WHO ARE WE AND WHAT DO WE DO AT CHURCH? FPC Catechism 1

During Lent, we are going to be continuing the "catechism" portion of our Sonday Paper, but not drawn from the Book of Confessions.  Rather, using that question and answer format, we are going to be considering why and when and how we worship.  This is the first in that series.

Why do we go to church on Sunday?

We go on Sunday for three reasons: Because it is the Sabbath, because it is the First Day of the Week, and because it is the Lord’s Day.

Why the Sabbath?

We go to church on the Sabbath because God made this day holy and a day for us to worship Her Name.  God created the heavens and the earth in six days and rested on the seventh.  So, He hallowed the seventh day.

What does it mean to make it holy?

It means that God has declared it to special to Herself.  For example, the Sabbath is His Holy Day, the Temple was His  Holy Home, we are His Holy People.

If the Sabbath was on the Seventh Day, why do we go to church on the First Day of the Week?

We go to church on the First Day of the week because this was the day Jesus came back from the dead at Easter.  We consider this the Sabbath because of the importance of Jesus’ coming back to life.  Where Christianity started as a part of Judaism, the Jewish religion, we separated and one of the things we changed was the date on which we keep the Sabbath, from Saturday, the Seventh Day, to Sunday, the First Day of the week.

Why do we call Sunday the Lord’s Day?

Because Jesus was raised on this day, and Jesus is our Lord and Savior.  We go to church to worship Jesus on His day, on the Lord’s Day.