A few days ago, I found some notes on my computer containing some words from Karen Burton Mains. Mrs. Mains wrote these well-phrased admonitions about worship in the preface of the hymnbook, Sing Joyfully:
“Worship has been defined as being preoccupied with God. How do we learn to become preoccupied with God? By cultivating intentionality. By deliberately turning our minds toward divine preoccupation. By developing worship habits and working on them. Intentional worship means a worshipper is not going to church expecting that worship will just happen; but intentionality means that a worshipper is going to church determined to make worship happen.
A church bulletin aptly (said): ‘Too many Christians worship their work, work at their play, and play at their worship.’ We must learn to work at our worship so that preoccupation with God becomes delightfully habitual.
We must remind ourselves, over and over, that the focus of Sunday worship must be upon the living Christ among us. In truth, if Christ were bodily present and we could see him with more than our soul’s eyes, all our worship would become intentional. If Christ stood on our platforms, we would bend our knees without asking. If He stretched out His hands and we saw the wounds, our hearts would break; we would confess our sins and weep over our shortcomings. If we could hear His voice leading the hymns, we too would sing heartily; the words would take on meaning. The Bible reading would be lively; meaning would pierce to the marrow of our souls.
If Christ walked our aisles, we would hasten to make amends with that brother or sister to whom we had not spoken. We would volunteer for service… If we knew Christ would attend our church Sunday after Sunday, the front pews would fill fastest, believers would arrive early, offering plates would be laden with sacrificial but gladsome gifts, prayers would concentrate our attention.
Yet … Christ is present.
I would say these are very interesting thoughts from Mrs. Maines.
Just some thoughts,

Each week there are a few things followers of Christ do to strengthen their relationship with the Lord and to enhance their relationship with each other. Though the world sees them as simple, the deeper meaning behind each one is the key to a long lasting, strong fellowship.
Each week, Christians meet to commemorate the Lord’s Death on the Cross (Luke 22.19; 1 Corinthians 11.23-26) as the Christians in the first century did (Acts 20.7). It is during this time each person’s mind should reflect on the sacrifice of Christ (1 Corinthians 11.27-32).
Each week, Christians meet to pray together. The Bible speaks of the power of prayer in passages such as James 5.16, “The prayer or a righteous person has great power in its working.” Christians know not only the power of individual prayer, but also the power of united, group prayer (Acts 4.24-31; 12.5; 20:36)
Each week, Christians meet to sing. Passages such as Ephesians 5.19-21 and Colossians 3.16 speak of the singing of Christians. Their singing was to God and each other, but it came as a result of their salvation in Christ. The realization of salvation from sin should be enough to make anyone sing for joy (James 5.13)
Each week, Christians meet to study God’s Word (Acts 20.7). The study of God’s word was a core practice among the early church and not just on the first day of the week, but through the book of Acts, you will find they were constantly studying the Book (Acts 17.11) because they understood it was their inspired guide to salvation (2 Timothy 3.16-17).
Each week, Christians give. When a need arose, the early Christians sought to fill that need for the brethren. Whether it be a famine, hardships or supporting the work of the gospel, the early Christians stepped up to meet the need (1 Corinthians 16.1, 2; Acts 4.34-35; Acts 11.29)
Each week, and throughout the week, the early Christians met together to draw closer to God knowing that, in turn, he would draw closer to them (James 4.8). Their fellowship with each other was greater because of their desire for God and as a result, they found a greater fellowship with each other.
Let us strive together to strengthen our fellowship by drawing closer to God and closer to each other.
Just some thoughts,
