NO MISSES

Commit yourself to never miss a sermon from your pastor preaching in your church. With today’s technology, make ups are exceedingly convenient. 
 
But nothing compares with being there in the flesh, live and present and engaged. As a pastor, I often want to ask wandering sheep, “If you missed work as much as you miss church, would you still have a job?”
 
Why is work more important than church to so many Christians? There are lots of ways to answer that, but the deepest truth is people value the material and physical over the spiritual. We simply value more what work gives us than what gathering with God’s people in worship gives us. We value comfort over conformity to Christ and material treasure over eternal treasures. 
 
Church is not a weekly decision for committed Christians. You made that decision when you bowed the knee to Christ! If Christ is Lord, then church is habit, duty, gracious privilege. 
 
I compare this to the difference between dating and getting married. I don’t make a daily or weekly decision about dating someone else. I’m married! That decision has already been made. I date Kim McKnight. The answer is no for the rest of the world.
 
I go to church on Sunday morning. The answer is no for everything else. Simple.
 
When you have to miss, continue to pray for those in attendance and make sure you listen to the sermon afterwards.
 
Have you ever cooked up a nice meal for someone who didn’t show up? Maybe they forgot. Maybe they found something better to do. Maybe they didn’t really want to be there in the first place. 
 
That’s what faithful pastors are doing every week. They are cooking up special meals for their church family and they want and expect every family member to be at the table. I heard of one brother who calls his pastor if he’s going to miss church because he feels its rude not to. Something tells me he doesn’t miss much church. 
 
Consider your travel plans carefully. Leave Sunday afternoon or Monday. Get back home on Saturday. Why do we intentionally schedule ourselves to be away from church? 
 
Listen, you have a guarantee of no benefit from every service you miss!

MINIMIZE PRE-CHURCH STRESS
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What are the Sunday morning stress points? We oversleep, clothes not ready and picked out, breakfast is unplanned, car is out gas, kids are out of control. 
 
To minimize pre-church stress we must be proactive. We must think and plan ahead. Work the problem. Lead, don’t follow. Pro-act don’t react. So much of this stuff is predictable and preventable. 

COME READY TO WORSHIP

If we were brought up in ancient Judaism, we would understand something about the Sabbath that has been lost. Their days were sundown to sundown instead of 12:00 a.m. to 11:59 p.m. This means that Saturday Sabbath began Friday night at sundown. The principle for us is the same – Sunday morning begins Saturday night at sundown. Start thinking about church. Go to bed on time or even early. Get up on time or even early. Prepare your body, mind and heart to come before Him with thanksgiving.
 
Give thought to food intake, even on Saturday. A huge, spicy meal on Saturday night will still be paying dividends on Sunday morning. Think about breakfast. Donuts and coffee is the worst possible breakfast before church. No wonder you are crashing and falling asleep during the sermon! Eat light, eat some protein and come to church with a little bit of hunger to help you be mentally sharp. Drink enough water to be hydrated. 
 
Leave the TV off at home on Sunday morning. Play praise music or just enjoy some silence if possible. 
 
Pray for yourself and family, the singing, the preacher and congregation. Pray for the fellowship before and after, pray for the offering to be pleasing to God, pray for the prayers of God’s people to rise like incense. Pray for visitors to come and be treated well. Pray for the lost to be saved, the saved to mature and the mature to multiply. Pray that God is glorified by the making of disciples.
 
Visit your church’s website for the title and text of the upcoming sermon and read that text a couple of times. Pray that God would give you ears to hear it. 
 
Consider attending Sunday school. This ensures you are warmed up mentally, on time and ready to worship. If no Sunday school, use that hour for prayer and the word. Say to God, “Lord, speak to me. I need to hear your word. Help me to worship You in spirit and in truth.” 
 
We should warm up for church like an athlete for his event or game or like a musician before a concert. You would never expect either to rush into either without some warm up and that for the perishable wreath and the applause of man! You can’t walk into a church service stone cold spiritually, half awake physically and foggy mentally and expect to get anything or give anything for that matter. 
 
Arrive early. Set your heart and mind on the Lord and give Him the glory He deserves. Give Him your very best.

