6 Steps to Make the Most of Sunday Morning
As a pastor, a large portion of my week is devoted to the gathering of believers on Sunday morning. Whether in prayer, study, writing, or administration, Sunday morning demands a level of preparation that begins long before the weekend.
However, not all of us are called to pastoral ministry, nor vocational ministry of any kind. For most Christians, Sunday morning preparation begins at 10:45 a.m. when they make a decision to go to church—or stay home (many of whom choose the latter).
Is that how it should be?
Let’s look at some simple preparation steps you can take as a Christian to increase your likelihood of attending a Sunday morning service and to deepen your engagement once you're there.
Step 1: Organize Your Calendar
Nothing happens in your life unless you make it happen. We are quick to form our lives around our work schedule, our vacation plans, and our children’s sports, but we rarely stress the importance of Sunday morning worship.
One to two hours on a weekend is possible for any person or family if you make it a priority in your calendar. Set the gathering of believers on a pedestal and protect it at all costs. Consider it as you would a mandatory meeting for work or a playoff game for your kids (it pains me to even compare the worship of God with such meaningless activities).
If a stranger looked at your calendar, who would they say your God is?
Step 2: Study the Word
Does your church give you a heads-up on the sermon series? Most do—through websites, social media, or previous Sunday morning gatherings. If so, studying the text beforehand primes your heart and mind for the message being delivered. This helps in many ways:
Knowing the text aids in understanding what is being preached.
Pre-reading the text helps you form questions to pique your interest.
Investing in the sermon before the service makes you less likely to skip church.
You get to join your pastor in study, prayer, and worship leading up to Sunday morning.
All of these benefits are on top of the spiritual growth you experience through the reading of the Word. Whether or not you know the exact passage being preached, disciplining yourself to study the Bible consistently is a vital part of the Christian life.
Step 3: Invite Someone to Church
It is much harder to cancel plans when you know a friend is waiting on you to show up—and the same is true for church. Inviting a coworker, family member, or friend gives you extra motivation to join your brothers and sisters in worship on Sunday morning.
If they know Jesus already, they can serve as added accountability for your attendance. If they don’t know Jesus, you can use the hope of their potential salvation as the fuel to drive you to church, be an example for them, and show them what it means to live for Christ.
Make a list of people—Christian and non-Christian—who are not currently attending church.
Work your way through the list, and eventually you will find someone to share a pew with.
Who knows? That phone call you make may be the pivotal point in their walk with Christ that draws them near to His heart.
Step 4: Get Some Sleep
The decisions you make on Saturday night directly influence your experience on Sunday morning. When you choose to stay up for one more episode, stay out for one more drink, or doom-scroll into the wee hours of the morning, you are consciously sacrificing your rest. That rest is needed to wake up in time for church—and to stay engaged while you're there.
Too many times, I see drooping eyelids in service on Sunday morning due solely to poor choices the night before.
Is Jesus your Lord on Saturday nights as well as Sunday mornings?
Turn off the TV. Set a curfew. Pick up your phone to set an alarm, and then put it down. Consider each of these actions part of your worship.
Step 5: Eat Breakfast
This may seem like an odd preparation for a Sunday service, but it’s an often-overlooked step. With the mad dash of getting ready, putting kids in the car, and trying our best to make it to church on time, it’s not uncommon to neglect the most important meal of the day.
But what happens when you go into worship hungry? Everything starts fine, but as the clock ticks by, your mind gets drawn away from the Word. You begin to think about what you’ll have for lunch, how long it will take to drive there, and how much longer the sermon will last.
At that point, the heart has chosen a new master to focus on: your physical desire.
Take the time to eat a good breakfast, drink some coffee to stay alert and suppress your appetite, and allow the sermon to instruct you to the very end.
Step 6: Just Show Up
You can do all of these steps perfectly, but in the end, you have to make the decision to just show up.
Organized or not.
Prepared or not.
Alone or not.
Tired or not.
Hungry or not.
Just. Show. Up.
There will always be reasons to skip church, or to attend but allow your heart and mind to dwell elsewhere. As Christians, it is our responsibility to fight those urges and come together anyway.
Remember the words of Hebrews as the early church was encouraged:
“Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”
