Not Being There

I was baptised some 24 years ago. Since that time I have, by God's grace, gone to church on the first day of nearly every week, both in the morning and in the evening. I have on rare occasions been kept away by illness or baby sitting duties and at one low point (notably when I was a theological student!) I simply skipped the evening meeting.

Why do I do it?

• I do it because God has commanded believers not to give up meeting together with each other hut to do it all the more as Christ's return approaches.
• I do it because I recognise the Lord's Day as what the Puritans called the 'market day of the soul' - a God given opportunity to spend time under God's Word and with God's people. I want something for my soul.
• I do it because I know, whether I am preaching or not, I can encourage others simply by being there.

Any believer who deliberately refrains from attending church on the Lord's Day, or who comes only once, is ignoring God's command, potentially harming his soul and discouraging fellow believers.

Can you be a Christian if you do not go to church? As a teenager it was the tradition in my home church for the young people to go carol singing at Christmas to the homes of elderly members who were not able to get to the regular meetings of the church. I remember, in my youthful arrogance, wondering if these elderly ladies really could be believers if they were unable to summon up the strength to be with us on the Lord's Day. The fact is, however, that there are many of God's people who would dearly love to be with the Lord's people on the Lord's Day, but they no longer can. A number of those reading these words may now be in that very position.

Sometimes people die suddenly. Rarely, we hear of someone dying in church. Perhaps you have been present when it has happened. Much more often, people get ill, they worsen, they are confined to bed and eventually they die. For most Christians there are, at the end of their lives, weeks, months, sometimes years in which they are simply not able to come to church or can only come once on the Lord's Day or only infrequently. For all of us there may be periods when, for various reasons, we are not able to meet regularly with the people of God on the Lord's Day. We all need to reckon with this distinct possibility before it happens.

What can we do to prepare for such an eventuality? Here are some suggestions:

• Make the most of every present opportunity to meet with God's people
• Be thankful for those opportunities, whatever the temptation to think otherwise. Do not take such opportunities for granted.
• Work hard at your own personal walk with God. Daily prayer and study of the Word are vital. Meeting with God's people on the Lord's Day is there for us, to help us - may be for a life-time, may be for a shorter period. If we lose this privilege for any reason, in God's providence, we must still walk with the Lord and serve him.
• Look forward to and think often of heaven and the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. Then we will gather at his feet - and not one will be missing.
• Bear in mind the many who do not have your privileges. Not only are there the sick who, in some cases, can never be present, but also many who are kept away regularly by legitimate duties. Pray that God will make it up to them in other ways.

Our late brother and our late sister

`... get me to the church on time ...' is an old musical song. It is not only brides or even bridegrooms who get to the church late. Every Sunday it is a problem for some.

There are different types of latecomer

Habitual

Such people have been late so often it is now the norm. They are hardly embarrassed at turning up ten or fifteen minutes late and more. It is their regular pattern.

Occasional

Others are quite embarrassed when they arrive late. Once every six weeks, six or seven times a year, it happens. The norm is to be on time but sometimes not.

We all have our days

Perhaps there is no-one reading this who has never been late. Maybe it was not your fault or may be it was. We all need to consider the subject. Most of us could arrive earlier than we do. 

People are late for various reasons

Bad Planning

Most arrive late because of bad organisation. God is a God of order. We are in his image and he expects us to be orderly too. Some mistakes are common. People fail to allow for:

Travelling

No matter how near or far from the church you live you need to allow time to travel there. This is why so often the nearer people live to the building the more likely they are to arrive late. Those far away allow plenty of travelling time but those who live near forget this factor.

Preparation

This is equally obvious but often forgotten. This is one reason why it is more difficult for a family to arrive on time than for an individual. Children also have to be got ready.

The unexpected

Oversleeping, a little accident at the breakfast table, an unexpected telephone call, a traffic jam. All sorts of unexpected things can cause delay. Your routine must make allowance for such things.

