Lord’s Day as weekly family time

How rich are the blessings of “family time”! With three of our four children now away at college, Laurie and I cherish all the more those special times when the six of us are all together again. Though all of us are active in numerous things, with many other friends and extended family members encompassing our lives, there is something unique, wonderful, special, and refreshing when the six of us prioritize and plan time together as a family.

On a much grander, eternal scale, such are the privileges and blessings for the people of God in a local church when we gather for His family time (Eph. 2:19; 3:14)on the Lord’s Day! Many of us can testify to this, even through special times the Lord has given us together on recent Sundays at RCG. While so many different circumstances and relationships encompass our lives throughout the week, God intends something unique, wonderful, special, and refreshing to occur among us when we gather corporately as a local church. Our shared unity and identity in Jesus Christ is most fully displayed when we gather. Additionally, God ministers His grace to us, caring for our souls, as together we hear His Word, sing His Word, pray His Word, see His Word (through the ordinances of baptism and the Lord’s Supper), and minister His Word one to another.

Beloved, let me encourage you to think of the Lord’s Day as weekly “family time” for God’s people in a local church. As such, it is time deeply worth prioritizing and planning for! Generally, those who most fully and regularly participate in our Lord’s Day gatherings, both morning and evening, are those who most fully taste of the blessings and fruit God intends – being strengthened and equipped all the more to live to His glory throughout the week.

In the providences of God, not everyone is always able to participate in every gathering each Lord’s Day. Illnesses, work schedules, out-of-town trips, etc. are often unavoidable. But to the extent that we have discretion with our schedules, let’s keep humbly honoring the Lord, and loving one another, by cherishing the family times He calls us to. Truly, the Lord’s Day is the best day of the week!

Until He returns,
Greg