Redeeming the Sunday Morning Struggle

Some years ago, we moved from a church of about 150 members to a church of over 1,000 members. I initially marveled at the feat of strength settling my family into Sunday morning service entailed. Beginning with the often-hectic process of making six people presentable for public entry, to traversing the parking lot, children’s classrooms, and sanctuary, to parenting in community—Sundays felt challenging. If I’m candid, I often found myself dreading Sunday mornings and feeling lost in the shuffle.

Was Sunday Service Really This Important? 

It was in a church stairwell that I hit my tipping point. I was exhausted, alone, and carrying a 15-pound baby in his car seat when the Holy Spirit brought Romans 12:1 to mind: “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.” If all of our lives are to be presented as a sacrifice to the Lord, this includes our Sunday morning struggles, too.

John Calvin notes that the presentation of sacrifices that Paul references in Romans 12:1, alludes to the Mosaic sacrifices, “which were presented at the altar…in the presence of God” (John Calvin, Calvin’s Commentary on Romans, 452). Isn’t this a beautiful image for our challenging Sunday mornings? By allowing the Holy Spirit to prepare our hearts and our efforts, and by allowing the Holy Spirit to remind us that Sunday morning worship is not about us, every Sunday morning can be viewed as a sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God.

This doesn’t make Sunday mornings any more convenient. In the middle of winter, we add layer upon layer of clothing to our children, only to have the littlest one take off his shoes and socks in the car. Busy Sunday mornings often make the weekends feel shorter, and we wonder if the morning might be better spent at home? We’re tired of getting up early, yelling at each other in the car, and correcting poor attitudes before we even reach the sanctuary doors. Yet, as we get our families ready and out the door, we can lay our efforts on the altar as a sacrifice of worship to the Lord.  

An Act of Worship Observed

There are many Sunday mornings when our efforts may seem fruitless, but instead, these mornings are full of potential spiritual fruit. In 2 Timothy 2:5, Paul traces Timothy’s faith back to his mother, and he then traces his mother’s faith back to his grandmother’s faith: “I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well.” As Timothy grew up, the faith of his mother and the faith of his grandmother were on full display. Their faith was so compelling and influential that Paul thought to mention it here, as he reminded Timothy to hold on to his own faith.  And in doing so, to be encouraged by the faith he observed in his mother and grandmother.

Similarly, parents, our faith is on full display to our children. Certainly, this includes how important we consider meeting together with our church family. As the adage goes, “More is caught than taught.” It may not feel like much of an offering, but as our children spend every Sunday morning under the teaching of Scripture and in community with people who love Jesus, the weight of our offering becomes more apparent. Our children watch us give up comfortable and easy Sunday mornings for the sake of worshiping God with our church community.

I don’t have the best memory, but there are many things about Sunday mornings growing up that stick in my mind. For one, Sunday mornings were reserved for attending church as a family. We would all pile into the car and my dad would insist on playing only worship music. As we grew older, we sat together as a family during the service.

The sermons, and the music, and even how I felt about Sunday mornings are all a bit fuzzy. Yet I do remember that we were at church service each week, worshiping as family with our church family, hearing the Word of God together—a weekly spiritual feast. I observed my dad and stepmom as they raised their arms in worship, carefully read through each Scripture passage, and sought to apply what they learned throughout the week.

What will my children remember about their childhood? I hope that the weekly rhythm of Sunday service reaches through the years to comfort them. I pray that, like young Timothy observing his mom and grandma, my children see their church attendance as the fruit of their parents’ faith. I hope they “catch” the necessity of Sunday morning worship and the local church for themselves.

An Act of Worship that Bears Fruit

Recently, I’ve had the privilege of listening to several testimonies from church members, young and old. One man, who had grown up in a Christian home and healthy church, shared how he came to know the Lord during a conversation with his father—when Ephesians 2:8-9 finally stuck. A young man shared how he came to know Jesus at youth camp. Another young woman shared how she decided to pray with her parents one night after church.

While each testimony displays its own profound beauty and the sovereignty of its Author, those who follow the years-long thread of Christ, shared in home and church, are most striking to me. Many Sunday mornings of worship prepared these young hearts for the gospel—hearts prepared by a parent’s act of dressing, feeding, and carrying little bodies so they could hear God’s Word with their church communities; by a mother’s act of giving up her full focus during the sermon so that her children could see they’re valued church members; by a father’s recognition that he is not the focus of his worship on Sunday mornings, but God is, so that his family can see that this is true for them, too.

Long before we step through the sanctuary’s threshold our worship begins. This Sunday, we’ll probably face the same struggles and temptations to believe that our efforts are fruitless. We’ll probably still face spilled milk, failed attempts to squeeze tiny feet into shoes, and the last-minute rush to get everyone in the car. But we can face every inconvenience and temptation knowing that our efforts and our heart attitudes are a sacrifice of worship on the Lord’s altar.

While convenience may not abound this Sunday, dear parents, pray that spiritual fruit will.