Bad Habits

Trying to do other things before church

Sunday School lesson preparation, a chapter of a book, a telephone call. Whatever it is, if it is allowed to interfere with the routine of getting ready for church a late arrival is likely.

Getting up late

If you want to be in church on a Lord's Day morning, the time you rise is crucial. Use your alarm clock. Many like a little lie-in on Sundays but evidence points to the benefits of rising at the same hour every day of the week. If you love the Lord's Day you will want to be up earlier, not later, anyway.

Going to bed too late the night before

One reason some are slow to rise on Sunday morning is a late Saturday night. 'No work tomorrow', they think, so stay up late, then wake up late and arrive at church late. 

Deeper Problems

A disorganised lifestyle

Some are not just late for church but for everything else. Such a lifestyle is a pain to others and dishonouring to God. It must be dealt with.

A low view of the importance of order and punctuality

Further back is a failure to see lack of order and a lack of punctuality as sin against God, a failure to reflect his image.

A low view of the Lord's Day

Another problem is a low view of the Lord's Day and corporate worship. Christians disagree about aspects of the Lord's Day but all agree it is a special day. The last thing it should be is a day for lying in bed. Like our Lord we should be up early and doing on his Day. When we have agreed to meet with fellow believers we should be especially prompt to fulfil our duty and enjoy our privilege. 

There are other problems. In multi-cultural churches sometimes it seems that those of certain cultures are more likely to arrive late. This may be deceptive as, where some say 'Better late than never', others say 'There on time or not at all'. In my experience stereo-types are often proved wrong. Whatever our culture we must not be bound by it but in Christ rise above it. Another matter worth considering, where families are concerned, is the matter of harmony and team work. Without this such families are likely often to be late.

Late arrival at worship meetings is a bad thing because of the effect it has on -

Yourself

You miss out on parts of the worship

The minister has carefully prepared each part of the meeting. If you arrive late you inevitably miss out on some of that.

You come in unprepared

At the start of a meeting, allowance will be made for the fact we often come with cold hearts but if you are late, and come in at a point when it is hoped hearts are warmed, you may find worship difficult.

Others

No matter how careful you are you almost inevitably disturb others in their worship

The last thing one needs is distractions but if you are late you give the devil one more opportunity.

You are likely to discourage and disorientate the preacher

In most assemblies the minister will know if you are late. It may encourage him to know you are there but it cannot encourage him to know you are late. It may disorientate him for a moment as he takes into account your presence.

Your bad example

encourages others to be slack and gives the impression that God does not matter. This may not be your intention but it is likely that this is how others will react.

Practically

Get a right perspective

It is clear from what we have said that a high view of the Lord's Day, of corporate worship and of orderliness as part of a holy life will do a great deal to deliver from the sin of lateness. A careful study of our Lord's lifestyle could do wonders to our thinking by God's grace.

Get organised

A little preparation on Saturday night can make a big difference. Cleaning shoes, choosing clothes, peeling potatoes. All can save precious minutes. Do not go to bed late either and remember to set the alarm for your usual rising time. Plan a routine, remembering to allow for the unexpected and not attempting too much before church. Above all get into the habit of arriving in good time. You will enjoy it.

This article originally appeared in Grace Magazine

40 Good Things to do on a Sunday Afternoon

This is a slightly expanded version of an article that originally appeared in Grace Magazine

The plot of Thomas Hardy’s Far from the madding crowd turns partly on an idle Sunday afternoon when the heroine Bathsheba Everdene, not knowing what to do with herself, engages in a foolish piece of teasing. There seems to be a number of good Christian people today who do not know what to do with themselves on the Lord’s Day. So here is a series of suggestions as to how to use such time wisely. Even if you are involved in meetings or you take a nap there will still be time to do one or two things. It would certainly be impossible to do all of them. Of course, they can be done on any day but for most of us, if they are not done on a Sunday they never will be done. If you have no time for any of them then perhaps you need to take a fresh look at how you organise your week. May they be a help to you, or at the very least set you thinking.

