Why Sunday Evenings are Strategic (and 100% Worth Your Time and Effort)
One of the unique and wonderful parts of Grace Rancho is our Sunday evening gathering. It’s unique because not very many churches meet on Sunday evenings anymore. Like chia pets and leg warmers, meeting twice on Sundays may have made sense in a simpler time, but most have decided it’s simply not practical and/or that there are more strategic ways to gather during the week. And I admit Sunday evening church is rarely convenient. “I don’t have anything else to do on a Sunday evening,” said no Grace Rancho member ever. Personally, I’m usually quite tired (even after a nap) and a busy week looms. Yet, after having experienced Sunday evening gatherings at Grace Rancho, I can say with conviction and without exception, it’s always worth it! Attending provides a strategic opportunity to live out our commitments to one another, to serve and be served, and to see God at work in the lives of our church family. And that’s what makes it wonderful! Specifically, when we gather together, we get to practice a whole bunch of the “one anothers” of the New Testament. I’ll highlight just four.
Love One Another
This is the “one another” commanded most often in the New Testament. 1 John 3:16 sums it up, “By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.” Sunday evening affords us all sorts of opportunities to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. And one of the simplest ways we do this is to spend extended time getting to know one another. In doing so, we build bridges of relationship that open doors to all sorts of additional ways to love each other throughout the week. It’s beautiful, reciprocal, and life-changing! I recently had a conversation with a brother about embracing God’s call to be a disciple-maker. While he was a bit discouraged about his lack of effort in this regard in recent years, I countered that I was really encouraged at his commitment more recently to be at church on Sunday morning and evening. He and his family simply purposed to be present and to be available to love their church family. That’s a great place to begin. After all, one is unlikely to ever get to the “laying down your life” part if you don’t start by “showing up.”
Pray for One Another
One of the practical ways we love one another is to pray for one another. Nearly every Sunday evening, we spend time taking prayer re quests from those who attend. Depending on the week, we share needs that range from spiritual growth to physical provision to salvation for family members, friends, and colleagues. We write the requests in our member directory, which means that we’re able to pray specifically for one another during the service and the weeks and months ahead. And after the service, it’s very common to see groups of people praying with one another. As we share needs and the burdens of those we love, times of fellowship quickly morph into times of prayer. While we should pray for one another throughout the week, there is something very special and uniquely strengthening about praying with one another while together at church.
The other day, my son told me that he was looking through a church directory from November 2019. He reminded me that I had written down a specific prayer request from a Sunday evening service, which God has answered in a powerful way since that time. What a gift to pray for one another and then to see God answer prayers!
Encourage One Another and Build Each Other Up
Encouragement and building one another up happens in many different ways on Sunday evenings. One, we get to hear God’s word taught to us again (and that’s always worthwhile)! Typically, we get to hear from someone other than Pastor Eric. As part of our commitment to training future leaders, it’s vital for a growing number of men to be equipped to rightly handle and faithfully teach God’s Word. When we gather, we’re encouraged and built up according to God’s Word, but we’re also part of the essential process of training future church leaders.
Two, we’re encouraged and built up as we spend family time together. We often liken Sunday evenings to a whole church growth group. The atmosphere is less formal. We give away books to help members learn and grow in specific areas. We dialogue much more in the service and enjoy testimonies from various members. We laugh with (and some times at) one other. In and through it all, we’re reminded that we’re part of a big family, specifically designed by God for His glory and our good!
Spur One Another on Toward Love and Good Deeds
Finally, in spending more quality time with one another, we spur one another on toward love and good deeds. There’s no mystery why the writer of Hebrews links “not giving up the habit of meeting together” with spurring one another on (Heb. 10:24-25)! Sunday evenings repre sent one more opportunity (bookending the Lord’s Day) to gather as a family and sing with and to one another, counsel one another, hear from God’s word, pray, and fellowship and encourage one another before we begin another week of seeking to live in a manner that’s worthy of the gospel. The ministry we’re able to have in one another’s lives is sweet, soul-refreshing, and motivating.
The Cumulative Impact of the Word of God and the People of God
Sinclair Ferguson sums up the unique value of Sunday morning and evening services as “the cumulative impact of the word of God, expounded in the context of the worship of God by the people of God.” He continues, “We come on Sunday morning out of a world that has sought to squeeze us into its mold… But then we are fed in God’s presence by God’s Word, read, sung, spo ken and prayed. Thus, when we come together later in the day, some degree of this transforming of our lives through the renewing of our minds has already taken place… Our thinking has been recalibrated in a Godward direction; our affections have been cleansed and drawn out in love for our Lord; our desires to serve him are purer, our affections for God’s people are treated, and our wills are more submissive to his word. The more we are thus fed the more we want to be fed and to feed” (Devoted to God).
So, if you’re interested in growing as a Christian, loving your church family more, and getting involved in helping others to follow Jesus, start showing up to Sunday evening gatherings and be humbled by how God can use you and how He’ll use others in your life as well.
