Getting Ready for Wednesday Night!

Wednesday night church service is such a treat!  It’s like a refreshing oasis in the middle of a dry, dusty work-a-day desert.  Not only is it a welcomed break from the weekly routine, it’s the fuel that gets me through the rest of my week.  “If I can just make it to Wednesday….” I often say to myself on Monday morning, after coming down from a spiritual high on Sunday.  I so look forward to the worship, learning, and fellowship that Wednesday night provides.

But Wednesday night church service can also be a challenge.  Unlike Sunday morning service which comes at your freshest, happiest, most awake time of the day, Wednesday night service comes after a usually long day of stresses, errands, tasks, and work, work, work.  You’re beat-down tired by 5pm on Wednesday with often nothing more than the desire to slump down in an easy chair and vegetate in front of the TV.  Have you ever heard journalists use the phrase “phone it in” to describe an actor’s performance?  Like, “Tommy Lee Jones really phoned it in on this movie role.”  It means the actor didn’t seem to be into the role; they did their job carelessly without any passion or conviction. 

Sometimes, after an especially long Wednesday, I am tempted to “phone it in” at church as well.  Not that worship is a performance, mind you, but it’s so easy to get distracted by the concerns of the day, to pay too much attention to my growling stomach crying out for dinner, to yawn a little too much during the prayer, and just not be as “into it” on a Wednesday night.  But I don’t want to be that way and I’m sure you don’t either.  So how do we cure those Wednesday night blahs?  How do we come to Wednesday night service ready to worship our great God?  Letting the following thoughts simmer in your mind is a good place to start!

Created to Worship

“For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him” (Colossians 1:16).  All things were created by our Lord for his good pleasure – to glorify, honor, and praise him. 

Scientists have recently discovered a star located towards the center of the universe that is 10,000 times more luminous than our own Sun.  Having yet to be officially named, it has apparently been blazing out there in the heavens for centuries unbeknownst by us humans.  Why?  What is it out there for?   The famous Giant Red Spot on Jupiter is a persistent and powerful anticyclonic storm that is larger than Earth and has existed for at least 182 years (that was the earliest time it was noticed).  Why does this storm exist?  What is its purpose?  It all comes down to one basic truth:  Both the luminous star and the Giant Red Spot exist to glorify God, to display his infinite attributes, to acknowledge him, to give him delight.  The same is true for birds chirping in the treetops, mighty rivers flowing through the terrain, lowly earthworms burrowing in the earth, thunderous lightning crackling across the sky – they were all created by God, for God.

Redeemed to Worship

Man was also created to glorify, praise, and honor his God, his Creator.  His hands were made to be lifted up to the Lord in adoration, his mouth was formed to extol God – to sing to the Lord and about the Lord, his ears were fashioned to listen in rapt attention to his Word.  But man in his rebellion flat out refuses to give God the praise he is due.  He is like God’s description of rebellious Judah in the book of Jeremiah, “the word of the LORD is to them an object of scorn; they take no pleasure in it” (Jeremiah 6:10).  Unless he is in trouble, man sees no reason to pay any respect or attention to God.  He instead goes on with his life, absorbing himself in the pettiest of concerns, working against his very design, and rendering his life completely useless as a result.  As the Scriptures say, “no one seeks for God.  All have turned aside; together they have become worthless” (Romans 3:11,12).

You and I were made to worship!

Christian, we were once like that.  We were once God-hating, rebellious, idolaters who wanted nothing to do with praise, adoration, and worship of our Holy God.  But God redeemed us.  He purchased us, bought us back from total worthlessness and destruction, and at great cost – the blood of his precious Son.  He did all of this not because we deserved it, but so we could do what we were created to do in the first place:  Worship our God with gladness and joy!

Grace Community Church, do you realize that we (along with other Christians throughout the world) are unique in all of God’s creation here on earth?  We are not like the birds of the air or the grass in the meadow existing to glorify God but being completely unaware of it.  Having no will or analytical mind of their own, they have no choice but to glorify God.  And we are not like the reprobate who has a will that is controlled by the sinful nature, unable to know God, blinded to his majesty, averse to praising him.  We are the only ones on this earth who can deliberately, intentionally, joyously, purposefully, prayerfully, and thankfully praise our Lord!  What an honor and a privilege that is!

Let your mind dwell on those thoughts this Wednesday.  As you drive to Bible Study tonight be in prayer asking your heavenly Father to give you the strength, desire, and yearning to know him, enjoy him, and worship him.  Let your mouth salivate at the thought of singing his praise; let your heart pound as you contemplate hearing his Word.  

Happy Wednesday!