MINIMIZE DISTRACTIONS DURING WORSHIP

Once the service has started, many things can go wrong and distract your worship and hearing from the Lord. Make plans for your kids, whatever their age, capacity, etc. Train them at home. Play church and teach them what is happening and what is expected. Reward good behavior and punish bad. Undisciplined children can be a major distraction to you and others around you. Trained children are a great blessing to both parents and church family.  
 
Where you sit matters.Some need to sit up front or closer to the front. Some people are easily distracted, others not as much. Consider where is best for you to sit.
 
Go to the bathroom. Please. It’s amazing how distracting one person leaving during the sermon is. If you have health issues, sit in the back and closest to the facilities. All about planning ahead. And deal with your phone. No one wants to hear your phone ring in church, especially you. 
 
During the service, how you sing matters. Are you engaging both heart and mind? Are you thinking about the lyrics, doing your best in singing with volume and joy? All of this will have a bearing on how effective the sermon is to your soul. Let the songs minister to you. 

The guy who gets in an argument in the Foyer over Saturday’s football game, is texting his buddy during church and sits in back corner of the balcony with his kids crawling all over the place is the guy who leaves and says, “That preacher is over rated.” He may be. He probably is. But he could have been better than John the Baptist and phone guy wouldn’t have noticed.

BE AN AGGRESSIVE LISTENER

Give thought to whether or not you should take notes. For some this is crucial. For others it becomes a distraction. If so, don’t try to capture every word, just outline, key statements, application thoughts for yourself. Notes are for you to concentrate and review later. 
 
Consider your physical posture. Sit up straight, lean in, be alert and attentive as possible. Pews are not recliners no matter how hard we try to make them so. In the old days teachers made their student’s sit up straight and look straight ahead in class. And kids learned. Today we just hope they come to class. 
 
What should you look at during the sermon? Either the text or the preacher is a safe answer. I will often look at nothing in particular because sometimes the preacher himself distracts me, so I look at the carpet and listen. Find out what works best for you.

Ask yourself thru out the sermon, “what do I do with this?” Hear as a doer building on the rock. 
 
As you listen, the Spirit may prompt you to worship or pray or confess sins or silently thank God. Do it! That’s the point of the sermon is for you to meet with God so if that happens and you have to sort of not listen for a moment, that’s ok. 

Remember, God is speaking to you thru His word (check out Ephesians 2:17 and 4:20-21 for Paul’s understanding of Christ preaching through human instruments). It is hard to imagine that there’s anything more important than this all week long.
 
If Jesus was standing in the pulpit, do you think you would hang on every word or pass notes, play on the phone, whisper to your spouse or let your mind drift to after church plans? If your pastor is faithfully expounding and applying the Word of God, Jesus is standing in that pulpit and speaking to you. Through His Spirit, indwelling and using human instruments playing the harp of the gospel and pounding the drums of the Law. 

BE A DISCERNING LISTENER

God is speaking to you thru the message, but the instrument is flawed and capable of error and misspeaking. 
 
Some preachers are wolves in sheep’s clothing.
Some are immature, untrained, inaccurate preachers.
Some are biased, unbalanced, ax-to-grind preachers.
Some of distracted or sinning or disgruntled or depressed. 
 
As we are charged in 1 Thessalonians 5:19-21, we must not despise preaching but we must examine all sermons carefully and cling to the good and abstain from the rest. They are either life-giving words or poison for your soul. 

IT'S NOT OVER WHEN IT'S OVER

As sermon prep is never done until the sermon is done, so no sermon that has delivered God’s Word is ever truly over. Sermons live on as we …

• Review our sermon notes on Sunday afternoon
• Review the sermon on livestream archives
• Discuss with a friend or family member or small group
• Share specifics that helped us with the preacher
• Chew on it on the drive home
• Allow ourselves to be taught, rebuked, convicted and encouraged without becoming angry
• Pray for lasting fruit in self and others

 
A while back our church hosted a Caroline Cobb Concert. I’m not really into music much but I am into worshipping God, so I wanted to be prepared for the concert. My preparation for that serves to illustrate what we can do every week. I listened beforehand to become familiar with her sound, lyrics and style. During the concert I tried to focus and engage and worship. Afterwards I picked up a CD and shared with her what specifically had blessed me from one of the songs about Solomon in Ecclesiastes. 
 
