I have a confession to make. I like so many others fall asleep during the sermon. It is not like my pastor is boring, quite the opposite really, I often work Saturday night stocking shelves at the local grocery store. This then cuts into the amount of sleep and I think you can see where this is going.
When lockdown started churches in my area shut down as a precaution. I quickly realized just how much that time I spent at church meant to me. It also revealed that I had only been going through the motions of church. Sure, I have various tasks that contribute physically to Sunday morning services, but what was I really getting out of the services spiritually. Not much.
My worship was getting interrupted by pushing buttons or setting up the next song or getting items ready to be presented. Long story short, I had fallen out of sync with my first love as did the church in Ephesus as Revelation tells us. I got caught up in the what of worship instead of the who.
My church reopens Sunday, after being apart since the middle of March. I anticipate the reunions filled with joy and longing, the encouragement of being around fellow believers again. A chance to start afresh and focus on God instead of how things look or sound.
Before we reenter the communion with our Savior in public, let us examine our hearts and motives and prepare them for whatever God has in store for us.
Let us pray,
Father God, As our churches look to reopen after being shut down for so long, I pray that you would reveal to each of your children the motive of their heart. I pray that you would cast out the spirit of fear and fill us with your spirit of hope and love. Protect us from the outside influences that threaten to keep us from gathering. Protect us from the internal personal influences that Satan loves to throw at us to keep our minds on the physical and away from the spiritual things of you. Examine us and know us that we may see what it is that you have for us. In your name we pray. Amen
A Path of Living Stones 