The Lord’s Day is not the Sabbath, but can be like the Sabbath in rest and celebration of Christ’s resurrection.

⁷ On the first day of the week we came together to break bread. Paul spoke to the people…Acts 20:7

God established our week to be seven days long with one day of rest. Jews have celebrated Sabbath on the last day of the week (Saturday) for over 3500 years, but the concept of six days of toil and one day of rest goes all the way back to God’s creation of the heavens and the earth,

² By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. ³ Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done. Genesis 2:2

Paul and the early Christians celebrated on the first day of the week because Jesus Christ rose from the dead on the first day of the week (Matthew 28:1-10). Because of all three of these traditions, we have this statute in the Baptist Faith & Message:

VIII. The Lord’s Day

The first day of the week is the Lord’s Day. It is a Christian institution for regular observance. It commemorates the resurrection of Christ from the dead and should include exercises of worship and spiritual devotion, both public and private. Activities on the Lord’s Day should be commensurate with the Christian’s conscience under the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

Exodus 20:8-11; Matthew 12:1-12; 28:1ff.; Mark 2:27-28; 16:1-7; Luke 24:1-3,33-36; John 4:21-24; 20:1,19-28; Acts 20:7; Romans 14:5-10; I Corinthians 16:1-2; Colossians 2:16; 3:16; Revelation 1:10.

We don’t have any rules, per se, about how to celebrate the Lord’s Day, but we do have customs, such as congregating for fellowship, worship, teaching, ministry and evangelism–and eating. We do a lot of eating. Whether we meet on Sunday or another day, for one service or for two, early or late, dressed up or casual, traditional or contemporary music, we meet to celebrate the Lord’s resurrection, to pledge ourselves anew to Him, and to affirm to the world our faith in Christ’s imminent return (since I lead the music at my church, I’m particularly fond of the worship time).

I pray you look forward to a weekly get-together with other Christians to celebrate our Lord Jesus Christ. One thing that helps is to spend time daily reading His Word and fellowshipping with Him on a personal and private level. By the time Sunday rolls around, you’re raring to go!

Abba, meeting together in Your name is one of the highlights of my week. The other highlights are my personal time with You, the time I get to spend with Robin talking about spiritual matters, and my time with others discussing Your Word and in prayer. May You continue to show us “great and unsearchable things we do not know” (Jeremiah 33:3). Amen.