A biblical sermon is never over. It lives on and becomes part of who we are.

7 Tips for Effective Bible Reading

1. Read all of it.  A whole Bible makes a whole Christian. All of it is inspired and all of it is profitable.  Not equally profitable, but profitable nonetheless.  You will likely get more out of Romans than Obadiah, but Obadiah is still profitable. 
 
Adopt a plan to read all the Bible using a quality, current translation.  I recommend NASB, ESV, CSB or the NKJV for more mature readers.  I’m good with the NLT for children or even brand new Christians who might not have a lot of education or who don’t read a lot.  The NIRV isn’t a bad option for kids either. 
 
Many plans exist to read through the whole Bible.  Most are on an annual schedule.  If that works for you, great.  If not, no worries.  It’s a man-made schedule. The 11th Commandment isn’t, “Thou shalt read thy Bible in one year.” 
 
Some can read it thru in six months; others make take two years.  Who cares?  The main thing is to not stop.  Just keep reading and when you finish, start again. 
 
Reading the whole Bible gives you a balanced meal. Some of it is hearty steak.  You will have to chew for a while before swallowing. Other parts are like fresh vegetables – easier to eat and good for you.  Yet other sections are like your favorite bread with butter and honey. Fulfilling and sweet to the taste.
 
Read all of it is because its all connected and interwoven.  Because of progressive revelation, each writer builds upon and advances the truth and theology of the previous writers without ever contradicting them.  Or to say it another way, the Bible of Jesus, John the Baptist and the Apostles was Genesis to Malachi.  They were saturated in it and so their writings and speaking reflect this saturation.  Two thirds of our biblical text is the Old Testament.  A better description is our older testament, for it too is living and active, sharper than any sword or scalpel.    

2. Read using repetition.  After all this is the price of knowledge.  Repetition is how we humans master anything in life, from three-foot putts to frying bacon.
 
Steph Curry has mastered the three-point shot for several reasons, the most important one being the hundreds and thousands of practice shots he’s taken over his lifetime.  No amount of natural ability or wishful thinking takes the place of putting in the work.
 
Pick a shorter book of the Bible like Colossians or Philippians and read it every day for ten days or twenty or even an entire month.  The impact will blow your mind!  Actually, it will renew your mind like nothing you’ve ever done before. 
 
I like to challenge our church members to pick one book of the Bible and seek to master it in their lifetime.  This will involve reading it over and over again until it becomes part of you. 
 
How many soldiers in WW II would get a love letter from their wife or girl friend back home and read it over and over again until the letter was worn out and the phrases were memorized?  We have such letters from the Lover of our souls.    

3. Read with consistency.  I think it’s very helpful to read from the same physical Bible, in the same place at about the same time each day.  After my early morning 15-minute walk and breakfast, I retreat to my home office, close the door, turn toward the wall not the window, and I read for a while from the OT using my I pad and then from the NT using my preaching Bible.  Today was Daniel 1-3 and Matthew 12.  It’s a habit.  I’m not distracted by the room, what’s happening outside my window, or a screen.  There’s no TV in this room, I leave my phone somewhere else and I leave the computer screen off so emails can’t pull me away.  The only day that I vary the routine is Sunday because that’s church and preaching prep time. 
 
Many popular books have been written about successful people and effective leaders.  One common trait you will find over and over, whether its Nick Saban or Stephen King or Thomas Kinkade, is routine. Routine isn’t enslaving, it’s liberating.  It’s because of routine that the Olympic ice skater is free to soar.  It’s because of routine that your church pianist is free to worship while she plays. So many of us are ineffective in our Bible reading simply because we don’t stick to a routine.  We give up too soon. We make excuses.  We don’t discipline ourselves for the purpose of routine, godly, daily habits. 

4. Read Slowly. I’ve always had a bad habit of eating too fast.  I mean really fast.  This goes way back when my older brother and cousins would threaten to take my food. I think they actually did.  I may be scarred for life.  Anyway, I’ve always loved to eat.  I’ve been known to stuff more food in my mouth while chewing what’s already there.  French fries are really good for this operation.  I would feed French fries in like a tree crew feeds that chipper with branches!  Keep ‘em coming!
 
