Much has changed since the pandemic. Working from home, for example, has become for many a routine way of life.  Change has also happened within our churches, and perhaps this has been the most radical shift since the 1990s and the worship debates. Sunday has taken on new meanings and purpose. 

It has become a common occurrence for churches now to only have a single service on a Sunday. This will usually be the morning service, which will last until around 12 o’clock, where the congregation leave and go to their own homes. We spend time dining, socialising and finishing off our chores or even a day out shopping. The evening service is disregarded as we fill our time with other things.

Perhaps, for many pastors and church elders, this has just become a natural thing, it is part of the society we live in and what the people expect; church needs to be convenient, and never a sacrifice. However, despite it becoming the norm, I do not think it is for the good of the church. 

First: The framework

Firstly, the Bible sets us the framework of a working week and a day of rest. This seven-day narrative shaped the Israelite community and the early church. 

Genesis 2:

2 And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. 3 So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.

When the Lord finished his work, creating the world, he rested. Likewise, after our busy working lives, doing chores and meeting demands that the world sets us, we need to have a day of rest. From personal experience, the Sabbath day is truly needed as I recover from a very busy and exhausting week! Indeed, from the beginning of time, YHWH has given us a template of how we should live in this life. Six days of work, and one day of rest. 

Second: The Command

Secondly, the Lord commands that there should be a day set apart. In Deuteronomy 5, the writer tells us that:

12 “Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy, as the Lord your God has commanded you. 13 Six days you shall labour and do all your work, 14 but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work…15 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the Lord your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the Lord your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day.

In this account, we find that the Lord has commanded the people of Israel the rest on the seventh day; to do no work, but to rest and reflect on what the Lord has done. What does it say in verse 15 above? ‘Remember what the Lord God had gone for you, how he redeemed you from captivity.’ This is a commandant which they had to keep, and failing to do so would result in death. A very serious command, as the Lord wanted them to be a holy people. Do you notice the seven-day creation narrative in the above passage, evidently this framework was meant to guide the everyday life of God’s people. 

The early church saw the importance of gathering and keeping a day set apart to worship the Lord together. Rather than the Sabbath day, they decided to gather on the first day of the week, the day of Christ’s resurrection and a reminder of the new creation they were now in, to celebrate the resurrection and the Lord’s redemptive plan.  In doing so, they marked the Lord’s Day as the Christian expression of that creational pattern of one day in seven. 

Third: The Encouragement

Christ reminds us that the Sabbath remains for his followers. Although the Judeans had turned the day into a legalistic day of dos and don’ts, Jesus never once goes against the day being one of rest.

27 And he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. 28 So the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.” (Mark 2).

For Christ, the Sabbath day was for us, to point us back to creation, to have time in the busy week to sit and reflect on God’s goodness. It was meant to provide us with a respite, both physically, mentally and above all spiritually. Indeed, the Sabbath was to be a source of such encouragement for Christians; and it was given to us for a specific reason!

Hebrews 10:24–25:

24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

The writer of Hebrews reminds us of a deep truth; that meeting together is a good and beneficial thing!  It amazes me to see how so many of the brethren forsake the day; they go out socialising with family and friends, but they forget the actual point of the day… Yes, they may meet once in the morning, but considering saints of old have met throughout the Sunday, and even on other days of the week to explore scripture (just explore the teaching sessions of Zwingli who preached throughout the week); we have not realised how much we are impoverishing ourselves.

How do we stir up one another to do good works, to love, to continue running the race? It is by gathering together, wholeheartedly in worship to God as we sit together, listen to the Word preached and sing to one another. 

Indeed, how can a body function if it does not work together; and how can the church work when it never meets! 

1 Corinthians 12:14-20:

18 But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. 19 If all were a single member, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many parts, yet one body.

When we do not gather regularly, we forsake such a wonderful encouragement for our own souls, but perhaps even more importantly for the saints in our church. How can we suffer together, how can we be unified if we do not meet as one. The world is a difficult and unforgiving place, and the Word continually tells us that the devil and the world will constantly try to tear you down and make your life so painful. The place of rest is with one another, with your brother and sisters. 

As the Psalmist says in 133:

“How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity!” 

Fourth: The Desire

The writer of Hebrews and the words of our Saviour demonstrate important reasons why we should gather. But reasons alone are not enough. There needs to be a desire, and this is where I think the root of the problem resides. Look at what the early church was doing. They were so glad in their hearts to gather in worship:

Acts 2:46:

“Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts.” 

Where is our desire for Christ? Is it not true that when we gather, Christ himself is present with us. He is in the room. I’ve come across some churches who leave a seat empty to demonstrate the fact that when they meet, they are not alone but are in the midst of the presence of God. You can disagree with their approach, but there is something in reminding ourselves of the presence of Christ when His body is gathered. 

Do we long to meet with the Saviour as the church? We are not just individual believers, we are part of the whole body of believers. Christ is the bridegroom to the bride, which is the church. Doesn’t the bride want to meet with the bridegroom? Isn’t the bridegroom everything? Do our hearts not leap for joy knowing that our Saviour is in the room with us?

Dear believer, long for the gathering of the Lord’s people because Christ is there. If you are someone who does go regularly, great, but remember it is not about attending services because you want to be perceived as the most holy Christian, but because your heart is longing to worship Him once again. What a wonderful thing! So reinstate your evening service; or rediscover the beauty of gathering. May it not be so that the bride has become bored of her bridegroom!

So, why specifically two services?

The point is reader, that the Lord’s Day is not simply a slot in our schedule; it is not an event, or a product that is shaped to meet our desires. When believers gather in the morning and again in the evening, the whole day is framed around worship rather than convenience. The morning call to worship sets the tone; the evening gathering draws the day to a close with thanksgiving, reflection, and renewed perspective before the week begins again.

One service may inform us, but a day shaped by resting in the Lord’s presence, builds us and shaped us. It is healthy about returning again and not allowing the cares, meals, entertainment, and distractions of the afternoon to have the final word. The second gathering quietly declares that the Lord’s Day belongs to the Lord from beginning to end. 

I know that the demands of modern life may make it difficult to sometimes attend the evening services. We need to search our hearts for our reasoning, and if it is simply not doable to attend, then ensure that in your own home, you sing, pray and study the word of God, either with your family or by yourself. But the simple fact remains,  there is simply no good alternative, except for family worship but that should happen daily anyway. So what is the alternative, I will be honest, my attempt is feeble, simply because there is not a good answer. We always try to find an alternative, but there just is not one. Gathering with the Lord’s people, there is nothing like it. 

Conclusion

The Lord’s Day is not meant to fit around our lives; our lives are meant to be shaped around the Lord’s Day. But the fact that churches up and down this land have removed their evening services has deeply troubled me over the last few years. Once you realise that believers across the world would love the freedom we have to worship, and yet don’t exercise it, I imagine you would be appalled. 

We have so much freedom, and we do not exercise it. We have the option to meet with God throughout the Sabbath, it is there for us to enjoy and rest in. It is provided for us, so why do we not take advantage of it.

I plead with pastors and elders across the land, please reinstate your evening service; and if you are a church member and your church has an evening service then appreciate it, go to it and gather with your brothers as often as you can. Do not do it because it is a way of evangelism, or a way of dealing with an overflow; but do it because you are eager. Eager to meet with God, to worship Jesus and to receive the blessing of gathering with the church.