Grab our RSS feedWorship Preparation | John 6:26-51
Though the week is quickly coming to a close, hopefully you have been nourishing the inner man through the Word, and preparing your heart to have a worshipful encounter with the Living God. Tomorrow, Lord willing, we will worship with Pastor Bryan in John 6, considering the second half of the twins: Saving Faith.
What can we do to aid in the preparation of our hearts for tomorrow's service? Glad you asked!
- Pray.
- Pray for Pastor Bryan. Pray that God would aid him as he finishes sermon prep. Pray that God would own him for His glory. Pray that God would use His herald to preach the excellencies of His Son, to His people.
- Pray for your own soul. Pray that God would make your heart receptive to the Word, give you a bigger view of Himself, grant repentance and enlarge your faith through the preached Word.
- Pray for one another. O that we might be an interceding people!
- Pray for new worshippers. For those in our midst that do not believe in Christ. Pray that a John 9:35-38 work of God would descend from the heavens, through the preached Word.
- Wash yourself in the sermon text. Specifically gazing upon verses 35 & 51: Jesus, THE Bread of Life!
- If you have kiddos, spend today's family worship in the sermon text, teaching them about Jesus, THE Bread of Life.
- Consider these words and thank God for the saving work of Jesus!
- Come with rejoicing hearts, ready to sing of the exclusivity and supremacy of Christ (In Christ Alone), of God's saving grace (Grace Greater than Our Sin), and of the sufficiency of Jesus Christ (Out of My Bondage).
- Did I mention pray?
As we consider worship, "heart-work" (as the Puritans called it) must be a priority for us. Tomorrow, as a congregation, we come together to meet God. Should not the weight of those last two words cause us to come as a prepared people? Should not the weight of those last two words cause us to desire to come as a prepared people? The following exhortation regarding this preparatory "heart work" is from George Swinnock, a puritan of old. It is most applicable for us. I would encourage you to keep it close to your soul:
"Prepare to meet thy God, O Christian! Betake thyself to thy chamber on the Saturday night, confess and bewail thine unfaithfulness under the ordinances of God; ashamed and condemn thyself for thy sins, entreat God to prepare they heart for, and assist it in, thy religious performances; spend some time in consideration of the infinite majesty, holiness, jealously, and goodness, of that God, with whom thouart to have to do in sacred duties; ponder the weight and importance of his holy ordinances...; meditate on the shortness of the time thou hast to enjoy Sabbaths in; and continue musing...till the fire burneth; thou canst not think the good thou mayest gain by such forethoughts, how pleasant and profitable a Lord's day would be to thee after such a preparation. The oven of thine heart thus baked in, as it were overnight, would be easily heated the next morning; the fire so well raked up when thou wentest to bed, would be the sooner kindled when thou shouldst rise. If thou wouldst thus leave thy heart with God on the Saturday night, thou shouldst find it with him in the Lord's Day morning."