Quick and Easy
For many Americans today, we like things quick. Our attention spans are short. We like things to get over speedily, so we can move on to other things that we find amusing or interesting. And we also like things easy. If something is a bit inconvenient, or requires more planning or coordination to make it happen, we’re more likely to say, “No,” rather than, “Yes.” And so when it comes to doing church, a lot of peope have looked for something quick and easy – a one and done church service in the morning. Attending evening church services has become something uncommon, or even strange, to many people.
This has even become the case for the average American churchgoer. Over the past several decades, people have increasingly repurposed Sundays for other things. Sunday has increasingly become a day for sports, or a day to sleep in until noon, or a day for hobbies, or traveling, or yard work. And the thing here that’s really strange is that many of us have accepted all this as normal, even as Christians! Sunday has been viewed less and less as a day for worshiping God, and more and more as a day that happens to start off with a 75-minute church event in the morning.
Why Have Morning and Evening Church Services?
Having two services on Sunday may not be particularly quick. And for many families or individuals, it may not be easy. But there are several reasons why it’s valuable and advisable for churches to hold morning and evening services each Sunday.
For one thing, from the beginning of Creation, God has set apart one day in seven for rest and worship (Genesis 2:1-3; Exodus 20:8-11). Faithful expressions of worship among the people of God involved morning and evening worship (Psalm 92:1-15, Psalm 134). And if it was appropriate for God’s people to worship him morning and evening before the glory of Christ’s coming, while the expression of God’s grace at the cross remained shrouded in mystery, how much more should God’s people today be eager and willing to give one full day in seven to the Lord in worship.
And certainly, in much of church history, this is precisely the example which has been handed down to us by our brothers and sisters. In many Protestant churches since the time of the Reformation, especially, it is a clearly recorded practice that these churches gathered morning and evening, and set aside the whole day – not just 75 minutes of the day – for worshipping and resting from their regular work and ambitions.
Practical Benefits of Morning and Evening Worship
Yet there are many other practical reasons why morning and evening church services are valuable for us. For one thing, adding evening services to our week is important for our spiritual vitality and integrity. These services provide us with another opportunity each week for our minds to be renewed and our hearts to be reoriented according to the Word of God, the Bible. Evening church services are valuable for us relationally and emotionally. They bring us more frequently into sharpening relationships with our brothers and sisters, for spiritual encouragement, and accountability, and enduring friendships.
Evening services in our churches also encourage us to truly aside our regular responsibilies and distractions for the other six days of the week, and to enjoy unhurried fellowship with God throughout the whole day. And if we, as Christians, are unashamed, enthusiastic, and active in honoring the Lord on Sunday mornings and evenings, this will help our neighbors (and even our own children!) to see that the Lord we serve isn’t just someone we worship when it’s “quick and easy.” But we gather for morning and evening church services because we delight in him, and adore Him, and want to spend time honoring God and hearing from His Word.
In an age when we’re more bombarded by worldly social media posts and advertisements, and TV commercials, and billboards, and ungodly political posturing, and all the rest, our need to spend undistracted time in the worship of God is greater than it has ever been. Our kids and grandkids need to be taught that we aren’t wasting our “free time” if we spend Sunday nights sitting at the feet of Jesus.
Bringing Back Sunday Evening Church Services
In saying these things, though, I run the risk of making it sound like evening church services have some sort of magical power to revitalize complacent or convenience-driven churches. It may also sound like I’m suggesting that people who go to both morning and evening church services are “better Christians,” or something of the sort. But I’m aware that churches can very easily hold evening services that are filled with resentful, bored, or distracted people. As with anything, evening services can become a hollow ritual.
The point of this article isn’t to guilt people into feeling like they should be going to church morning and evening, although the church in Mount Pleasant that I pastor recognizes that it’s valuable. Instead, my goal here is to help you make sure you aren’t forgetting the goodness of God, and his praiseworthiness, and his benefits (cf. Psalm 103:1-2). My goal is to encourage you, so that you’d have the type of heart that desires to set aside your Sundays for the Lord, morning and evenings, for worship. It’s a beneficial practice. It’s been the practice of God’s people throughout history, to set aside the day as holy. Is it your practice?
