Does the Bible support Sunday worship?

Question

My commentary may be viewed at:

http://blog.360.yahoo.com/blog-S6YMuFYyaa9ESBoW5DFwEjL_HhqA

Answer 1

Yes, indeed.

Isaiah 1:13 - God begins to reveal His displeasure with the Sabbath.

Matt. 28:1; Mark 16:2,9; John 20:1,19- the Gospel writers purposely reveal Jesus' resurrection and appearances were on Sunday. This is because Sunday had now become the most important day in the life of the Church.

Acts 20:7 - this text shows the apostolic tradition of gathering together to celebrate the Eucharist on Sunday, the "first day of the week." Luke documents the principle worship was on Sunday because this was one of the departures from the Jewish form of worship.

1 Cor. 16:2 - Paul instructs the Corinthians to make contributions to the churches "on the first day of the week," which is Sunday. This is because the primary day of Christian worship is Sunday.

Col. 2:16-17 - Paul teaches that the Sabbath was only a shadow of what was fulfilled in Christ, and says "let no one pass judgment any more over a Sabbath."

2 Thess. 2:15 - we are to hold fast to apostolic tradition, whether it is oral or written. The 2,000 year-old tradition of the Church is that the apostles changed the Sabbath day of worship from Saturday to Sunday.

Heb. 4:8-9 - regarding the day of rest, if Joshua had given rest, God would not later speak of "another day," which is Sunday, the new Sabbath. Sunday is the first day of the week and the first day of the new creation brought about by our Lord's resurrection, which was on Sunday.

Heb. 7:12 - when there is a change in the priesthood, there is a change in the law as well. Because we have a new Priest and a new sacrifice, we also have a new day of worship, which is Sunday.

Rev 1:10 - John specifically points out that he witnesses the heavenly Eucharistic liturgy on Sunday, the Lord's day, the new day of rest in Christ.

Matt. 16:19; 18:18 - whatever the Church binds on earth is bound in heaven. Since the resurrection, Mass has been principally celebrated on Sunday

Answer 2

This quote from Paul in Col 2:16-17 seems a good summary of how the original Church thought about Sabbath observance:

Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.

Where might the Church have gotten such ideas?

Matthew 12:1-2 Lord of the Sabbath
At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick some heads of grain and eat them. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, "Look! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath."

He answered, "Haven't you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? He entered the house of God, and he and his companions ate the consecrated bread—which was not lawful for them to do, but only for the priests. Or haven't you read in the Law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple desecrate the day and yet are innocent? I tell you that one[a] greater than the temple is here. If you had known what these words mean, 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice,' you would not have condemned the innocent. For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath."

Going on from that place, he went into their synagogue, and a man with a shriveled hand was there. Looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, they asked him, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?"

He said to them, "If any of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will you not take hold of it and lift it out? How much more valuable is a man than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath."

Jesus, who was the Word of God, who shared in the creation of the world (John 1:2-3), understood completely about the Sabbath. Again and again he was attacked for violating some man-made prohibition.

His verdict: "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath" (Mark 2:27).

Cheers,
Bruce

Answer 3

No, the Apostle Paul says in
his writings (something to the
order) that some of the churches at that time still
held to the Sabbath (which was
Saturday), but that the true
believers should accept that
our Sabbath (or day of worship) is EVERY DAY.
We are no longer bound to
a certain day but can gather
together on any day we wish,
understanding that each
individual Christian must be
worshipping HIM every day.
The Sunday worship day
is more a matter of church
tradition than the Lord's
command.

Answer 4

The Bible supports Sunday worship, Monday worship, Tuesday worship, Wednesday worship, Thursday worship, Friday worship, and yes, even Saturday worship.
Why would anyone think that any one day is more appropriate to worship God than any other day?

The major misunderstanding is that the Sabbath never was about what day to go to church...it has always been a day of rest. If one truly wants to honor God's Sabbath, then they would not do any unnecessary work on that day, nor would they go anywhere or do anything that would entail anyone else to be paid for doing unnecessary work...such as restaurants, convenience stores, grocery stores, or even gas stations.