Over the years different people have encouraged me to slow down in my eating, especially my wife. To actually taste and chew my food.  Who knew you could sit your fork down during a meal?
 
Too often our Bible reading is like this bad habit. We rush thru today’s planned reading like we are scarfing down a double cheeseburger from the drive thru while speeding off to the next thing on the schedule. Whether food or the Word, rushing is bad for you. It really fouls up the whole digestion process. Rushing thru the Bible means we don’t taste it.  No taste means no believing meditation.  No meditation means no profit.
 
Slow down.  Is the point to finish or is the point to take God’s Word into your life and heart?  Take a deep breath and slow down your reading.  Speed read and scan and peruse everything else you read if you want, but not the Bible.  This book is different.  And that leads to what might be the most impactful tip of all …

5. Read out loud.  Much of the Bible is the spoken or sung word written down.  It is sermons in written form, meant to be read out loud and heard. The Psalms were sung, Proverbs were the sayings of a father for his teenage son.  The Scriptures are full of dialogue, monologue, speeches and this phrase hundreds of times:  “Thus says the Lord”.
 
Reading out loud helps tremendously with attention, retention and understanding. You will not believe what this adds. 
 
By the way, did you know that in ancient times all reading was done out loud?  Maybe they weren’t so dumb back then after all. 
 
I have found it’s much harder to daydream or have mental drift while reading the Bible if I’m reading out loud.  It simply forces more attention to the task.  Now my eyes see it, my mouth is saying it, my hears are hearing it. 
 
Reading out loud also helps me to slow down.  Reading every word helps me not to scan.  Reading outloud, every word, creates the discipline of care and precision and attention to detail in my life, all good disciplines. 
 
Like education theory.  Some subjects, like Latin or higher math, aren’t studied because you will necessarily use these later in life.  You have some subjects in a good education so that you learn to pay attention to details, to solve problems carefully and so forth.  It’s part of the discipline of learning.

6. Read Prayerfully Pray before, during and after. When you come across a promise, claim it in prayer.  When you are slapped down with a warning, ask God for grace to heed it. When the Spirit convicts you of sin, stop right then and confess, repent, receive forgiveness to move forward. When the text points your soul to the greatness of God, stop and worship Him.  Join the Biblical writer in his exaltation.
 
I will never forget back in about 1992 in seminary, reading Romans in one sitting for the third time.  This was required for my NT survey class.  Thank you Professor Essex!  On that third reading, late one night, I came to Romans 11:33-36 and prayerfully, joyfully entered into something of Paul’s own worship.  It was one of those God-wrought moments of adoration and humbling that the redeemed soul never forgets. 
 
Let the Bible fuel prayers.  Pray the Bible back to God. Pray before, during and after your Bible reading. Let what you read be turned into adoration, confession, thanksgiving and supplication.

7. Read selfishly Though we might not agree with all of his theology, Dietrich Bonhoeffer is a good example of this.  Eric Metaxes relays in his biography how Bonhoeffer would go to God’s Word each day looking for and expected God to speak to him personally thru the Scriptures.  This godly, devoted man saw those moments as God’s living word just for him, just for his soul. 
 
What I mean by reading selfishly is to care about your soul, which is a good kind of selfish.  Jesus rebukes those who don’t, who only care about material goods or their physical bodies. My personal Bible reading is my soul care time.  I have an appointment with my Counselor, my Teacher, my Rabbi, my Soul Doctor.  This appointment is for me at that moment.  I don’t read my Bible to tell others that I read my Bible.  I don’t read it each morning to blog about it or post to my favorite version of social media (which would be hard because I’m not on social media).  If any of this happens as a side benefit to others, that’s fine but it’s not our goal or purpose.   
 
I want to be like Mary. I want to ponder these things in my heart.
 
Each morning my attitude should be, “O God, I’m your needy child. Your word is my food.  Speak O Lord!”
 
Expect God’s word to speak to you. Listen, it’s not wrong to care for your own soul. It’s wrong not to! It’s not wrong to say – I’m of no good to anyone until God feeds me with His word.