It is important to note that in Scripture there is a regularity by which Christians came together to be an assembly or gathering. The book of Acts tells us that Christians were devoted to these gatherings:
“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common.” (Acts 2:42-44, NIV)
Again, Scripture also tells us that they would meet publicly and from house to house.
“You know that I have not hesitated to preach anything that would be helpful to you but have taught you publicly and from house to house.” (Acts 20:20, NIV)
References to the Church Meeting on Sunday
We also find in numerous places that these meetings occurred on Sundays.
“On the first day of the week we came together to break bread. Paul spoke to the people and, because he intended to leave the next day, kept on talking until midnight.” (Acts 20:7, NIV)
“On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with your income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made.” (1 Corinthians 16:2, NIV)
Why do Christians gather on Sunday? “On the first day of the week we came together to break bread.”
Sunday was an important day for the earliest Christians because it was the day that Jesus was raised from the dead. John, when writing the book of Revelation, is likely referring to Sunday when he describes being in the Spirit on “the Lord’s day” (Revelation 1:10).
The implication of these scriptures is that the earliest Christians in the Roman world likely met every Sunday and that pockets of Christians, as a subset of those bodies of believers, also met at other times.
Then, in the period immediately following the passing of the apostles and the closing of the writing of Scripture, we find Christian writers advocating Sunday as the important day for their gatherings. Writing about fifty years after the last apostle died and the scriptures were complete, Justin Martyr describes the common practice of Christians:
“And on the day called Sunday, all who live in cities or in the country gather together to one place, and the memoirs of the apostles or the writings of the prophets are read, as long as time permits; then, when the reader has ceased, the president verbally instructs, and exhorts to the imitation of these good things.” (Justin Martyr, 1 Apologia 67)
Why do Christians gather on Sunday? “Sunday was an important day for the earliest Christians because it was the day that Jesus was raised from the dead.”
Because there is biblical precedent for Sunday assemblies and because it was the practice of the earliest Christians in the post-apostolic period, the tradition of regular Sunday assemblies or gatherings became a norm in Christianity.
The Crucial Element
For these reasons, I believe the norm of gatherings or assemblies on Sunday is a good thing. But we want to be careful not to say that Scripture commands us to meet on Sundays. It is the early example and the earliest tradition. But the crucial element in church is the intentional and regular gathering. In fact, in the earliest days of the church in Jerusalem, they met daily, not just on Sundays:
“Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.” (Acts 2:46-47, NIV)
Why do Christians gather on Sunday? “And on the day called Sunday, all who live in cities or in the country gather together to one place, and the memoirs of the apostles or the writings of the prophets are read.”
Again, because Scripture gives us the example of Christians meeting on Sunday, but doesn’t command us to meet together as a church on that particular day, we likely should not treat the question of “when” as a core element of church. The key element is regular and intentional meetings.
