Preparing For Worship: March 30th

My wife is enjoying her well-deserved Spring Break this week. She's been running at top speed since the beginning of the school year (both teaching at Village Christian, and attending graduate courses at APU), and for her to make it to the break was a major accomplishment and cause for much rejoicing in our home!

I'm going to take her down to San Diego tonight for a few days, so I wanted to put up our Preparing for Worship post before I left.

There sometimes seems to be a emotional let down after climactic Sundays (such as Easter), and on top of that, I'm short a few musicians this week, so I've picked all familiar songs this week.

Darren Utley will be preaching this Sunday, as Pastor Todd escapes for a few days with Stacey for their anniversary. He'll be talking about King Solomon, and how a man with everything could find it all ultimately worthless, and how it is only when we find our purpose and fulfillment in God that the things of this world are worthwhile. This will help prepare us for our study in Ecclesiastes starting next week.

We'll start with "Stir In Me" as our call to corporate worship, followed by a time of announcements that includes Foundation Youth Bible Study, Pastor's Coffee, and Friday Fellowships.

We'll then sing some songs that talk about the glory and supremacy of God. We'll sing "Let God Arise," "Better Is One Day," and "Come Thou Fount," as we reflect on where it is that we are tempted to find fulfillment outside of God.

Darren will come and teach us from the Word, and we'll respond with "You Alone" and "Your Grace Is Enough" as songs of corporate and individual commitment to seek God first.

That's pretty much it for the service, but I have one more thought for us. I wrote a while back about "post-Christmas melancholy" (see the post HERE), and I think the same thought is appropriate here: that we must not put our hope and joy solely in the "celebration" aspect of times like Christmas and Easter, but in the TRUTH of what those celebrations are well...celebrating.

As for Easter, we read in 1 Corinthians where the apostle Paul tells the church that without the resurrection, our entire faith is null and void. Wouldn't it make sense that we continue to "celebrate" Easter the whole year through (bunnies and eggs aside)?

I read this on a an old college roommate's blog, and it really captured my thoughts on the idea:

Everyday Easter.

The corporate celebration has come and gone, but I’m doing my best to tether myself to that rugged cross and empty tomb.

So, don't be surprised if we sing "See What A Morning" or our bluesy rendition of "He Lives" again really soon, and keep the idea of "Everyday Easter" in your mind. The resurrection of Christ from the dead is the crux of our faith, it's what sets Christianity apart from every other religion on the face of the earth.

There have been tons of "prophets," there's many "holy books," but there's only one man that conquered death for us all. Jesus Christ.