Saturday Night Church?

Good evening.

I was hoping tonight to share a thought or two on the above subject as CFS is such a great forum to see opinion and view points, so I pray you might consider this question for my own personal prayers.

Every book in the NT was written to a church assembly in various places or overseers of churches and much of the teaching relates to how we are to treat and view each other, as Christians in the Body of Christ. Since Christ calls it a Body, it's clear that fellowship is God's greatest desire and even more of a desire for him to have a group of people he can truly live his life through, to reach the lost and love the one's we have. In this, God gave gifts and roles for us to follow as well as wisdom to care for all of the members whether they be infants, youth or elderly so he could fully move in the way he desires. Also as an assembly, a need to have the door open to some real and beneficial outreach to the lost.

As a Pastor I'm always aware of my responsibility to not be a leader or a Lord but a father, overseer and example overseeing the work of his spirit and not my own call. In this Christians need to be involved in the ministry as it's a body church with a living head so God can use each in their gifts and calls to function and allow God free reign in the service. You're also aware of the practical needs for example Mum's and Dad's, children etc and the need they have to be able to attend and be fed as we meet.

So, he subject I'm considering at the moment, is that the traditional day for us meeting together in our main service is a Sunday morning, following Paul's call for us to meet on the first day of the week and when you examine in closely, the light of God's desires, isn't a Sunday morning rather limiting in many ways? Wouldn't a Saturday evening be a far better time to hold a meeting for our great God to be present. Now sundown on Friday to sundown on Saturday is, for those who follow, the sabbath so a Saturday night wouldn't offend those who follow this belief. It's also the beginning of the first day of the week so again it slots in quite well.

It's means a meeting could go on into the small hours of the morning allowing those who need to go for whatever reason to go and those who need to stay, especially those needing saved, to stay so the work of the Lord be not hindered. It also means, that for the working familys and Monday to Friday workers, they would indeed have a whole Sunday as a day of rest and hopefully after a great night of fellowship!
Now I'm not talking about scrapping weekday meetings or anything like that, I'm talking about having the main meeting on a Saturday Night, unhindered and unlimited so that God might fully work through his people whether it be ministering to his children or bringing folk in to be saved.

It's clear from God's Word especially in 1st Corinthians 12 of a design for his local church with spiritual gifts, ministries of the Lord and operations of God (chapter 12) including Apostles, Prophets, teachers as well as workers of miracles etc etc. Rounded off in chapter 13 in the truest expression of his love that God has a deep desire to fellowship with us and live his life through us what ever city we live. It just keeps coming back to me, how do we fit God's (genuis and simple) design into a Sunday morning service?

These are the thoughts I'm considering at this point in my life and I'd appreciate your thoughts especially if you're young, to this idea. I am seeking God deeply on this subject so please comment with respect to my query, I'd really appreciate some Godly Words.....
 
Good evening.

I was hoping tonight to share a thought or two on the above subject as CFS is such a great forum to see opinion and view points, so I pray you might consider this question for my own personal prayers.

Every book in the NT was written to a church assembly in various places or overseers of churches and much of the teaching relates to how we are to treat and view each other, as Christians in the Body of Christ. Since Christ calls it a Body, it's clear that fellowship is God's greatest desire and even more of a desire for him to have a group of people he can truly live his life through, to reach the lost and love the one's we have. In this, God gave gifts and roles for us to follow as well as wisdom to care for all of the members whether they be infants, youth or elderly so he could fully move in the way he desires. Also as an assembly, a need to have the door open to some real and beneficial outreach to the lost.

As a Pastor I'm always aware of my responsibility to not be a leader or a Lord but a father, overseer and example overseeing the work of his spirit and not my own call. In this Christians need to be involved in the ministry as it's a body church with a living head so God can use each in their gifts and calls to function and allow God free reign in the service. You're also aware of the practical needs for example Mum's and Dad's, children etc and the need they have to be able to attend and be fed as we meet.

So, he subject I'm considering at the moment, is that the traditional day for us meeting together in our main service is a Sunday morning, following Paul's call for us to meet on the first day of the week and when you examine in closely, the light of God's desires, isn't a Sunday morning rather limiting in many ways? Wouldn't a Saturday evening be a far better time to hold a meeting for our great God to be present. Now sundown on Friday to sundown on Saturday is, for those who follow, the sabbath so a Saturday night wouldn't offend those who follow this belief. It's also the beginning of the first day of the week so again it slots in quite well.

It's means a meeting could go on into the small hours of the morning allowing those who need to go for whatever reason to go and those who need to stay, especially those needing saved, to stay so the work of the Lord be not hindered. It also means, that for the working familys and Monday to Friday workers, they would indeed have a whole Sunday as a day of rest and hopefully after a great night of fellowship!
Now I'm not talking about scrapping weekday meetings or anything like that, I'm talking about having the main meeting on a Saturday Night, unhindered and unlimited so that God might fully work through his people whether it be ministering to his children or bringing folk in to be saved.

