# Why the demise of the evening service.



## NaphtaliPress (Apr 9, 2019)

Not sure how to link this but here is the facebook post of a 2 minute video with W. Robert Godfrey on the demise of the evening service.
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=646718529114476

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## Regi Addictissimus (Apr 9, 2019)

I know my church is one of the few in the Denver metro area that does an evening service. Even for ours, it is typically a very slim crowd. The disregard for ending the Lord's Day in worship has been a source of great sadness for my wife and I. Thanks for sharing. I will also share this with my elders as we have been in dialog about this.

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## Tom Hart (Apr 9, 2019)

This link should work:

https://video-icn1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v...=57ec3c0e97fea82ed597193496294f4c&oe=5CAD5AF6


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## greenbaggins (Apr 9, 2019)

Love his point about maximalism in the Great Commission.

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## Edward (Apr 9, 2019)

Our church offered an evening service, but it proved not to be a viable model.

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## Reformed Covenanter (Apr 9, 2019)

Sadly, modern evangelicals have replaced the Lord's Day with the Lord's Hour.

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## TheInquirer (Apr 9, 2019)

Excellent. His comment on minimalism clarified several things I have observed.


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## hammondjones (Apr 9, 2019)

Moving to a NAPARC church two years ago, a desire to have two services on Sunday really whittled down the options here in the Charlotte metro area.

Not that I disagree with him, fundamentally, but I think that part of the abandonment of the 2nd service was, yes, a minimalization (or avoidance of over-programming), but in light of the rise of the Small Group / Life Group. I have a spreadsheet of the churches we considered at the time, with various attributes (because I'm like that), and as I look at it I see not one church with Small Groups has an evening service on Sunday. And, not one church with a 2nd service has Small Groups. Admittedly, this is ancedotal evidence, but I became convinced of the connection when I was explicitly told by a NAPARC church that they dropped the 2nd service in order to have more discipleship through Small Groups.

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## NaphtaliPress (Apr 9, 2019)

Someone pointed out to me recently on Facebook and it may have been done so here as well (we have discussed this several times, and of recent time when I announced our church was starting one up again), that the Synod of Dort told ministers there were to have an evening service and to keep having one even if only the minister and his family showed up. Folks won't come if it is not offered. It's not hard to understand if a church abandons the morality of a full day for the Lord's worship, that any practical difficulties will easily seem enough to kill off the evening service.

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## Gabriel Barnes (Apr 10, 2019)

I'm very blessed to be a member of a congregation that quite literally spends the _whole _Sabbath day together, and that includes two services.

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## Kinghezy (Apr 10, 2019)

Edward said:


> Our church offered an evening service, but it proved not to be a viable model.



That is the type of rationale I would probably hear as well, that we have to be judicial with our resources (aka what draws more people). That was the reasoning given for changing how we do adult education. It seems real easy to put pragmatism ahead of what seems to run counter to the scripture and confession. Strong statement? Maybe.

@NaphtaliPress I think that was me with the following:



> Robert Godfrey in this month's TableTalk, says of the Synod of Dort that "... when asked what to do with the traditional evening service if it was poorly attended, the synod advised that the evening service should be held even if only the minster’s family were in attendance. In time, the Dutch Reformed churches became careful in observing the Christian Sabbath, and the two services helped greatly in producing a devout and well-educated laity."

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## earl40 (Apr 10, 2019)

I think part of the problem is we have "to get ready" to go to church. I will be the first to admit that it takes a lot of work to make me presentable to be in company. Hard enough to do such in the AM but to do such twice a day is like having to attend two weddings on the same day.


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## Ben Zartman (Apr 10, 2019)

Not sure how this came about, but our church alternates between two full services and an elongated time where, with a meal in between, we have a regular service and a formal prayer meeting. I much prefer two services, not only because potluck is a gamble I always lose, but because I love to be preached to.


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## Smeagol (Apr 10, 2019)

Proud to say most of the congregations in my area (MS Valley) adhere to the biblical pattern of gathering morning and evening.