1 Have an extended time of family worship

2 Listen to a sermon or something similar on mp3, downloaded podcast, CD, etc, eg a Sunday sermon you have missed or an old one you have forgotten

3 Read the Bible, perhaps a whole book or section at one sitting

4 Go over (or catch up on) your weekday Bible readings or prepare for your daily Bible readings in the week ahead, eg reading introductory materials

5 Do some Scripture memory work, eg using Navigator aids

6 Compose a picture or a poem arising out of some biblical theme that is on your mind

7 Spend some time in prayer with others or alone. Concentrate on a particular area, eg mission or the family

8 Revise your prayer list

9 Sing some hymns with others, with your own accompaniment, a CD/Youtube/Spotify or on your own

10 Learn a new hymn or teach one to others

11 Listen to some hymns on your Youtube/Spotify, etc

12 Have a Bible quiz or work through Bible puzzles with any children around

13 Read a good Christian biography or church history, eg one of the volumes in Nick Needham’s 2000 Years of Christ’s Power or Arnold Dallimore on George Whitefield

14 Read a good commentary or doctrinal book. Perhaps you could read through something like Matthew Henry’s Commentary or Grudem or Reymond’s Systematic Theology Sunday by Sunday. How about working through the 1689 Confession?

15 Read a Christian classic with others (use a children’s edition if youngsters are involved) eg Pilgrim s Progress

16 Read from a good Christian coffee-table book such as a book of maps and charts or a pictorial encyclopaedia

17 Read a good Christian magazine

18 Read something from a good Christian website downloaded earlier in the week

19 Talk about the things of God with other Christians indoors or out

20 Share your testimony with someone or listen to theirs - again or for the first time

21 Discuss the sermon you have heard or share it with someone who has not. How much can you remember?

22 With children, discuss the Sunday School lesson or children’s address. Help them with memory work or catechise them. Even work through one for yourself, eg The Shorter Catechism or the Baptist versions of Keach or Spurgeon. This can be done while out walking

23 Visit someone who is in hospital or sick at home

24 Check that all is well with your neighbour next door, especially if they are elderly

25 Show hospitality to someone - a stranger or someone who would otherwise be on their own

26 Engage formally in self-examination using questions for your soul, eg go through The Ten Commandments or The Beatitudes

27 Meditate on God’s goodness to you, especially in recent days. Keep a weekly diary of God’s providences

28 Write a journal entry concerning God’s dealings with you over the last week

29 Write a pithy sentence summing up some lesson you have learned in the last week

30 Write down one way in which you have related to God’s Word over the past week in an alphabetically arranged book. Soon you will have your own uninspired but personal Psalm 119

31 Write a letter or send an e-mail to a missionary

32 Write a letter or send an e-mail or telephone to encourage a fellow believer, someone recently bereaved perhaps

33 Write a letter or send an e-mail on behalf of a persecuted believer

34 Write a letter or send an e-mail to or telephone an unbeliever pointing them to Christ

35 Telephone or text someone who was absent from church and see how they are

36 If you know what the passage will be in the evening look over it in preparation

37 Telephone someone to invite them to the evening meeting

38 Go out evangelising with tracts, door to door or something similar

39 Did the minister suggest something in his morning sermon to look at or did something come to mind as he preached - a passage to look up, a subject to investigate? Start on it

40 Take a walk in the park or countryside and see how many things you see to give thanks for

Why go to church twice on Sundays?