Hmmm...
Come to think of it, do SDA preachers get paid??

Answer 5

No. The Bible supports Saturday worship. When Christians come to understand that they must rediscover the Jewish roots of their faith, they will also understand Saturday worship.

When Christians come to understand what the Bible said about the Jews being a light to the gentiles, when they understand about being grafted into the tree, they will understand about Saturday, too.

I'm not going to try to convince you in this short space, largely because it would accomplish nothing, but the proof and discussion of that proof is available in many places, including the Bible.

Answer 6

No.

Sunday worship came about for two nonbiblical reasons

1) Early Christians after the apostles wanted to more clearly distinguish themselves from the Jews in the eyes of everyday Romans. The best way these leaders thought to do this was to change the worship day from the 7th day to the 1st day.

2) A large number of pagans who eager Christians wanted to convert already held Sunday as their holy day (Day of the Sun - Sun God). By changing the Christian day to Sunday, they appealed to a much larger percentage of these Pagans for conversion.

But note that key person in the bible from Adam to Jesus to the biblical Apostles kept the 7th Day sabbath and believers do even to this day.

Whats interesting is that God predicted that most of the world would forget about this sabbatha and thats why the commandment says REMEMBER the sabbath day and keep it holy.

Answer 7

The true sabbath is actually supposed to be on a Saturday. I do not know the origin, but it has been proven by, God only knows, but it has been researched. Maybe the Seventh Day Adventist?The Bible doesn't give a certain day, only to work 6 days and then rest on the 7th day.

Answer 8

For believers in Jesus' resurrection,Sunday is THE day for worship above all others,yet we should be 7 days a week worshippers of God

Answer 9

Jesus Himself once said during His ministry that in Him you would have your sabbath rest. The whole meaning of sabbath was a day devoted exclusively to growing your relationship with God, just like in any relationship, in order for it to grow and remain healthy, you need to set aside that special time with the other person. The same applies to your relationship with God. By Jesus' time, and for a great deal of time before that, the sabbath, according to some scriptures that were mentioned above and others, had become sour to Him, for they were no longer used to "spend quality time" with Him and Grow in Him and the kind of life of peace, happiness and prosperity He wished for them, but were using it for thier own purposes, which was opposed to the whole idea he set forth for the sabbath. Therefore, as Jesus put it, especially after His ultimate sacrifice He made for us, we can now find our "Sabbath rest" in Him. He mentioned nothing of a specific day above another, as in doing so you set it up for the taint of mankinds greed for wealth and power, which you can see in Judaism and Christianity throughout history. Above all of mankinds needs for food and shelter, there is the spiritual need to affirm that there is more than all this, that there is a God up there who cares and loves us and has something better prepared for us. What better way other than control of food supplies and material need to control the masses but through thier spirituality? God nor Jesus meant for any specific day to be honored, worshiped in or to be holier than any other day, for we now have through Him what the sabbath was meant to be about in the first place but was lost over time to greed and power-hunger. Through Jesus Christ I have my sabbath rest every day. The only mention of Sunday making it special in itself was that the Apostles stated that it was a "Day set aside to set in store" and gather together ourselves and the extra things God blessed us with but did not necessarily have to have other than out of greed and materialism, to set it all in store in fellowship and use it to do our Christian duty to provide for those amongst us who are less fortunate. To set aside only one say in the week to worship out of a sense of obligation is an affront to God. We are supposed to live every day in the knowledge that He is always there with us and we can be better for our relationship with him. If you were to spend only one day a week with your spouse, children, or other family members and ignore them the rest of the week, how strong will that relationship remain? The arguement of which day is the right day is wrong. Our Sabbath rest is available to us every day in Jesus Christ if we just take the TIME, EVERY DAY. Make every day "that special day", and you will see what He meant.

Answer 10

yes