I think I remember our Pastor saying recently in a sermon that one of the ways he gauges the spiritual health of a congregation is by how many return regularly to hear the word of God preached in the evenings.

P.S. An evening gathering also greatly aids families (concerned that is) with the temptations to break the Sabbath.

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## Romans922 (Apr 10, 2019)

Edward said:


> Our church offered an evening service, but it proved not to be a viable model.



What does this mean: “not a viable model”?


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## Smeagol (Apr 10, 2019)

A return to the evening service likely yields evidence of the hunger level for the Word among the sheep.


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## bookslover (Apr 10, 2019)

Grant Jones said:


> Proud to say most of the congregations in my area (MS Valley) adhere to the biblical pattern of gathering morning and evening.



Will you demonstrate this from Scripture, please?

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## Ryan&Amber2013 (Apr 10, 2019)

bookslover said:


> Will you demonstrate this from Scripture, please?


From the rising of the sun to its setting, the name of the Lord is to be praised!
Psalms 113:3 ESV

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## Smeagol (Apr 10, 2019)

bookslover said:


> Will you demonstrate this from Scripture, please?



Richard,

You may find the below article helpful, assuming your question is sincere. This is something one can derive from “good and necessary” consequence. I hope you enjoy the short read.

http://gospelreformation.net/case-evening-worship/

P.S. Paul was preaching pretty late when he had a member fall out of the window!

Lastly, I assure you the proponents of an evening service in this thread are likely convicted of this from the scriptures and not from some form of sentimentality. Morning and evening gathering IS the conservative sabbatarian position.

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## PaulCLawton (Apr 10, 2019)

NaphtaliPress said:


> Someone pointed out to me recently on Facebook and it may have been done so here as well (we have discussed this several times, and of recent time when I announced our church was starting one up again), that the Synod of Dort told ministers there were to have an evening service and to keep having one even if only the minister and his family showed up. Folks won't come if it is not offered. It's not hard to understand if a church abandons the morality of a full day for the Lord's worship, that any practical difficulties will easily seem enough to kill off the evening service.



The URCNA maintains this emphasis in our church order:

_Article 37 – Corporate Worship and Special Services
The Consistory shall call the congregation together for corporate worship twice on each Lord's Day._

I will leave commentary on what the rest of Article 37 allows for to another time...

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## C. M. Sheffield (Apr 10, 2019)

bookslover said:


> Will you demonstrate this from Scripture, please?


The title of Psalm 92 is "A Psalm _or_ Song for the sabbath day." And the first sentence speaks of morning and evening worship: "_It is a_ good _thing_ to give thanks unto the LORD, and to sing praises unto thy name, O most High: To shew forth thy lovingkindness in the *morning*, and thy faithfulness every *night*."

The morning/evening pattern of worship is "a good thing." We should embrace it. I think it's a good pattern not only for the church on the Lord's day, but also from day to day privately and in our families.

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## NaphtaliPress (Apr 10, 2019)

I thought he said something more but not finding it, but here is one place where Nicholas Bownd addresses two services. I can't recommend Bownd highly enough, though admittedly I'm biased having made him a 20 year project on and off; get at NP or at a mere $14 at Reformation Heritage Books, which is a giveaway for a quality 600p hardbound book. https://www.heritagebooks.org/produ...bbathum-veteris-et-novi-testamenti-bownd.html

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## JimmyH (Apr 10, 2019)

I'm very grateful that our congregation meets morning and evening on the Lord's Day. A lot of work for the pastor to compose two sermons each week, but well worth it for the flock, and probably for him as well. Building treasures in heaven.

A couple of years ago we had a power outage due to a hurricane and I had to go to an alternative church on the Lord's Day. I looked for Sunday evening services 'near me' on the internet and there was nothing within 25 miles.

I was surprised at that, but listened to MLJ on the web for the evening. I later found out there is a Reformed Baptist church 25.1 miles from me. Anyway, unless I'm sick/contagious I'm getting to that evening service.


