Sunday Success

What does it mean to have a successful Sunday?

Is it about the worship team getting through the set without mistakes?

Is it about having a riveting, mind-blowing, revelatory sermon?

Is it about having a packed overflow room, with standing room only, and a line of people waiting outside early to get a seat for the next service?

Is it our high production standards and execution excellence that convinces people local and online that you are the place they should be - the next thing...

Nothing wrong with that. I used to yearn for such things because I saw them as evidence of impact, influence, and fruitful ministry, etc

There’s nothing wrong with that. After all, Jesus did commission us to go into all the world and share the good news, so we might as well do it well - and in today’s culture and media landscape, we must compete with alternatives with high production standards, right?

Sounds exhausting, and it's no different from an off-Broadway show trying to get people in the seats.

We do all we can to attract and keep people, thinking that is why they come. (And on the surface, that is why many come. If you offer a good product, they will come.) Remember: What you win them with is what you keep them with. If they came for slick production, you better keep that up.

So we are busy straining ourselves in the kitchen like Martha—with good intentions and servant-heartedness but oblivious to the alternative. Meanwhile, out in the living room sits our Friend.

What if success is His presence? What if we defined success as an encounter, as a corporate encounter?

What if our conscious intention was about posturing ourselves in the place of Mary, sitting at His feet, open to anything He says, and simply enjoying His nearness?

We have been given the privilege of proximity. We are IN Him. He is WITH us.

If they came for His presence, you won't have to work so hard to keep them. He will draw them by Himself... His presence will be the draw - not your efforts to impress or serve them.

What if success on any given day, especially on a Sunday, was - closer?

Draw me a little closer; bring me a little deeper. Draw us a little closer, bring us a little deeper - we want to know you, see you rightly, and fall more in love with You.

We are always leaning in a little more, always looking up from this “face-to-face” encounter posture, seeing Him as He is, and seeing ourselves in His eyes.

Imagine if every time we gathered, we expected an encounter... His promised presence in our midst.

Some might say we gather to hear the word. But what about the underground church in China, where preaching is rare due to fear of persecution? Their strength comes from His presence in their midst as they gather and encourage one another in careful, hushed tones.

Others might say success on a Sunday is in extravagant music and soaring praise. But what about the church in Iran, which whispers its praise quietly for fear of discovery? Are they not the church? Have they not had a successful Sunday? Their success is in the encounter—in gathering together and ministering to the Lord and each other.

Our identity defines success. Sons and daughters gather to meet their Father, Brother, and Friend together. A successful Sunday is when we walk away knowing we have encountered Him together.

Imagine visiting your earthly father’s house week after week and never speaking to him. He’s there in the living room as you and your siblings entertain yourselves, sing slick songs to each other, tell stories about him, read his letters—but he’s right there, alive and present, strong and sharp, yearning to speak and impart wisdom and love. We walk in, do all these things (for him), and then walk out, calling it a successful visit because we performed the songs we'd rehearsed all week without a mistake.

Success IS Encounter. Success IS His Promised Presence. Success IS drawing CLOSER.

Success IS what the Father has always sought. Not worship but worshippers (sons, daughters...friends) who will come, sit at His feet, listen, and behold Him.

Why?

He loves us.