Making Sunday Special

The Christian life is to be lived 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Each and every day contains incredible opportunity and responsibility to fellowship with God and obey His Word. However, the local church gathering is a particularly special and powerful event every week. Sundays provide us with a chance to gather with fellow believers, lift our voices in praise to God, and hear His Word taught, read, and proclaimed. For Christians, the Sunday morning gathering of their local church should be the most important event every week. It saddens me to hear of Christians who loathe the “hassle” of Sunday mornings.

In ancient Israel, the Jews ordered their life around the Sabbath. Each day was either a chance to reflect on the previous Sabbath or a preparation for the upcoming Sabbath. Just 100 years ago, societies were ordered around making Sunday the high point of the week. The only thing to do on Sunday was go to church. Sadly, Sunday is no longer a special day. It is now filled with normal activities that push the gathering of the church to the outskirts of our lives.

My intention in this article is to serve you by offering some practical suggestions for making Sunday special. Embrace the good suggestions and disregard the unhelpful.

Saturday Evening: Preparation for Sunday starts well before Sunday. Specifically, what you do on Saturday evening will affect your experience on Sunday. On Saturday evening, be sure to engage in spiritual activity. Instead of watching CSI, why not prepare your heart with prayer, Bible study, family devotions, or ministry?

Also, prepare your Sunday morning clothes and breakfast on Saturday evening. How many times have we ruined Sunday morning by going to the closet only to find that we have “NOTHING to wear” or that “someone ate all the cereal”? Preparing clothes on Saturday evening is essential for families with children. Finally and most importantly, get to bed early on Saturday evening. Nothing will kill a Sunday morning like staying up too late on Saturday. I know our culture tells us that Saturday night is THE night to stay up late, but we should be discerning enough to recognize that as bad advice. Plan to get a full night of sleep before Sunday.
Sunday Morning Before Church: If you get to bed early on Saturday evening, you should have no problem getting up early on Sunday morning. One of the most helpful pieces of advice I can give is to allow for plenty of un-hurried time on Sunday before church. Get up several hours before you need to be at church in order to spend some quality time in God’s Word and ensure that your pace on Sunday morning is not frantic.

Also, plan to arrive at the church in plenty of time to greet people, get children settled, look over the bulletin, and find a seat. When we are late for Bible Study or worship, we distract others and we miss the opportunity to fully experience what God has for us. Be sure to bring your Bible and, if possible, plan to take notes on the sermon.

Sunday After Church: The special nature of Sunday does not end when the preacher says, “amen.” After the service, we should not make a bee-line to our vehicle. We should plan to hang around after church in order to get to know other people and engage in caring for one another. If you see a visitor or someone you don’t know very well, plan to engage them before you leave. Much Biblical fellowship should happen before and after the public gatherings of the church. Also, talk about the sermon over lunch. Talk about how God spoke to you through His Word and how you intend to apply it.

Of course, all of these suggestions are meaningless without a heart ablaze with love for Jesus. You can go through all the motions of planning for Sunday, and miss the most important reality in the Universe. Gather with God’s people on Sunday morning anticipating an encounter with the risen Christ in all His glory.