Missing Out

As a staff the other day we were watching a sermon by Perry Noble from this summer's One Prayer series. At one point he said that when we walk with Jesus, it ought to develop in us a sense of passion and expectancy. He illustrated this by pointing out that when we go to the movies, most of us are seated in the theatre 5-10 minutes before the PREVIEWS. We say hello to each other, maybe talk for a few minutes, but we're ready and excited for the next 2-3 hours.

When it comes to church though, the average person at any church will walk in the door two minutes before the countdown (previews), check in the kids and talk to friends until the countdown is over, and then walk in during the first, second, or third worship song. We're annoyed if something causes us to miss the first few minutes of a movie, we're fine with missing the first few minutes of worship and encountering Jesus, our loving Savior who gave his life for us so that we could worship him.

What if we had so much passion and expectancy throughout the week that we came early to say hello, and get into the sanctuary before or during the countdown? What if we left the house a few minutes early on Sunday morning to allow ourselves the margin to sit or browse the foyer and let the excitement rise within us? What if instead of talking to our same old friends that we could easily call in the afternoon or have a small group with, we reached out to people walking through our doors for the first time, who may have no friends with them, or not many friends at all? (Grace getting better at this--go Grace!)

As Steven Furtick would say, "Perhaps!..." Perhaps God would invade our hearts and our worship on Sundays, and put such an excitement in us that we would be compelled to reach out and invite people to come and sit with us, and together we would worship God passionately, because we were made for worship.

This isn't about guilting and shaming you into showing up on time and getting your butt in the sanctuary. This is about developing and increasing your desire for Jesus, a concern to create an electric atmosphere that is exciting and compelling for people far from God to be brought into the presence of the living God.