What Is Sunday?

INTRODUCTION

Good morning and welcome again to First Christian Church of Clemmons. We are so glad that you are here with us this morning for our worship service. It is a great day to be in the house of the Lord, and a great day to be with you today. We will be in 1 Corinthians 11 today, starting in verse 17. If you don’t have a copy of God’s word, there is a bible in the pew in front of you, or you can follow along on the screens.

A couple of weeks ago, I saw a clip from an interview between a popular Christian singer and a TikTokker centered around the idea of worship. This singer said that he wished more churches would think about “bubba”, a man who has been dragged to church by his wife and doesn’t really understand the language of church. His solution was we eliminate more of the Christianese language from our worship songs so “bubba” can connect with it more.

Of course, since it is 2025, the internet tore this opinion apart, and it divided the internet. I’m not here to rehash this argument, but what I think these comments and the following discussion did was show our differences on how we view a Sunday morning service. What is the reason we are here today? Why do we gather each week? How do we structure our service, and why do we do it the way we do?

Today, we will look at a passage of 1 Corinthians that we are probably familiar with hearing because it is the verses that get read a lot during our communion meditation. While we use these verses most often to lead us in communion, they also speak to us about how our Sunday mornings should be oriented.

Would you join me in prayer this morning?

PRAY

What Happened in Corinth?

Have you ever wondered how we got our worship services to be structured the way we have them? What causes us to set up our Sunday morning in the way we do? You could leave here today and visit the first 5 churches you come across, and we may all do it a little differently. There are many variations of how to structure a service, and even how long a Sunday morning worship service should be. For the most part, though, even in our different structure, there is a world of similarity. We worship our Savior through song, there is prayer, the scripture is read and taught, we reflect on what we have heard, we give offering, and we spend time as a church body.

While this could be seen as the general layout of a church service, imagine being in the first-century church. This whole thing is new. Their only experience either comes from a Jewish background or what was seen in the worship at temples to false gods. So you probably knew what you would not do, but there is still some experimentation, in a sense, about how the church would function.

In our passage this morning, Paul is responding to reports he has been given about the church at Corinth and what is happening when they come together. Look this morning at 1 Corinthians 11:17:

But in the following instructions I do not commend you, because when you come together it is not for the better but for the worse. 18 For, in the first place, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you. And I believe it in part, 19 for there must be factions among you in order that those who are genuine among you may be recognized. 20 When you come together, it is not the Lord’s supper that you eat. 21 For in eating, each one goes ahead with his own meal. One goes hungry, another gets drunk. 22 What! Do you not have houses to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I commend you in this? No, I will not. 23 For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 25 In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. 27 Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. 28 Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 29 For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. 30 That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. 31 But if we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged. 32 But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world. 33 So then, my brothers, when you come together to eat, wait for one another— 34 if anyone is hungry, let him eat at home—so that when you come together it will not be for judgment. About the other things I will give directions when I come.

1 Corinthians 11:17–34.

Paul is beginning this chunk of scripture by letting the church know he is not writing this to them because he is proud of them. This is a needed correction for the church at Corinth. A problem has sprung up, and it seems to be centered on the partaking of the Lord’s Supper, and Paul is writing to them to correct this issue. What is the problem, though? For this we need to understand what was happening at a first century church service.

The church kicks off in Acts, and in chapter 2, starting in verse 42, we read this:

And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. 43 And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. 44 And all who believed were together and had all things in common. 45 And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. 46 And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.

Acts 2:42–47.

The early church starts with a bang. The gospel begins to be taught, thousands are being added, and they are learning what it means to be a church. This passage gives us a glimpse into what that looked like.

There was a devotion to the teaching of the apostle’s, fellowship, breaking bread, and prayers. We see them performing signs and wonders, we will talk about that more next week, and they had all in common. I want to pause here to say this: many have tried to take Acts 2 and make it the prescription for how the Church should operate. A rise in house church movements that prioritize no central leadership and a push against “organized” religion has been popular throughout time. These passages are not prescriptive for the church. They are describing what the church was doing, but they are not telling us this is how the church is to be organized.

The day-to-day routine is described as them going to the temple, eating a meal together, and praising God. Remember, in the early days, followers of Jesus were still coming from a Jewish heritage and background. They were all coming together at the temple, then going to break bread in homes.

Church history would tell us that a service for a church like Corinth would have consisted of three parts. First, they would come together for an “agape” meal. We would translate that as a love feast, something we here in the greater Winston-Salem area would generally associate with the Moravian church. After this meal, there would be a time of teaching and worship, and it all culminated in participating in the Lord’s supper together.

Paul writes to correct them because the love feast seems to have gone awry. It would appear that those with means are eating and drinking to excess, while others have nothing and go hungry. In this context, it means some are coming into the worship and teaching portion drunk, and that leads to those drunk people coming to the Lord’s Table in a manner considered unworthy.

Paul does tell them that the division between believer and unbeliever in the church would be natural. But division based on financial means that leads to drunkenness and gluttony is not an acceptable division. So, what does he recommend? You have houses where you can eat and drink, do that there, but not at the meeting of believers. In other words, this is a problem, so stop doing it. Pretty cut and dry.

Why would this happen, though? Because just like today, there was a misunderstanding of the point of what was happening. The question I raised earlier, What is the point of Sunday, was still the question all the way back in Corinth. Is this a time of partying? Or is it a time to remember the sacrifice of Jesus?

What Should It Look Like?

