Does Sunday Morning feel different?

It was a few hours before we needed to leave for church and for some reason, I kept getting the same feeling, “It just doesn’t feel like a Sunday”. I’m not sure I’ve ever had that feeling before on a Sunday. Wednesday or Friday, definitely on a Monday, but never a Sunday. That got me thinking, what should a Sunday feel like? Most people would probably acknowledge that right now, Sunday feels chaotic. People with young kids, I would love to tell you that when they get older or when they move out the chaos will stop, but for the most part, I don’t know if it does. Something always happens to make you run late or to distract you from getting out the door. I’ve been completely organized and completely disorganized, and every Sunday the last 20 minutes always feels the same. I think the first thing we need to realize is that distraction and chaos are tools of Satan. Maybe he can’t stop you from going to church, but he can make sure that you sit down with the wrong frame of mind. If you are sitting in church worrying if you locked the front door, you can’t concentrate on worshipping. If you are worried that the kids didn’t brush their teeth, you are unable to notice God’s beauty all around you. If Satan can keep you distracted for an hour and a half, how would you feel leaving church for the week? You might look back and feel like the music didn’t really reach you, or you may think that people were unfriendly and of course, the sermon fell flat. Are any of those things true? Maybe, but if you come home from church on a Sunday, and the music was bad, the people were unfriendly and the sermon didn’t seem up to par, that isn’t a church issue, that’s a you issue. Sometimes people have a bad day and aren’t as friendly as usual, sometimes the music and the sermon aren’t for you, but all of them? I have a hard time believing that one. It most likely means that you had a Sunday of distraction. We all have had them. To be honest, I have come home from church before, and I can’t remember anything that happened. I can’t remember a song, or anything about the sermon. I can’t remember any of those things, but I can remember my to do list for the day or what time the game starts. So, if I know what doesn’t feel right on a Sunday, how do I want Sunday morning to feel? If I had to pick a feeling that I want everyone to feel on a Sunday, I want people to feel excited. I want people to know that this is the day that the Lord has made, and I will rejoice and be glad in it! I want people to know that this isn’t like going to work. The people all want to be there, and they are ready for something amazing to happen. Can you imagine going to bed on a Saturday night and feeling the same excitement as you would on Christmas Eve as a child? The excitement of knowing that as soon as I wake up, anything and everything is possible. Feeling like something may happen that will change my life forever! I want people to feel excited thinking of the people they haven’t seen or talked to in a week, and they can’t wait to check in. What about the excitement of wanting to know what prayer requests were answered this week. I want people to be excited that for a little while on a Sunday morning they get to worship in song with a group of people, not just alone in a car on the way to work. I want people to be excited for communion and the chance to remember what Jesus did for us. So often offering is a sore subject with people, but what if I was excited to give money back to God?  And, what if instead of worrying that the sermon is going to be worried, I was excited to hear from God? Can all of this be possible? If so, how? Who would be able to control all those things to make sure that it’s possible? My quick answer is all of us! The attitude we have when we walk into the church is the attitude that everyone will have. If I’m grumpy, everyone will seem grumpy. If I’m not excited to see you, then why would you be excited to see me? I can’t tell everyone how to get organized or promise that your kids will behave if you read enough scripture. What I can do is to tell you to try and take a few minutes every Sunday morning and just breathe. Prepare yourself to be amazed by everything that God can do. Be ready to hear from God or to be a part of making someone else’s Sunday the best day of the week. It’s so easy to say that Friday is the best day of the week, let’s make Sunday the most amazing day of the week!