Oh come, let us sing to the LORD; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation! Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise! For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods. Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the LORD, our Maker! For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. (Psalm 95:1-3,6-7 ESV)
Dear Friends,
As you know, one of the unique things about the Lord's Day at Cornerstone is that we only have an 8:30am worship. Because we have want to be sensitive to our host church, First Cumberland Presbyterian, worshipping at 8:30am gives us time to move downstairs before they begin their Sunday morning services. And because we have only an 8:30am service, I understand that getting to the worship service on time can be quite the challenge.
I'm writing to encourage all of our families to make an effort to be on time (if not a little early) on Sunday mornings. I want to encourage you to do this for several reasons. First, it is very important that we prepare for worship. Most of the time our weekends are busy and full of activities and then we are hurrying out the door on Sunday mornings just to get there in time for the sermon. If I was not the pastor, I know this would be me! Arriving early to worship and taking a seat around 8:25am allows you to have 5 or so minutes to quiet your hearts and be prepared to kneel before the Lord in worship.
Secondly, our worship services are intentionally designed to have a beginning and an end. All the parts of the worship service flow together and help us sing to God, pray to God, call to God, and hear from God's Word. One of the things I enjoy the most about the beginning of our worship service is our responsive call to worship. By corporately reading aloud the call to worship, we immediately engage the Lord through His Word. But...you've got be there on time, if not a little early, to participate in this part of worship.
Lastly, I want to encourage you to arrive a little early to fellowship. What a joy it is to see other brothers and sisters on Sunday mornings that we have not seen all week to catch up, pray with them, laugh with them and prepare to worship with them. This is one of the sweetest aspects of Cornerstone - our fellowship.
Please don't take this as a rebuke but as an encouragement to set some new habits with your family so that you can fully engage in the worship service and participate with your brothers and sisters in Christ in praising the LORD! Also, please know that your leadership continues to pray for God's leading in finding a new facility for worship and to have a worship service that starts a little later than 8:30am. Until then, please continue to join with us in prayer that the Lord will lead us in this search.
See you Sunday.... at 8:25am!
by His grace and to His praise,
Wilson