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## Reformed Covenanter (Apr 10, 2019)

The practice of the morning and evening sacrifice in the Old Testament is relevant to this question. Before you dismiss this argument, remember that the OT ceremonies are described by the Westminster Confession as "partly holding forth divers instructions of moral duties" (19.3).

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## Jeri Tanner (Apr 10, 2019)

Are two worship services, complete with preaching, required to fulfill the Scriptural model (as opposed to a Bible study in the evening service, say)?


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## iainduguid (Apr 10, 2019)

When considering the Scriptural warrant for an evening service, we should distinguish between the Scriptures commending something as a profitable activity and the Scriptures commanding something as a necessary activity. For example, we believe that the Scriptures commend weekly bringing of an offering to church (1 Cor. 16:2); many of us would not want to bind the consciences of those who give monthly, however, and require them to break it up into four weekly installments in order to fulfill this Scripture. Fasting is good and Biblical, and churches may call their people to fast for particular reasons, but generally we don't think Scripture requires us to fast on a particular day each week. To mandate that would be to go beyond Scripture.

Scripture is clear that the whole sabbath day is for the Lord, not merely the morning. Worship twice on Sunday is a real blessing and privilege, for which we may be truly thankful. As a bivocational pastor in small church plants where it hasn't often been possible, I recognize that it's hard to feed the sheep as good a diet when you only have one sermon a week. I miss evening services. But it is not clear that the scriptures adduced thus far _command_ all churches to have two services on the Lord's Day. It is true that there were two sacrifices in the tabernacle on the Sabbath day, morning and afternoon (3 p.m.). But if that _mandates_ two sabbath services then the daily sacrifices in the tabernacle must also _mandate_ daily services, something probably very few of us do (though may acknowledge what a blessing it might be if we could). Psalm 92 mandates praising God in the morning and at night. But that is to be our duty and delight every day, not just on the Sabbath. Moreover, morning and night is a classic Hebrew merism: two opposites that include everything in between, so if this text is speaking of worship services, it would require us to be in church from dawn to dusk every Sunday. In Psalm 119:164 the psalmist says that he praises God seven times a day. Why isn't that a mandate for seven services every Sunday? Surely that would really help families observe the Sabbath properly? And if you want to use Paul in Troas as a mandate, how many of our churches meet until midnight?

None of this is an argument against evening services. If you are blessed enough to have one, thank the Lord for it. There is something very fitting to it as a way of keeping the whole day holy to the Lord. But don't overpress the Scriptural case for evening services by turning an encouragement into a command that binds people's consciences.

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## bookslover (Apr 11, 2019)

Ryan&Amber2013 said:


> From the rising of the sun to its setting, the name of the Lord is to be praised!
> Psalms 113:3 ESV



That verse merely states that we should have the Lord in the front of our minds at all times, praising Him as we go through our day. As an endorsement of a formal, official evening worship service, that's pretty vague.


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## Gabriel Barnes (Apr 11, 2019)

Here is a shameless plug for my Pastor's teaching on the Evening service. 
http://www.christcovenantrpc.org/audio/sermons/distinctives/
Sermons 30-33 handle this subject, and I'm sure all who give the sermons a listen will be profited!


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## Reformed Covenanter (Apr 11, 2019)

The above dismissal of the argument from the morning and evening sacrifice misses the point of the argument. No one is arguing that it must be followed literalistically. We are merely using it to lend further weight to the contention that the light of nature teaches that God should be worshipped twice a day. Since grace does not abolish nature but perfects it, it is not surprising that the sacrifices were offered twice daily in the temple. It would seem rather odd to jettison this practice with respect to the church's corporate worship on the Lord's Day. 

As with many issues, I get the impression that people are all too quick to justify declension and innovation rather than question why the traditional practice has been set aside (and I am using the term tradition in the good sense here, not in the sense of a mere human tradition).

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## Afterthought (Apr 11, 2019)

Circumstances are to be ordered by the light of nature and Christian prudence and in accord with the general rules of the word. Meeting twice on the sabbath and doubling the worship on the Sabbath (double sacrifices) is commended in Scripture. Public worship is a privilege. Ordering the circumstance of time: it is clear that having a second service on the Lord's day ought to be the general rule and is spiritually beneficial.

