Articles
Why we meet three times a week.
The brethren here at the Zanesville Church of Christ meet regularly three times a week. We meet on Sunday mornings, Sunday evenings and Wednesday nights. It was decided years ago for various reasons that we would make this our regular practice. Many churches across the US and the rest of the world meet various times throughout the week. Most churches, if not all, meet every Sunday at least once. The scriptures teach us in Acts 20:7 that the brethren met together to partake of the Lord’s Supper and that’s one of the major reasons Christians get together every Sunday at least once on that day. However, we choose to meet 3 times a week here at this location. Why do we do that?
While it is true that there is no explicit command to meet 3 times a week every week in scripture, we choose to do so because there is nothing better than getting together to worship God as much as we can. America is known for its very fast paced lifestyle that encourages everyone to work a lot of hours in order to make as much money as possible so we can spend it on things like adventure, material stuff, entertainment etc. I am not saying that its evil to want to enjoy life and make good money (as long as that’s not our God) but I am saying we spend a lot of our time in this country doing things that will eventually lead nowhere. Consider that there are 168 hours in a week. Most Americans work 40-50 hours every week. They spend somewhere between 30-40 hours on social media/TV/internet. That’s a total of 90 hours already gone. The rest of time is split between family time, trips, running errands and religious activities. Now here’s the important part: Of the 168 hours there are in a week, we gather together for 4 hours every week to worship God. If we were to represent that in terms of a percentage it would amount to a whopping 2.4% of all our time during the week.
Now, obviously that’s no big amount but here’s what I am saying. If we can be sure to carve out time for things such as social media, TV, vacations, spontaneous trips, work, running errands etc. then by all means we can meet for the 4 hours a week we put aside to assemble here at this location. Yet, on many occasions we do not take advantage of that opportunity. We meet three times a week because worshipping God is number one in our lives (it should be anyway) but we also meet three times a week because we need it! We feed our bodies everyday with food, nutrients and vitamins because we need to survive. If several hours go by and we don’t eat, some of us may feel like we will die. Well just as the body needs food so our souls should be hungering and thirsting for God’s word. Jesus said, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied”(Matt. 5:6). Jesus recognized on multiple occasions the need for physical food for the body. He even fed multitudes of people on two separate occasions because they were hungry. But Jesus would often use such situations to teach something more important. Quoting from Deuteronomy He said, “MAN SHALL NOT LIVE ON BREAD ALONE, BUT ON EVERY WORD THAT PROCEEDS OUT OF THE MOUTH OF GOD”(Matt. 4:4). Jesus said this as He himself was starving in the wilderness but even then, He understood that food for the soul supersedes food for the body.
That’s why we have a time for bible study set aside every Sunday at 10 am and every Wednesday at 7pm. These occasions may not be explicitly commanded in the scriptures but if we have to ask, “Do I really need to be there for that?” I wonder where our priorities really are. Friends, we need these opportunities more than ever if we have any hope of making it to Heaven. We ought to take advantage of these opportunities as much as we can if we want to be better disciples. These times we set aside for bible study help us to grow spiritually in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. They help us to be prepared to fight the devil and those that would question our faith and the reason for why we believe in God. If we aren’t taking advantage of these opportunities then we are only harming ourselves by doing our souls a great injustice. Let’s be sure to come together to study our bibles on these occasions. We meet three times a week because we worship God and because we need spiritual food. But we also meet three times a week to edify one another.
The word edify means that we build up one another in order to be solid and to be prepared and equipped for the days and weeks ahead. The world is a very discouraging place at times and many times we may feel emotionally drained and spiritually beat because of what we face out there every day. It is no secret that the world praises that which is evil and despises that which is good. We fall under that good category and so sometimes we may get more that we bargain for which can cause us to question our faith and beliefs.
It is times like Sundays and Wednesdays, when we meet three times a week, that we can refuel ourselves with spiritual food and words from our brothers and sisters in Christ that can help us to get up and keep fighting the good fight. Sports teams, usually just before a game, can be seen talking to one another to get each other “fired up” and ready to go for what is usually a hard-fought battle. Usually there’s a certain person or persons that is really good at elevating the confidence of everyone else and that talk can have a lasting impact on the outcome of the game. Likewise, when we come together to worship God and to grow spiritually, we may need to hear that person or persons tell us why it’s important to keep serving God. We may need to hear that we are not in this alone and that we will help one another no matter what the case might be.
When someone chooses not to meet with their brethren, that may impact others and how they face the rest of their week. If we can meet but choose not to, we are not only letting God down, but we also let our brethren down. We need that edification and we need that encouraging talk or comment or smile. Whatever it might be, we meet three times a week because it helps us to get one step closer to Heaven. I hope this article was of some help to you as it has been to me. Let’s take full advantage of meeting 3 times a week and all the opportunities we might have to worship God, grow spiritually and edify one another. Can you spare 4 hours of your week for God and your brethren?