Sadly, we hear increasingly of churches giving up having two preaching meetings on the Lord’s Day. Thankfully most Grace churches continue to have two meetings and sometimes more. Yet not everyone wants to be at both meetings. Let me introduce you to that exotic but hardly rare species of churchgoer sometimes known as The Oncer

Oncers come in three main varieties. Most common are Morning Oncers. They are very faithful on a Lord’s Day morning, never miss. But as for any later meetings, they are nowhere to be seen. Of course, sometimes older people are a little wary of venturing out at night. Legitimate duties keep some away but, sad to say, even when a lift is arranged or circumstances change the Morning Oncer often still refuses to venture out a second time. Evening Oncers are rarer but, especially in some parts of the country where the tradition is strong, you will see such people without fail in the evening or afternoon meeting though they hardly ever come in the morning. Most exotic of all are Random Oncers. With these you never know quite what will happen until the day is over. If they are not there in the morning they may be there in the evening, but then again, you may not see them at all

Such people are often unbelievers but plenty of men and women who profess faith in Christ almost never think of coming along to church twice on the Lord’s Day, even though there are always two meetings and they are well able to come to both. The idea of coming twice on the Lord’s Day is a form of fanaticism they dare not contemplate. When I was converted as a teenager no-one told me to come to both Sunday meetings I just assumed it was the right thing to do. Not everyone finds it so simple. What arguments might induce them to come more often?

1. Remember, each meeting is a ‘public means of grace’

Therefore all healthy believers will want to be at both. At church the Word of God is read and expounded, the sacraments of the Lord’s Supper and baptism are often administered, there is prayer and praise and fellowship. All these are means of receiving blessing from God. How odd that any serious believer should deliberately throw up half the opportunities they have for such things each Lord’s Day.

2. It is a Scriptural command to meet often with God’s people

Hebrews 10:25 shows us that there were problems with attendance even in the earliest days. However, the writer urges his readers not to give up meeting together as some have done but to do so more and more as you see the Day approaching. The nearer we get to the Day of Judgment and the Lord’s Return the more eager we ought to be to meet with God’s people.

3. Coming to both meetings will greatly help you to honour the Lord’s Day

Christians certainly differ in their understanding of the Lord’s Day but there is a general recognition that Sunday should be different, separate from the other days of the week. Surely this should be so not merely of part of the day but of the whole day. If you properly prepare yourself for and properly take part in the two meetings, you will find that most of your day has been wisely filled. One sometimes wonders what Oncers do with the rest of their day.

4. At most churches the two meetings are quite distinctive

Failure to attend both may create an imbalance. In many places one meeting is features teaching for ‘saints’ and the other a gospel message for ‘sinners’. Anyone receiving only one of these is getting an imbalanced diet. Even where this is not strictly followed there is usually a commitment to expository preaching morning and evening. Rarely will a minister preach on a book of the Bible in the later meeting that he has already expounded in the morning and vice-versa. Oncers are likely never to hear some parts of Scripture expounded even though a little effort would give them the opportunity. Listening to the message on tape is hardly the same thing as being there under the Word and worshipping with the people.

5. By coming to both meetings you may avoid the ‘Service’ mentality

Perhaps it is the word ‘Service’ that gives the wrong impression. Undoubtedly some look on the church as providing a service for the public’s convenience. Services at different times of the day mean that one can come when it best suits. If you are a late riser or you like to have an elaborate Sunday lunch, fear not, you can always catch ‘the late show’. Or if you like to stop in on Sunday evenings watching TV or you go to see friends or family after lunch ‘the first sitting’ should be enough to keep you up to the mark. Full involvement in all the meetings of the Lord’s people should help to dispel that sort of consumer mentality which does so much harm to Christians.

6. Paradoxically it will enable you to be aware of everyone in the church orbit, even the Oncers

I have a friend whose church has such a large number of Oncers some the morning sort and some the evening type that the morning and evening congregations are quite different. Some people never meet, even though they go to the same church and hear the same men preach! While Oncers continue to exist the only way to know all those who attend the same place of worship is if you do not do the same.

7. You will be a great encouragement to your pastor and the rest of the congregation who have no doubt put as much effort into the earlier meeting as the later one if you will make the effort to come to both

The super-spiritual will reply that they do not come to church to please men but to please God. However, in Hebrews 10:25 the writer has no embarrassment in urging the people to meet more often in order to encourage one another. What an encouragement it might be, under God, if you decided to give up your lie in, your walk in the countryside, your cosy evenings in or whatever and started coming twice on Sundays. It will do you some good too if you stay humble. What about it?

