Ten Things I Learned at Church on Sunday

Sundays are pretty ordinary by nature. I get up at the same time and follow the same routine. My wife and children have their routines also. We do the same thing every single week. Then we go to the same place and see many of the same people. What’s more, when we get there, we often do the same things that we did the previous Sunday.

Advertise on TGC

Let’s face it: church is pretty ordinary. But, let’s not miss it: while it is ordinary this does not mean that it is not important!

As I was reflecting on this past Lord’s Day I was struck by a number of things particularly encouraging to me. God met us as a church in the ordinary and showed us his extraordinary faithfulness, grace, beauty, and power. I compiled 10 quick observations about what affected me this weekend alone (I am shortening my list from where it could truly be). May these encourage you in your appreciation of the ordinary in your local church as well.

1. People showed up. This point seems especially ordinary, but it is also deceptively profound. My understanding of depravity tells me that we don’t come out of the womb singing “How Great Thou At” but rather “How Great I Am.” The fact that God has people calling upon his name in public worship should cause us to marvel at his grace. It is no different from that first accounting of a gathered people, in the days of Seth, “at that time people began to call upon the name of the LORD” (Gen. 4.26).
2. Answered prayer. During the service I noticed a mom bouncing her new baby girl. I was reminded of how we as a church prayed for this family to have children when it appeared that they could not. God answered these prayers with not one but two children. As she joyfully bounces this new baby she is holding an answer to prayer. She is a reminder to me that God hears and delights to answer our prayers.
3. Call to worship. At the beginning of the service we read Psalm 135.1-3 and turned our minds and hearts to the priority of worshiping God together as a church. We were being called to worship. I was reminded in this that God himself seeks true worshipers (Jn. 4:23-24). As we are drawing near together in the realm of the ordinary building a the usual time, we are saying something profound: we are declaring that God is gloriously sufficient and worthy of our worship.
4. Singing. We sang hymns that reminded me that God is faithful (“Great Is Thy Faithfulness”), that the cross is sufficient (“Now Why This Fear”), and that it was personal (“My Jesus, I Love Thee”). Each of these songs transported me out of my circumstances and lifted my chin to the horizon of heaven to behold the beautiful promises of God and his unchanging character. Another note on the singing, we were led by musicians from our church family. These are regular people whom God has created and fashioned with musical ability to help us to see and savor Christ. This may seem inconsequential, but as a pastor with no musical ability I praise God for these men and women who serve as weekly chauffeur’s to Mt. Zion.
5. Diversity. As I looked around I saw people from a wide variety of ages and backgrounds. There were people who have been Christians for decades and some who are brand new to the faith. I saw young people and older interacting with the preached word like it was the first time they ever heard this. I talked to people about the sermon and heard a range of ways in which God pressed home his truth. Praise God for this ordinary practice of gathering together.
6. Purpose. In the sermon, amid the horrific scene of the murder of Abel by his brother, I was reminded that the vitality of God’s promises are often seen best amid the embers of destruction. Suffering for Adam and Eve was personal and no doubt painful. However, God uses that suffering for his purposes. We can be content amid the embers that God does not stop working for his glory and our good. Therefore, we get to the business or remembering, resting in, and rejoicing in God’s promises.
7. Prayer. One of our pastors prayed for God’s name to be hallowed and his will to be done. He prayed by name for a number of members in our church who were suffering and he rejoiced with God’s evident blessing to answer prayer in others’. He prayed for other churches by name that preach the gospel in our city. I was reminded of the beauty and intimacy of our local fellowship and also our friendship with other churches. The kingdom is expanding here and abroad.
8. Sin was confessed. Prior to the Lord’s Table we confessed sin as a church. This reminded me again of the holiness of God and the need for those who would come to him to come in a manner consistent with his holiness. It also reminded me that God sees everything all the time and therefore we should be in regular confession of sin.
9. Pardon was assured. After leading us in a prayer of confession we were brought to the Lord’s Table where we were reminded again of the truth that we so often forget: there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Rom. 8:1). Oh, how easily I forget this. And if I don’t forget it, I certainly minimize or eclipse it. I need to hold the bread and drink the wine. I need to be reminded just like I was sitting there at the last supper that Christ guzzled the vat of wrath that I might drink the cup of blessing. His body was broken that I would be healed. Furthermore, I look around and see my brothers and sisters together with me. We are a church that aims to love, serve, and hold one another accountable. In that moment of covenant renewal we are saying in our eating and drinking: “We are with Jesus and this church.” How glorious!
10. Doxology. We sang the doxology as we concluded. This reminded me of the extent of the praise to God for his surpassing glory. We join the anthem with the angels and creation to say that God is the source of all that is good. We owe everything that we have to him. Our song unites in a benediction of his benevolence to us.

I could write a blog like this every single week. Each week the service is like a fresh painting of grace upon my soul. God meets with us here in the ordinary, routine, and familiar. He does this to surprise, encourage, strengthen, and bless us. We are served by God when we gather together. He serves us in the Word and in the table.

So, yes, church is pretty ordinary. But, let’s not miss it: while it is ordinary this does not mean that it is not important!