A Brief Defense of Evening Worship

February Monthly Pastoral Letter

In the last couple of weeks ago we started back with a Sunday evening service. Before the Covid times we had bible study on that night and when the Christian Ed committee talked about bringing it back there was discussion about doing something a little bit more on that night. So it was concluded to have a worship time of a sort. Unlike the morning service it would be a little more open, informal, but still with singing, praying, scripture reading, and some preaching with an eye towards looking into subjects/topics rather than the verse-by-verse exposition that is normal earlier in the day.

One question is why do such a thing and why should I attend?

It is a worthwhile concern to have. Whenever we do stuff at our church we need to have a good idea what either you can gain from it or more importantly what our Lord says about a particular thing. So for the word this month I’ll do what I can to invite you to come and see why attending more church is good for your soul and body.

So first thing’s first. Why a second service? While I can’t point to a “thus sayeth the Lord” chapter and verse I do think that the picture we see in the Bible gives enough for us to have a positive argument for its inclusion in the life of the Church. From the very beginning of the Creation we see a pattern of morning and evening. That is continued in the order of the old covenant sacrifices, which were to be offered in the morning and in the evening (c.f. – Ex. 29:38-39). Then in Psalm 92:1-2, which is titled, A Psalm, a Song for the Sabbath Day, we hear David say, “It is good to give thanks to the Lord, and to sing praises to Your name, O Most High; To declare Your lovingkindness in the morning, and Your faithfulness every night.”

Well, that is the Old Testament what do we see in the New? Again no “chapter and verse”, but a pattern.

In the Book of Acts there are places where we need to be careful not to overplay our hand. Not all things that happened then are for the Church today. However, when it comes to the life of the body we can certainly draw some helpful conclusions. For instance, on the day of Pentecost when 3,000 are entered into the rolls of the active Church there is a picture drawn of what was taking place. Acts 2:42 has this to say, “And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.”  There is an interest in spending time together with their fellow believers growing in grace via the means of fellowship, learning the “apostle’s doctrine”, and praying for one another. Like this when Paul is at Troas in Acts 20:7 we have him holding service in the evening as he is making ready to head out on the Monday morning. To help with that he is found with the Lord’s people in preaching, prayer, and spending time with His fellow brother’s and sister’s in Christ. An evening service allows us to spiritual prepare for the week ahead and as well helps to “book-end” the Lord’s Day with worship, fellowship, and enjoying God’s grace in the means of His provision.

In some ways beginning Sunday with praise and ending it in the same way is like starting your day with a big grits, eggs, and biscuit and gravy breakfast and closing it out with a T-Bone Steak supper with all the fixins’.  If you don’t attend or don’t have an evening service it would be worth either encouraging your local church to start one or to see if there is one nearby.