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## iainduguid (Apr 11, 2019)

Reformed Covenanter said:


> The above dismissal of the argument from the morning and evening sacrifice misses the point of the argument. No one is arguing that it must be followed literalistically. We are merely using it to lend further weight to the contention that the light of nature teaches that God should be worshipped twice a day. Since grace does not abolish nature but perfects it, it is not surprising that the sacrifices were offered twice daily in the temple. It would seem rather odd to jettison this practice with respect to the church's corporate worship on the Lord's Day.
> 
> As with many issues, I get the impression that people are all too quick to justify declension and innovation rather than question why the traditional practice has been set aside (and I am using the term tradition in the good sense here, not in the sense of a mere human tradition).


Daniel, I apologize if I missed the point of the argument. Unfortunately, your explanation doesn't make it any clearer to me. Can you explain a) how the light of nature teaches us that we must gather in corporate worship twice a day (as opposed to teaching us that we should constantly be in worship of our creator every single moment)? And b) can you further help me understand how the command to offer a double sacrifice on each Sabbath commits us to worship corporately twice ever Sabbath, but the command to offer a sacrifice morning and afternoon every other day does not commit us to worship corporately twice every other day? After all in Numbers 28, it is only the amount of the sacrifice that varies on the Sabbath day not the time or procedure.

There's no desire here to undercut the spiritually beneficial practice of evening services. Rather, it is a growing concern that often in Reformed circles we aren't actually exegeting the relevant Biblical passages on worship very well; often we get the right doctrine from the wrong text, in a kind of proof texting that rips verses out of their proper Biblical context. And given our strong commitment to the RPW, it is absolutely essential that we have proper Biblical warrant if we are going to bind people's consciences in worship. The best argument in favor of an evening service in my view is that the whole day is the Lord's and there is no more profitable way to show and experience that than by being together with God's people to praise him and sit under his Word. On that view, were it possible to spend the whole day in church, that would be better still! But that's very different from an argument that Scripture somehow "mandates" two worship services - no more and no less - by making verses say something they never intended to convey.

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## bookslover (Apr 11, 2019)

Both of Iain Duguid's posts (nos. 26 and 31) make a very important point.

I think I would build on his point by saying that a way to support having two services on the Lord's Day would be to point to the principle Jesus gives us in 1 Corinthians 11.25, where He states, concerning the Lord's Supper, "as often as you drink it" (ESV, concerning the cup, specifically). He assumes (or, better, strongly implies) that Christians _will_ celebrate the Lord's Supper, but does not expressly or by implication _command_ how often we will do so. Frequency is left to our discretion and sanctified common sense (as well as local circumstances, etc.).

The same principle is found in Hebrews 10.25 regarding how often Christians should meet together for worship, in the words "not neglecting to meet together" (ESV). Again, the author of Hebrews doesn't state _how often_ that should be but, by implication, assumes that Christians _will_ meet as a matter of course. Again, sanctified common sense and local circumstances factor in.

To use passages such as Psalm 92.2 or Psalm 113.3 to "prove" that the Bible requires two worship services on the Lord's Day comes pretty close to performing _eisegesis_ (reading something into the Scriptures) rather than _exegesis_ (reading something out of the Scriptures, something that is actually there, either expressly or obviously implied).

If churches wish to have two worship services on the Lord's Day, that's fine. God created us to worship Him, so I'm sure doing that in a formal way twice on the Lord's Day probably pleases Him. Let's remember, though, that the Bible does not command us to have two formal worship services on the Lord's Day. We are _free to do so_, but we are not _required to do so._

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## Reformed Covenanter (Apr 11, 2019)

iainduguid said:


> Daniel, I apologize if I missed the point of the argument. Unfortunately, your explanation doesn't make it any clearer to me. Can you explain a) how the light of nature teaches us that we must gather in corporate worship twice a day (as opposed to teaching us that we should constantly be in worship of our creator every single moment)?



