From Joel Beeke’s The Family at Church, some tips on preparing for the preached word:

1.  Prepare yourself and your family with prayer-  pray for the conversion of sinners, the edification of God’s people, for your pastor’s preparation and delivery, and for yourself.  Pray that you, your family, and others will come as those in need of the gospel and the Word.

2.  Come with a hearty appetite for the Word-  Heed I Peter 2:2 and come as a newborn baby longing for milk.  Realize that preparation for the Word begins Saturday evening.  Get a good night’s rest for you and your family if at all possible.

3.  Meditate on the importance of the preached Word-  The God of creation and redemption is meeting with you!  Thomas Boston said, “The voice is on earth, but the speaker is in heaven!”  Remember that every sermon counts for eternity as salvation comes through faith and faith through hearing God’s Word (Rom. 10:13-16).   Remember that every Lord’s Day you are receiving spiritual food for the week ahead.  The Puritans called this day “the market day of the soul.”   They went weekly to stock up on supplies- so do we in a spiritual sense!

4.  Remember as you enter worship you are entering a battleground-  the enemy of our souls would desire to distract us from the Word.  Yesterday’s ball game and tomorrow’s work day will conspire to pull us away from the hearing of the Word.  Pray for strength to overcome these and other enemies.

5.  Come with a loving, expectant faith-  Come as a Mary and not a Martha.  Be ready and prepared to sit at the feet of Christ listening to Him speak in the Scriptures.