Why do you come to church on Sunday morning?  What expectations do you have when you get in the car and head to the building we gather in?

If Sunday morning is about building and making disciples, ailment our mission as a church, seek would that change your expectations for a successful Sunday?   As a staff, we spend a lot of time wrestling with how Sunday Mornings is a significant time of disciple-making.  It impacts the teaching in the service, in our children and student ministries, and in Sunday ‘U’; it impacts the music, the stories you hear, the announcements that are made, the length of the service, the atmosphere in the lobby, the coffee we serve – Everything!

If we view Sunday in the context of disciple-making, it can change our Sunday morning experience.  I come expectant on Sunday mornings about what God wants to say to me through the morning and with anticipation on what God might say through me to those I interact with during the morning.  My time talking in the lobby is just as important in being a disciple as is my time in the service.  My time serving and worshiping are both significant parts of discipleship and being a part of this body.  Sunday is bigger than a program and I am not just a consumer, I am a participant with an active role that includes both giving and receiving.

We do have program pieces on Sunday morning to give it structure.  Our worship service is primarily geared towards adults and provides a great opportunity to respond to who God is and reflect on how that impacts who I am and how I live.  We do this through song, prayer, teaching, and stories.

For Children and Student ministries, Sunday morning is a key opportunity for those who attend to connect into a smaller group and have adults and peers that can invest in their lives.  These groups for Children and Students have the same priorities as our groups for adults.  This is an incredible opportunity for adults to invest in the lives of others.

We also have opportunities for adults to grow in and build skills in important areas for spiritual growth.  We call these opportunities Sunday ‘U’.  These are great opportunities to study a topic or area of scripture for a 10 week timeframe and walk away with practical challenges based upon our identity in Christ.

Toivo, a friend who is also a pastor, would often end our time together on Sunday mornings with a benediction in which he would often say, “The party is ending …”  I always smiled because I thought it was a great analogy of what Sunday morning should feel like – a party!