Special Articles - 1 Special Day

Dash: You always say, "Do your best" but you don't really mean it. Why can't I do the best that I can do?

Helen: Right now, honey, the world just wants us to fit in, and to fit in, we just gotta be like everybody else.

Dash: Dad always said our powers were nothing to be ashamed of. Our powers made us special.

Helen: Everyone's special, Dash.
Dash: [sullenly] Which is another way of saying no one is.

This mother and son dialogue is from Pixar's critically acclaimed animation The Incredibles, about a super-hero family living at a time when super-heroes are not fashionable. The dialogue perceptively highlights an issue in western society today.

Specialisation is receiving a negative press. People fear that in the academic and business worlds, for example, it is causing harm.

Another negative influence on perception is the way young people, influenced by phrases such as special education and Special Olympics use the word in a pejorative way.

Besides all this, some evangelicals have had bad experiences when special people, days and times have been held in high esteem and are rather wary of such talk.

Growing numbers of evangelicals are not at all keen on the idea of special people, special days or special times.

Yet surely fear of specialisation should hardly characterise people who serve a God who has singled out one special planet in this vast universe, earth, to be inhabited; one special creature, humankind, to be his focus; and one special people, believers in Jesus Christ, to redeem.

*

There was a time when most evangelicals accepted that not all days are the same. There are seven days in a week but the first is special, the “day of rest and gladness” when “Christ rose from depths of earth”, a special day to celebrate.

In more recent years, however, more and more are shying away from the idea. It is usually put in terms of every day being special rather than no day being special but, as Dash would say, saying every day is special is another way of saying no day is.

Such people often quote Romans 14:5, 6a and Colossians 2:16, 17. One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. The one who observes the day, observes it in honour of the Lord. ... let no one pass judgement on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. It is clear, they say, keeping a day special is fine but it is not an obligation. Certainly no-one can say “keep the Sabbath” as it is only an Old Testament shadow anyway.

On the face of it, the verses seem to say that. Seasoned Bible students, however, know that first impressions can be wrong. Rather than simply assume Paul is talking about Sundays, wisdom suggests considering other possibilities. Albert Barnes' commentary points out that Sabbath in Colossians 2:16 is plural and highly unlikely to refer to the Lord's Day. “There is no evidence from this passage that he would teach that there was no obligation to observe any holy time, for there is not the slightest reason to believe that he meant to teach that one of the ten commandments had ceased to be binding.” In 1971 Paul Jewett similarly remarked that “it is unconvincing ... to press Paul’s statement in Romans 14:5 so absolutely as to have considered John a Judaiser for having called one day in the week the Lord’s Day, thus giving it the pre-eminence.” Such statements should give pause.

If no day is special, why did God allocate seven days to creation, deliberately making one different?

If no day is special, why does Moses make the point that one day in seven is specially blessed and set apart to God?

If no day is special, why, in John 20, having met with his disciples on the evening of his resurrection in Thomas' absence, is it only eight days later (John 20:26), the following Sunday, that Jesus meets with them again? Did he not know that all days are now equal?

If no day is special, why was the Spirit poured out on the Lord's Day? Is it simply coincidence?

If no day is special, given that Acts 20:6 says Paul spent seven days in Troas, why wait until Sunday to break bread and preach, especially given that Paul's sermon went on until midnight? If only he had realised there are no special days any more!

If no day is special, why did Paul tell the Corinthians to put gifts aside and store them up as God prospered on the first day of every week not just any day? Did he not know that all days are now equal?

If no day is special, why, in Revelation, does John speak about the Lord's Day? Did he not know that every day is the Lord's day?

One is not naïve enough to think that the Sabbath question is easy to settle but if we can at least agree that the first day of the week is special we will at least make some progress in the right direction.

This article first appeared in Evangelical Times