What Will Happen This Morning?

It is Sunday morning.  Early.  I’ve been up since 5:00 AM.  In many ways, the morning has already been typical for a Sunday.  At the kitchen table, I read through my notes for the message this morning.  Two cups of coffee later, I feel good about what I intend to say–though always, just a little uneasy. Most early Sunday mornings are like this, a time of review, prayer, thinking, and making some last minute adjustments.

I feel good about all of this–sort of.  Sort of?  Yes.  There is only so much that a human being can do in an assembly.  Oh I know.  I want to be prepared, have something worthwhile to say, etc.  Yet, I also know that something must take place much larger than anything I am able to put together. 

Who will be in this assembly?  I can’t give you a list, but I can tell you what might be typical:

• Someone who is struggling with depression.  His wife has been urging him to get help.  He won’t do it–yet.
• A married person who is preoccupied with someone of the opposite sex other than his wife or husband.
• A person who feels an aching sense of loneliness.  Married or single, loneliness has no preference.
• Someone who is preoccupied with his career, success at work, and what he will be dealing with Monday morning.
• A college student, away from home, who feels stressed over the amount of work she has due the next week.

That is just a start.  I give many more examples.  For something to happen in such an assembly that will really make a difference, it will take an act of God.  That is exactly what I am praying for.

I still enjoy doing this.  It’s not the public thing.  It’s not about the attention that comes with this.  No, I honestly enjoy this because I believe it matters.  I believe God is at work in these assemblies.

On Sunday mornings, I am like any other believer.  I bring my hopes, my sins, my insecurities, and the things that way on me before the Lord.  I do this not in the privacy of my home (there is a place for that).  Rather, I come to our assembly needing to be with other believers who are doing the same thing. 

All of this still matters.