Monthly Archives: September 2025

Membership and the Lord’s Supper

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As we read Acts 2, we see a clear sequence in the life of the early church. Luke writes: “So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about three thousand souls. They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer” (Acts 2:41–42). All who repented and believed the gospel were baptized, and in doing so they were recognized as citizens of God’s kingdom and immediately became active members of the local church. Out of that new identity, they joined together in the Word, prayer, fellowship, and the breaking of bread.

This biblical pattern helps us see why membership is inseparably connected to participation in the Lord’s Supper. Paul writes, “We who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread” (1 Corinthians 10:17). That visible unity assumes a defined and counted people. In 2 Corinthians 2:6 Paul refers to discipline being carried out “by the majority.” That phrase only makes sense if the church knew who belonged to them, since a majority can only be known when the whole is counted. Hebrews 13:17 adds that elders must keep watch over the souls of those entrusted to them and will give an account to Christ. This shepherding cannot happen where there is no belonging. And part of that shepherding includes elders being able to affirm, by welcoming someone to the Table, that they are indeed a true believer walking in repentance and faith.

This is why church discipline and the Lord’s Supper go hand in hand. In 1 Corinthians 5 Paul commands the church to remove the unrepentant from their fellowship, using Passover imagery: “Christ, our Passover Lamb, has been sacrificed. Let us therefore celebrate the festival” (vv. 7–8). To be excluded from the church was to be excluded from the covenant meal. Discipline includes withholding the Supper from those who persist in unrepentant sin. But without membership, that discipline is impossible. To partake while refusing membership is to seek the benefits of belonging without the accountability Christ requires.

Our Baptist forefathers recognized this. The First London Confession (1644) restricted communion to baptized believers walking in obedience. The Second London Confession (1689) stated that the Supper is “to be observed in His churches until the end of the age” (30.1), and that “all who are admitted to the privileges of a church are also under its censures and government according to the rule of Christ” (26.12). The privilege of the Table cannot be separated from the accountability of discipline, nor from the responsibility of elders to guard the Supper and affirm the faith of those who come.

For these reasons, we ask that those who partake of the Lord’s Supper be members of a faithful, gospel-preaching church. This is not about excluding anyone harshly. It is about following the pattern Christ has given for our good. Repentance, faith, baptism, and membership prepare the way for communion at His Table. Through membership, believers share the ordinary means of grace, enjoy fellowship, hear the preaching of the Word, and partake of the ordinances in a protected environment under the care of Christ’s under-shepherds. In this way, the Supper becomes what Christ intended it to be: a covenant meal of the redeemed, shared in unity, truth, and love.

Why Sunday Is Such A Big Deal

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In response to a recent teaching, someone gave me the following feedback in an email:
“… the concept of Sunday being the beginning of the week rather than the end has really put things in a new perspective for me. The idea of starting my week with fellow believers, worshipping, and preparing my heart and mind for the upcoming week has brought an added enthusiasm to attending the church service. When I look at Sunday as the final day of a long, exhausting week, I can find myself longing for a day of rest that includes staying home and doing nothing. But shifting my thoughts to think of Sunday as the Lord does, as a day of rest that focuses on Him, where we meet with other believers to be encouraged, convicted, and prepared for the work ahead is invigorating!”

Praise the Lord!

Let me lay out the Sunday – ‘First day of the week’ scriptures:

Matthew 28:1 – “Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week…” (Resurrection morning)
Mark 16:2 – “Very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb.”
Mark 16:9 – “Now when He rose early on the first day of the week, He appeared first to Mary Magdalene…”
Luke 24:1 – “But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb…”
John 20:1 – “Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early…”
John 20:19 – “On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked… Jesus came and stood among them.”
Acts 20:7 – “On the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul talked with them…”
1 Corinthians 16:2 – “On the first day of every week, each of you is to put something aside and store it up…”

We start our Sunday service with the declaration, “It is the Lord’s Day.” This is a very big deal and I would like to explain why.

From the very beginning, Christians gathered on the first day of the week (Sunday), because it was the day of Christ’s resurrection. All four Gospels note that Jesus rose on “the first day of the week” (Matt. 28:1; Mark 16:2; Luke 24:1; John 20:1). This was the decisive event of redemptive history, the dawn of the new creation, and it gave a new rhythm to the life of God’s people. To say that Sunday is the first day of the week is not only to mark time differently, but to embrace the truth that in Christ a new creation has begun, a new world has dawned, and our lives are caught up in His resurrection life.

The book of Acts records this pattern. In Acts 20:7 we read: “On the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul talked with them…” This was not a casual choice of day, but a deliberate practice of the church.

