This will be a practical blog to encourage our church in something we’re already doing well: enjoying and making the most of our Sundays together at church. It’s the kind of thing we probably all do instinctually as Christians, but it can be helpful to have some reminders and tips. And maybe there will even be some things here that you’ve never thought about before. I’ll have four points.
1. Men Must Have Biblical Goals and Lead Out
We believe here at Coram Deo that men are the heads of their families, and have a unique function of leadership and initiation (Ephesians 5:23). This includes when it comes to church involvement. Men must guide their families according to biblical goals with regard to church. If a man doesn’t speak and act like church is important to him, it is unlikely that his whole family will find it to be all that important. If he isn’t up early on Sunday morning getting himself and everyone ready, and even thinking ahead on Saturday (or earlier in the week) about church, church attendance will likely be spotty and unfruitful. If he doesn’t take steps to ensure his life is geared toward committed church membership and attendance, his family is not likely to do much better. Of course there are exceptions, but a man is generally the thermostat of his family. He sets the spiritual temperature. So the rest of what I say in this blog must particularly be taken seriously by the men, so they can lead their families accordingly.
2. We Must See the Importance of Church and Sunday
Christians who act like going to church is optional or supplemental haven’t learned the first thing about God’s purpose for the world. The long-awaited Christ died on the cross to purchase his bride, the church (Eph 5:25ff). Christ is now building his church (Matt 16:18), which is holy temple (Eph 2:21) and the hub of missionary activity to the whole world (Matt 28:18-20).1 We wouldn’t have most of the New Testament books if the local church was not ordained by God; most of them are written to local churches (i.e., Romans, 1-2 Corinthians, 1-2 Thessalonians). The local church is the body of Christ on earth, where shepherd-teachers who are called by Christ lead the people of God into all their duties under the authority of Christ. Through the church, God is making his manifold wisdom known to spiritual forces in the heavenly places (Eph 3:10). The local church is incredibly important!
When it comes to the Sunday church service, this is not all that the church is and does, of course. But it is a very central and essential part of a local church’s life. From the New Testament period on, Christians always gathered on Sundays to worship Jesus, encourage one another in holiness, and take communion (Acts 20:7; 1 Cor 16:2).2 Sunday is called the Lord’s Day (Rev 1:10), a day uniquely belonging to the Lord Jesus, because he rose from the dead on that day and completed his work of redemption (Matt 28:1). It is a New Sabbath, following the same principle of the Sabbath command (a day of rest and worship, Exod 20:8-11), but transformed by the fullness of revelation we’ve now received in Christ. We dare not neglect the gathering of ourselves at church (Heb 10:25). Sunday is not our day, it is the Lord’s Day. It is not just an extra day off to go fishing, or do extra-curricular activities. But as the Puritans said, the Lord’s Day is a “market day for the soul.”
There are a few practical implications to this that Christians sometimes have not thought through.
(1) Christians should always strive to have work that allows them Sundays off. This is controversial today, and becoming more and more difficult in our 24/7 world, but how can you be a committed member of a church if you don’t have Sundays off? I have had job interviews before where I didn’t get the job because I told them I would not work on Sunday. But the Lord provided another job. Do we not trust that God will provide for us as we follow his commands? Seek first his kingdom, and he will provide for you (Matt 6:33). I understand there are exceptions to this general rule (i.e., emergency doctors or other vital service workers may have to take some shifts on Sundays). I don’t mean to give harmful, unbendable Sabbath rules like the Pharisees. But neither do we want to be loose antinomians.3
(2) Online “church” is not good enough. Since Covid time, we’ve had to make it clear that watching a livestream is not the same thing as embodied, gathered worship. Our face-to-face fellowship at church on Sunday is very important in God’s plan. We are not just consumers of a service, we are members of a body who need each other’s presence, words, and gifts (see 1 Cor 12).
(3) Families should not sign up for team sports that require games to be played on Sundays. What are we teaching our children if we take them to baseball or hockey instead of church on Sunday? We are teaching them that sports are more important than God, church, and the Lord’s commandments.