It's clear from God's Word especially in 1st Corinthians 12 of a design for his local church with spiritual gifts, ministries of the Lord and operations of God (chapter 12) including Apostles, Prophets, teachers as well as workers of miracles etc etc. Rounded off in chapter 13 in the truest expression of his love that God has a deep desire to fellowship with us and live his life through us what ever city we live. It just keeps coming back to me, how do we fit God's (genuis and simple) design into a Sunday morning service?

These are the thoughts I'm considering at this point in my life and I'd appreciate your thoughts especially if you're young, to this idea. I am seeking God deeply on this subject so please comment with respect to my query, I'd really appreciate some Godly Words.....

Then why not have a service on Sat. night and another one on Sunday morning. Two services.
 
Then why not have a service on Sat. night and another one on Sunday morning. Two services.

The reason for the article was to
Then why not have a service on Sat. night and another one on Sunday morning. Two services.

Hello Major and thanks for the comments. Yes it would be with a view of retaining a meeting of sorts on a Sunday however I'm considering the merits of a Saturday Night service as the main public meeting of the week. I can think of many pros and very little cons to the idea, one example is for the average Monday to Friday working family, I work, Pastor and run our Website and I know any family would love the opportunity to have a full day's rest however, it's allowing God more room is the main thrust. Thanks for commenting....
 
People love to go to Church. Its fun, especially where the Spirit of is moving, and the Word is being proclaimed under the anointing of God. When I first got saved I could not believe that Church was only one or two times a week. I thought someone somewhere has got to be having Church somewhere I could go. If you have Church on Saturday, people will come there is no doubt, the real question is can you hold up to back to back services? Being called to teach God's word I find it exhausting to teaching just one time a week, let alone more than once. Are you up to the task? Since I work in the retail community I never have the same two days off a week, so you might just get more people having a Saturday + Sunday service.
 
We have a Saturday night service, which started because we had such a vibrant and growing youth (ages 18-30---about 200 to start about 10 years ago) that our pastors wanted to give them their own service. Now, all ages attend both Saturday and Sunday services, but the bulk of the youth continue on Saturday. It works very well! There is an equilibrium surrounding one's "circle" of acquaintances. As a cell church, the cell members tend to attend the same services, so friendships carry on surrounding the choice of service. Leadership advises that we don't jump around, but if our personal schedule dictates that we cannot attend one service we are free to attend the other, no problem. We do have midweek events that the entire body attends together. So, we can know each other!
 
You will get a younger demographic. From experience from my church, older people can't drive at night because of vision problems, so they can't come to any evening services.
 
People love to go to Church. Its fun, especially where the Spirit of is moving, and the Word is being proclaimed under the anointing of God. When I first got saved I could not believe that Church was only one or two times a week. I thought someone somewhere has got to be having Church somewhere I could go. If you have Church on Saturday, people will come there is no doubt, the real question is can you hold up to back to back services? Being called to teach God's word I find it exhausting to teaching just one time a week, let alone more than once. Are you up to the task? Since I work in the retail community I never have the same two days off a week, so you might just get more people having a Saturday + Sunday service.

Hello and thanks so much for such a full comments. Are you up to the task? I would preach God's Word morning noon and night if I could and I'm sure if I had to, God would give me the strength but I am of the real opinion, that many more individuals need to teach too though, I don't mean people spouting opinion but the learned true Christians who have so much experience and gifts to share so on the other hand, if God had different people up there every week and had me sitting in the front row then fine, who cares, as long as God is free to move!

Thanks, I can see you'd agree with a main Saturday night meeting, hoping to get a good feel for the idea here on CFS and hopefully God will confirm....
 
We have a Saturday night service, which started because we had such a vibrant and growing youth (ages 18-30---about 200 to start about 10 years ago) that our pastors wanted to give them their own service. Now, all ages attend both Saturday and Sunday services, but the bulk of the youth continue on Saturday. It works very well! There is an equilibrium surrounding one's "circle" of acquaintances. As a cell church, the cell members tend to attend the same services, so friendships carry on surrounding the choice of service. Leadership advises that we don't jump around, but if our personal schedule dictates that we cannot attend one service we are free to attend the other, no problem. We do have midweek events that the entire body attends together. So, we can know each other!

Wow it looks like you guys have got a good and God lead oversight in your churches, that's really impressive, maybe you guys can give us some tips! That's so encouraging to hear about the consideration of the youth, Sharon and I are former youth Pastors and we were very blessed at the time to have a National Overseer (an American) who gave us full trust to give the kids/youth/young adults their own services and events and it just worked so great. The youth really encouraged the church as a whole and showed a tremendous commitment to Christ. Could you give me your church website address for a wee look?
 
You will get a younger demographic. From experience from my church, older people can't drive at night because of vision problems, so they can't come to any evening services.