Likewise, Paul instructed the Corinthians: “On the first day of every week, each of you is to put something aside and store it up…” (1 Cor. 16:2), tying even the collection of offerings to the Lord’s Day. And when John received his vision on Patmos, he said it happened “on the Lord’s Day” (Rev. 1:10), showing that when the book of Revelation was written, Sunday had already taken on this sacred identity.

The early church fathers confirm this. Around AD 110, Ignatius of Antioch wrote of Christians who “no longer observe the Sabbath, but direct their lives toward the Lord’s Day, on which our life has sprung up again by Him and by His death” (Letter to the Magnesians 9, written on his way to martyrdom in Rome).

A few decades later, Justin Martyr described Sunday gatherings in detail. Justin Martyr (c. AD 100–165) was one of the earliest Christian apologists, writing in defense of the faith during a time of persecution under the Roman Empire. His writings, especially the First Apology, give us one of the clearest windows into how Christians worshiped in the mid-second century. He wrote: “On the day called Sunday, all who live in cities or in the country gather together to one place… because it is the first day on which God, having wrought a change in the darkness and matter, made the world, and Jesus Christ our Savior on the same day rose from the dead” (First Apology 67).

For the early Christians, then, Sunday was not a convenient substitute for the Jewish Sabbath, but the Lord’s Day, the day of resurrection, the day that pointed forward to the fullness of God’s kingdom. They began their week gathered with Christ’s people, nourished by His Word and Supper, and renewed in hope until He comes again.

Seeing the Lord’s Day as the first day of the week is meant to change how we see life – a true paradigm shift. Too often people treat Sunday as an interruption, as if it gets in the way of our “down time” at the weekend. In reality, it is the beginning of the week, the day God Himself calls us together in worship, with holy intentions to refresh and strengthen His people. He also brings us His counsel, correcting us when needed as His dearly loved children. He comforts us with His gospel and gives us rest in Christ before we step into all that the week ahead will bring. What a joy it is to begin the week this way, with God as our first priority, resting in His grace and delighting in His Word. Yet this is often not understood, and so it must be plainly taught.

Among other things, becoming a member of a church is saying, “I will be here, with you, on the Lord’s Day.” This is often not understood, yet it is very much the case biblically. Membership includes a commitment to gather unless the Lord Himself prevents us, what our forefathers called being providentially hindered. This may include physical incapacity, sickness, a true emergency, or what the old writers called an unavoidable duty of mercy. In such moments, love for neighbor may require you to step away. Jesus said, “It is lawful to do good on the Sabbath” (Matt. 12:12). So if your child wakes up suddenly ill, if you must sit with a dying loved one, if you are called to give urgent medical help, or if providence places you in a situation where attending the service would withhold needed mercy, that is included in what we mean. These are not excuses of convenience, but genuine, God-given responsibilities. “Providential hindering” takes all of these realities into account. To be a member is not only to take on responsibility, but to embrace joy. It is to say, “These are my people, this is my family, and I will gladly be with them on the Lord’s Day.”

This commitment rests on God’s Word: “not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near” (Heb. 10:25). Coming to church is not just about what we get, it is also about what we give. In fact, it is mainly this. Our gathering is not just for us, it is an offering of worship to God and an act of love to His people. When you sing, you minister to those around you. When you pray, you join your voice with theirs. When you simply show up, you encourage someone else to keep running the race. Gathering is obedience to God and a rich act of love to His people.

Now, let’s be clear. Sometimes God really does prevent us, and in those cases we understand and extend grace. But when the Lord gives us health and opportunity, willful absence is not neutral, it grieves Him because it is disobedience to His Word. I say this with love and gentleness, as one entrusted to care for your soul (Heb. 13:17). If this feels sharp to our ears, it may be worth asking why. Could it be that we have not yet yielded every part of our lives to Christ, even our time? We sometimes think of Sunday as “our day,” when in reality it is the Lord’s Day. Scripture reminds us, “for you are not your own, you were bought with a price” (1 Corinthians 6:19–20). Jesus is Lord, and the Lord’s Day is not a burden but a gift, for when He owns us, nothing else and no one else does. His ownership means our freedom and His day is given for His glory and our good.

Week by week consistency in coming to the gathered assembly on the Lord’s Day is deeply pleasing to God, and it is also a blessing to the elders and to the whole body at King’s Church. Membership includes the joyful privilege and responsibility of coming together consistently, week after week, to glorify Christ, to serve His people, and to be nourished by His Word.

Understanding the significance of the Lord’s Day is indeed a paradigm shift and deeply invigorating. God willing, I will see you in the Lord’s house on the Lord’s Day.