Simple Ways To Worship More Intentionally

Routines

We all have routines. We get into habits of doing certain things in certain ways. You probably get ready for work the same way every day. You may have the same evening routine before bed. Routines help us be comfortable and do certain things without much thought.

My guess is that you probably have a Sunday worship routine. You probably drive the same way to church, park in the same parking spot, sit in the same seat, and talk to the same people. These things are comfortable, but are we being intentional in our Sunday worship? Are we thinking through how to give God greater glory and how to love the bride of Christ fully or are we thinking mostly about ourselves?

The beauty of the church should be her communal love. In fact, it should be so attractive that outsiders want in. Jesus says in John 13:35,

“By this all people will know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another.”

By loving one another within the church, we are loving Christ who purchased the church. This means that one of our acts of worship on the Lord’s Day should be the intentional love of our brothers and sisters in Christ.

What does this look like?

It starts in the parking lot. Where do you park? Do you park as close as you can or do you park further away so guests, the elderly, and people with small children can have those spots? The simple act of parking is an easy, intentional, and often overlooked way to begin loving those you are worshiping with.

Where do you sit? Are you sitting toward the back close to the aisle every week or are you moving toward the front in the middle? Do you find yourself annoyed if someone has taken your usual seat or do you gladly find another? Seat choice is another simple way for us to put others above ourselves.

Finding a different seat means you can engage with different people. If you talk to the same people each and every week and never reach out to new people then you are doing them and yourself a disservice. As the body of Christ, we all have different gifts as Paul makes clear in 1 Corinthians 12:12-26. One way we love the body is by sharing our gifts with others whether that be through encouragement, supplication, mercy, etc. One benefit of being a part of the body is getting to be blessed by others. By not meeting new people, we limit our part in the body.

Another limiting factor can be our arrival and departure time. When do you show up? When do you leave? Are you arriving with enough time to actually have a conversation and get to know someone new? Are you leaving before the service has actually ended? By doing these things we don’t give ourselves enough time to actually create and begin to enjoy new relationships that were meant to have within the church.

We all have room to grow and we can all worship God with greater passion. Christ has purchased a people for Himself at a great cost. Let’s worship the Lord by more intentionally loving one another and thinking through why we do what we do on the Lord’s day.

Cam Hyde

Cam is Student Pastor at First Baptist in East Bernstadt, Kentucky. He has an M.Div. from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and a B.S. in Communication from the University of the Cumberlands. Cam is married to Rachel, and they have one daughter, Charis. You can find more from Cam at www.camhyde.net