Week Thirty-Four - How Was Your Sunday?

How was your Sunday? Did you go to church? Did you sing as unto the Lord? Did you have sweet fellowship with the family of God? Did the Word preached permeate your spirit? Or did you go expecting the music to lift you, others to listen to you, and the preacher to get it over with?

What a real challenge the minister faces each service. Folks come with burdens and resentments, and sometimes only out of duty. Others are out there singing their hearts out with the joy of the Lord written across their faces. How is he to meet the needs of such a variety?

S. Martin, speaking of the minister, wrote, "You expect the minister to confess, give thanks, and pray for you, and you do not so much join with him as listen to him. This ought not to be, for you yourselves are a priesthood. We are God's ministers, but we are not God's priests. Our great high priest is Jesus Christ, but as you are priests unto God, we want your sacrifice. Our desire is that you should pray with me, and give thanks with me, and confess with me. Allowing me to lead you, but not allowing my prayers to be substituted for your own - thoroughly congregational."

Thoroughly congregational. That means we all participate in the service, not just watching or listening but joining in as a part of the family. This joining in, this joying in, shows on your face. By the way, to be congregational necessitates attendance - you can't be congregational online!

S. Martin says, "There is something in the effect of the human face which is not to be despised in worship. It awakens sympathy, and there is something pleasant in the idea of making others glad by one's countenance. Assist each other in the House of Prayer by the help of your countenance. Gladness, we say, will throw light into your countenance and will give a brilliant tone to all your utterances."

So here's your challenge for this coming Sunday. Show up! Show up with joy and anticipation on your face. Come expecting God to meet with you and expecting yourself to open your heart and voice to Him in praise through song and conversations. Don't just watch church take place; be a part of it. Be congregational!