The Sacred Hour
Do not let Sunday be taken from you. If your soul has no Sunday, it becomes an orphan. Albert Schweitzer
There is a renewal that takes place on the first day of the week. On the first day of the week, the New Testament church gathered together to break the bread that represented Christ's body, and to partake of the cup representing what Jesus refered to as the blood of the covenant. Church historians as early as the second century recorded that the gathering for the Lord's Supper was so vital to the New Testament church that the deacons would actually take the communion to those who were unable to meet with the church for unavoidable reasons.
Have you ever thought about why God, Christ and the church all considered this so important? Perhaps part of the reason lies in this: We get so busy with our jobs, families, school, hobbies, worries and everything else that it is easy to forget just who we are and what we are here for. Yet the Bible makes no secret of who we are - we are the body of Christ.
The Scriptures reveal that, because of the grace of God, the sacrifice of Christ and the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit, that everyone who hears the Word, believes in Christ, confesses that belief that He is Lord, repents of their sins and is baptized in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit will be added to the church by God Himself. Please note that He does not add anyone to my church or to your church, but to His church!
The New Testament reveals that the church gathered together on the first day of the week to sing songs of praises, to pray, to teach and preach and read from the word, to give of their means and to break bread. And... they were renewed. Can we do anything less? Do you think that God will understand if you are just too tired or too busy to take one hour a week to honor Him and to remember that your life was bought at the price of the sacrifice of His Son?
If you and I want something as precious as a weekly renewal and eternal life, then we will have to sometimes make a bit of a sacrifice ourselves - but He is worth it. Can we not return to the Sacred hour that once was a proud heritage of our people? If we will, the blessings will be far greater than we could possibly imagine.
I rejoiced with those who said to me, "Let us go to the house of the Lord". Psalm 122:1, NIV
On the first day of the week we came together to break bread. Acts 20:7, NIV
