Sunday Go To Meeting

I remember growing up hearing my grandparents say that they were going to put on their “Sunday Go To Meeting Clothes” as they prepared to go to church on Sunday. For them that meant getting their best clothes cleaned, ironed and ready on the Saturday before Sunday came. Since they didn’t have all of the modern conveniences for doing laundry, the task took a good bit of time, and they wanted to be ready.
It also meant that they were taking the best clothes that they owned to wear to church. No work clothes or anything that wasn’t modest were permitted. They have a genuine respect for God and His house. They may have not been wealthy, but they believed that God deserved their best. Noble thoughts that we should consider going back to.
A good question in this “Sunday Go To Meeting” idea is who were they going to meet? Of course they were going to meet with their church family. But more importantly they went with the expressed purpose to meet with God. They expected to have an encounter with the living God. He was their focus and the desire of their heart to meet with Him.
Somewhere along the way we have lost the respect for God’s house in the way that we dress and more importantly, in who we expect to meet in God’s House. I know that you can encounter God anywhere but there should still be an expectation that when you come to God’s House you welcome and even intentionally seek a supernatural encounter with Him.
I have seen people come to church to make business contacts, seek a mate, meet with their friends, show off new clothes, out of obligation, and even take a good nap. We have forgotten that the worship of God is all about HIM and not about us. I like to say that we are coming to God’s House, on God’s Day, to worship God’s Son, with God’s people - so we ought to do it God’s Way.
How much different would our worship experience be if we intentionally start on Saturday to prepare for Sunday? What if we laid out our clothes on Saturday to prevent conflict on Sunday morning. What if we studied on Saturday the Sunday school lesson and looked at the text that the pastor will be preaching from on Sunday? What if we purposely prayed over those scriptures and asked God to prepare our heart and mind for Him to work before you got to church?
What if we invited friends, relatives, and even strangers to join you in worship services? What if you arrived early and actually fellowshipped with your fellow church family? What if we came to church fully expecting God to show up and show out?
Many people don’t get anything out of Sunday services because they don’t put any effort into preparing to receive the blessings that God has for them. So put on your “Sunday Go To Meeting Clothes” and come expecting God to meet you there. In love with Jesus - Gary Mimbs