Sunday, the first day of the week, is a special day for Christians.  It is the Lord’s Day and is the day that the first-century church was commanded to gather to worship God.  It is called the Lord’s Day because it was the day that Jesus rose from the dead (Mark 16:1-8), the day the Holy Spirit fell upon the apostles, denoting the time when the kingdom of God would come with power (Mark 9:1; Acts 2:1-4, and the time that the church of Christ came into existence (Acts 2:5-47).

Some teach that the church should still observe the Sabbath and worship on that day, that is, Saturday; however, the evidence that the church, under apostolic guidance, worshiped on Sunday is clear-cut and overwhelming.  A part of that evidence is that the New Testament church observed the Lord’s Supper on the first day of the week.

As Christians, we are commanded by Christ, and His inspired apostle, Paul, to partake of the Lord’s Supper.

1 Corinthians 11:23–26 (ESV)
²³ For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, ²⁴ and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” ²⁵ In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” ²⁶ For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

When did the early church observe this sacred supper?  They did so every first day of the week.  Why?  Because that is the Lord’s Day, and the day that the church was commanded to gather for worship.  How do we know this?  In part, because we have an example of the church at Troas doing this very thing.

Acts 20:7 (ESV)
⁷ On the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul talked with them, intending to depart on the next day, and he prolonged his speech until midnight.

Notice that the very purpose for this local coming together was to partake of the Lord’s Supper, fulfilling the command of the Lord.  This does not mean that this avenue of worship is any more important than any other, but it does highlight one of the main reasons the church gathers.  What day did they come together to do this?  “On the first day of the week.”

There is another act of worship the church did exclusively on the Lord’s Day—they gave of their means to support the word of the Lord.

1 Corinthians 16:1–2 (ESV)
¹ Now concerning the collection for the saints: as I directed the churches of Galatia, so you also are to do. ² On the first day of every week, each of you is to put something aside and store it up, as he may prosper, so that there will be no collecting when I come.

I will write more about this avenue of worship in tomorrow’s blog, but for now notice, once again, that this giving was to be done on the first day of every week.  Why?  Because that was the day of worship for the early church.  We have no authority to observe these acts (the Lord’s Supper and giving) on any other day.  There is no example of the church doing it on any other day, nor a command to do so.  Thus, if we are to be like the first-century church, we will observe them every first day of the week as well.  After all, it is the Lord’s Day.

As you wind down for the night, think about these things.