Eight Ways to Get the MOST out of a Church Service By Rev. Kate McVeigh amazon/12-Ways-Blessing-Your-Church/dp/089276967X 1. BRING YOU R BIBLE & TAKE NOTES. -Taking notes helps the message sink in. 2. PRAY FOR THE SERVICE. You may only have time to do this on the way to Church. Ask God to give your pastor utterance in the Holy Ghost. (Ephesians 1:19). Pray for the Music Team and for the sound system to work properly. Bind any disturbances and distractions from taking place in the service. Pray that you and others will be ministered to. 3. TRAIN YOUR FLESH TO SIT STILL AND REALLY PAY ATTENTION TO WHAT IS BEING SAID! Jesus said to take heed in what you hear. (Mark 4:24) Go to the bathroom BEFORE the service. Don’t get up and move around unless it’s an emergency. Please do not get up and leave during the altar call. It is distracting for the preacher and for the one God is dealing with. Souls are being saved - it is the most important part of the service. 4. BUY THE TAPE, CD, OR VIDEO. When you hear a message that really minister to you, take it home with you. Most churches record the messages, and you can often take it home with you the same day. It’s been proven that it takes at least seven times of hearing the same message before it really sinks in. When I find a message I really like, I buy the tape and listen to it every day for weeks. I will take it home and write out notes word for word. I often preach my pastor’s messages around the country! (Thanks, Pastor!) 5. SO CLOSE IF YOU CAN. I don’t know about you, but I like to be right up where the action is. It seems easier to receive when you can see someone’s face and look into their eyes. It makes you feel like the minister is preaching to you more one-on-one. Besides, there are fewer distractions. 6. HELP YOUR PASTOR BY RESPONDING AND PAYING ATTENTION. If he asks you to raise your hand or say amen, don’t just sit there - get involved. You may be bored or tired but try not to show it! Preachers come alive when they look at you and you’re smiling or nodding or acting happy. You would be amazed at what ministers notice you doing during the sermon. I can even tell you what the person on the last row was doing during my preaching. I notice everything! 7. DON’T BE A DISTRACTION. For example, uf you have a medical problem or small children, and you know they could possible be a distraction, sit in the back. I have a friend who is a baby doctor, and she knows she could get paged at any time, so she sits in the back and sets her phone to the vibrate mode. If you’re not on call for your job or you don’t have a vibrate mode on your phone, turn it off! Have you heard those annoying phones going off during church? They distract everyone around them. 8. ENTER INTO THE PRAISE AND WORSHIP TIME. Let the Praise and Worship be your time to enter into God’s presence. Cat all your care on the Lord during this time. When you do, the pressure and stress you may have experienced throughout the week will begin to lift. You will experience a greater joy praising God with other believers. (Psalm 16:11). Let this be your time of thanking God for all He has done in your life and all He is going to do.
Posted on: Wed, 07 Aug 2013 15:59:27 +0000