We live in a day in which Churches must be consumer minded. I remember growing up, that each neighborhood had its own church and most of those that lived in the neighborhood or community went to that same church. They all had one common bond and that bond was “Church.” Today however, we live in a different world. We choose churches based on the songs they sing, friendliness, preaching/teaching style, times of worship, and sadly, the kind of coffee they serve. As a Pastor, I am always looking for ways to make church enjoyable for members, attenders and guests. Recently I asked myself this question, “What can the member, attender and guests do to make church enjoyable for themselves and others?” Church attendance and membership and the relationship between the Lord, Pastor and church member (I’m putting member, attender and guests in the same category) is 100%, 100%, 100%. It is just like marriage. A true marriage relationship is not a 50-50 relationship. It is 100-100 relationship. Both the husband and wife are required to put into their marriage 100% of each other. The same is for your relationship with your Lord, your Pastor and your church. How can we, as members of a local NT church, enjoy church?

#1-Be a Faithful follower of Christ as Lord.

“That if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.” Romans 10:9-10 (NASB)

Are you a faithful follower of Christ as Lord? If you are, you will have a desire to spend time with the Lord and His people. You will have a desire to read His word, talk to Him in prayer, learn from His word in the teaching and preaching of His Word and sharing fellowship with God’s people. If these things are not evident in your life, you may need to allow the Holy Spirit of God to search your heart, see where you are falling short and get back to following Christ with all of your heart, soul, mind and strength.

#2-Throughout the week spend time in prayer for your Pastor, your church and your fellow members.

First, pray for your pastor. Pastoring is hard work. Pastoring is spiritual warfare. Pray for your pastor as he works, prepares, studies and goes through his daily life. As years go by, it doesn’t get any easier for the pastor, it gets harder. Pray for him as a husband and father and for God’s protection over him mentally, emotionally, physically and financially. Pray for his wife and children. Pray for his leadership and that he will be used greatly to boldly preach the Word of God.

Secondly, pray for the staff, elders, deacons, musicians and Sunday School Teachers. They also need your prayers and encouraging words.

Thirdly, pray for your fellow members, attenders and guests. Pray that their heart will be soft and tender for the preaching and teaching of God’s Word. Pray for those that will attend that are without the Savior that they will respond to the Gospel call of salvation. Pray that the believer will grow in their sanctification.

Fourthly, pray for yourself. Pray that your heart will be tender and you will be given ears to hear and will grow in your sanctification. The Apostle Paul wrote in Ephesians 1:18, “I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints.” He also wrote in Ephesians 6:18, “With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints.”

#3-Begin on Saturday, preparing physically for the upcoming Lord’s Day.

I am a huge believer in preparing for work, school or church the day or evening before. First, prepare your clothes and what you will wear to church the day or evening before. Parents, lay your children’s clothes out the night before. If your children are old enough, have them lay out their clothes the night before. This will teach your children the character trait of being prepared. You should as well lay out your clothes as well. Secondly, get plenty of rest. I am sure that you try to get plenty of rest the night before you go to work. Why should the Lord’s House and worship be any different? Parents, make sure your children go to bed early and get plenty of sleep. You as well should go to bed at a reasonable hour to have plenty of energy for worship at the Lord’s House. As a Pastor and as I teach and preach, I can always look out and see who has had plenty of rest the night before because of their alertness and attention.

#4-Arrive to Church “Early.”

I try to live by the motto, “To be early is to be on time and to be on time is to be late.” If you teach or preach a Sunday School class or a greeter, you should always arrive no later than 15 minutes prior to the beginning of your class. When you arrive early or at the very least on time, you are showing to others, your Pastor and most importantly, the Lord that worship is important.

#5-Attend Worship on the Lord’s Day with the attitude to gladly worship, learn from the teaching and preaching of God’s word and allow the Holy Spirit to work in your hearts, soul and mind.

Your attitude in worship will determine how high you will grow in your sanctification. Is worship important to you? Is learning about the Lord and your spiritual growth important to you? Is attending worship just a check the block in your spiritual walk and growth? Attend worship with the spirit of singing, ears to hear and hearts that are tender.

If you would apply these five things to your life, I believe it will help you arrive to a point in which you will “enjoy” church as much if not more than the Pastor enjoys preaching, teaching and leading. More importantly, the Lord will receive joy in seeing your “enjoyment” in worshiping Him.