Making the Most of Your Sunday
Back in January, I mentioned in a sermon that we wanted to be intentional this year (and every year!) about focusing on the mission; specifically, my hope is that all of us would use our Sunday afternoons and evenings to do just that. With the time change last week and an extra hour of daylight in the evenings, I wanted to take this week’s blog to remind us of four strategic ways that we can and should invest in the mission:
INVEST IN PRAYING TOGETHER
As a church, we’re setting aside the first Sunday night of each month specifically for praying together. In this time of Corporate Prayer, you can join us in the work of seeking God on behalf of our church, our families, our neighborhoods, and the nations. You won’t be asked to pray out loud unless you want to, but you can still join your heart with us as we draw near to God’s throne of grace.
One quick note: in the month of April, due to Easter Sunday, we’ll be gathering for our Corporate Prayer on the second Sunday evening. You can join us for our next Corporate Prayer on Sunday, April 11th, at 6:00 p.m.
Other than our church-wide Corporate Prayer gatherings and monthly huddle meetings for our Life Group Leaders, our Sunday evenings are open at Mountain Creek to give all of us time to invest in our neighbors, our Life Groups, and our families.
INVEST IN YOUR NEIGHBORS
For many of us, while the hustle and bustle of life dominate weekday afternoons and evenings, Sunday afternoons and evenings tend to have a slower pace and therefore provide a great opportunity to spend time with our neighbors. With that in mind, let me encourage you to make a point to spend time not only with your Christian neighbors, but also with your non-Christian neighbors. If we’re going to impact our neighbors and our neighborhoods with the gospel, we’ve got to get to know our non-Christian neighbors!
What can you do? Invite a few neighbors over to grill out in your backyard. Take a walk with a neighborhood family. Make some homemade ice-cream and sit on your porch. Watch March Madness together. Schedule a time for your kids to run around together, while you and their parents sip on some lemonade. The question is this: what do you enjoy, and how can you invite someone else to enjoy it with you?
INVEST IN YOUR LIFE GROUPS
One of our stated convictions behind our Life Groups is that “we believe that life is found in meaningful connections to God’s people.” We want these groups to be a place where you are truly known and where you truly know others. This connection happens not only in our formal times studying Scripture together, but also in our informal times just being together.
Use your Sunday evenings to invest in your Life Groups. Host or attend a Life Group social for all the members of your group. Invite your Life Group leader and spouse over to your home for dinner as a way to say “thank you” for their work in leading your group. Spend some time with a couple or individual in your group who you don’t know as well. Time spent cultivating deeper relationships will always enrich your time studying God’s word together, so invest relationally in your Life Group.
INVEST IN YOUR FAMILIES
Many of us have busy schedules between work, family responsibilities, community events, our kids’ extra-curricular activities and sports teams, and on and on, but again, Sundays often slow the pace down just a bit. Parents and grandparents, let’s use this time wisely to invest in our families.
Have a family game night or take an outing to the state park. Ride bikes together or take a long walk. Make room for one-on-one time with your kids. Read a book together. Have intentional conversations about that morning’s sermon and the week ahead. Parents, our children need this time from us, and grandparents, your grandkids need this time from you as well!
Investing in each of these things is investing in the mission that God has given us – to make disciples. We ourselves are formed as disciples as we follow Jesus together and pray together as his body, and we make disciples among our own families and our neighbors as we intentionally invest in them. Sundays are a gift from God for worship, for rest, and for mission, so let’s use these days wisely.
Bert Watts has served since December 2016 as the Senior Pastor at Mountain Creek Baptist Church, where he has been on staff since 2012.
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