The point of the argument is that the morning and evening sacrifice demonstrates that God is to be worshipped twice a day, which accords with what we know from the light of nature that God has divided the day up into morning and evening. To formally worship God every single moment would be an impossibility.



iainduguid said:


> And b) can you further help me understand how the command to offer a double sacrifice on each Sabbath commits us to worship corporately twice ever Sabbath, but the command to offer a sacrifice morning and afternoon every other day does not commit us to worship corporately twice every other day? After all in Numbers 28, it is only the amount of the sacrifice that varies on the Sabbath day not the time or procedure.



Your contention fails because you are taking the argument too literalistically. All we are saying is that the morning and evening sacrifice points to the moral principle that we should worship God twice a day. This practice is prescribed by the Westminster formularies with respect to private and family worship. If that requirement is obligatory on us as individuals and upon us as families, then how much more is it obligatory on the church on the day (not the hour) that God has set aside for the church's worship? We have no reason to suppose the general pattern of worship twice a day does not apply to the corporate worship of the church.



iainduguid said:


> There's no desire here to undercut the spiritually beneficial practice of evening services.



I have no doubt that that is not your desire. To assume otherwise would be to unfairly attribute evil motives to you, which would be entirely wrong. Still, experience has shown us that the general tendency of such arguments is not conducive to Sabbath observance as required by our standards.

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## iainduguid (Apr 11, 2019)

Reformed Covenanter said:


> The point of the argument is that the morning and evening sacrifice demonstrates that God is to be worshipped twice a day, which accords with what we know from the light of nature that God has divided the day up into morning and evening. To formally worship God every single moment would be an impossibility.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Thank you. That is really helpful in understanding your argument and demonstrating the connection between personal/family worship and corporate worship. I've often heard people argue from the twice daily Sabbath sacrifice to morning and evening worship, but you have filled in the missing link, which is that the regular twice daily sacrifice anticipates twice daily personal/family worship and the sabbath gives the opportunity for that twice daily personal/family worship to be expanded into twice a day corporate worship. That makes sense as an ideal pattern for the Christian life and connects the verse with the preceding context.

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## Reformed Covenanter (Apr 11, 2019)

iainduguid said:


> Thank you. That is really helpful in understanding your argument and demonstrating the connection between personal/family worship and corporate worship. I've often heard people argue from the twice daily Sabbath sacrifice to morning and evening worship, but you have filled in the missing link, which is that the regular twice daily sacrifice anticipates twice daily personal/family worship and the sabbath gives the opportunity for that twice daily personal/family worship to be expanded into twice a day corporate worship. That makes sense as an ideal pattern for the Christian life and connects the verse with the preceding context.



Just to be transparent, it is only in recent years that I have become convinced that we should observe personal and family worship twice a day, though I always believed we should have two services each Sabbath. I am not quite sure how I ever sought to reconcile that discrepancy in my thinking, but I suppose that we are all works in progress. Forums such as the Puritan Board and interaction with brethren such as yourself helps me to remember that we will never reach a stage where we can stop learning.

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## bookslover (Apr 12, 2019)

iainduguid said:


> . . .the regular twice daily sacrifice anticipates twice daily personal/family worship. . .



The next question, then, is: does the Bible explicitly or implicitly make this connection?


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## SolamVeritatem (Apr 12, 2019)

NaphtaliPress said:


> Someone pointed out to me recently on Facebook and it may have been done so here as well (we have discussed this several times, and of recent time when I announced our church was starting one up again), that the Synod of Dort told ministers there were to have an evening service and to keep having one even if only the minister and his family showed up. Folks won't come if it is not offered. It's not hard to understand if a church abandons the morality of a full day for the Lord's worship, that any practical difficulties will easily seem enough to kill off the evening service.



Chris,

Not to derail or anything, but I think this thread is somewhat related to a few questions that I have. 

