Do What on Sunday?  
 

by Bill Hall

There was a time in our society when nearly everyone thought that it was right to "go to church on Sunday." Even those who didn't attend would agree that they should attend, and felt that one day they would do so. They admired their neighbors who were regular in attendance, and had a deep respect for preachers and others who were truly religious.

That time has passed to a great extent. People are often heard to say, "I can get close to God in ways other than going to church." So they go for a walk in the woods, or drive through the mountains, or go boating on a lake, or sit at home and listen to a preacher on TV. Others feel that good morality is what counts, not church attendance; that if they live a life that is morally clean, give to the needy and various worthy causes, contribute something to the welfare of youth, and in a general way do those things that will make this world a better world, surely God would not send them to hell just because they didn't "attend church."

What does God say about this question? God commands people to worship Him with other Christians on the first day of the week. "And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them" (Acts 20:7).... "When ye come   together in the church" (I Cor. 11:18) …"When ye come together therefore into one place" (I Cor. 11:20)… "Teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs" (Col. 3:16)....    "Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is" (Hebrews 10:25). The message of these verses is clear. One cannot sit at home on Sundays, or go for a ride in the mountains, or walk in the woods, and please God. If he wants to do what God commands and go to heaven when he dies, he must worship God with God's people.

"But where should I attend?" someone may be thinking; “So many churches today!” Some churches are hardly more than social and welfare society that have little regard for the Bible. Fortunately, there are churches that are spiritual in their emphasis, that have refused to follow the social and promotional ways characteristic of so many of the churches around us. Where should one attend? Where truth is taught; where the Bible is respected, not only as the word of God, but as the final authority in religion; where worship is conducted "in spirit and in truth, " that is, as the scriptures teach (John 4:24); where, in every way, the church is seeking to pattern itself after the teaching of the New Testament; where the church is doing what Christ authorizes, rather than what the majority of the members wants to do. This will require investigation, but careful investigation can pay great dividends that are eternal in nature.

We are not telling people to "go to the church of your choice next Sunday;" we are telling people to study the scriptures to learn what God's will is, and to work and worship with others who are determined to do God’s will.

 

Other Articles by Bill Hall

Fellowship
Two Men Know They are Saved
The Church's Purpose
Attitudes Towards the Weak
The Booing Spectators
Two Men Disagree With the Preacher