Preparing for Worship: May 23, 2010

How to prepare for this Sunday:

1) Wake up early Sunday morning and stretch

2) Eat a small warm-up food like a banana or an apple

3) Wear your pants with the elastic waistband

4) Bring your coffee travel mug to reduce trash and refill trips

5) Bring a bib

This Sunday is one of our favorites of the year. We call it "P3: Preaching, Praise, and Pancakes," and we're excited to share it with you! We'll be serving hot, fresh, fluffy pancakes all morning long (starting around 8:30) so come ready to partake.

I can't think of a better way to either start or finish a morning of corporate worship, so don't forget to prepare for the rest of the morning:

Starting with a two-song, refocus-our-worship-gone-astray-throughout-the-week set with the tunes "Nothing but the Blood" and "That's Why We Praise Him." An old hymn focused on the sacrificial death of Christ symbolized by his blood, followed by a contemporary response to Christ's life, death, and resurrection!

Then Pastor Todd will come lead us in prayer for the morning, and he'll give the usual welcome to visitors and give us a few seconds to run around a greet people with a hug and a handshake.

We'll pick the music back up as we sing from the Psalms about the love of God enduring "Forever," then focusing in on that love displayed through the death of Christ to make us his sons and daughters with "The Father's Love," and right into the infinite power of that love to break the powers of sin and death with "Stronger."

Pastor Todd's gonna bring us God's Word from Ephesians 6:13-18 which you can read by CLICKING HERE. It's the passage about the armor of God, and if you've already watched our "This Sunday @ Crossroads" video blog, you heard Pastor Todd and I talk about the importance of taking the time to dress ourselves spiritually for the battle that rages all around us! You also heard me say that the worship songs we lift to God in praise are actually helping to fortify that armor as it reinforces the truth of scripture in bite-size melodies and choruses that can come back to us quickly in times of need. If you haven't watched the video blog yet, just CLICK HERE.

We'll bookend the sermon with the song "Friend of God" as we realize that God has provided this armor to us because we are no longer at enmity with him! We put on the armor to combat the spiritual enemies that surround us (pride, lust, the world, Satan, etc.), but what a glorious truth that we no longer are enemies of the all-powerful and victorious God! We are not his enemies, but his friends! He has brought us into his household as adopted sons and daughters even!

So that's what's happening this Sunday. It's a BIG week, so don't miss it! Prepare to come eat, praise, and study God's Word with us together, and you'll be blessed! Happy prep!