Wednesday Church

It seems like attending Church is becoming less important…

Growing up, I remember three important Church events of the week.

• Sunday School and Sunday morning worship
• Sunday Evening, often evangelistic with a Choir
• Wednesday Night Bible Study – pure teaching, but always with a standard church schedule

Today, most are satisfied to take in one service at some point on Sunday morning, and not worry about any other attendance unless it’s a “special” event.

When did attending Church become less important? I may agree that we are often guilty of “going” to Church too often, yet the less we go to Church, the less we are like the Christian experience I grew up in.  There must be a balance between what church should be, and what we must do to exist as His Church.

As churches grow larger it becomes a place of “herding” one congregation out so the next can take its place as we stack service on top of service. Facilities are not large enough and it has become extremely expensive to build large structures for the crowd that shows up, and congregations have grown so huge!

The mechanics of “doing church” is complex and requires a large support system. There are fewer and fewer small “community” churches, and more and more mega size churches! It’s almost like the small mom and pops grocery store that has been swallowed up by the mega markets and online shopping. People flock to that glowing beacon in the night and hope they find what they are looking for. So, instead of church just around the corner it is now miles away.

Memories of my younger time revolve around hard wooden pews, no carpet, no sound system, no drums, and no A/C that works effectively! Prayer rooms in the Attic on a summer day can be miserable, but they were often full. Sunday school may not be as enjoyable as today, but there were full. No one came to church late, everyone was on time, and no one dreamed of allowing food or drink in the sanctuary.  Preaching was often hard, but we sure loved and respected our pastors and did not want to disappoint them. Sunday afternoon lunches were prepared in advance, and maybe a friend was allowed to come home with us every so often. Then we all rested quickly, changed clothes and went back to church by 6 or 7 pm. Songs always came out of the songbook and only a few choruses were used. The Bible was King James, yet none of us talked like that old style English, but we all felt like Jesus did!

However, I remember Wednesday night always being the toughest of all services.

Most Wednesday’s started around 7:30 p.m. and it was not considered a good night if we got out before 9 pm. It was generally no different than Sunday night, except there was seldom a special song or a choir song. But everything else was the same. We often made it home closer to 10 pm, whether it was a school night or not. This was simply normal.

In fact, Wednesday night Bible study was so respected in the neighborhood that nothing interfered with the church. No ball games, or if there were we never participated. No school events. No social interferences. Society respected the normal life of the Christian experience.

Take this a step deeper. I grew up in a state that enforced a “Blue Law”. I do not know why it was called “blue” but essentially it meant that stores could not stay open seven days per week. Close on Saturday or Sunday, but you will give yourself a rest from the driving force of business. Gas stations may rotate which ones would close on Saturday or Sunday so there were always opportunities to fill the tank. Most stores were closed on Sunday. But we knew which one was closed on Saturday and open on Sunday, so sometimes a Sunday afternoon shopping experience was always enjoyed at the Globe on the Gulf Freeway.

I have not studied this of late, but as Texas grew in population with “outsiders” then the law was voted down by the time I was in my mid-teens.

Some may say the south is uniquely different than everyone else. Even the TV schedule is different than the West Coast, and, I think, the East Coast. It has never been fully explained to my satisfaction, but the southern schedule ended the night with a 10 o’clock news. One of the stations and there were only three (ABC, CBS, NBC), began with this phrase on the screen: “It’s 10 o’clock. Do you know where your children are?” Even today, with all the technological changes, this same timing schedule exists, but there are now 1,000’s of stations instead of only three!

What does this have to do with Church?

Here’s my thought. Our levels of distraction have changed so much. There is great competition from the influencers and we have allowed them to dictate to us what we expect life to be like. We may not attend a Wednesday night study of God’s Word, but we can use any night of the week to stay up late and enjoy dinner out, celebrations, entertainment or sports activities.

I have pastored for over 25 years now, and I have been in the ministry for way over 35 years. During my years of starting and pastoring two churches, I made a decision to not have two services on Sunday. Partly because we existed in rented facilities, and partly because I wanted our church to experience some quality family time instead of focusing the entire Sunday on church attendance. In fact, I seldom plan anything for Saturday for the same reason. Family is important!

So, this means Wednesday is an important service. This is where we dig into the Word and learn how to be a Christian. If we do not set aside the time, how will we ever learn about Jesus?

Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  (29)  Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.  (30)  For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

Matthew 11:28-30 KJV

Notice the opening thought of Jesus, “Come” and then, “learn of me“. How can we learn if we do not actively pursue the study by entering into it? How do we learn if never crack open the book and purposely dig in and dig it out?  Many never set aside time to study the Word on their own. While it is true they may have a devotion and prayer time, but without the intentional study of His Word, we are often inept in living for Him.

David’s longest Psalms is 176 verses long, comprised of 22 sections that follow the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Go check out Psalms 119 and prove me wrong! Ever section focuses on the various pieces of God’s word, whether he speaks about commandment, law, word, or other phrases that relate to the Law of God. It’s almost like his major focus was to expound on the Word and make it easy to grasp by giving it structure, thus helping us to better live our daily lives.

Too often I come back to this verse of the chapter as my focus. The fourteenth section of Psalms 119. (*Nun is pronounced as we would say “noon”.)

NUN*. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.

Psalms 119:105 KJV

How can I walk my next step without His Lamp to guide me? How can I see the way in front of me without His Light to guide me and point the way. David understood the importance of God’s Word, and how it guided him every day, whether his next step or the dirction he was to take.

This is how I think of Wednesday night… Bible Study! Equipping us to know, delving deeply to understand, applying it so we can live it. This is the purpose of Wednesday night…

Tonight? Are you on board?