Is The Lord's Day Saturday or Sunday?

• Introduction:

          -God had originally instituted Saturday as the Sabbath during the Old Testament so that His people could relax from physical labor and concentrate on worshiping Him. The prohibition of work on that day did not extend to service done for God or that which is necessary.

          -Christians gathered on Sunday because Jesus Christ resurrected on that day. Acts 20:7-12 speaks of worship and the breaking of bread on the first day of the week. 1 Corinthians 16:1-2 speaks of money being set aside on the first day of each week.

• Sabbath Worship Nowhere Mentioned In The New Testament:

          -The New Testament restates nine of the Ten Commandments. Worshiping God according to His will covers the first three commandments. The Sabbath is the missing one. Why? The reason is that Jesus Christ is the Lord of the Sabbath (Matthew 12:8), and He is our rest (Hebrews 4)!

• Are Christians Obligated To Observe The Sabbath?:

        -There is nothing wrong in and of itself with Christians gathering together to worship on Saturday. In fact, we have been given the liberty of choosing which days that we wish to celebrate in worship of God (Romans 14:1-12; Colossians 2:13-17). We should be glorifying the Creator daily.

• What Is The Purpose Of Sunday Worship?:

          -The purpose of gathering to worship God on Sunday is to celebrate the Christ's finished work on the cross and His resurrection (1 Corinthians 11:26). Furthermore, Jesus instructed us to use bread and wine (communion "meal") as symbols to remember His body and shed blood (Matthew 26:26-28; Luke 22:18-20; 1 Corinthians 11:23-25). Christians do not observe a "Christian Sabbath." Rather, we set aside a day to especially worship God. However, it is understandable if one cannot do so on that day due to an obstacle such as a business schedule or family emergency. Sunday worship is simply a respectable, apostolic tradition. It is not a dogma, but we still need each other (Hebrews 10:25).

• How Often Should We Celebrate Communion?:

          -The New Testament does not identify a specific number of times (or when) in which Christians are to partake of the communion meal (bread and wine). However, notice how the Apostle Paul recorded a statement of Jesus in 1 Corinthians 11:25, which is as follows, "Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me." We can infer from those words that we have been given some flexibility. The frequency of participating in the communion meal is not as important as our state of heart when we do it. We should observe the Lord's Supper often enough to make it a vital part of our ongoing worship services. To partake of the meal too frequently would be to reduce it to merely a ritual. To partake of it in too seldom of a manner would cause people to forget the significance of Jesus Christ's work.