It’s good to prepare our hearts for worship not so we can be more saved or something, but so we can join together ready to receive God’s good gifts and to hear his Word.
This is the first of what I am hoping will be many. ….Hopefully, they’ll get better too.
Here are some other things that can help you get ready for worship this weekend…
This weekend’s readings are: Acts 5:29-42, 1 Peter 1:3-9, John 20:19-31
The LCMS provides “Lectionary Summaries” that I always find helpful for the overall theme of the day. Here’s the Summary for the Second Sunday of Easter:
Christ Jesus Breathes His Spirit and His Life into Us by the Ministry of the Gospel
The crucified and risen Lord Jesus establishes the ministry of the Gospel in order to bestow His life-giving Holy Spirit and His peace upon the Church. To those who are called and ordained to this office, and to those whom they serve in His name, He grants the Holy Absolution of all sins. By the fruits of His cross, He replaces fear and doubt with peace and joy, and thus gives “repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins” (Acts 5:31). Through the preaching of His sent ones, He calls us to believe that He “is the Christ, the Son of God,” so that by such faith we “may have life in his name” (John 20:31). In His resurrection, we have the “living hope” to which we have been “born again” and by which we are guarded “for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time” (1 Peter 1:3, 5). Until then, “though you have not seen him, you love him,” and by the mercies of God “you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory” (1 Peter 1:8).
While not all of the elements are included in our worship at Immanuel, here’s a segment about looking forward to the Second Sunday of Easter from IssuesEtc.
Immanuel Lutheran Church & School 