Some churches have multiple services on Lord's Day (8:00am, 11:00am, etc.), and there is also early morning prayer and Sunday School. I know that someone else expressed that the small group phenomenon might be a reason for the decline of the evening service, but I'm wondering how much effect the "early two Sunday services" has on the resistance to gather in the evening and so forth? Also, does the fact that at least there is a "double gathering" somewhat satisfy the requirement in the minds of those who believe that there is a biblical case for morning and evening services? Especially if there is a time during the evening that a family can meditate on, discuss and pray through what was heard earlier in the congregation? 

Also, do you think that the reason some churches have decided to have services much earlier is due to the fact that they might want to "clear" the rest of the Sabbath in order to observe the remainder of it at home?


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## kodos (Apr 12, 2019)

SolamVeritatem said:


> Some churches have multiple services on Lord's Day (8:00am, 11:00am, etc.), and there is also early morning prayer and Sunday School.



I am not sure about the kind of congregation you have in mind. But the ones I am familiar with are larger churches which have multiple services because they cannot _seat everyone_ in a single service or do it for convenience sake so that people can choose which service they want to go to. They are effectively the same service (same message) duplicated. I never knew anyone who attended both services. These churches I know of also don't really have any doctrine of Sabbath keeping which is why they let out early, so you can have family or recreation time. Some have Saturday evening services so you can spend your Lord's Day doing whatever you need to.

That is a bit different from what is historically done with an evening service - which is a different service (different content) where congregants (ideally) go to both services and is very much connected to honoring the Sabbath Day as a day of holy rest in communion with the Lord and fellowship with His people.

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## SolamVeritatem (Apr 12, 2019)

kodos said:


> I am not sure about the kind of congregation you have in mind. But the ones I am familiar with are larger churches which have multiple services because they cannot _seat everyone_ in a single service or do it for convenience sake so that people can choose which service they want to go to. They are effectively the same service (same message) duplicated. I never knew anyone who attended both services. These churches I know of also don't really have any doctrine of Sabbath keeping which is why they let out early, so you can have family or recreation time. Some have Saturday evening services so you can spend your Lord's Day doing whatever you need to.
> 
> That is a bit different from what is historically done with an evening service - which is a different service (different content) where congregants (ideally) go to both services and is very much connected to honoring the Sabbath Day as a day of holy rest in communion with the Lord and fellowship with His people.



Rom,

This is very helpful, thanks brother. 

Craig


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## JM (Apr 12, 2019)

I was under the impression that evening services were introduced during the industrial age.


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## SolamVeritatem (Apr 12, 2019)

kodos said:


> I am not sure about the kind of congregation you have in mind. But the ones I am familiar with are larger churches which have multiple services because they cannot _seat everyone_ in a single service or do it for convenience sake so that people can choose which service they want to go to. They are effectively the same service (same message) duplicated. I never knew anyone who attended both services. These churches I know of also don't really have any doctrine of Sabbath keeping which is why they let out early, so you can have family or recreation time. Some have Saturday evening services so you can spend your Lord's Day doing whatever you need to.
> 
> That is a bit different from what is historically done with an evening service - which is a different service (different content) where congregants (ideally) go to both services and is very much connected to honoring the Sabbath Day as a day of holy rest in communion with the Lord and fellowship with His people.



One other question Rom. You mentioned that there is "different content/different service" in the evening gathering. Would you have a problem with a minister who preached the same sermon from the morning service in the evening service? Not duplicated with the same words, of course, but the same scriptural passage preached again, perhaps highlighgting certain points that were not covered in the first sermon, or elaborating more deeply on already covered aspects? I have in mind someone else's post that conveyed how difficult (not impossible or unexpected) it is for the Lord's servant to prepare to preach two properly exegeted sermons to preach on the same day. It seems that if the pastor were at least dealing with the same text it would be easier.


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## SolamVeritatem (Apr 12, 2019)

Someone else can enlighten/correct me if I'm wrong on this, but I seem to recall that when MLJ preached his evening services at Westminster Chapel that they were designed to be evangelistic. 

What are your thoughts on this? 

