ecclesiology

THE DAY FOR CORPORATE WORSHIP  The New Testament church used Sunday as their day of corporate worship. They did this in spite of the fact that it was not a weekly holiday that people had free. Undoubtedly many Christian slaves were on call all day every day; yet they made time for corporate worship.  Charles Caldwell Ryrie, Basic Theology: A Popular Systematic Guide to Understanding Biblical Truth (Chicago, IL: Moody Press, 1999), 499.

 Not from the Law  Not an emphasis of the early church  Not an emphasis of the Church Fathers  Both saw value in all of the ten commandments but did not emphasize the fourth  Did not mention a Sabbath in solving the “Gentile Problem” (Acts 15.29)  NT teaches that the Law ended (Rm 10.4, 2 Cor )  No one was to judge Christians by the Jewish calendar (Col 2.16)  Jewish tradition contributed idea of weekly worship, but not day  Not from the Calendar  The Jews observed a seven day cycle (based on Creation)  Greeks and Romans had no such regularity  Four day “market” weeks  Eight day “market” weeks  Confusion reigned until Constantine  Seven day delineation came from putting together the sun, moon, and five known planets (Sunday, Monday, Saturday remain from Roman calendar)  As late as French Revolution, attempt at a ten-day week

 Sunday was the day of the Lord’s resurrection  Matt. 28:1; Mark 16:2, 9; Luke 24:1; John 20:1, 19;  Day of Pentecost fell on the first day of the week (50 days after Passover)  Early Christian worship was regularly on the first day of the week  Acts 20:7; 1 Cor. 16:2  The day is called ‘The Lord’s Day’ in Rev 1.10 (reminiscent of ‘The Lord’s Supper’ 1 Cor 11.20)  In the Empire, used by believers in contrast with the Emperor’s or Augustus’s day On the first day of the week…

 Attended Jewish gatherings (synagogues) on the Sabbath to evangelize  Acts 13.14,  Gathered for Christian worship on the day of resurrection  Acts 20:7; 1 Cor. 16:2

 1. Remember and celebrate Christ’s resurrection.  2. Gather together for corporate worship (Heb. 10:25; 1 Cor. 3:16).  3. Do your accounting relative to giving (1 Cor. 16:2).  4. Observe the Lord’s Supper (Acts 20:7).

 Secularized ‘civil’ Sunday filled with leisure activities  Christians too caught up in secular activities  Churches abandon opportunities to use the hours for church activities The result may soon be that Sunday will be like every other day of the week, requiring normal work hours as well, and believers will be back in the first century trying to find early morning or late evening hours for worship. (Ryrie, 501.)