In our church we've come to call the minutes before a service begins the "rush hour" ... all those little things we haven't go straightened out yet ... all the energy wasted on dealing with important trivia.

However, quite aside for not preparing our minds and hearts for the worship, we're missing another important responsibility:  how we should be using those last 5 minutes: 

"What happens in those few minutes after your visitors take their seat in the auditorium/sanctuary/worship center and before service begins? I speak of visitors because, let’s be honest, they’re the ones who come early. Your regulars meander in because they know what to expect. It’s easy to forget about those few minutes, yet they matter when lost people find themselves in a seat at your house."

Read more HERE

Read about it here

The following links on issues in Worship ... expand you brain ... engage!

Worship is not merely talking about God, or learning about God. If worship is not meeting with God, it isn’t worship at all. [Stephen Miller]

1. Take this Worship Job and Shove it (link)

2. In Defense Of Simple Contemporary Worship Songs (link)

3. The Issue of Age in Modern Worship (link)

And then: a great song ... should we add it to the repertoire?  (Don't miss the sand painting!)