Moderaters please delete if this is not in keeping with the original intent of the OP. It's just that Chris' post opened up so many interesting questions and intriguing thoughts for me. By the way, I do not have the benefit of partaking in evening services at my current church. Our current Lord's Day is as follows:

-Morning Worship
-Sunday School (usually led by the pastor and covering the content of the sermon)

On first Sundays, Sunday School is replaced with prayer and a fellowship meal.


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## kodos (Apr 12, 2019)

SolamVeritatem said:


> One other question Rom. You mentioned that there is "different content/different service" in the evening gathering. Would you have a problem with a minister who preached the same sermon from the morning service in the evening service? Not duplicated with the same words, of course, but the same scriptural passage preached again, perhaps highlighgting certain points that were not covered in the first sermon, or elaborating more deeply on already covered aspects? I have in mind someone else's post that conveyed how difficult (not impossible or unexpected) it is for the Lord's servant to prepare to preach two properly exegeted sermons to preach on the same day. It seems that if the pastor were at least dealing with the same text it would be easier.



It is a bit difficult to deal with hypotheticals, but I think this is something that should be dictated by wisdom in how the minister wants to deal with the situation. Though I will say, if some men can spend months on a single passage, then I don't see the harm in doing a similar kind of thing morning and evening.

I do believe there are plenty of ways to accomplish the evening service without becoming taxing as well. In a parallel way, sometimes men new to family worship are intimidated by it because they feel like they must make it something grand and profound. I counsel them to keep it simple at the beginning and they will grow into it in time (so will their family!).

I think the same kind of thought should be present when beginning a _new_ evening service for a minister and congregation that is trying to figure out how to make it all work.

They might consider catechetical preaching to begin with. Or to not tax him greatly - other material he might be very familiar with - preach through the Ten Commandments. Preach the Beatitudes. Preach through the Parables. OR, preach through the same book that you are going through in the AM if that is helpful so that he doesn't have to bounce around and can just keep churning through. OR, books he has preached through for other congregations or previous calls and might be able to refresh them for the current congregation.

Lots of options - if you have the desire to have an evening service.

Start simple. Choose a few psalms and prayers. Praise the Lord. Bless the people of God. Then let them fellowship until the night comes and the people must sadly part until the next Lord's Day! I find that it is difficult to tear myself away in the evening with the thought that Monday is coming. This is what makes us long for our heaven Sabbath all the more.

See what blossoms. Do what you can and ask the Lord to bless.

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## NaphtaliPress (Apr 12, 2019)

JM said:


> I was under the impression that evening services were introduced during the industrial age.





SolamVeritatem said:


> I have in mind someone else's post that conveyed how difficult (not impossible or unexpected) it is for the Lord's servant to prepare to preach two properly exegeted sermons to preach on the same day.



I'm not a preacher and I don't recall the post referred to as to the difficulty, but I find it hard to accept that a full time minister (note the qualification; tent-makers will have additional time constraints) does not have time to do two proper sermons each Lord's Day. And that's not even saying these need to be the theological tome length affairs of the puritan age. We read of those who preached twice on Lord's Days with also a morning lecture, and also lectured or preached at least once if not more during the week? Think Calvin. And I know Durham preached at least twice each Lord's day and did a morning lecture before the sermon and took his turn by schedule for the week day lectures in Glasgow in the 1650s. 

As to the evening service, it was likely more a late afternoon service until lightening made later services possible I suppose, but I don't have any historical facts to hand as to the actual time the later in the day service was before the industrial revolution. But there were two services from the reformation's beginning which I'm sure others can show was not novel but that there were vesper services before going way back in time.

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## SolamVeritatem (Apr 12, 2019)

NaphtaliPress said:


> I'm not a preacher and I don't recall the post referred to as to the difficulty



Chris, you're correct in this. I looked back through the thread and realized that I had misread what someone else had stated. 

Thanks for the clarification and your thoughts though. Very helpful. 