Hello Big Moose, I'd absolutely agree and if it would suit youth more (we're former youth Pastors) then I'd go all out to make it happen. Hoping God will give us a few answers here on CFS! Blessings...
 
Wow it looks like you guys have got a good and God lead oversight in your churches, that's really impressive, maybe you guys can give us some tips! That's so encouraging to hear about the consideration of the youth, Sharon and I are former youth Pastors and we were very blessed at the time to have a National Overseer (an American) who gave us full trust to give the kids/youth/young adults their own services and events and it just worked so great. The youth really encouraged the church as a whole and showed a tremendous commitment to Christ. Could you give me your church website address for a wee look?

Amen! The youth are our next generation of leaders! Our church has a school, and we have started a music school and a dance studio as well as an art studio in order that Christian kids can learn from an early age all about the arts as well as becoming well-rounded academically. After all, our next leaders will need to be able to lead in worship, too, in the dance, in music and in art.

I will PM you our church website!
 
Hello and thanks so much for such a full comments. Are you up to the task? I would preach God's Word morning noon and night if I could and I'm sure if I had to, God would give me the strength but I am of the real opinion, that many more individuals need to teach too though, I don't mean people spouting opinion but the learned true Christians who have so much experience and gifts to share so on the other hand, if God had different people up there every week and had me sitting in the front row then fine, who cares, as long as God is free to move!

Thanks, I can see you'd agree with a main Saturday night meeting, hoping to get a good feel for the idea here on CFS and hopefully God will confirm....

It is easy for the congregation to come to Church to receive God's word, but where does the pastor/ teacher get his teaching from?
They have to go before the Lord to receive what they are suppose to teach. I am of the belief that all teaching/ preaching needs to be fresh from the Lord,s mouth, and not the same old thing from years ago or even weeks ago. As the Church grows so needs what is taught grow with them. That means the pastor/ teacher needs to be in constant fellowship with the Lord in order to do this. In this day in which we are living it is hard to find someone who is connected to the heart of God so that what comes out his mouth is current from the Lord. This takes work, not so much physical work, but a spiritual labor to be able to feed the flock of God. I have no doubt the Lord can and does strengthen those in the ministry, as the flesh is weak by the spirit is always willing. Working for a living and being a pastor is not an easy task for sure, but I think there are benefits as you are not under pressure to please those who come but God.
 
It is easy for the congregation to come to Church to receive God's word, but where does the pastor/ teacher get his teaching from?
They have to go before the Lord to receive what they are suppose to teach. I am of the belief that all teaching/ preaching needs to be fresh from the Lord,s mouth, and not the same old thing from years ago or even weeks ago. As the Church grows so needs what is taught grow with them. That means the pastor/ teacher needs to be in constant fellowship with the Lord in order to do this. In this day in which we are living it is hard to find someone who is connected to the heart of God so that what comes out his mouth is current from the Lord. This takes work, not so much physical work, but a spiritual labor to be able to feed the flock of God. I have no doubt the Lord can and does strengthen those in the ministry, as the flesh is weak by the spirit is always willing. Working for a living and being a pastor is not an easy task for sure, but I think there are benefits as you are not under pressure to please those who come but God.

Amen! We have pastors who epitomize this. They are a HUGE blessing---and because of the heaviness of their calling, we have to pray for them and do spiritual battle for them every day.
 
It is easy for the congregation to come to Church to receive God's word, but where does the pastor/ teacher get his teaching from?
They have to go before the Lord to receive what they are suppose to teach. I am of the belief that all teaching/ preaching needs to be fresh from the Lord,s mouth, and not the same old thing from years ago or even weeks ago. As the Church grows so needs what is taught grow with them. That means the pastor/ teacher needs to be in constant fellowship with the Lord in order to do this. In this day in which we are living it is hard to find someone who is connected to the heart of God so that what comes out his mouth is current from the Lord. This takes work, not so much physical work, but a spiritual labor to be able to feed the flock of God. I have no doubt the Lord can and does strengthen those in the ministry, as the flesh is weak by the spirit is always willing. Working for a living and being a pastor is not an easy task for sure, but I think there are benefits as you are not under pressure to please those who come but God.

Hello, yes I'd agree, agree, agree. I can't take the credit in some ways as I was taught very well by our first Pastor. He taught me to seek God each week for a new message as you don't know who'll be there, what they need or what God might do so, seek him, write down some basic notes and stand up there in faith allowing God to work through you. It's the way I always preach unless it's a teaching season, I just find that when I stand up with very little on my mind, it's easy to be lead by God and be sensitive to his leading.

To expand a little on what you said, I've met some ministers who treat their role like a job or a hardship and I must give the glory to God, I just love it. Jesus taught to be a good shepherd, not a Lord, leader or manager but a good shepherd, one who cares and actually loves his flock and when God gives you that heart, it's one of the best roles in the world!

God bless and thanks for commenting...
 
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