Sunday morning's service was busy. We had the usual welcome and announcements to make, offering to collect and message to be preached. We also had a separate offering for our mission trip to Utah, a baby dedication, baptisms and people coming into membership. It felt like a lot to fit into an hour and a quarter, and more than that, if felt like a lot was going on apart from the preaching!
How do we avoid losing focus on a Sunday morning. How to keep from slipping out of our busy week into a busy Sunday morning and end up not meeting with God at all?
First of all, i believe our Sunday mornings are bathed in prayer. We pray throughout the week and throughout the morning, asking God to be honoured and God to speak during our meeting time. The best way to lose focus on God, is to stop praying. When we don't pray, we're liable to work in our own strength, pointing people toward our own wisdom and trying have our needs met.
Secondly, everything we did on Sunday pointed backwards and forwards to the Gospel. We gave our money joyfully to support the cause of Gospel in Greenville and beyond. We welcomed new members to our church, covenanting with them. We baptised, and we were reminded of Christ's death and resurrection as believers went under the water and rose back up again. We sang songs that reminded us of the depth of our need and the fulfillment of Christ.
And finally, the Gospel was preached. The Bible was opened and God's man was God's mouthpiece. Everything we did was driven by the Gospel, everything we did served the Gospel.
The main thing is the keep the main thing the main thing. As the Gospel bears fruit in people's lives, it will produce busier church services. And that is good, and Sunday was very good. If the Gospel is the centre, the church will grow, and God will be honoured, and focus will not be lost.
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