Simple Church Minute 49--Sunday morning

49—Sunday morning

My name is Tom; this is Simple Church Minute

            Why do we worship on Sunday morning?  Some of us have been told it was because it was the day of Jesus’ resurrection, but why one leads to the other isn’t at all clear.  Some churches do have Saturday evening worship, and other days more rarely, which indicates that some believers and leaders don’t see a scriptural connection, either. I know a church in Bangkok, Thailand.  This area is 95% Buddhist.  A huge majority attend a ritual sacrifice at sunup Thursday morning.  What is the most reasonable time for the small Christian church to worship?  Sunrise Thursday, of course.
            Now the real reason for Sunday.  In the early church, Israel was part of the Roman Empire.  In 321 AD, Constantine, the emperor of Rome, decreed Sunday to be a day of rest, in honor of the sun god Mithras.  Take note—he claimed conversion to Christianity in 313 AD, and began giving privilege equal to paganism that year.  He kept the title Pontifex Maximus, which means “chief of the pagan priests,” from which we get the word “pontiff.”  He and his mother introduced relic keeping to the church, which spread widely in the Middle Ages, and he had churches built over the tombs of Peter, Paul, and Jesus.  In this social situation, Sunday became the natural day of worship, with the connection to the resurrection coming later.

            You can email me at simplechurchminute@gmail.com.  For more info on organic church*, visit http://www.simplechurch.com/ or locally at (local website).

On the recording, at this time, it says, “house churches.”  While that phrasing is OK, to say “organic church” is better.  I comment on that in blip 94.