WHY COME TO CHURCH
SERVICES EARLY?
A lot of people attend church service regularly, but they do not understand the importance of coming early. It is not only important that we as believers attend church, but also cultivate the habit of coming early, primarily for the following reasons;
Services serve as an appointed time of worship:
When the time for a service has been announced by a minister or pastor, God Himself honours that time. So, it is important that you also honour that time. For example, if the church declares a service for 8am, God Himself is present at that particular time. Imagine a scenario where God is present and you are absent, or you arrive after God? This is what happens every time you come late to church. Coming early is thus an act of honouring God and a show of seriousness.
Services serve as an opportunity to encounter God:
God has programmed or packaged encounters for you in different segments of the service, and you will miss out on them if you come late. It is these series of encounters that lead to total transformation and breakthrough.
The full service includes opening prayer, devotionals, worship, testimonies, the word, and offering, and all these are channels through which you can encounter God. Therefore, it is important to cultivate the habit of joining at the start of every service. Do not miss your divine encounter with God.
OTHER BENEFITS OF COMING EARLY TO SERVICES
Coming early to church is an act of obedience to God and thus a key to supernatural supply.
Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.
Hebrews 10:25
If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land:
saiah 1:19
Coming early to service is a key to supernatural favour.
In the secular world, punctual people are considered serious people and are preferred and favoured. In the same way, if you will be punctual to church, you can activate the favour of God upon your life.
… and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
Hebrews 11:6b
THE DANGER OF COMING
LATE TO SERVICES
When you come late for service, you are walking in disobedience.
Your pastor is the mouth piece of God and when he sets a time for service and you are late, you are walking in disobedience, and you will not partake the good of the land.
If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land: but if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.
Isaiah 1:19-20
When you come late for service, you are dishonoring God.
Every segment in service has a blessing attached to it, and when you come late and miss some segments, e.g worship, praise, you will miss out on the blessings apportioned to those segments. If you do this consistently, you will soon begin to lose touch with God. You can never find a late comer that has strong connectivity to heaven.
When you are late for a service, you will not enjoy the service.
When you arrive late for a service, you may be unable to settle down and connect to the atmosphere of that service but if you come early, you will be relaxed and your spirit will be well prepared to receive in the service.
When you come late for a service, you are encouraging disobedience.
When others see you coming late, they will begin to copy you, but when you insist on punctuality you will be teaching others the right thing. Become a propagator of early arrivals by coming early and teaching others to do the same. You cannot teach what you are not doing.
When you come late to church, you may face worry and guilt.
This may cause you to miss out on the spiritual connection required to receive from the service. You cannot receive from God when you are full of regret and guilt.
when you arrive late to church, you are walking in hypocrisy and deception.
Often, you will find people who will never go late to work or a business appointment but will never come early to church. If we cannot go late for our business or jobs, why go late for church? This shows what we really value or consider important.
Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
Galatians 6:7
When you arrive late to church, you are stepping out of your spiritual covering.
If you are anywhere other than where your church is meeting at an appointed time without due permission or authorization, you are on your own. The angels of the ministry will not function with you in disobedience.
Coming late for a service is a show of lack of consideration for your pastor.
The church leadership puts a lot of effort into preparing for service, so it can be disheartening to a pastor when members consistently come late because it shows a lack of appreciation for the effort put into preparing for the service. Also, it is a show of lack of consideration for other attendees who come early because, they have to wait for the latecomers to arrive and this often delays the closing time.
Arriving late to church disrupts the flow of the service.
When you come late you might become a distraction to those already seated. It can also disrupt the flow of the pastor causing him to lose connection with heaven which can make the whole church miss out on what God has prepared for them in that service.
When you come late to church, you are giving yourself a bad record.
There are angles who record those who come early to church and when you get to heaven, you may be surprised there is no record of you ever attending church. So, learn this as a principle, anytime you come to church one minute late, you have not attended church.
When you come late to church, you can lose your place.
Late coming is so bad it can cause you to lose your place in kingdom. Look at the story of Amasa in 2 Samuel chapter 20.
So Amasa went to assemble the men of Judah: but he tarried longer than the set time which he had appointed him. And David said to Abishai, Now shall Sheba the son of Bichri do us more harm than did Absalom: take thou thy lord’s servants, and pursue after him, lest he get him fenced cities, and escape us.
2 Samuel 20:5-6
Amasa was late in returning from his assignment and he was replaced even while on duty and this later gave room for Joab to be commander. God has a plan and place for you in his house but you will lose it if you continue to be a latecomer. Beyond your earthly reward, you may also lose your heavenly reward, if you do not change.
Coming late to church leads to stunted spiritual growth.
If you consistently arrive late to church., you will not grow spiritually. Services contain special activities required for spiritual growth including prayers, worship, praise, offerings, the word etc. If you consistently miss them, you will not grow spiritually. Late coming also creates a disparity in the knowledge base of those who came early and those who came late, leading to variable membership development across the church. In other words, some members will grow and have testimonies and others will not. So, late coming does not just affect one person, it affects the church at large.
HOW TO COME EARLY TO SERVICES
In order to be punctual for a service, it is important to plan and prepare because preparation is the key to success in any endeavor. The following are ways to prepare ahead for a service;
Prepare your clothes
First, it is important to prepare your clothes, shoes or any article of clothing at least a day before the service. For instance, you can prepare your clothes on Saturday for a Sunday morning service. So, identify, clean and iron them ahead of time. If you have kids, ensure you also prepare for them well ahead of time. Avoid washing of clothes and other home chores like cooking on Sunday morning.
Plan your transportation or logistics
If you will drive a car, clean and fuel it the day before. If you will need cash for transportation, withdraw it the day before. If you will join a fellow church member, call to arrange your meeting point the day before. Do not forget to have a backup plan or make allowance for extra time in case of anything.
Prepare your offerings
Your tithe, offering and oblation are an important part of your worship, so prepare them before the service and offer them to the Lord on your personal altar in your home before you offer it to the Lord in church. Do not go about looking for your offering on the day of your service. It may delay you.
Prepare your bible and other materials
Prepare your bible, jotter, word note, pen or any other material you will require during the service. Gather them together in one place well before the service time. You do not want to waste time gathering them when it is time to go for service.
Plan for swift mobilization
If you are mobilizing others, make conclusive arrangements the day before and plan for early arrival. If you do not plan your mobilization properly, you will be late for service. Strategize for all your members to be in church at least 10 minutes before service time.
Discourage personal visitations before service.
If you will come early to church, you must discourage your friends and loved ones from courtesy visits before services, except they are coming to church with you. Spend time to let them know of your service schedule so that they do not become a source of delay.
Pray for the service
When your pray for a service, the Holy Spirit will cause your heart and your actions to automatically align and work towards the success of the service. You will suddenly find within you the grace to arrive early.
Wake up very early
If you will be early to a morning service, you must wake up on time. It is advisable to wake up at least 2 to 3 hours before the service time. You need to factor in your grooming time and other delays. If you are a mobilizer, wake up the people that you are going to church with early enough, so that they do not cause you to go late yourself.
Ask the Holy Spirit to help you
As you plan and prepare to go to church early, remember to ask the Holy Spirit to help you. When you do this, He will open your eyes and show you what do to. He is with you to help you, so do not forget to engage His help.
God has packaged so much for you in the church services and meetings of this year and you may miss out if you do not prioritize coming early. It is also important to teach others around you this truth so that we may all enter into all that God has prepared for us.
…but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
Matthew 5:19b
CONTACT US
If you require further information, assistance or support to come early,
please call the pastoral office on +2347069980367, +2348090111194