God has given endless opportunities to enjoy Him and bathe in His creation. He puts His power, attributes, glory and wisdom on display outdoors. Go for a walk. Go to a park. Take a hike. Take another along with you. Ponder, meditate, memorize, talk about, reflect on Christ and His Word together.

The Lord’s Day is not to be “Boring-Day” or “Do-Nothing-Day.”  It is a special day, the high day, the holy day, the celebration day when we cheerfully triumph because Christ our Champion has died for our sins and He has risen for us! He lives for us, intercedes for us, protects us, and shall come again for us!  He is just as longing for and anticipating the meeting of the saints as we are. He walks among the lampstands and is eager to gather where two or three in His name assemble.

The Sunday heart of worship actually begins Saturday night. Get rest. Go to bed early. Fill your heart with Truth. Don’t go to bed intoxicated with worldly music, movies, words and shows. Prepare yourself and your heart Saturday night and you’ll rise Sunday morning with a heart ready  and alert and eager to glorify Christ. Go to bed with a heart full of Christ and His Word and you will find yourself rising with an eager and anticipating heart for corporate worship.

Some Pastoral Suggestions to Consider and Adapt to Your Particular Context:

1. Have high and lofty thoughts of the Lord’s Day. Remember this is God’s Gift-Day to you to prioritize Him and His worth. On this day, God’s people worship with the Saints and affirm and confess and unify together with like-minded gospel-saints and an opportunity to serve others. Perhaps one of the greatest ways to elevate your thoughts of the Lord’s Day is to believe what God says about it: it is to be a day of joy and celebration, a delight (Isa 58.12-14).

2. Do a study on the Attributes of God. You could watch the Ligonier videos on the Attributes of God, grab one of the Systematic Theologies and work through God’s attributes. You would benefit greatly from reading the Blessed and Boundless God by George Swinnock, or JI Packer’s Knowing God. Even if you selected one chapter to carefully read through on the Lord’s Day morning, your heart will well up with wonder and praise for the God who chose you in salvation, redeemed you with His blood, and invites you to worship Him in the Spirit!

3. Pray through the Membership List Carefully, Specifically, Individually. Grab the membership list and pray through it. Or, perhaps you could pray through a portion of that membership list. Pray by name. Pray specifically. Pray for their children. Pray for their marriages, their places of ministry and their growth in grace.

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