Why Churches Should Resurrect Sunday Evening Services

Kevin DeYoung, senior pastor at University Reformed Church, recently revealed a few reasons why congregants should consider "keeping ... going to ... or even starting" an evening service at the church on The Gospel Coalition website.

"Having an evening service keeps the Lord's day the Lord's Day," the Michigan preacher noted. "Without the evening service, I find it too easy to treat Sunday worship like an hour to get done at the beginning of the day."
"The temptation to squeeze worship into the margins of life is even more pronounced when we finish our worship 'requirement' by 8 pm on Saturday evening," he added. ...

read more: http://www.christianpost.com/news/why-churches-should-resurrect-sunday-evening-services-68303/

Jimp, does your church offer sermons online by any chance? Or are they just live streamed?

Thanks Jimp. I know you've mentioned that they send out lots of missionaries, so I'm curious if they might have any in my area. It would be cool if there were some by chance.

While I am not a legalist about the "sabbath", there is a very good principle concerning a day of rest (instituted by God!) that promotes not only physical but spiritual health. Whether you are able to have that day of rest on Sunday, Saturday, Tuesday does not matter according to the Aposlte Paul. But we should set aside a day for rest and honor for the Lord.

Personally... I find the "rest" part of it very hard to keep when there are activities at the church morning, noon and night on Sunday. Some may not, but I do. I used to go to a church where it was Sunday School, church service, pot luck dinner and then come back a few hours later for more preaching and come Monday morning I was exhausted.

And some people treat the Sunday evening service as if it is mandated in scripture... which it is not. In fact, if I'm not mistaken, I read something once that suggested that the Sunday evening service came about when churches were usually one of the first buildings in town to have the electric light bulb... and they used it as an evangelical outreach... a "gimmick" to reach the lost.

Keep in mind... I AM NOT AGAINST AN EVENING SERVICE! We should gather with the saints often and regularly, and for some the evening service works perfectly.

We just need to be careful not to judge each other based upon whether or not one attends an evening service.

Krispy

I don't think another service is going to cure Christianity of any of its ills.

Amen to that... if we have learned anything in the last 15 years it's that works or gimmicks or activities does not cure the spiritual condition of anyone. Instead what we need is more of JESUS. The sheep in the church need more of Jesus, and the goats need Jesus period.

Krispy

The Sabbath was made for man yes, in that we rest in Him.

Matthew 11:28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you Sabbath.

It is beneficial for all of us to get plenty of rest but it's not a law for us to keep the Sabbath in any way shape or form, it was given to man in the OT to be observed and obeyed and in the New Testament, God gave His Son in whom by trusting in Him we do enter into Sabbath. No longer observing it in our flesh but by faith we have entered into His Sabbath and by that alone is sufficient as far as our part is concerned.

Hebrews 4:3 For WE WHICH HAVE believed do enter into rest,

We have, past tense have entered into His Sabbath.

Though all these things have been done in the Spirit, I do not negate the fact that rest is necessary for the flesh, but it's not a law that one should keep, however, rest will benefit all of creation when we do observe them for the sake of that which requires rest.

For example, It is said that by tilling the soil for six years on the seventh let the soil rest. And there is great benefit when a field is left from being tilled. In this world today, the soil is worked until it's lost it's ph balance. So they put more ph into it trying to work it some more and their crops are not producing properly. The ground needs rest. The same goes for human beings when we push and work and we don't sit down and take time for reflexion we put the body under such stress that we have anxiety attacks and we wonder why we have pressure in and around our heart. We sleep for six hours per night and wonder why ten cups of coffee isn't working anymore. The ph we are adding is not working, we need the rest.

This type of rest and Christ rest is not the same thing. One is wrought by faith, the other is just common sense. We know that if we overwork something it's going to break down. But the rest that is in Christ, there is no labour in trying to obtain favour with God, we have that by faith in Christs' work. Since Christ obtained our righteousness by His work, our rest is obtained by faith and has nothing to do with whether I keep Saturday or Sunday or any day of the week. Or whether I let my fields rest or not, that does not change our sabbath in Christ.

However, letting our fields rest is still a good idea. Getting eight or more hours of sleep per night is also a good idea. This type of rest has nothing to do with our standing in Christ Jesus.