A Brief History of Sunday

A Brief History of Sunday is the latest from author Justo Gonzalez. Gonzalez has written numerous works on church history and this appears to be another worth while read. Watch the author interviews and see what you think.





More from the author.

The Story of Christianity Volume 1

 

 The Story of Christianity Volume 2

I Hate the Benediction

Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and for ever. Amen. Jude 1:24-25

Well, no, I don't hate the benediction. But there is a piece of me that's sad when I see my pastor's arms go up to give the benediction. When I know the Sabbath is over. When I know I have to wait another week to see all these people that I care about. When I know there are six days I have to endure away from the comfort the Lord gives us on each Sabbath. The Sabbath is, indeed our little piece of heaven here on earth. Let us thank the Lord for own church congregation, our pastor, elder and deacons. Thank Him for a place to meet no matter how humble or grand that place may be. Let us thank Him that He is in our midst when we come to worship Him and though our worship be imperfect, it is acceptable to our merciful and loving God.

From the Westminster Larger Catechism:

Q. 115. Which is the fourth commandment?
A. The fourth commandment is, Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: but the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day and hallowed it.

Q. 121. Why is the word Remember set in the beginning of the fourth
commandment?
A. The word Remember is set in the beginning of the fourth commandment,a partly, because of the great benefit of remembering it, we being thereby helped in our preparation to keep it, and, in keeping it, better to keep all the rest of the commandments, and to continue a thankful remembrance of the two great benefits of creation and redemption, which contain a short abridgment of religion; and partly, because we are very ready to forget it, for that there is less light of nature for it,f and yet it restraineth our natural liberty in things at other times lawful; that it cometh but once in seven days, and many worldly businesses come between, and too often take off our minds from thinking of it, either to prepare for it, or to sanctify it; and that Satan with his instruments much labor to blot out the glory, and even the memory of it, to bring in all irreligion and impiety.

Thoughts on the Lord's Day

Yes, its Super Bowl Sunday. Yuch! Gag me with a spoon. I know, I'm a man but I'm sick to death of sports. Sports in this country are highly over-rated and those who play & coach are over paid. That fact alone has ruined sports for me. Here is my humorous but likely effective way to control NFL payroll costs. OK, Mr. Football, I'll pay you the $5, 000, 000 you're asking for on just a few conditions. Every missed tackle is $10, 000 back to me, every dropped catch is $10,000 back to me, every fumble is $10,000 back to me and generally any other mistake you make on the field is $10,000 back to me except when we're within 20 yards of our opponent's goal, then multipy this figure by 2. How do you think these guys would respond? Money, I think, has ruined sports and I know that opinon is not popular even with those who would agree that the financial aspect of professional sports has damaged the game.

But I think he real issue for me and Christian men everywhere is the fact that I can't think of a worse way to spend a Lord's Day afternoon than glued to the idiot box watching these mutants get paid a ton of dough to play a game. It is the Lord's Day after all. I'd rather spend some time focusing on the "unseen" rather than the "seen". I'm not claiming to be the worlds best Sabbatarian and, in fact, I'm still working out what it means to keep the Sabbath Day holy without stepping into legalistic territory which, in my humble experience, many good folks do. I'm certainly not saying all sports are wrong especially on the other 6 days of the week. I am, however, advocating that we as men take another look at how we spend our Sunday's, that is, are we immersed in sports or immersed in thoughts of our Saviour.

From the Westminster Shorter Catechism:

Q. 60. How is the sabbath to be sanctified?

A. The sabbath is to be sanctified by a holy resting all that day, even from such worldly employments and recreations as are lawful in other days; and spending the whole time in the public and private exercises of God's worship, except so much as is to be taken up in the works of necessity and mercy.

Gentlemen, any thoughts?

Photo Credit