Craig

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## SolamVeritatem (Apr 12, 2019)

kodos said:


> It is a bit difficult to deal with hypotheticals, but I think this is something that should be dictated by wisdom in how the minister wants to deal with the situation. Though I will say, if some men can spend months on a single passage, then I don't see the harm in doing a similar kind of thing morning and evening.
> 
> I do believe there are plenty of ways to accomplish the evening service without becoming taxing as well. In a parallel way, sometimes men new to family worship are intimidated by it because they feel like they must make it something grand and profound. I counsel them to keep it simple at the beginning and they will grow into it in time (so will their family!).
> 
> ...



Rom,

These are all wonderful suggestions, and praise the Lord that your Sabbath is filled with such joy with the people of God. 

Craig


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## kodos (Apr 12, 2019)

NaphtaliPress said:


> I'm not a preacher and I don't recall the post referred to as to the difficulty, but I find it hard to accept that a full time minister (note the qualification; tent-makers will have additional time constraints) does not have time to do two proper sermons each Lord's Day. And that's not even saying these need to be the theological tome length affairs of the puritan age. We read of those who preached twice on Lord's Days with also a morning lecture, and also lectured or preached at least once if not more during the week? Think Calvin. And I know Durham preached at least twice each Lord's day and did a morning lecture before the sermon and took his turn by schedule for the week day lectures in Glasgow in the 1650s.
> 
> As to the evening service, it was likely more a late afternoon service until lightening made later services possible I suppose, but I don't have any historical facts to hand as to the actual time the later in the day service was before the industrial revolution. But there were two services from the reformation's beginning which I'm sure others can show was not novel but that there were vesper services before going way back in time.



Sermon preparation is a bit like anything else, a man will use all the time that he can, typically. So a man who is used to having an entire week for preparation often feels daunted with the prospect of having a second sermon to prepare. I know this because I can prepare a sermon in a day (as when my pastor became ill on a Friday night) or in a few weeks (as in preaching assignments for Seminary).

Good time management (for a full time man as you state) should _ordinarily_ allow him to have more than enough time for two sermons. My own pastor is a tent-maker and he gets two worship services prepared every week.

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## Poimen (Apr 13, 2019)

Let it be held and argued that there is no biblical command to come together more than once on the Lord's Day but when God, by his providence, calls us together, we should be there with his people at the appointed time because _he _promises to meet with us. 

That is to say, that these arguments seem to come down to our estimation of the means of grace and the public assemblies of the church. In such times as ours they are viewed lightly, as many other aspects of the Christian life (the Sabbath, Christian families etc.). But may it not be said of us whose spiritual ancestors were hindered from meeting, even threatened while doing so, and yet attended on the means of grace with the hunger that is requisite for strangers and pilgrims in the world (Psalm 84:1ff. cf. Matthew 5:6).

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## Reformed Covenanter (Apr 16, 2019)

Francis Roberts on the morning and evening sacrifice.

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## Ed Walsh (Apr 17, 2019)

Reformed Bookworm said:


> I know my church is one of the few in the Denver metro area that does an evening service. Even for ours, it is typically a very slim crowd. The disregard for ending the Lord's Day in worship has been a source of great sadness for my wife and I. Thanks for sharing.



I suppose this is a different perspective, and I have not read all of the posts yet. My aim is to be helpful to some who may be in my situation. I do not consider myself one with a low view of corporate worship. Maybe you will disagree

I love and support my church with the tithe, prayer and the a.m. worship service. But the love is based more on the love of Christ than what sometimes (often) takes place in our worship services. I will not go into any detail except this one anecdote. A member of our congregation offered to anonymously donate 100 copies of the new Trinity Psalter to encourage Psalm singing. He was told that it had to be discussed by the elders and run by the music and choir leader. Three months later it is still "under discussion."

My church does not have an evening service, but if they did, I am rather sure that my wife and I would not attend. And this would be due _to_ our desire to worship on the Lord's Day and not to escape it. I get up very early every day and spend up to three hours in prayer, study, and worship. And on the Sabbath, corporate worship in the a.m., and the rest of the day in private reading and worship at home. In my situation and opinion, it would detract way too much from _keeping_ the Lord's Day to spent another three-hour round-trip going back to our church.

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