Prepare on Saturday!
Fifth, get a good sleep on Saturday night so that, on Sunday morning, you can get up at an hour with plenty of sleep and time to spare so that Sunday morning does not start out with frantic lateness. Prepare by getting a good sleep!
Sixth, at breakfast at home, pray for the pastors and deacons and the upcoming worship service. Prepare by upholding the officers of the church!
When you come to church, be prepared - ready for God, for your brethren, and for the sake of the lost among us. In Summary,
Prepare by coming to men’s Bible study!
Prepare by singing!
Prepare by praying Wednesday night!
Prepare on Saturday!
Prepare by upholding the officers of the church!
We all know how hard it can be to get to church on time – especially when you can't find kids shoes, when the syrup hits the floor, when the toddler who is potty training misses and your husband forgot to fill up the car with gas and the baby seats are in the wrong car. And you are pretty sure Satan shows up every Sunday morning to wreak havoc.
We all know it is a good work to be at church on time. But things happen! Here are some suggestions we hope are helpful.
Redeem the Time:
“See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil.” Ephesians 5:15-16
Brothers and sisters, as the under-shepherds of this flock one of our desires is to increase your joy in the worship of God. One way this is accomplished is for everyone to make every effort to redeem their time when it comes to the worship of God. Your elders have notice that in the past months there as been a slippage in the area of punctuality when it comes to the meeting of the church.
Paul is encouraging the believers to consider how they walk and how they use their time. One of the best uses of our time is to prioritize the meeting of the church. This is the gathering together of the saints of God to participate in the most wonderful and privileged activities possible for God’s people—worship. We worship the King of kings and it is important that we make every effort to be prepared and to be punctual for the worship of God.
Consider Others: One of God’s commands in the book of Philippians 2:3-4 “Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.”
Considering others as more important than ourselves also applies to the corporate gathering of God’s people for worship. As we consider others we will not only be on time, but make every effort to arrive a little early so that we will be ready to participate in the worship of God. When someone arrives late to the worship service it is a distraction to others who have made the extra effort to arrive early and were prepared for the worship of God. When someone arrives late they are not looking out for the interest of others but rather are looking out for their own interest. Let us consider our brothers and sisters in this matter and arrive early and eager for the worship of God.
Minister to others:
I Peter 4:10-11 “As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God. If anyone ministers, let him do it as with the ability which God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.”
There are multiple ways we minister to each other.
The Bible teaches us to be self-consciously ministering to one another DURING the worship time. Don’t miss a moment of it! Don’t miss a moment of it! If you are not there for the opening prayer and the opening song, you are not fully participating in ministering to your brethren!
A very successful business man once said, “Being on time is the habit of kings.”
Be on time when your family gathers for preaching, praying, singing, reading and the Lord’s Supper… Our Lord went to great measures to enable us to worship God and your elders believe we should make every effort to be prepared and punctual to the worship of God. In God’s providence, your pastors have prepared the table of worship. We don’t want you to miss a moment of it.
We think that this kind of culture – a culture of intentional, thoughtful, relational, punctual worship will be the very best culture for your soul.
A banquet has been set. The Lord created and prescribed the perfect menu for us. The Bible tells us precisely what to do. We can rest in His love, not wondering if we are doing good.
It is a day of prayer, singing, preaching, the Lord’s Table, and feasting in a wonderful fellowship meal…
Soak it in. Get ready to be with the King of Kings and His Bride and His Word and the manna from heaven. Get ready to bless your brethren. Get ready to sing to them and to the Lord.
We can taste heaven today! It is a foretaste of things to come. Remember,
"Earth is a foretaste, Heaven is a magnet." "your kingdom come, your will be done, ON EARTH as it is IN HEAVEN."
“But the Lord is in His holy temple. Let all the earth keep silence before Him." (Habakkuk 2:20), and "Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord! (Ps 150:6)