For us in 2025, what does our service look like? How are we answering that question? And are we examining our own hearts when it comes to our worship? I think we can, and should, be asking these questions! When we have no direction, we will go nowhere! A map is useless unless I am using it to get somewhere.

Community

One of the most beautiful things about the body of Christ is the diversity in the body. I am not going “woke” when I use that word, but I am using it in a proper context. The Church is full of different people, from different walks of life, with different experiences, jobs, and different life circumstances, but we can all come together to worship our Lord. The Jesus that saved me from my sins saved all of us who know Him. It is not a collection of clones, but a mosaic.

The Church should be marked by the community of believers that comes together. When we gather on a Sunday morning, we are gathering as a community of people who know Jesus as their savior, and we are proclaiming that to the world. We can come into our church and worship, learn, praise, and celebrate what God is doing. We become more than just Church members, but part of a forever family.

Since we want to see our community grow, both numerically and as a family, Paul is correct to call out Corinth for their divisions. A strong community is not strong because it is divided. It is strong because of the love that it has for one another. In a perfect world, Paul would have been writing to congratulate the church because he had heard that the wealthy are working together to make sure those in need are being fed.

When we meet for church, we are meeting as a community, not a clique. When a church surrenders to the temptation of division, it is not a community, but a map of little kingdoms seeking to bolster its walls at the expense of others. One purpose of our meeting on Sunday is to come together in community with each other.

In Remembrance

The largest portion of discussion in this passage is around the partaking of the Lord’s Supper. What is that? It is when we take time in our service to remember the sacrifice of Jesus through the breaking of the bread and the drinking of the juice that symbolize the broken body of Christ and His blood poured out. This is something that believers are instructed to do when we come together. We remember his sacrifice by taking this supper together.

In the Corinthian church, this portion would take place at the end of the service. For us today we do it more toward the middle. Because it would take place at the end, if someone had become drunk during the feast at the beginning, they are coming to the Lord’s table the same. You also are coming to the table in an unworthy manner.

What is an unworthy manner? It means that we come to the Lord’s table having missed the point of what is happening. When we come in a state where our mind is not right, we are unworthy. When we come to the table without reverence for what is happening here, we are coming in an unworthy manner. When we are not examining ourself, we can come in an unworthy manner.

The key to making sure we are not approaching the table in an unworthy manner is to be self examining. That simply means that we take the time to clear our hearts and minds, to focus on the purpose of what the bread and juice mean. We understand the significance of this meal. The church at Corinth had some that were not doing this. They were coming to the table in an unworthy manner, and Paul tells them that this brings a judgement to them.

Why would that happen? They have hindered the work of the Gospel. They have even pushed away fellow believers from partaking. When we take the Lord’s supper lightly, we are missing what Jesus has called for the church to do! We do this in remembrance of His sacrifice for our sin. Not to have a party, or to have a snack in service, but to remember the broken body and spilled blood of our savior.

A portion of our time together each week is to do just this. We come together to remember the sacrifice of Jesus for us. We partake each week, and I love that we do. I also know that we have to be careful not to allow that to become routine. That we just view it as another part of our service and it is something we just ‘do’.

Partnered with the Lord’s Supper, we should be taking a moment to examine ourselves. It is important to self reflect, to look into your own life and examine your walk with Jesus. Do you have one? Do you have a relationship with your Savior? Or do you have a relationship with just church? Do you know of a time when you submitted to Christ? Where you repented and believed in Jesus as your savior?

If you know Jesus, have you taken time through your week to examine your heart? We examine for sin that we are allowing to control more than it should. We check for areas that we may need to ask for forgiveness, or deal with anger we may have stored up without realizing it. We examine what our walk with Jesus looks like. Have you examined your heart lately?

How Do We Glorify at Church?

Last week we talked about the call on our lives to glorify God in all that we do. So what does that look like in our church today?

We glorify God in our community together.

We glorify God in our worship of Him.

We glorify God as we remember Him.

We glorify God as we are equipped in the faith.

We glorify God as we go out from the church and evangelize.

In the beginning I talked about the issue with ‘bubba’ and church. I said that it comes down to how we view the church. Is this an evangelism service? Is this supposed to be a tent revival each week? My belief is that evangelism should be a part of our Sunday gathering, but it is not the only part of our gathering. I want bubba to come to church, and ask questions about the songs that believers are singing in praise and worship of our savior. I want him to ask so that we can share the gospel with him and he can become a brother in Christ. I want him to understand that we sing “holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty” because that brings praise to who God is. Not to exclude someone from our service, but to show the reverence we have for an almighty God.

If we truly believe that the church is a hospital for sinners, we understand that the hospital has many different departments. Each with a purpose, but with different attention to different issues. We, the Church, know that all of us need a little different attention to different things, but ultimately we are together to proclaim the good news of Jesus, to lift each other up, to equip each other for the work of ministry, and to see the redemptive power of the Gospel take hold of our world around us.

In a hospital the department we are most familiar with is probably the emergency room. What happens there? You come in with an injury or ailment, and they seek to treat you as quickly as possible. If you walked into our church this morning, and you do not know Jesus as your savior, I would direct you to our ‘emergency room’. There is only one treatment we offer here, and that is Jesus Christ. Are you looking for hope, peace, joy, healing? It comes through Christ. Everyone here today that follows Jesus, at one time walked into that emergency room needing help, and found that remedy that only Jesus can provide.

If you have never come to know Christ as your savior, as we stand and sing this final song, I would love to talk to you about the new life that can be found through Him. If you have never repented, turned from your sin and followed God, I invite you, most importantly Christ invites you, to do that today.