3. We Must Be Hearers of the Word
One of the most important things we do on a Sunday is hear the Word of God read and preached to us. We also sing the Word, pray the Word, and see the Word in the ordinances of baptism and the Lord’s Supper.4 But hearing the word is very important, as it is God’s speech to us. James 1:22 says: “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.” We should not be mere hearers, but we should still be hearers! If we would practice the word, we must first hear the word.
When we hear the Word read or preached, we are listening to a message from the King. This must entail a reverence and diligence to listen carefully to the words being spoken, so we can apply them to our hearts and lives. As Ken Ramey says in his insightful book Expository Listening, “As a representative of the King of kings, preachers have been given the responsibility and authority to boldly herald forth what God has said in His Word. But the hearers have a responsibility too, one that’s equally pressing: They must engage themselves as wholehearted, blood-earnest listeners who respond to the call of God on all humankind: “Listen, O heavens, and hear, O earth; for the LORD speaks” (Isa. 1:2).”5
It can be difficult to listen to everything that is read and preached in the service, especially for those of us who have little children. But this is why we have provided a quiet room for moms to listen to the service while they deal with their toddlers or babies. This is why we record our sermons every week so we can go back and listen to them (here Coram Deo Baptist Church – YouTube or here Sermons – Coram Deo Baptist Church). It’s also why we’re all striving to train our children to sit in the service and understand the importance of the Word of God themselves.
One more point here: it is good practice to find ways to talk to each other about the Word after the service is over. This helps us reinforce and remember what we have heard, and encourage one another with our own thoughts. We can ask a brother or sister a simple question like, “What did you think of the passage today?” or “What stirred you in the message?” And families can discuss the sermon as they drive home from church.
4. We Must Be Active Particpants
Since we are all members of the body, and we all have unique gifts to build up the body of Christ, we need to come to church considering how to stir each other up to love and good works, how to encourage one another, and how to serve (1 Cor 12:7, 12; Eph 4:7, 12; Heb 10:24; Gal 5:13). There is much joy in actively thinking of others and serving them in church; not just coming to receive, but to give (Acts 20:35). Too often, we treat church like a drive thru restaurant: I get in and out and get what I want with minimal human interaction. This is indeed tempting for selfish (and often introverted) people like you and me. But how beautiful and glorious would it be if everyone in the church came with intentionality to love each other and build each other up, and took the time and effort to serve? This would be a fervent, fruitful, attractive church.
Serving doesn’t always look like having a unique ministry niche in the church like greeting, teaching Sunday school, or changing slides on the PowerPoint. We certainly need people to volunteer for those things. But it’s also in the things that everyone does: praying with our families before church to prepare our hearts, speaking the truth in love to one another, singing out loudly to encourage others with our voice, praying in the congregational prayer time, welcoming newcomers, and building relationships through conversation and hospitality afterwards.
Conclusion
Let’s make the most of our Sundays together, brothers and sisters. Men, take the lead in initiating and planning to make Sundays intentional and fruitful. And let us all do our part to be active members of the body of Christ, that he might be glorified, and all the saints would be built up.
Pastor Rory
- Note how the Great Commission is the work of the church: evangelism, baptism, and continued teaching. ↩︎
- A fascinating description of early Christian worship is found in Pliny’s letter to Emperor Trajan. He speaks about Christians he interrogated: “They asserted, however, that the sum and substance of their fault or error had been that they were accustomed to meet on a fixed day before dawn and sing responsively a hymn to Christ as to a god, and to bind themselves by oath, not to some crime, but not to commit fraud, theft, or adultery, not falsify their trust, nor to refuse to return a trust when called upon to do so. When this was over, it was their custom to depart and to assemble again to partake of food–but ordinary and innocent food.” Accessed here: Pliny and Trajan on the Christians. ↩︎
- An “antinomian” is someone who doesn’t believe God’s law applies to the Christian. Anti=against. Nomos=law. ↩︎
- Mark Dever and Paul Alexander, Deliberate Church (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2005), 74-78. ↩︎
- Ken Ramey, Expository Listening (The Woodlands, TX: Kress Biblical Resources, 2010), 4. ↩︎