We had a helpful conversation in our leaders' meeting last week when I
invited leaders to express some of their longings or dreams for the
church. One theme that emerged relates to Sunday worship - specifically,
a call for us all to remember the sacredness of worship - that our
gathering on Sundays is something profound and holy, something for which
we need to prepare ourselves and approach with reverence and dignity. It
reminded me of seeing this preparation modelled for me as a child as I
watched my mother sitting quietly in prayer in the few minutes before
the service started.

This Sunday in particular is a service that calls for some
self-preparation. As Methodists have done for centuries, we will renew
our covenant with God on Sunday. It may be helpful to prayerfully read
through the words of the covenant as you prepare for the service:

I am no longer my own but yours. Put me to what you will, rank me with
whom you will; put me to doing, put me to suffering; let me be employed
for you or laid aside for you, exalted for you or brought low for you;
let me be full, let me be empty, let me have all things, let me have
nothing; I freely and wholeheartedly yield all things to your pleasure
and disposal. And now, glorious and blessed God, Father, Son and Holy
Spirit, you are mine and I am yours. So be it. And the covenant now made
on earth, let it be ratified in heaven. Amen.