Preparing For The Lord's Day

preparing

Preparing for the Lord's Day

Jesus is Better 

Like many of you, I have a Fitbit. For those who are not familiar with this device, it is a watch that measures your heart rate, the number of steps you take each day, and the amount of sleep you get each night. It can also monitor your stress levels and track your exercise. It is just one of many devices of its type that is called “wearables.” These wearables are meant to give the user measurable feedback so that he can adjust his activities to achieve a greater level of fitness. You can set a goal of walking 10,000 steps in a day or maintaining a resting heart rate below 65, or getting at least seven hours of sleep each night. It is a great tool because the user receives concrete and actionable information to measure fitness levels. 

There are times I wish that I also had a spiritual Fitbit; a device that would measure my spiritual fitness and alert me when I was going off track. There are times when I am feeling spiritually drained, and I am not sure why. I judge my relationship with Christ based on legalistic adherence to schedules or practices. I unwittingly give my mind over to sinful patterns of thought for weeks at a time. I become overly reactive to my children or emotionally absent from my wife. My heart for sharing the gospel wains and my desire to pray becomes non-existent. It would be wonderful to have a device that would warn me prior to these times that I was growing spiritually weak. 

In our passage for this week, we learn about how we are to measure our spiritual fitness. And our fitness cannot be measured in a quantitative manner as our physical fitness. We can’t ensure that we are right with God because we have said the right number of prayers, read the proper number of chapters in the Bible, or were given the right amount of money. Rather what we see is that our spiritual fitness is determined not by our work but rather by the work of Christ on our behalf. It is through our union with Christ that we receive the spiritual health we so desire. To come prepared for the sermon, take time this week to read and to meditate upon Hebrews 2:10-13, Psalm 22, Isaiah 8:17-18, John 14:2-6, 1 Corinthians 9:24-27, Ephesians 1:5, 1 Thessalonians 4:3, and this video on Union with Christ

As we gather to worship the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit this Lord’s Day, we will join our hearts in song, singing the Hymn of Praise “Our God, Our Help,” the Acclamation of Praise, “Before the Throne of God Above,” and the Hymn of Response “Amazing Grace.Let us come to worship this Sunday prepared to hear God’s Word, to receive it in faith, to love and treasure it in our hearts, and to practice it in our lives that we may continue to glorify and enjoy Him!  

Sermon Information 

Text: Hebrews 2:10-13 

Title: Spiritual Fitness 

Outline: 

  1. Measure Your Fitness According to Christ’s Work
  2. Measure Your Fitness According to Christ’s Process
  3. Measure Your Fitness According to Christ’s Goal  

Sunday's Bulletin

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