Preparing to Worship the One You Love

By Pastor Benjamin Glaser - Posted at Thoughts From Parson Farms:

How Christians Can Distract Themselves and Keep Their Heart From Grace

Good Morning,

Coaches will tell you that you play as you practice. Practice doesn’t make perfect, perfect practice makes perfect, or as Vince Lombardi would say, focusing on doing the fundamentals correctly is what allows you to do the extraordinary well. Much of the time the reason why we do not get anything out of worship is because we not only haven’t prepared for it, but we are not engaged in it while it is happening in front of us. It’s hard to learn from the pastor if our mind is absorbed in Candy Crush. We do not feed on the word by faith if our heart is being nourished by FB messenger during the pastoral prayer. These kinds of things can sound corny, but they are true. As Jesus notes, we have not because we ask not. The Pharisees wanted a sign, and ignored the one right in front of their face.

As we discussed last week for today’s look at the Westminster Directory of Public Worship we’ll hear what they have to tell us about how we are to behave in the Lord’s Day morning and evening worship. When we read that word behave we think of being forced to sit still and not be heard as a child. However, that’s not really what the aim is in this section. I tell weary parents all the time that the wiggles and the giggles testify that our church is alive. Children hear more than we realize, and they also see more than we recognize. The little ones are going to learn a lot from what they see the adults doing and accomplishing in worship. If you want them to be at ease and engaged in worship in the pew it probably helps if mom and dad are as well.

Let’s look at a couple of quotations from the DPW as we get more into this question:

The publick worship being begun, the people are wholly to attend upon it, forbearing to read any thing, except what the minister is then reading or citing; and abstaining much more from all private whisperings, conferences, salutations, or doing reverence to any person present, or coming in; as also from all gazing, sleeping, and other indecent behaviour, which may disturb the minister or people, or hinder themselves or others in the service of God. . .

Let all enter the assembly, not irreverently, but in a grave and seemly manner, taking their seats or places without adoration, or bowing themselves towards one place or other. . .

Continue here.