Sunday morning is here. You spent time praying and confessing anything that is standing in between you and communion with the Lord with his people. You’ve prayed for God to make you sensitive to the needs of yourself and his people. Your wardrobe is set out. You went to sleep earlier than you typically do and you are well rested. What now? Get dressed and head to church? Or, are there ways that we can prepare for Sunday morning worship before we head off to meet with the church body that morning? In this article I want to give you four ways to prep for the Sunday morning gathering on the morning of.

Number one, get up the same way you went to sleep - early. Waking up early has many benefits. First, it allows you to spend more time with the Lord reading his word and talking to him in prayer. This really allows you to prepare your heart for worship with your church family. Sunday mornings before church are a great time to read that mornings sermon text and pray that text over yourself, your family, and the people you’ll be meeting at church. Second, waking up early allows you not to be rushed. Nothing puts me in a bad mood on a Sunday morning than feeling like I am rushed to church. When we wake up early we allow time to prepare ourselves in personal worship, but we also allow ourselves time to get ready without being rushed. The third benefit of waking up early is that it allows you to go to church early. Again, we don’t want to rush into our Connection Groups. Get there early so you can spend time in fellowship with your brothers and sisters in Christ. Go to bed early, wake up early. It will help your Sunday morning worship experience.

Number two, eat a good breakfast before you head off to the Sunday morning gathering. Some of us aren’t breakfast people and it doesn’t really affect us. That is fine. But if you find hunger being a distraction to your worship (which I often do), I would suggest eating a balanced breakfast to help with that. I love a Daylight Donut just as much as the next guy, but a chocolate twist probably isn’t going to enhance your worship much. I am no dietician, but a solid breakfast that has a combination of protein, healthy fats, and carbs will stave off your hunger until the worship service is over (hopefully). The point is, we want to eliminate anything that might be a hindrance to our worship. If you find yourself getting hungry more often than not on a Sunday morning, a good balanced breakfast can help.

Number three, leave the house with a Bible, notebook, and pen in hand. Bring a physical copy of God’s word to church so that you can follow along in Connection Group discussions about scripture, and so you can follow along during the exposition of scripture during the main gathering. Devices are a gift and I am glad we can have the Bible on them, but I have found that they can be more of a distraction in a worship gathering than they are a help. Plus, we interact with devices all the time. Let’s make our worship gathering unique and leave them behind in favor of physical Bibles. Also, bring your pen and notebook so you can record and keep the things that God speaks to you about that day. If you begin taking notes on the passage preached week in and week out during the Sunday gathering, you will soon have a treasure trove of notes to meditate on anytime you want to. So, when you walk out of the house and head off to the church house, bring a Bible and something to take notes with.

Number four, head to church expectantly. You are heading to church for the Sunday morning worship service, but for what really? What is going to happen there? When you head off to church, expect to meet with the Lord Jesus himself. As we gather with his body we are gathering together corporately to meet with him. We are going there to sing to him, to hear from him, to celebrate his resurrection and conquering over death, sin, and the grave. When you go to church, expect to gather with your brothers and sisters. You aren’t just going to a random building with random people. You are going to our weekly family reunion. We are the family of God meeting to worship our older brother, the Son of God, all for the glory of our God and Father. We can go to church expectantly because we know that Christ will be there.

My purpose in writing these practical suggestions for preparation for Sunday morning is not because they are commanded in Scripture, but because I believe that adding all, or even just a few of these suggestions, will heighten your time with the Lord and his people on Sunday mornings. I hope these things help as you prepare to gather with the church family on Sunday mornings.