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Why Are We Here Today? I noticed a number of places closed today. Wendy’s, McDonalds, and Wal-Mart are not open this morning. So why are we here today? It has nothing to do with it being December 25th. Some places consider worship this Sunday to be an intrusion on “family time.” The reason we are here is because it is the first day of the week. In the Bible we read of Jesus being resurrected on Sunday. “Now on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they, and certain other women with them, came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared. But they found the stone rolled away from the tomb. Then they went in and did not find the body of the Lord Jesus” (Luke 24.1-3). We are commanded to not forsake the assembling of the saints in Hebrews 10.25. The saints came together on the first day of the week to observe the Lord’s Supper. “Now on the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul, ready to depart the next day, spoke to them and continued his message until midnight” (Acts 20.7). They did not come just to observe the Lord’s Supper, but it was part of what they did at Troas. In this observance we remember the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross and we also proclaim His coming again. “For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes” (1 Corinthians 11.26). The frequency of this observance is given in Acts 20.7 and that is on the first day of the week. Find me a week without a first day and I will agree that we cannot observe the Lord’s Supper that week. Until then we come together every first day of every week to observe the Lord’s Supper. The church came together on the first day of the week to take a collection for the needy saints at Jerusalem. “On the first day of the week, let each one of you lay something aside, storing up as he may prosper, that there be no collections when I come” (1 Corinthians 16.2). Today we as Christians give back to the Lord as we have determined in our hearts, 2 Corinthians 9.7. No other day is mentioned in the Bible for this collection. Man does not have the authority to lay aside what God has commanded. Man cannot decide to cancel Sunday services anymore than he can change the frequency or meaning of the Lord’s Supper, or the purpose of the collection, or the Gospel of Christ. We are here today to worship God in spirit and truth, John 4.24. – Dennis Tucker |