Making Sunday Super

Making Sunday Super

Even when it’s not Super Bowl Sunday

I. What makes Sunday super?

Is it a football game?

Or is it something else?

We live in a society that is obsessed with sports. They say that more people watch TV on Super Bowl Sunday than on any other day. And what do they watch? The State of the Union address? Or maybe they’re televising this church service? No. It’s the Super Bowl. A football game.

Yet we know that Sunday can be super for other reasons. And we should try to make each Sunday super.

II. How can we make every Sunday super?

A. We have to prepare. Athletes don’t just walk onto the field and play. They spend time getting ready for the game, both physically and mentally. How do we prepare ourselves for worship?

Hebrews 10:19 Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.

1. By becoming a Christian (Bodies washed with pure water, hearts cleansed). Surely a non-Christian can praise God. But only a true child of God can truly come into his presence.

2. By “warming up.” Athletes take time for warm-up before each game. The Hebrews had a Day of Preparation before each Sabbath. We should prepare ourselves for Sunday. Spend some time thinking about what we are going to do. Take some time on Saturday evening or Sunday morning to get ready to worship with your brothers.

B. We have to practice. Athletes spend months practicing for just a few hours of play. Each thing that they do on the playing field was rehearsed on the practice field.

Hebrews 10:23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. 25 Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another — and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

1. We must worship God every day. We can’t spend every other day focused on other things and expect to be able to worship God on Sunday. We need to find ways to worship him in our everyday lives. I’m not talking about taking a hymnal to work. I’m talking about dedicating each day to the glory of God. Of letting our beliefs affect the way we treat people and the way we do business, the decisions that we make.

2. We must think about how WE will make our services better. Don’t look to the song leader or the preacher. What can you do? Notice what it says in Hebrews 10: “Consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.” What are you going to do so that this assembly time will help your brothers live better?

C. We need the right equipment. A football player would never take the field without the right equipment.

1. A Bible. You should bring a Bible to each assembly. I expect you to compare what I say with the Word of God. If they agree, I have preached the Word of God. If they don’t, what I have said isn’t worth anything.

2. A sincere heart. We can’t draw near to him unless we really WANT to draw near to him. If we come together out of habit or out of a sense of duty, we will never achieve that super Sunday. But if we come wanting to seek his face, to draw near to him and kneel at his feet, we will have a super Sunday.

3. Love for our brothers. We can’t be right with God if we aren’t right with our brothers. Love is essential to our worship.

D. We must work together as a body. Team sports are rarely won by individuals. They are won by teams. Our church works as a body, not as a group of individuals.

1. There are no spectators. Don’t focus on how well the preacher did or how well the song leader did. Focus on YOUR participation.

I must admit that I don’t react well when someone says, “I don’t get much out of services.” Because the whole idea isn’t getting, it’s giving. What they’re probably saying is, “I don’t give much in services.”

I remember when I was about 5 or 6, I made a Christmas list that was about 5 pages long. It had page references to the Sears’ catalog and the Penney’s catalog. It included a “rating system” with stars according to how much I wanted each item. For children, Christmas is all about getting gifts. What are they going to give me? It’s only when we get older that we can focus on giving.