What should our attitude be towards Sunday worship? I’ve been pondering this question as I prayer walk around our church campus this morning. Unfortunately, one of the attitudes I sense the most is one of reluctance. People don’t really want to be there, but they know other people expect them to be. They believe that good Christians should go to church, and so they go, doing the bare minimum while they’re there. This attitude often leads people to be there physically without being engaged spiritually.

Others may not have an attitude towards Sunday worship at all. They just go. It’s a habit. Like robots carrying out a programmed task, they wake up, go to church, shake some hands, maybe even give an offering, and return home. No negative attitude, but not necessarily a positive one, either. Status quo. Go with the flow. Whatever it may be, wrong attitudes (or lack of right ones) do not glorify God, lead to spiritual growth, or bless fellow believers. Therefore, we need to fight for the right attitude towards Sunday worship. I believe one of those attitudes to be an attitude of expectancy.

What should we expect to happen on Sundays? A couple songs, a message, a few awkward conversations, and a decision regarding where to go for lunch? These are sad expectations, but I don’t think they are uncommon. I have expected them, too!

So what should we expect? We should expect to meet God and be changed by Him.

When we lift our voices as the body of Christ, we should expect to honor God with our words and the posture of our hearts. We are singing to Him! We should expect the songs to remind us of the gospel, transport us into God’s presence, and prepare our hearts to hear from His Word.

When we pray as the corporate body, we should expect God to delight in and answer the prayers of His people. He is listening to us.

When the Word is preached, we should should expect to hear from God. He is speaking to us. We should expect the Scriptures to challenge our lives, convict us of sin, and compel us to place our faith in Christ alone and live for Him.

When we speak with brothers and sisters in Christ, we should expect to encourage them, build them up, and stir up faith in them, expecting the same from them. We should expect the fellowship of the saints to help us to live for Christ, endure suffering, and persevere in difficult seasons.

When we are ministered to through worship, preaching, and fellowship, we should expect to be equipped to take the gospel to our lost neighbors. We should expect to be re-charged, so to speak, to live for Christ in our homes, workplaces, and communities. We should expect to be commissioned to take what (or better yet, Who) we’ve experienced to a lost and dying world around us.

Do you expect these things? Are you praying for them as you prepare for Sunday? Are you watching for them before, during, and after the service? Let us strive to have this attitude of expectancy every Sunday: to meet God and be changed by Him!