Irvine, CA // Sunday Service Time: 9:30 AM

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Sunday Morning - A Holy Event

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This past Sunday, we read these words from Matthew 17:

 And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. (Matthew 17:1 ESV)

 “After six days.” This is an important three-word phrase. Important because biblically, six days represents the amount of days it takes to prepare for a holy event. In six days God created the earth. Then He set aside the seventh day and called it ‘holy’. Moses was on the mountain for six days, and then he saw the glory of the Lord. Six days of preparation, then a holy event – an event that is set apart in some significant way.

As Christians, we live in this six and one rhythm. Six days of any given week, then Sunday, the day the earliest Christians began gathering to celebrate and worship the resurrected Christ. Six days of preparation, then a holy, corporate event – the gathering of the saints on a given Sunday.

 This is why we often say at The Village Church, “we don’t just come to worship, we come having been worshiping.” We come together to worship, to be sure. This is, after all, a holy event. But we also come having been worshiping – having been ‘preparing’ in our worship between Sundays for our worship together on Sundays. This should change the way we come to church on any given Sunday.

So, how can we ‘come having been worshiping’? 

1. Come Having Been In Scripture

On Sunday we always open Scripture together. Always. This is an act of worship. It is recognizing God for who He has revealed Himself to be through Scripture, recognizing the authority of Scripture over our lives, and responding to God in light of this. This is as consistent as anything we ever do together on Sunday. How consistent is this in your life between Sundays? Are you preparing to worship through Scripture on Sunday by being in Scripture between Sundays? 

2. Come Having Been In Song

On Sunday we always worship together through song. Always. This also is an act of worship. It is lifting our voices, singing from our hearts and not merely our lips, to declare the truth of who God is, and our affection for who He is and what He has done for us in and through Jesus Christ. This also, is as consistent as anything we ever do together on Sunday. How consistent is this in your life between Sundays? Are you preparing to worship through song on Sunday by worshiping through song between Sundays?

3. Come Having Been In Fellowship

On Sundays we always worship through fellowship – encouraging one another with Scripture and the wisdom of Christ (Eph.5:19; Col.3:16). Always. This is likewise an act of worship. It is lifting one another up, and lifting one another’s gaze to Jesus, the One we were all created to be in fellowship with. This likewise, is as consistent as anything we ever do together on Sunday. How consistent is this in your life between Sundays? Are you preparing to encourage one another through fellowship on Sunday by being in fellowship with one another between Sundays?

4. Come As You Are

Jesus never insists that we ‘do’ anything before we come to Him. He simply invites us to come to Him, just as we are. This too is an act or worship. It is an acknowledgement of who Jesus is, and our confidence in his love, mercy and forgiveness.

Maybe you have not been in Scripture between Sundays. Come as you are. Maybe you have not been in song between Sundays. Come as you are. Maybe you have not been in fellowship between Sundays. Come as you are. Come to Jesus, and come to be with his people. This too, is as consistent as anything else that is true on any given Sunday. 

Preparation & Perception 

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard or thought, “that was a good service” or “that was a good Sunday.” Usually these thoughts surround how good the sermon may have been, or the music, or our interaction with people or a specific person. But I believe a ‘good Sunday’ is a good Sunday not merely because of what happens on Sunday, but what happens between Sundays. The greater preparation we all make between Sundays, the greater the time we will have together on Sundays.

Look forward to being together with you on Sunday Village Church. Let’s have a great Sunday together, as we prepare between Sundays together. Six and one.