"Preparing for Sunday Mornings"

Pastor Kory's Page for October 2025

 Much of my workweek is directed toward preparing for Sunday morning. There’s a service to plan, a sermon to prepare, a Bible study to lead, and catechism class to teach or sometimes other meetings to participate in. All of this is a normal part of a pastor’s calling. However, preparing for Sunday morning isn’t just for pastors! How can church members prepare themselves for Sunday morning? Here are a few reflections:

Plan to be here – barring illness, plan to begin each week in the Lord’s house. We need our Lord Jesus as we face each week. We need His forgiveness for past sins and His help for our future faithfulness. The writer of Hebrews said plainly that believers should not neglect meeting together but that we are to keep gathering and encouraging one another (Heb. 10:25). In AD 303, a congregation of Christians in Abitinae in northern Africa were forbidden by Roman authorities from possessing copies of the Scriptures and from gathering for worship and Holy Communion. However, one of these Christians, a man named Emeritus in whose house the church met, responded to the interrogator, “We cannot live without Sunday.” In other words, he and the other members of their church were declaring that they would rather face martyrdom than give up meeting together to hear the Lord’s Word and receive His Sacrament! May God grant us to follow their example!

Read the Word – each week, we publish the Sunday Scripture readings in our Thursday church announcements. You can also find a complete schedule of the weekly readings on the Year at a Glance website: https://yaag.org or on the LCMS Website. Take a few minutes to read over the Scripture lessons ahead of time. Look for thematic connections between them. Jot down some questions you have about them or applications you might draw from them.

Pray – as you look ahead to Sunday, pray that the Holy Spirit would make you receptive to His Word. Pray for pastors and church leaders. Pray for church members and guests that their hearts, too, would be prepared to hear the Lord’s Word and receive His Sacrament. Pray that you might be able to encourage someone who needs it.

Review the service bulletin – after arriving at the church, skim over the order of service. Take a moment to read the words of a hymn or Psalm. You can also use some of the prayers found on the first page of your hymnal (listed as Prayers for Worship). Additionally, your hymnal includes several structured orders of prayer (p. 282 and following) and topical prayers (p. 305 and following) which you could use before the service begins.

Take it home – jot some notes during the sermon and review them after you go home. Take your bulletin with you and reread the Scripture lessons devotionally. Pray the words of one of the hymns. Familiarize yourself with something in the service that was new to you. Use the church prayer list (in the back of the bulletin) as part of your personal prayers at home.

Attending the Sunday service isn’t just one more chore or activity in a Christian’s week. It’s the heartbeat of it! Like the early Christians, we can learn to orient our week around Sunday morning when we gather with God’s people, receive Christ’s gifts, and respond to Him in prayer and song. 

On that note, I look forward to gathering with you on Sunday.

Grace & Peace,

                                    Pastor Kory Janneke