Updates
from Alathea Baptist

Do you find Sunday mornings stressful and chaotic? Do you rush to get ready for church only to get there and discover your heart’s not in a worshipful place? Do the hours before church feel more like a warzone than preparation for ministry?

Sundays are supposed to be a sacred day of rest; a set-aside moment in time to quiet our hearts and focus on God. Yet so often the hours before church devolve into chaos. I’m fairly convinced that demons are more active on Sunday morning. Inevitably, the kids are extra cranky, the socks are missing, breakfast burns, the car is low on fuel, and why aren’t our Bibles where we left them?

By the time everything is loaded into the car, everyone is frazzled and no one is thinking about the actual purpose of the day. I usually spend my drive to church, not contemplating the divine, but repenting to my family for being on edge all morning. I get to church tired and out-of-sorts, with my progressive sanctification having taken a step backwards.

We recently adjusted our Sunday morning routine to make the Lord’s Day less chaotic, trying, and, well, more of a Lord’s Day. We’re only a few weeks into our experiment but already it’s dramatically improved our mindset going into church. 

Here’s are some changes that can improve your Sunday morning routine:

Get up early. This feels counterintuitive. I mean, you’re already tired on Sunday morning, right? But having enough time to get ready without feeling rushed is important for setting the right tone for Sunday morning. Getting up earlier relieves you of the stress of cramming too much into too little time. It’s very freeing to wake up on Sunday morning knowing you have plenty of time to get everything done. I know we’re all tired but that brings up my next point.

The Lord’s Day starts Saturday night. Actually it doesn’t really. But preparing for the Lord’s Day does start the night before. Being organized on Saturday night goes a long way in making Sunday morning less chaotic. Pick out the kids’ clothes the night before. Clean up the toys. Plan for lunch. Make sure your Bible and disciple making books are ready to go. And (here’s the hard part) get to bed on time. 

Set the mood. We’re embodied spirits who live in a physical environment. The atmosphere we create on Sunday morning orients our hearts and minds for the day. If you want a worshipful, meditative mindset, then create an atmosphere that will promote that. Light a scented candle. Put the house in order. Play appropriate music (we use this playlist). Worship is a choice. But the atmosphere you create makes it easy to make the right choice. 

There’s a lot we can do to foster an appropriate environment for worship and ministry as we prepare for Sunday morning services. These steps have greatly improved our Sunday morning routine, getting us to church on time with a proper frame of mind. 

But sometimes the kids are still extra cranky, the socks are still missing, breakfast still burns, the car is still low on fuel, and where, oh where, are those Bibles? There’s only so much that’s in our control. So each Sunday morning, we need to make the choice to come to church with a heart to worship God and serve His people. By the Spirit’s help we can overcome the myriad of obstacles that assault us each Sunday morning and make it to church with a heart and mind ready to worship our Lord.